LIFT Productions

LIFT Productions (an acronym for Louisiana Institute of Film Technology) was the first concerted private sector effort to combat "runaway production" of film and television from the United States. In the 1990s the U.S. market lost over 100,000 production-related jobs,^[1] as motion picture and television programming increasingly became manufactured offshore.^[2] The outflow of work was in large part due to lucrative incentives offered by Canada, its provinces, and European Union members.

In 2002, at the urging of LIFT founders Malcolm Petal and John J Anderson, Louisiana passed a first-in-the-nation incentive program to compete directly with Canada. LIFT quickly leveraged those incentives to become one of the largest global manufacturers of made-for-television movies, low-budget feature films, music videos, and commercials. During its first five years of operation, LIFT was responsible for well over a billion dollars in production.

By 2007 LIFT had spread throughout the State of Louisiana, as well as opening satellite production houses in Arizona and Connecticut. It had also broken ground on a $200,000,000 production complex in downtown New Orleans.

However, in June 2007 Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided LIFT's offices, making sweeping accusations of fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion, valued at tens of millions of dollars. Despite the sensational allegations, the investigation petered out, officially closing in 2009 without uncovering any crimes, fraud or abuse at LIFT. CEO and founder Malcolm Petal pleaded guilty in an unrelated bribery case. By that time, though, LIFT was a defunct organization. Its creditors continue to sue the State of Louisiana which refuses to honor tax incentives promised to LIFT, despite the fact that LIFT was cleared of any wrongdoing.^[3]