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STATE FILM SUBSIDIES: NOT MUCH BANG FOR TOO MANY BUCKS


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Call them what you want, fact is they are shooting in Canada not LA. And there is nothing you can do about it.

 

 

Don't count your money that fast.

 

 

Stephen McNeil says province can’t write a ‘blank cheque’ for film and TV industry

Film and TV industry argues slashes to province’s film tax credit will kill the industry

The Canadian Press

Camera operator Andrew Stretch remembers the day in 2013 when a campaigning politician looked into his camera lens and promised to help create jobs that would allow more young people to stay and work in Nova Scotia.

The politician was Stephen McNeil, now the province’s premier.

Stretch says McNeil broke his word last week when he tabled a budget measure that effectively kills a tax credit that most other provinces are still offering the film and TV industry.

“I used the skills I learned working in the film industry to help you spread your word,” Stretch says in an open letter released Friday, a day after the province cut by 75 per cent a refundable tax credit that production companies have used for 20 years to finance their work.

“I continue to work as a professional in the film industry and as you’re aware, your government is on the verge of threatening my livelihood as well as that of thousands of close friends — hard-working, taxpaying and, for the most part, young Nova Scotians.”

Stretch, who works in Halifax on the supernatural drama series “Haven,” says he studied film in England but chose to return home to Nova Scotia 12 years ago to be close to his family and take advantage of what has become a burgeoning film industry.

Differing numbers

Screen Nova Scotia, the industry’s advocacy group, says the refundable tax credit cost the government $24 million in 2013-14, generating $139 million in spending on film and TV productions and supporting 2,700 jobs.

The government says its analysis of the program shows the value of production associated with the credit amounted to only $66.8 million in 2013-14, generating $39.4 million in salaries and wages.

The existing refundable tax credit offers producers a basic rebate on 50 per cent of qualifying labour costs. Productions shot outside of the Halifax area can get an additional 10 per cent off, and another five per cent is available for a third film shot in Nova Scotia over a two-year period.

The potential 65 per cent rebate is one of the highest in Canada, but it isn’t unusual. Every other province except P.E.I.,

Saskatchewan and Alberta offer some form of refundable tax credit and bonuses to entice TV and film producers.

But the premier says Nova Scotia’s offering is too rich for a province struggling to balance its books.

“I understand why people affected by the change are not happy,” he said Friday. “We don’t have the capacity to write a blank cheque.”

The government says that for every dollar it spends on the tax credit, it receives less than 25 cents in taxes.

Under the new rules, 75 per cent of the refundable tax credit will been transformed into a regular tax credit, which means it can only be applied against taxable income.

‘We’re no longer competitive with any jurisdiction in North America’

Marc Almon, chairman of Screen Nova Scotia, says this approach will make it impossible for producers to secure financing.

“That means we’re no longer competitive with any jurisdiction in North America,” he said in an interview. “It provided the bedrock of your financing. Now the bedrock is gone.”

When Saskatchewan dropped its refundable tax credit in 2012, the industry shrivelled to nothing, Almon says, citing an October 2012 report that says the province’s Chamber of Commerce concluded that the decision to cut the credit was based on flawed data.

Almon says it also makes no sense to cut Nova Scotia’s credit now that the slumping value of the Canadian dollar is attracting more American productions to Canada.

‘A huge drain on the tax system’

Stephen Selznick, a Toronto-based lawyer who acts as a consultant for film and TV producers, says the refundable tax credit system, which includes a federal component, is expensive but it works.

“There’s a great deal of competition among the provinces,” he says. “But this is a huge drain on the tax system — good incentive or otherwise — when governments are trying to balance budgets.”

Ontario and Quebec have both come forward with proposals to scale back their assistance. Ontario has already put new restrictions on its digital media tax credit, and a committee in Quebec has recommended phasing out the Quebec Production Services Tax Credit.

