Demand More from your local film industry

[mdpeter]

http://clevelandfilm.blogspot.com/

If you are unhappy about the current state your film industry…Demand More.

If you want better support from the film commissions, Nehst Studios, the Beacon Journal and Plain Dealer, the mayor, Port Authority and other government officials….Demand More.

They may be able to ignore one, two or five people, but it’s hard to ignore 50, 100 or more people who make their voices heard.

The Greater Cleveland Film Commission is here to serve and benefit Clevelanders, not the other way around. The commission is paid through government grants, so the commission head’s six-figure salary is being paid by the citizens. Part of their directive is to create new jobs, and, on more than one instance, they have promised thousands of new jobs. Numerous sources have told us that the film commission is counting unpaid intern positions as “newly created jobs.” The availability of training programs, besides the overpriced "bootcamps," has been severely lacking. If you want to see them provide more support for local filmmakers….Demand More.

Rich Swerbinksy started The Cleveland Fan (twfka Swerbsblurbs.com) four years ago, because he wanted to give fans a voice and to provide a reporting alternative to the ABJ and PD. His site has been very beneficial to the local sports community. Those newspapers’ recent coverage of the local film industry has been nothing more than glorified press releases and fluff pieces. The Cleveland Film News blog has contacted editors and reporters at the Plain Dealer and Beacon Journal on numerous occasions, and most of these inquiries have been ignored. These media sources are dependent on their readers, so their reporting should be unbiased and of the highest standards. If you think their coverage and articles are lacking and that they should be held accountable for the information they report….Demand More.

The Mayor, Cuyahoga County, the City of Cleveland, Port Authority and other local government institutions are working very hard to provide Larry Meistrich and Nehst Studios with public assistance and funding, funding that comes from the good folks of Northeast Ohio. Again, all of these entities are here to serve you, not the other way around. Make sure that they always have your best interest in mind. If you want more say in how your money is used or want better accounting from these officials….Demand More.

Many promises have been made in regards to the local film industry in the past two years:

Nehst Studios has a $250 million film fund

Strangeland 2, Cleopatra Smiles and The Kid Who Only Hits Homers to be filmed in Cleveland

Screentest.biz will provide Clevelanders with legit film roles

The film projects on Screentest.biz are fully-funded and greenlit

Meistrich promised to spend $125 on film productions if the tax credit was passed

Nehst will bring production of $80 million to $100 million of moviemaking -two years'
output-to a production center at the Cleveland Convention Center

Nine movies will pay $9.46 million in wages to more than 3,700 locals, and another $24.3 million to area businesses

Per Ivan Schwarz, Nehst could employ the equivalent of 1,500 full-time workers

If you are not satisfied with the progress made to fulfill these many promises….Demand More.

Individuals who are divided can easily be dismissed, but united voices in the film community are very powerful and will definitely be heard. Filmmakers and crew members should be in charge of the local film industry. If you want changes to occur, then make them happen.

[Rat_Tail]

I really really really hope this takes off and brings a decent film industry to Cleveland.

[motherscratcher]

I really really really hope this takes off and brings a decent film industry to Cleveland.

Dude, this guy pops up every few weeks and starts another thread with this type of nonsense that nobody reads or gives a shit about. Don't encourage him.

His favorite player is Andy Marte for Chrissakes.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Who is this "Andy Marte" you speak off?

[Triple-S]

hehehehehe "peter".

[jb]

Who is this "Andy Marte" you speak off?

A great prospect who would blossom if he only got enough AB's.

[Rat_Tail]

I really really really hope this takes off and brings a decent film industry to Cleveland.

Dude, this guy pops up every few weeks and starts another thread with this type of nonsense that nobody reads or gives a shit about. Don't encourage him.

His favorite player is Andy Marte for Chrissakes.

Dude, this would actually be a really good thing for Cleveland.

And to think we gave up Coco for him.

[Hikohadon]

There are 3 reasons why demanding anything from an Ohio Film Commission is a waste of time:

1. Weather.

Let's say you're shooting EXT. FOREST - DAY. The sun is shining brightly.

Well, here in Ohio (especially this time of year), those conditions come and go quickly.

2. Ohio is not a Tax Incentive State. http://www.taxcreditsllc.com/Map.htm

Got to hang out with my roommate from college last week - he lives in CA, but was in the area for a few weeks for a film shoot. The movie is set in Ohio. The film is shooting in West Virginia. Why? Because of the tremendous amounts of money a production of that size saves by shooting in a state with tax incentives.

