I'm Sorry to See the Film Department Go

Last year Jim Horwitz and I met with some officers from the independent film production company, The Film Department. They were gracious and forthcoming about the issues facing independent producers. At the time of our meeting, they informed us that only about 25% of the independent producers were still in operation (about 11).

I'm sorry to say now there is one less, because The Film Department, despite making over $90 million dollars could not obtain financing to continue in operation. They were left with a film starring lovely Catherine Zeta Jones that was still looking for a distributor and might have to go direct to DVD. What a shame, they were the brightest and the best, and found it impossible to wring the necessary dollars out of the money-men to keep on making good and entertaining movies.

What is wrong with this picture. Everything! (I think that was a pun, but we'll let it pass.) They had to film where they could receive the best tax incentives, and guess what, it wasn't California. So we don't have to worry about their productions running away from California, because there is no longer a production company.

Oh, these talented people will find a way to make movies, or not. Maybe its too darn hard. What do you think?

Sharon

We Met with the Film Department Today

Jim Horwitz and I met with the officers in charge of production at The Film Department. They were gracious with their time, and were, like many of the people we have met from the industry, very interested in getting their point across. They live here, their company is located here, they would rather film in California. But making movies is such a risky business that they must take advantage of every tax incentive that they can get their hands on. In their case, for several reasons, they are not able to apply to the incentive program offered by California.

There used to be 38 independent producers; now there are 11. The industry used to make 650 movies a year; now they make 400.

I could see the wheels turning around in Jim's head during and after the meeting. You can't imagine what an odd couple Jim and I make. Both of us weigh too much and we're older than the hills. But we have a third trait in common. We're both as stubborn as hell. We are not going to drop this campaign, even if we don't know what we're doing yet. We will figure it out.

Sharon

Some Issues Discussed with IFTA

I mentioned before I fell off a cliff that I had a really great meeting with the President and CEO of the Independent Film and Television Alliance. It's taken me this long to write up the notes, and as I promised, I am sharing them with you.
__________________________________________________________________________
Fact Finding Mission

Identifying What can be Done to Keep Film Production in California

June 15, 2010



Meeting Participants:

Jean M. Prewitt - President and Chief Executive Officer - IFTA
Jim Horwitz - Advisor to LA City Councilman Bill Rosendahl
Sharon Spencer Schlesinger - Council District 11 Volunteer


Objective:

Identify specific actions that the LA City Council could take to encourage individual film productions to remain in California.


Background:

There are many groups, organizations, and individuals that have come to the obvious conclusion that California has lost it’s premier position as film capital of the world, or at a minimum had the foundation of that industry severely undermined. Horwitz who has the support of Bill Rosendahl, LA City Council from the 11th District is meeting with various industry leaders to identify what the City can do to make it easier/more feasible to film in California. Schlesinger is a small business owner who has seen the devastating economical impact of unemployment and agreed to volunteer for this fact finding mission.


Preliminary Findings from the Meeting with IFTA:

Jean Prewitt, as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA) provided insight into the issues faced by the independent film producers and what real world solutions might make a difference.

According to Prewitt, “California is coming late to the party…” They’re drinking our milkshake to paraphrase a recent movie line. The ‘they’ meaning, many other states in the US as well as countries around the globe.

We are not marketing ourselves to the international producing community. Other states and countries are actively pitching their locations in the different international film markets. In November 2010, the American Film Market (AFM) will be held at the Loew’s in Santa Monica. Prewitt has never seen anyone marketing California. Will anyone be there? Do we have comprehensive marketing materials that show why anyone would want to film here? All of the progress that the LA City Council, Film LA, the State, the CA Film Commission and others have made needs to be quantified in collateral materials that explain why producers should film here from all around the world.

California’s true advantage is in it’s wealth of choices: many locations have one production facility, California has a myriad of facilities. That is just for starters. But if we don’t market ourselves, we will continue to lose market share.

Seventy percent of films are made by independent film makers, yet they cannot make their own deals with the unions. They are required to follow the same contracts that have been negotiated by the studios. In 2000 there was a failed attempt to negotiate a separate contract between the unions and the independent film makers. Independent film producers have been able to make use of California’s Tax Incentive Programs because the majority of their films have budgets of less than $75 million which is the cut off for application to that program.

Ms Prewitt stated that CA is “not that bad a place to film”. In fact, she suggested that we focus on the number of amazing films that have been made in California. Tourists and producers alike might find a tour of film sights exciting and thought provoking. What better marketing tool do we have than the catalogue of diverse work that has been filmed here.

It was suggested that we look at the comparisons of the different jurisdictions that each producer considers when making a decision as to location for filming. (Usually the comparison is between three different jurisdictions) It would give us some idea of the factors used to made that decision, although at the end of the day the question is, “can you make your numbers?”

Two markets we might focus on are the TV movies of the week made by Lifetime, Sci-Fi, Bravo, Oxygen. Most are made in Canada and the goal is to deliver a movie that looks like it had a budget of $1.5 million for just $750 thousand.

Some additional leaders in the industry that might help us understand the issues are:

NuImage Trevor Short, Avi Lerner, and Danny Dimbort
Cinetel Paul Hertzberg
Summit
Lakeshore
Lionsgate
Morgan Creek

Two other issues of concern discussed were piracy and media consolidation.

Conclusion:

Ms Prewitt was generous with her time and very open. She is on the Board of FilmLA and is a supporter of the effort to make California more competitive to the entertainment industry.

Respectfully submitted
Sharon Spencer Schlesinger

I Learned a Lot Yesterday

Yesterday, Jim Horwitz from LA City Council Bill Rosendahl's office, and I met with Jean M. Prewitt, President and CEO of the Independent Film & Television Alliance. Ms Prewitt was gracious and forthcoming about the problems of the film industry, and about the campaign Jim and I have started to keep production in California. I want to remind my readers that Jim and I are both passionate about the subject, but such outsiders in the industry that when someone of Ms Prewitt's background and position so generously gives of her time and experience it is more a statement about her kindness than about anything Jim or I bring to the table. I feel as if I just took a master's class.

I can't wait to share everything we learned and what we plan to do. But, for the moment, I need to collect my thoughts a bit. I just wanted to share my excitement.

Sharon