“Even though it has an economic benefit far in excess of what the credit is, it’s an embarrassment to write a cheque to a big American studio for $20 million,” says Selznick.

“If (governments) want to show that everybody has to suffer a little bit in balancing the budget, this is a good place to take a grab.”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/stephen-mcneil-says-province-can-t-write-a-blank-cheque-for-film-and-tv-industry-1.3029728

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Canadian Film, TV Tax Credits Drying Up As Provinces Seek To Balance Budgets

CP | By Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press

HALIFAX – Camera operator Andrew Stretch remembers the day in 2013 when a campaigning politician looked into his camera lens and promised to help create jobs that would allow more young people to stay and work in Nova Scotia.

The politician was Stephen McNeil, now the province’s premier.

Stretch says McNeil broke his word last week when he tabled a budget measure that effectively kills a tax credit that most other provinces are still offering the film and TV industry.

“I used the skills I learned working in the film industry to help you spread your word,” Stretch says in an open letter released Friday, a day after the province cut by 75 per cent a refundable tax credit that production companies have used for 20 years to finance their work.

“I continue to work as a professional in the film industry and as you’re aware, your government is on the verge of threatening my livelihood as well as that of thousands of close friends — hard-working, taxpaying and, for the most part, young Nova Scotians.”

Stretch, who works in Halifax on the supernatural drama series “Haven,” says he studied film in England but chose to return home to Nova Scotia 12 years ago to be close to his family and take advantage of what has become a burgeoning film industry.

Screen Nova Scotia, the industry’s advocacy group, says the refundable tax credit cost the government $24 million in 2013-14, generating $139 million in spending on film and TV productions and supporting 2,700 jobs.

The government says its analysis of the program shows the value of production associated with the credit amounted to only $66.8 million in 2013-14, generating $39.4 million in salaries and wages.

The existing refundable tax credit offers producers a basic rebate on 50 per cent of qualifying labour costs. Productions shot outside of the Halifax area can get an additional 10 per cent off, and another five per cent is available for a third film shot in Nova Scotia over a two-year period.

The potential 65 per cent rebate is one of the highest in Canada, but it isn’t unusual. Every other province except P.E.I., Saskatchewan and Alberta offer some form of refundable tax credit and bonuses to entice TV and film producers.

But the premier says Nova Scotia’s offering is too rich for a province struggling to balance its books.

“I understand why people affected by the change are not happy,” he said Friday. “We don’t have the capacity to write a blank cheque.”

The government says that for every dollar it spends on the tax credit, it receives less than 25 cents in taxes.

Under the new rules, 75 per cent of the refundable tax credit will been transformed into a regular tax credit, which means it can only be applied against taxable income.

Marc Almon, chairman of Screen Nova Scotia, says this approach will make it impossible for producers to secure financing.

“That means we’re no longer competitive with any jurisdiction in North America,” he said in an interview. “It provided the bedrock of your financing. Now the bedrock is gone.”

When Saskatchewan dropped its refundable tax credit in 2012, the industry shrivelled to nothing, Almon says, citing an October 2012 report that says the province’s Chamber of Commerce concluded that the decision to cut the credit was based on flawed data.

Almon says it also makes no sense to cut Nova Scotia’s credit now that the slumping value of the Canadian dollar is attracting more American productions to Canada.

Stephen Selznick, a Toronto-based lawyer who acts as a consultant for film and TV producers, says the refundable tax credit system, which includes a federal component, is expensive but it works.

“There’s a great deal of competition among the provinces,” he says. “But this is a huge drain on the tax system — good incentive or otherwise — when governments are trying to balance budgets.”

Ontario and Quebec have both come forward with proposals to scale back their assistance. Ontario has already put new restrictions on its digital media tax credit, and a committee in Quebec has recommended phasing out the Quebec Production Services Tax Credit.

“Even though it has an economic benefit far in excess of what the credit is, it’s an embarrassment to write a cheque to a big American studio for $20 million,” says Selznick.