3. Because no one shoots here, there is no established/experienced film community to tap into.

Unless you're doing local commercial production or perhaps industrials, you're not going to make a living in Film/TV Production. The Indie Film Industry isn't even a notion here, no TV shows shoot here, very few music videos, very few feature films - and those that do shoot here shoot as quickly as possible with their mainly out-of-state cast and crew and head back for the studios near where their homes and families are.

I'm sure Newark, NJ has a Tourism Board, and someone that mans that post and is expected to generate interest in that community. And I bet he/she doesn't get much accomplished either.

[Rat_Tail]

Weather isn't that big of an issue considering Ohio and New York pretty much have the same weather. Any groggy Cleveland day could be fixed in post-production if needed.

Ohio is working to become a Tax Incentive State.

The legislature passed such a bill in 2007, but Gov. Ted Strickland vetoed it. This year, the House and Senate passed separate versions of a bill to grant tax credits to draw the film industry to Ohio. Statehouse watchers say that the Senate Republican leadership has shown no interest in the House Democrats' plan and vice-versa; the matter remains at a stalemate.

If this can get passed everything is a go-go.

The company plans to train crewmembers and make the films using as many local workers as possible, Meistrich said. He wants to be ready to hire crew as soon as an Ohio tax credit is passed.

"We are preparing as if there is one," Meistrich said. "We believe that that is coming."

And just because it's not here now doesn't mean it can't be established.


http://www.cleveland.com/movies/index.s ... lm_st.html

[Hikohadon]

Weather isn't that big of an issue considering Ohio and New York pretty much have the same weather. Any groggy Cleveland day could be fixed in post-production if needed.

Ohio is working to become a Tax Incentive State.

The legislature passed such a bill in 2007, but Gov. Ted Strickland vetoed it. This year, the House and Senate passed separate versions of a bill to grant tax credits to draw the film industry to Ohio. Statehouse watchers say that the Senate Republican leadership has shown no interest in the House Democrats' plan and vice-versa; the matter remains at a stalemate.

If this can get passed everything is a go-go.

The company plans to train crewmembers and make the films using as many local workers as possible, Meistrich said. He wants to be ready to hire crew as soon as an Ohio tax credit is passed.

"We are preparing as if there is one," Meistrich said. "We believe that that is coming."

And just because it's not here now doesn't mean it can't be established.


http://www.cleveland.com/movies/index.s ... lm_st.html

So your largely intelligible posts are suddenly gossip?

OK. I believe the heyday of the horse-drawn carriage is still before us. So there.

They shoot in New York because IT IS NEW YORK.

They would LOVE it if New York relocated to Arizona.

If Ohio passes a Tax Incentive Bill, sure, they'll come. Because Tax Incentive Plans are an ass rape. When states realize that, "Damn, we're losing money on this deal", they shut those plans the fuck down.

States always lose money on the deal. They think that a 40% tax credit will be counteracted by what the film spends in state. But they fail to realize that all significant crew will be brought in from out of state, that all hotel rates will be negotiated, that almost all camera, grip, and electric equiptment will be shipped in (don't think they don't have deals with local houses). Production Company spends local dollars on PA's, locations (a tenth of the cost from the major cities, if that), and hotels.

Whooppedee fuckin' doo.

My friend that is working on that film in WV? Even their Craft Service Company is from Atlanta. It's the major provider of fattening treats for film shoots on the East Coast, and they (the company) don't feel the need to take a chance with the local fare when they could just have what they know (from out of state) for a couple dollars extra.

There's a certain pool of money set aside for these film tax incentives, and when that (shockingly) runs dry, the film companies run off somewhere else.

Many of my friends were complaining 5-10 years ago that ALL the jobs were going off to Canada. If you weren't shooting in Vancouver, you were shooting in Toronto.

But that well eventually dried up when the Canadian government realized that they were losing dough on the deal. Fortunately for the film industry, there were plenty of states ready to take up the slack.

Sounds nice and glamorous, to have Major League 6 shooting in Cleveland (since they shot all the stadium scenes for the first one in Milwaukee).

But when the incentive (aka bribe) runs dry, they'll gladly shoot in Iowa and just figure that most of the people watching the movie won't know the difference between Cleveland and Des Moines anyway.

