There must be some level of tax strategy across these streaming platforms to get a video series to pay for a buildout of IT infrastructure that then gets added

There must be some level of tax strategy across these streaming platforms to get a video series to pay for a buildout of IT infrastructure that then gets added to its general AWS service (or iCloud etc). Many US states have wildly generous film tax credits, so it’s almost conning these states into footing the bill for the next AWS data center. (Edit: NZ is paying 25% into this project as an economic and tourism generator) As others have pointed out, this is a lot of money for a series without recognizable names, so potentially the true cost of production is a very overpriced contract for digital services. The article cites “expensive costumes and elaborate sets” as a cost driver, I guess we will have to wait and see, but that seems like a cover. To quote Arrested Development, “It’s one banana, Michael! What could it cost, $10?” Nonetheless, exciting to see an updated and hopefully more approachable journey into Middle Earth. I love LOTR, but cannot get my family excited to hunker down for a 3+ hour movie compared to watching 1hr chunks of tv series.