“If (governments) want to show that everybody has to suffer a little bit in balancing the budget, this is a good place to take a grab.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/04/12/canadas-film-and-tv-tax-_n_7049504.html

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ALL of these state and national governments eventually come to the same conclusion: subsidizing the film industry is a losing proposition that literally robs taxpayers of much needed revenue necessary for infrastructure. Yes, a few people get temporary jobs and pay taxes for a short time, but the company and people who are making the lion's share of profit don't pay nearly enough, if any.

Tax "incentives" are a scam and revenue-starved governments will always eventually figure it out and dump them.

Film credit repeal moves forward

JUNEAU — Sen. BIll Stoltze has gotten traction for Senate Bill 39, his effort to repeal the film production tax credit program.

“I hate to have something like this competing against our core responsibilities of government,” Stoltze, R-Mat-Su, told the Senate Finance Committee.

He cited as “core responsibilities” things like transportation infrastructure, public health and prisons. He noted that a tight fiscal climate in Juneau with falling oil prices has meant the Legislature must focus on those types of services.

Stoltze said that an audit of the program’s benefits showed a return on investment but, in his view, state money was used to fund the program, but the revenue generated did not return to state coffers.

“It’s hard to view that as a real one when it’s your money and it’s returning to somebody else,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of ways we could stimulate the economy more effectively.”

Representatives of the Alaska film industry argued against the bill in written testimony to the Legislature.

“SB39 does away with future new tech jobs, and destroys a business environment that is needed for Alaskan businesses to make decisions for investment in hardware, training, and infrastructure,” wrote Thomas R. Daly, president of the non-profit trade association Alaska Film Group, who went on to say that the industry has created “a plethora of new Alaskan businesses and positions.”

A group of film students in Fairbanks likewise wrote in to oppose the bill.

Alaska Department of Revenue Commissioner Jerry Burnett said during the Senate Finance Committee hearing Wednesday that the film tax credit program had already been effectively suspended.

Gov. Bill Walker zeroed the program out in his proposed budget. That will result in layoffs for three Department of Revenue employees and the discontinuation of the program June 30.

Burnett said that although it’s possible that the board that reviews film tax credit applications could approve a new application, it seems unlikely.

“It’s impossible for me to believe that they would approve an application at this point,” he said. “I can’t imagine any of our commissioners approving a credit at this time knowing what our fiscal situation is.”

The way the production tax credit works is that film companies apply to the program and receive a tax voucher. Because most television and film productions aren’t Alaska taxpayers, the production generally turns around and sells those tax credits to a company that pays state taxes.

According to Department of Revenue statistics submitted to the Legislature, 125 productions have received the credit since 2009. Of those productions, more than half — 65 —were in the “TV-Nonfiction” category.

Sen. Mike Dunleavy, R-Mat-Su, said that zeroing out the program and cutting those three positions resulted in a $346,000 savings in the budget. Exactly how much it will save in tax credits is unclear, as that would depend on how many were applied for and how many were approved if the program were allowed to continue.

The bill got a lukewarm reception from the finance committee. Dunleavy and Sen. Anna MacKinnon, R-Eagle River, recommended the Senate pass it. But Sen. Donny Olson, D-Nome, recommended against passage. Sens. Pete Kelly, R-Fairbanks, Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks and Lyman Hoffman D-Bethel, didn’t take a side, though Bishop is also a co-sponsor of the bill.

In the previous committee it visited, the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, Sens. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, and Cathy Giessel R-Anchorage, recommended passage, and Sen. Johnny Ellis, D-Anchorage, recommended against passage.

Considering that the bill has other co-sponsors in Sens. Charlie Huggins, R-Mat-Su, Pete Micciche, R-Soldotna, and John Coghill, R-North Pole, it stands a good chance of passage if it reaches the senate floor.

