“After four years and a long deliberation we have decided to move the production of ‘Veep' to Los Angeles,” the channel said in a statement sent to The Baltimore Sun. “Maryland has been home to many vital HBO projects, from ‘The Corner' to ‘The Wire' to ‘Game Change,' and the support has always been extraordinary. The producers and HBO would like to thank Maryland for making the last four seasons of ‘Veep' such a success. We look forward to returning with another production in the future.”
“We will miss having ‘Veep' shoot in Baltimore and are sorry to see them leave,” Debbie Dorsey, director of the Baltimore Film Office, said of the series that stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus. “This hurts not only Baltimore's creative culture, but it hurts our economy as well. When any kind of company shuts down, there are jobs lost and small businesses that lose income. HBO's ‘Veep' was no exception. ‘Veep' utilized an average of 1,000 businesses each season — 400 of which were Baltimore City small businesses and hired about 1,000 Marylanders each season and created an economic impact of $114 million over the course of three seasons.”
Like Netflix's “House of Cards,” HBO came to Maryland in part because of incentives. “Veep” received $6.5 million from the state, but California offered more.
Film tax credits generated debate in Annapolis in 2014 after the producers of “House of Cards” threatened to relocate their sound stage from Harford County unless the show received more subsidies.
Lawmakers did not agree to the amount “House of Cards” wanted, but the series decided to stay.
Season 4 of “House of Cards,” which has begun filming, could be the last show shot in Maryland, and if it leaves, the state will be out of the big leagues of TV and film production.
