Film Office Meetings

So, here's how it all began.

I got word that Christine Grozik was no longer with the Ohio Film Office. Since the office is so new and the tax incentives had just passed in the state, I was concerned that the position had been evacuated so early.

I posted the news item on Facebook and literally within minutes I had a private reply from someone looking for information so a resume could be sent. I furnished the contacts, but the next day was informed that the office had not filled the position, but that it was not available to the person who had applied, possibly because of the state's woeful budget. Either way, to not fill this position in a newly formed office under newly pass tax legislation was a kick in the teeth to Ohio's filmmakers, and I decided that I was not going to sit back and wait to see what was going to happen next.

I asked for a meeting with Alicia Reese, who's with the department of travel and tourism and is overseeing the film office in the interim, and Kimber Perfect, who's the chief communications and marketing officer with the Ohio Department of Development, which oversees the Ohio Film Office. Gail Mezey, director of the Greater Columbus Film Commission also came to the meeting.

First issue on the table: the position of director of the film office. They informed me that the person who said that the position was unavailable was misinformed. The ODOD hopes to fill the position by September, and they already have a nice clutch of candidates.

Second item: Funding for the office. Since the office was formed, it has been slave to the budgets of the Ohio Department of Tourism. When tourism ate into the budget it left less to work with for the film office. Either way, it was a pleasant surprise to learn that when the new budget passed, the Ohio Film Office was given it's own budget and will no longer be under the tourism budget.

As an aside, a note about Alicia Reese. I don't know her very well, but my first impression was very positive. Despite working under the tourism banner, Ms. Reese was well-informed and very willing to share information about the Film Office. On top of that, she agreed to meet with me on very short notice, as did Kimber and Gail, so any assumptions that nobody is willing to talk to the film community is unfounded. Their door was wide open, and I was made to feel welcome. Further, regarding Gail Mezey, all one needs to do is visit FilmColumbus.com or read her posts on the Mid Ohio Filmmakers Association Facebook page to know that there are opportunities for work out there, and that she's working hard to make sure we know about them.

Another note regarding the state budget... under the new budget, none of the city film commissions in the state are funded under any state budgets. It's now up to the cities they inhabit to fund those offices. Columbus is in a financial dungeon so we're going to need to help out our film office where we can both with our volunteer time and our financial support. Perhaps a nice film festival and fund-raiser is in order?

Third item on the slate: Tax incentives. Several filmmakers wrote to me and suggested that all of the money from the tax incentives were going to go to Cleveland, leaving Columbus and Cincinnati with nothing. The tax incentives were not set up to necessarily go to any specific place or person. They're first-come, first-served. If Cleveland just happens to have a qualified production underway before anyone else, they're going to get the first of the incentives up to $5-million dollars (the $10-million in incentives is capped at $5M per production, which means two big productions can clean out the incentives for this year. Next year we'll have $20M in incentives, but I'm not sure of the "per-production" breakdown for that.) It has to do with preparedness, not preferential treatment.

Another person mentioned that we needed to try to match Pennsylvania's incentive level. The rumor mill is churning about PA because their incentives may be short-lived. Indeed, North Carolina - a strong film making state - recently cut their incentives. Folks, there is a strong argument against tax incentives in a state without a thriving self-motivated film industry. If a big production comes here, say a $20M production, the state of Ohio will give them $5M, or 25% of the production budget up to $5M per production. The amount goes up if they hire Ohio crew. The problem is that Ohio is a mess financially and we don't have $5M to give. One would argue that the payroll taxes of the crew employed for the film will make up the difference, but in all actuality they won't even scratch the surface. Here's how it was explained to me:

1) So we now have a 25% tax rebate. So lets say a movie is being made in Ohio that is 20M… so the tax refund will be 5 M.

2) Basically the state is out 5 M in taxes BUT the state gets money back with all the money that is spent in our state right? Like taxes pertaining to wages and sales tax correct?

3) For the sake of argument lets assume that 50% of the production cost is labor. Estimated new income tax revenue on labor is $350,000. That is IF the production hires Ohio crews. .

4) Estimated Sale tax for goods and services would be $ 775,000

5) Add the income tax revenue and the sales tax revenue the New Tax revenue from the picture would be about 1.1M.

6) The loss to the state would be 3.9 Million dollars

Lowering the floor for tax incentives was brought up several times, and the film offices fought for that as well but the prevailing attitude was that the legislature wants Hollywood to come here with their big buzz and their big budgets. Alas, we will have to build our own incentives for smaller productions by recruiting investors and making sure those investors get paid back with a nice dividend. But then again - who knows what the future will hold?

In one instance the lower floor was specific to high-end commercials that we have lost to other states. Perhaps another measure needs to be introduced that's separate from the film incentives that cover things like commercials and corporate projects. It's a different industry so it possibly deserves its own legislation. Start calling your state leaders and asking about it.

Increasing the incentive level was also suggested more than once for sheer competitiveness, but again - the potential loss to the state is already hefty. The legislation is brand new - let's give it a chance to walk before we start asking it to go for a run.