The bill was passed out of the Senate Finance Committee and goes to the Senate Rules Committee next.

http://www.frontiersman.com/news/film-credit-repeal-moves-forward/article_91819d38-e0c8-11e4-bf5b-4f4bf8bb1ce8.html

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Film tax credits trial to begin amid Louisiana budget crunch

 

By The Associated Press

A film production tax credit program that has been lauded for making Louisiana home to productions such as “NCIS: New Orleans” and “12 Years a Slave” is also lamented for its cost to state government. And it’s at the center of a federal criminal trial opening in New Orleans on Monday (April 13).

The defendants are two film industry executives and a New Orleans lawyer. They are accused of taking part in a scheme to bilk the state out of more than $1.1 million in film tax credits.

But in a sense, the film credit program is on trial as well, and not just in New Orleans. Coincidentally, the federal case opens on the same day that the Louisiana Legislature’s annual session begins up the highway in Baton Rouge. Among the issues as the state deals with a projected $1.6 billion budget shortfall for the next fiscal year: Whether and how to rein in a film tax credit program that cost the state $220 million last year. There also are bills to tighten auditing requirements and oversight because of concerns about fraud.

Estimates of the credit program’s economic effect vary. A recent state-financed study estimated the film industry, in 2013, brought in $1.2 billion in sales and $811 million in household earnings, supporting as many as 13,175 direct and indirect jobs. A rosier estimate for the same year came from the Motion Picture Association of America and the Louisiana Film Entertainment Association: 33,520 direct and indirect jobs, $1.2 billion in household income and $4 billion in economic activity.

Critics say the benefits come at too high a price. Meanwhile, periodic scandals have marked the program, like the one in which prominent players and coaches for the New Orleans Saints were victimized by a man, sentenced to prison in 2010, who sold tax credits he never actually obtained.

In the trial that opens Monday, the defendants are Peter and Susan Hoffman, identified in court documents as an estranged husband and wife and principals in Seven Arts Entertainment and related companies; and Michael Arata, a New Orleans lawyer also involved in the film business.

The law at the heart of the case lets movie production companies get a tax credit — at the time of the alleged crime it was up to 40 percent — of certain infrastructure costs. Those are defined as the “purchase, construction and use of facilities that were directly related to and utilized for motion picture production in Louisiana.” If tax credits earned exceed the business’s actual tax liability, the credits may be sold to another party that wants to use the credit to pay off its liabilities.

Federal authorities say the Hoffmans and Arata, through companies they owned, bought the dilapidated Whann-Bohn mansion at 807 Esplanade Ave. just outside the French Quarter in 2007, with plans to turn it into a post-production facility. The alleged crime was using fraudulent documents to obtain tax credits for work that was not actually done on the renovated mansion, credits that Arata purchased at a discount from his partners, then sold at a profit to local businesses and people.

The defendants have pleaded not guilty. Aside from various technical legal issues, the defense includes the fact that the Esplanade mansion was indeed renovated into a production and post-production facility operating since 2012. Amid defense documents is a brochure touting the facility’s role in productions including the movie “Ransom” and the HBO “True Detectives” series.

. . . . . . .

Story by Kevin McGill with Melinda Deslatte, The Associated Press.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2015/04/film_tax_credits_trial_louisia.html

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  • 2 weeks later...

Cut or Keep Rolling on Unprofitable TV and Film Tax Credits?

 

By Michael Geist

 

The Nova Scotia government has been embroiled in a high profile controversy for the past week following its decision to slash tax credits available to film and television production in the province. The decision sparked an immediate backlash from the industry, which staged a major protest last Wednesday across from the legislature in Halifax.

While the government's approach is certainly open to criticism -- abruptly cutting the tax credits without warning may force the cancellation of long-planned productions this summer -- the larger question of whether it should provide massive tax relief to the film and television industry is an important one. Eliminating or cutting the programs is politically difficult given the star power associated with film and television production, yet a growing number of studies have found that film and television tax credits do not deliver much bang for the buck.

