The Secret: Georgia Production Partnership - Southern Screen Report

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GPP Continued from Page 1 laborative voice of the industry” according to Burst-Terranella. A non-profit, membership group, GPP membership is open to anyone active in the Georgia film/video, interactive gaming, or music industries. Individuals (small Georgia-based businesses and freelance artists & crew) can join for $75 a year ($25 for students). Corporate memberships are available for businesses at $250 annually. “One thing that GPP does is give an opportunity, once a month at our membership meetings, for everyone who is involved in the industry to have a voice, and to know each other and collaborate. We’ve got independent producers and production companies, post houses, unions, equipment houses, actors –we’ve got every kind of person involved in the industry.” GPP meets the first Tuesday of each month at Manuel’s Tavern in Atlanta, a long-standing gathering place for politicos in this city. “GPP has 200-300 members at any given time. It’s an ever-changing cast of characters at our member meetings,” she adds. GPP membership represents close to 5,000 people in professional and corporate organizations including members of AFTRA/SAG, Cinematographers Local 600, IATSE Local 479, Teamsters Local 728, IMAGE Film and Video Center, Women in Film and Television/Atlanta, AICP Southeast, and corporate members such as Crawford Communications, Lab 601, and Turner Studios. But GPP is about the industry and not the individual, she explains. “We don’t do self-promotion. We have a gentleperson’s agreement that it’s all industry-related. But there is a lot of opportunity to note accomplishments of industry folks.” Beginning Incentives Georgia enjoyed an influx of filmmaking revenue in the 70s and 80s, but in the mid-90s, the state began to lose out to other incentive-driven states and Canada—where it was cheaper to make films. “Many other states were stepping up to the plate with incentives and we needed to have a concerted effort to have an incentive plan in Georgia, and we did not have one. That was our main mission for starting and it continues to be our main mission – to be competitive, and to be friendly so that people want to film here,” she says, describing the beginnings of GPP in 1997. It was then known as the Atlanta Production Partnership. “The incentives are really the name of the game at this point and have been for close to ten years.” GPP is the hand that guides the process of figuring out what incentives the state needs to remain competitive, and then presenting these needs to the state legislature. It does so through a group called Economic Development through Georgia Entertainment (EDGE), organized by GPP and IATSE Local 479, the union that represents Georgia’s over 3,000 film crew workers. (The Georgia Film, Video & Music office administrates ex- isting incentive programs, but as a government entity, cannot propose the incentives.) Fran Burst-Terranella “It’s through EDGE that we can lobby and take direct legislative action. As GPP, we work to get ideas together and decide on what kinds of things should be in the incentives, but it’s through EDGE that we actually take direct action.” EDGE hires lobbyists to present the information to state legislators and push for legislation. In May 2005, the work of GPP and EDGE resulted in the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act, which enacted incentives responsible for bringing over $300 million in film revenue to Georgia in 2006. Since May 2005, other states have passed incentives that surpass Georgia’s, and GPP has been busy building momentum for a new round of incentive legislation. Mississippi just announced passage of film incentives that “trumped everybody,” according to Mike Akins, president of EDGE. Since September 2006, Georgia crew workers have been slipping over the border into South Carolina to find work, where new incentives have drawn a lot of film production, “dispersing our crew base,” says Akins. Burst-Terranella adds: “We’re incredibly appreciative of what the legislature has been able to do so far in terms of incentives, and we know that this is an ongoing collaborative effort to keep improving what we offer while still making it a benefit to the state.” Fast Forward Incentives are the name of the game now, “but you’ve absolutely gotta have more,” says Burst-Terranella. So, GPP has started a new initiative called “Fast Forward,” master-minded by GPP member, Ric Reitz. “It’s an online database to provide outof-state film, TV, and commercial pro- Page 12 May 2007 www.screenreport.com ducers with vital information about each county’s film resources. We’re working with the counties individually and collectively through the Association of County Commissioners to build up a searchable database. If someone is looking for a 200year-old oak tree, if they are looking for the equivalent of a Whistle Stop Café, if they are looking for a train station -- whatever they are looking for, they can find using this online searchable database.” Burst-Terranella says that GPP is setting up Fast Forward in conjunction with the Georgia Film, Video & Music office, to supplement the location service already offered there. The link to the Fast Forward database will be available from both the GPP and Georgia Film, Video & Music websites. “Our goal is to have every county in the state on the website. This is where we as an industry can step up and help make these contacts with the counties and help, potentially, more counties have more opportunities. It benefits everybody, because then you have a statewide commitment to the industry and you have a presence throughout the state. Of course, economically, it