#Duck dynasty cast tv#
If a state decides that it wants to subsidize film and TV productions – as dozens of states are now doing – it makes some sense to incentivize risk-taking endeavors like the Duck Dynasty pilot. We know from previous studies that every dollar the state spends on tax credits brings in around 15 cents in new tax revenue to the state, which means the more money the Robertsons earn, the less money the state has to spend on road repairs, college textbooks, health care and public safety.Īnd here we get to the big problem with Louisiana’s film program. That’s more than eight times the $39,823 median income in Ouachita Parish, where the Robertsons live. After paying a mere $38,433 per episode when the show was finding an audience, state taxpayers are now kicking in $328,521 for each half-hour episode. This next table shows how much Louisiana taxpayers will cough up for the first three seasons of the show.Īdd it all up and Louisiana will pay a little more than $6.2 million for the first 41 episodes of Duck Dynasty, and probably a good deal more once the producers submit their receipts for seasons four through six and beyond. And the taxpayers’ liability was skyrocketing as well. By Season 3, the cast was being paid nearly 15 times as much as in season one – more than $6 million for 11 episodes.
And the Robertson family was suddenly getting paid like the overnight sensations they had become. It was, after all, a new show, and no one had any idea how audiences would respond.īut American viewers fell hard for the hirsute waterfowl enthusiasts. The show’s Season 1 budget was fairly modest, and the Robertson clan – then largely unknown – was being paid well, but not extravagantly. Table 1 Duck Dynasty Louisiana budget Season These fall into three categories: Total budget, Louisiana expenditures (the amount eligible for state subsidies), and “on-air talent,” which is part of the Louisiana expenditures and denotes what was paid to the Robertson family and their co-stars. Since most production companies don’t owe Louisiana taxes, the tax credits work as a direct cash subsidy.Ĭheck out LBP’s 2012 report for a detailed background on how the Hollywood tax credits work.Īlthough Duck Dynasty recently began its sixth season, producers have only submitted expense reports for the first three seasons. These tax credits are fully refundable, meaning recipients can redeem them even if they have no state tax liability. For actors (or “on-air talent” like the Robertson family) the deal is even better, as tax credits cover 35 percent of salaries. More importantly, it significantly understates the state’s financial exposure, which stands at $6.2 million and is poised to grow significantly.įirst, some background on the film program: The state gives Hollywood tax credits that cover 30 cents of every dollar spent on film or TV productions in Louisiana. That won’t happen until audits are finished. There are only two problems with this coverage: First, it neglects to mention that the state has yet to fork over a dime to the Duck Dynasty producers. That was followed by coverage in the right-wing blogosphere, and finally a column in Sunday’s Baton Rouge Advocate by James Gill, who pointed out that that Robertson family patriarch, Phil, has been denounced as a hypocrite for criticizing welfare programs at the same time that his family benefits from state subsidies. That the Duck Dynasty cast, which is paid $200,000 per week to appear on the popular reality show, receives government benefits of $70,000 for every episode of the A&E cable show from the state, even though Louisiana recently slashed funding for health care programs and pension programs for public employees such as police, teachers, and firefighters. It appears to have started with an article on the Inquisitr website, quoting an “industry insider” who estimates Instead, the debate revolves around the generous subsidies that Louisiana taxpayers are providing for the producers and cast of the hit A&E reality series.
You may have noticed that Duck Dynasty has been in the news recently, and not just because of the Robertson family’s usual shenanigans.
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