[Rat_Tail]

I understand what you're saying about the state losing money, but if does do what it's supposed to (create jobs) then I'm all for it.

I don't really know what you're trying to get at with the camera equipment being brought in. Isn't that a given? That equipment is ridiculously expensive and can't be bought just anywhere.

But can you tell me more about your friend? Like what company does he work for? What is his position? How does he like working in the industry? What has he been apart of?

[Cerebral_DownTime]

How come Hollywood never contacts me to be in the movin' pictures?

[Hikohadon]

I understand what you're saying about the state losing money, but if does do what it's supposed to (create jobs) then I'm all for it.

I don't really know what you're trying to get at with the camera equipment being brought in. Isn't that a given? That equipment is ridiculously expensive and can't be bought just anywhere.

Well, you can buy it anywhere, but, yeah, you'd have to rent it out enought that it paid for itself, and that just ain't gonna happen in Ohio. You can rent camera equipment here, but only basic stuff, so companies bring their own packages with them. Now, in Miami, they had enough shoots come into town that they had a local camera house with the works, so even though most of the production companies were from out of town, they rented locally.

Film shoots only creates jobs as long as the production is town. Once they leave town, so do the jobs.

The average shoot will be a month or two on location. They shoot the rest of it in studios back west.

Trying to get film productions to shoot in your state is fool's gold. Unless you can get movies to shoot where you are again and again, it does nothing really for your local economy other than a couple month shot in the arm. And Ohio will never become a place where they shoot movies a lot. The weather is one thing. Another is that California is a long way away, and housing the crew gets expensive, so they just set everything in LA. Last, Ohio's landscape is hardly unique. You can shoot in Iowa and call it Ohio and no one will know the difference - just send a 2nd Unit to Cleveland for a weekend to get the city shots and shoot the rest of it wherever you want.

So since these companies are bringing in their camera/grip/electic equipment, that's more money that isn't going into the local economy. So, really, the only money these film companies would bring into Ohio would be hotel rentals, local businesses (restaurants, grocery stores, etc.), location fees, and maybe insurance costs. Oh, and a couple of local PA's to drive the cast and crew around. It's negligible, it doesn't last very long, and certainly isn't worth the huge tax incentives that the state shells out for these guys to come here.

[Hikohadon]

But can you tell me more about your friend? Like what company does he work for? What is his position? How does he like working in the industry? What has he been apart of?

Like most people in the film industry, my friend is freelance. He works in the special effects make-up department. Sometimes he gets to do monsters and the like, but usually he just does gore and tattoos. Fake noses, bald caps, stuff like that. Monsters are all CG anymore.

He likes it, but this is what he's wanted to do his whole life. He started working in make-up effects when he was in high school, so, in college, he was always the guy everyone else in film school came to when they needed an effect of some kind. I can't remember all what he's worked on... Zombieland, Planet of the Apes, Cat in the Hat, The Grinch, that last Indy Jones movie... that's some. His skill set is very specialized, so there's some demand. Still, every job is different, so you get on a bad show with a dickhead producer or an actor who's shooting up or a prick for a department head, and it can still suck. You're freelance - you don't get to work with the same people all the time.

I too worked in that industry for several years, but I did NOT like it. I tried a bunch of different departments - camera, assistant director, props, coordinator, grip, electric - and none of them was really awesome enough that I wanted to live that freelance lifestyle or work with some of the pricks you have to work with. There were plenty of cool people too, but they usually weren't the ones running the show. I don't know if there's a guide out there that if you make it to a certain level you are required to act like a dick and lose all perspective, but that's what usually happened. And it wasn't worth it.

The money started to get good, so I quit because I didn't want to get trapped like a lot of the people I worked with, people that weren't qualified to do anything else that would make nearly what they made in film, so they were pretty much stuck. Those poor, hollowed-out lifers, wondering where the years went (I'll tell you - they went to 18 hour days and 7 day weeks).

That's my personal opinion of course. My friend might tell you differently. But since he's only ever wanted to do one thing and he's doing it and he has absolutely no backup plan, I guess he'd put a happy face on it even if he hated the biz.

[skatingtripods]

How come Hollywood never contacts me to be in the movin' pictures?

Because Billy Crystal already made a shitty movie with a freakishly tall man.