These losses could be mitigated a bit if our Ohio film industry was stronger and contributing to the tax base more regularly (in theory).

Another comment made was about training our home-bases workforce to be more professional and more adept so when big productions come here we'd have more to offer, which could help reduce the amount of crew a production would need to import. The antithesis to that position is in the union argument. If a union production comes in, they're going to want to hire union workers. There's not a lot going on here as far as that goes, but there is one, union 209. This is how that was explained to me:

"As far as the unions go, if that person joins the 209.. they are in a crew union. Union commercial jobs come there and they hire folks from the 209 because it is the only union that exists here in Ohio for crew. These are script supers, grips, gaffers etc. The 209 is flexible with crew people here, and will let them work on non-union jobs too... it's called a financial core. There are plenty of people that work in other "crew" union's in this state. They worked on union jobs as a P.A. or whatever in the department they wanted to get their union card in and then accumulated hours for it... then they were in the union."

I further suggested that as far as training, if someone were willing to seek out an intern position in a filmmaking area... L.A., New York, even Vancouver, that's a great way to learn, and that knowledge could be brought back to Ohio. Finances are an issue with that, but it's an option.

Another person started talking about marketing and indeed, this is an area that I'm not so patient about. Marketing is a cumulative endeavor. Not one sole office or person can do it alone to a project's full potential. Furthermore, many productions aren't going the distance as far as getting the word out. The specific comment came as a result of poor attendance at the Oxford International Film Fest. I am under the opinion that a film office, no matter if it's on a state or a city level, should not only be working to get productions to come here, but should also be working to get the word out about the work that has been done or is being done here. For the film offices, staffing is an issue, so once again I suggested hiring interns to help with office communications. These communications need to be spread far and wide. In thriving film communities, everyone is talking about it. Either something's being done nearby, they're wanting to do something like act or write or whatever. Until our own people start talking about film and getting excited about film, the word won't spread far or fast enough.

You want filmmaking in Ohio to be sexy to those outside of it? Talk about it! Blog about it! Get others talking about it. Spread the word and shout it out loud. Don't wait for someone else to do it for you. Sure, ask for help, but help yourself too.

On top of that sentiment, Gail reminded me of something equally important - it should be a part of every production's business plan to promote their work. It should be a part of every film festival's preparation to promote their event, not just to the area or region, but to the state and beyond. A line item on the back page of Variety is a start, but if we can do better we should do better. The social networking pages are helpful, but they should not be relied upon to the negligence of good old fashioned media, phone calls and fax machines. Every event and production can hire - wait for it - INTERNS to do their press. Interns are cheap or free and they receive college credit and good resume credentials for the work they do. I have an intern helping me with the 48 Hour Film Project this year.

There are a TON a grant opportunities available for filmmakers as well, but they aren't often sought. Gail Mezey provided me with a huge list - she can do the same for you.

One person asked a question specifically about the animation industry, and to me that sounded more like a question for a venture capitalist or entrepreneur. Benefits to a specific genre isn't in question - if an animated film qualifies for a tax incentive, as long as there are still some available, they will receive some benefits. But as far as drawing in new businesses, that's up to entrepreneurs. They're going to have to build something of quality that can also compete with the middle-east in value for the dollar, and that may be tough. BUT - rumor has it that an animation company is setting sights on Ohio as well as other potential sites, so keep your fingers crossed.

I got a comment about the need for transparency. This is one area that didn't go over very well in our meetings. I mentioned that we have people in our industry who would definitely attend the focus group meetings if they were open to the public like a City Council meeting is, but the suggestion was completely deflected. I brought it up a second time and they suggested that all information can go to their website via e-mail and that suggestions could be handled that way.

Folks, one problem I see is that they seem to be building everything around their new website. They mentioned their website many times during our meeting. Sure, you can e-mail and get information. Sure, you can sign up and get e-mails about whatever is going on. But to me a webpage is like a speedbump that's built too big. You can see over it and get something out of it, but you can't get over it to really dig in. Again, their doors are open, but in the case of the focus group meetings, the doors are closed for whatever reason. This is one area that we need to focus on getting changed so we can at least attend the meetings and offer opinions via e-mail after they're over.

This is what I have so far as far as the outcome from my meetings in Columbus. All in all they provided some decent information, while also deflecting other questions I would like to have had answered.

Bottom line, the film office is in diapers. So are the tax incentives. We're just getting started here. We need to come together as a community and figure how to fill in the gaps left behind by the bureaucratic machine and the Hollywood-bait level incentives. We need to recruit our own investors and make sure they get paid back, plus 15-20%. We need to take it upon ourselves to get educated and trained in our chosen craft. We need to seek out grants and other financing options. We need to stop blaming others and expecting others to do our work for us.

If we work as a community and support each other, and help the film offices help us in turn we'll have a much stronger film industry that will be vibrant from within and ready for the challenges of what lies beyond.

...and that's the way I see it.