spreads it out.” The Fast Forward website is available at www.georgiaproduction.org/fastforward/. Sum It Up So, what does all this mean to you? Well, for those of you who want to stay close to home and earn a living, competitive incentives determine whether there is enough film production in Georgia to hire and support you. After all—it is called “show business” and every filmmaker knows that the dollar is the bottom line. Right now, southern states are in a bidding war for film production revenue using incentives, initiatives like Fast Forward, and plain old southern hospitality to lure those film industry dollars. GPP is the group that puts together incentives and sends them to the legislative floor— so anyone who makes a dime in the film and video (or music and interactive gaming) industry in this state owes GPP a big ‘thank you,’ or at least a membership fee. For Burst-Terranella, it’s a matter of “keeping the big picture in mind as well as the individual.” “I think the important thing is for everyone to go out and make their movies, but I think that we’ve also got to have a voice together. If we make a united stand as an industry then we have a great presence nationally and internationally. If we aren’t together, we don’t have the power to really speak for ourselves.” For more info, see www.georgiaproduction.org. §
• Asante Addae Bradford has joined the Georgia Department of Economic Development as Digital Entertainment “guru.” Bradford’s new position is part of Georgia’s plan to attract the lucrative video gaming industry. Bradford is also the founder of the Independent Black Film Festival (IBFF) in Atlanta, and is married to local filmmaker, Shandra L. Mc- Donald. • Sony buys FrameFlow - Digital Arts Entertainment Lab’s (DAEL) business incubation initiative, Georgia Entertainment Business Development, reported that Sony Pictures Imageworks (SPI) has purchased an equity investment in FrameFlow, a DAEL-incubated visual effects and animation company founded three years ago. (Incidentally, Southern Screen Report was also a DAELincubated business. Any buyers out there?) • Well-known Atlanta attorney Joseph Beck of Kilpatrick Stockton got a write-up in Hollywood Reporter, ESQ as one of America’s top 32 mediation specialists for entertainment disputes.(http://www.thresq-digital. com/thresq/20070327sample/). Joe is married to equally well-known GSU Film History professor and IMAGE Board Member, Kay Beck. • Hurricane Katrina forced production out of the Big Easy, but just up the road, Shreveport is looking like the new Hollywood. Louisiana incentives (25% tax credit on production worth $300k or more plus 10% for using local labor) kept filmmakers in the state. According to Reuters, Shreveport, “a city that didn’t even keep tabs on film production revenue,” saw 12 productions worth $300 million in 2006. (NOTE: Several Atlanta actors have reported getting call backs for productions in Shreveport recently. I sense a mass exodus to LA, as in Louisiana, not Los Angeles.) • South Carolina recently upped their incentive package (again!), offering a 30% cash rebate on supplier expenditures, and up to a 20% cash rebate on employee wages when at least $1 million is spent in the state. • Cinema Concepts’ first feature, Kathy T, won the Audience Favorite Award at the 2007 Palm Beach International Film Festival. A coming-of-age comedy written and directed by Evan Lieberman, Kathy T was shot in Atlanta using local talent and crew. • BET Networks has picked up Somebodies (2006) by Athens, Georgia filmmaker Hadjii, for development into a television sitcom. According to BET, “the single-camera sitcom about a group of post-collegiate slackers” will air in the fourth quarter of 2007. Many of the original cast and crew will be retained for the sitcom. Somebodies premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. (NOTE: I saw it at the 2007 AFF, and it’s one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen! Let’s hope the series is as good!) Annual Subscription Just $9.95 Get all six issues delivered to your door. Go to www.screenreport.com/subscribe.html to subscribe online. Or fill out this form and mail your check to: Front Runner Communications 1143 Citadel Dr. NE Atlanta, GA 30324 Short Ends • Black Family Channel Closes - or does it? While the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that the Black Family Channel was being replaced by the Gospel Music Channel, a press release issued by BFC said that it was entering a “partnership” with the Gospel Music channel and that BFC programming would “soon be available free as a brand new, feature-rich broadband TV service.” But BFC Chairman Willie Gary admitted to the AJC that BFC “never made money.” Keep watching for BFC--somewhere. • Blood Car Wins Award At Cinequest - Atlanta-based Fake Wood Wallpaper’s first feature, Blood Car (directed by Alex Orr), won the New Visions category as “the director whose film best reflects the future” at the 2007 Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose. • Tyler Perry’s new film, Why I Got Married, starring Janet Jackson, recently wrapped in Atlanta. • Conjurer started post-production on May 8, “on schedule and on budget” according to Executive Producer Richard Mix. The film, shot in Carrollton, Georgia, boasted mostly local cast and crew. “We had the best crew we’ve ever had!” said Mix. Got news? Send it to news@screenreport.com. That’s what we’re here for! Name:________________________________________ E-Mail:________________________________________ Address:______________________________________ City, St., Zip:___________________________________ Phone:________________________________________ www.screenreport.com May 2007 Page 13
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