The widespread use of film and television production tax subsidies dates back more than two decades as states and provinces used them to lure productions with the promise of new jobs and increased economic activity. The proliferation of subsidies and tax credits created a race to the bottom, where ever-increasing incentives were required to distinguish one province or state from the other.

In recent years, governments have begun to rethink the strategy. States such as Arizona, Michigan, New Mexico, and Iowa suspended or capped their programs. Louisiana found that it lost $170 million in tax revenue in a single year. In Canada, the Quebec government's taxation review committee recently admitted that its provincial film production tax credit was not profitable and that numerous studies find that there is little economic spinoff activity.

But the most notable Canadian study on the issue has never been publicly released and is rarely discussed. The Ontario government's Ministry of Finance conducted a detailed review of the issue in 2011, delivering a sharply negative verdict on the benefits associated with spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year in tax credits. It recommended eliminating a 25 per cent tax credit for foreign and non-certified domestic productions that would have saved $155 million per year.

Credits don't create good jobs

A copy of the presentation to cabinet, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, identifies at least four major problems with the provincial film and television tax credit approach.

First, rather than encouraging increased spending, government subsidies represent the majority of financing for film and television production. In 2010, tax credits, grants, and other public funding mechanisms subsidized approximately 60 per cent of all Ontario-based film and television production spending. Moreover, the corporations that claim tax credits pay no tax at all, with the total value of the tax credits being six times greater than the total tax income of domestic claimants.

Second, the sector is becoming more dependent on government support. In 1998, film tax credit expenditures constituted six per cent of production costs. Ten years later, there were fewer productions in Ontario, but the film tax credit expenditures were responsible for 30 per cent of the costs.

Third, the mounting government expenditures might be justified if it resulted in the creation of long-term high paying jobs. However, the Ontario government study found that film sector wages were below the provincial average and that many of those jobs were temporary, project-based ones.

Fourth, evidence suggests that other factors beyond tax incentives play a key role in determining the location of production activity. For example, the Ontario experience over the past two decades shows that foreign production is typically highest when the Canadian dollar is low relative to the U.S. dollar.

While the economic evidence to support film and television tax credits is weak, that does not mean that governments should not support the industry since the importance of culture extends beyond dollars and cents. Nova Scotia's decision may be unpopular with some, but it is likely to be emulated by other governments as they assess how to support the film and television industry in a more economically responsible and effective manner.

http://thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2015/04/21/TV-Film-Tax-Credits/

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You live in a dream world Bryan, do you think that if all CDN and US jurisdictions eliminated their film tax credits that all production would suddenly shift back to LA? Not gonna happen. Even without a tax credit there are a number of other considerations that producers use to determine where to shoot a film, like foreign exchange rates and escaping the jurisdiction of unions. Why are so many US movies shooting in places like Romania even though Romania does not have a tax credit?

 

Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan, all had very small film industries, so yes the tax credit was of little benefit. Oh you may not know this but Canada has a federal tax credit that applies in all 10 provinces anyway, so I could still shoot in the afore mentioned provinces and still receive a tax credit.

 

Ontario on the other hand has a huge service industry, and it's highly unlikely that Ontario will ever cancel their provincial tax credit, especially since Quebec will maintain theirs through thick and thin.

 

Ontario also has a long list of equity programs for film that do not exist in other parts of the world, like TeleFilm (useless for most), CMF, NOHFC, Ontario Arts Council, etc etc.

 

R,

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Ok Brian you can un-cork the champagne, Ontario cut their foreign tax credit to 21.5% from 25%. This is the one used primarily by US based productions. It's believed that the lower CDN dollar will offset the reduction.

 

So, it's still going, at a lower rate. No changes for people like me using the Canadian content tax credit. How can I shoot in South Africa and still claim the Canadian tax credits you may ask? Easy, international treaty co-production :)

 

R,

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you guys realize this argument has been going on for 5 years.

