Hollywood may benefit from U.S. bailout: LA Times

(Reuters) - Hollywood may benefit from the proposed $700 billion bailout of the U.S. financial system, the Los Angeles Times said late on Wednesday.

The plan which was endorsed by the U.S. Senate would provide tax breaks worth more than $470 million over the next decade for movie and TV producers that shoot in the United States, the paper said.

One provision in the bill would provide film and TV producers with the same tax deductions that American manufacturers such as General Motors Corp and Boeing Co receive for making their products at home, according to the paper.

Specifically, the legislation would allow filmmakers who shoot in the U.S. to qualify for a tax deduction granted in 2004 to domestic manufacturers that capped the top tax rate at 32 percent instead of 35 percent, the paper said.

Additionally, the tax package lifts the budget cap on the existing tax deduction, which was limited to movies that cost less than $15 million to make -- in effect excluding most studio films, which cost a lot more, according to the paper.

The provisions were part of a broad tax extension bill approved earlier by the Senate and then folded into the revised bailout legislation that it passed Wednesday, the paper said.

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; Editing by David Holmes)