 

It's epic. And somewhat of a history of tax credits.

 

R,

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Read a great deal of this thread. Been following it on and off. Just my view, opinion, etc.

 

Reducing the Canadian tax credits alone is never going to bring film production back to the U.S. U.S. state tax credits or incentives are probably never going to create a sustainable film industry in a state where it never existed in the first place either.

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I'm not sure Brian is really trying to present this as a way to get more work back to LA. Well, perhaps he wouldn't mind that, but most of this is just how bad an idea it is from a national finances point of view - which at this point I think is a position that barely needs further support. I'm both irritated and embarrassed that UK and Irish subsidies are currently making Hollywood so much money, especially as it's being presented as a way to get the "british film industry" going.

 

If it's about building an industry you have to create the market. If there's money to be made serving said market, the rest of it will happen organically. The reason we (and other places) have no film industry is because of complete American domination of the distribution market.

 

Fixing that requires political will to act, and since practically all modern politicians are cowardly, poorly-informed short-termist idiots obsessed with moment-to-moment popularity above absolutely everything, this is difficult.

 

P

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South Africa is packed solid with US productions right now, I am having trouble getting both equipment and crew. I am getting by but, it's not easy to pick up the phone and get what you need, you usually hear....oh XYZ American production already has that, sorry.

 

If I was an American or Canadian film worker I would be concerned about jurisdictions like South Africa sucking up their jobs. The exchange rate is 12 Rand to the US dollar, so a even a small amount like a hundred thousand US dollars goes a very long way here.

 

Plus there are no unions to deal with, and the crews are excellent. My camera operator is Adi Visser, have a look at this guys credits on IMDB, wow, who on this board can compete with him?

 

Watch out US and Canada, South Africa wants, and is going to get, your film job. I know I'll be back here!!

 

Do I feel guilty not employing Canadian unionized film workers? HA! Not in a million years. That group has shafted me more times than I can count. And I am avoiding the deplorable Canadian weather.

 

R,

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Musicians' union sues Warner Bros., Paramount and MGM over outsourcing

 

 


The dispute between Hollywood musicians and major studios over the outsourcing of musical scoring is now shifting to the courts.
The American Federation of Musicians has sued Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, alleging the studios violated a 2010 collective bargaining agreement requiring that films produced in North America must also be scored in North America.
The American Federation of Musicians has sued Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, alleging the studios violated a 2010 collective bargaining agreement requiring that films produced in North America must also be scored in North America.
The American Federation of Musicians has previously organized rallies against Marvel Studios for hiring London musicians to work on such movies as "The Avengers" and "Iron Man 3" even though those films were shot in the United States.

Last year, the union singled out Lionsgate, protesting the studio's decision to hire foreign musicians to play music on such movies as "The Hunger Games" that filmed in U.S. with the support of taxpayer subsidies.

The AFM is facing a tough task, however.

Musicians traditionally could count on film work being done in L.A. even when a movie was filmed elsewhere because of the high level of talent here.

But more production is leaving the state as studios take advantage of tax benefits and rebates that aren't available in California.

The number of movie scoring jobs has declined at least 50% in the last five years, the union said last year.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-musicians-lawsuit-20150427-story.html?track=rss&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=1434699

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BAH, the non-union musicians in Prague would blow away any of the LA people.

 

And that's the real issue...LA hasn't had a lock on the best people for any film dept in 20+ years.

 

R,

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LA's $75/hour musicians wonder why they are losing work?

And Londoners are now 'foreigners?

For $75/hour I'd learn the cello myself.

 

Looking at that a bit differently how many musicians will ever be working (8hours x 75) x 5 days a week [or even 3 days] x 40 weeks?

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  • 4 months later...

Two CDN provinces already killed theirs, but Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, had such tiny tiny film industries anyway.

 

Plus the federal tax credit that applies to all provinces is still there. That is one thing the USA does not have, any sort of national film tax credit that applies in all 50 states.

 

R,

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