Having decided earlier this year to cancel its annual Forum, as well as its Monitor Awards ceremony, the Association of Imaging Technology and Sound (ITS) has devised a new means to keep the former going, while reaffirming an organizational commitment to the awards competition, sans the gala celebration.
According to ITS president Terry Rainey and board chairman David Case, who’s CEO/ president of Pittsburgh-based post facility Production Masters Inc. (PMI), the ITS plans to stage two Mini-Forums, one in Los Angeles, the other in New York, during the fall. The Mini-Forums will probably be structured as weekend events.
Rainey noted that Forum attendance has declined in recent years, due in part to a changing marketplace, which has seen the closure of many mid-sized post/ effects facilities. These shops in turn have been replaced by smaller boutiques. Many of the entrepreneurial heads of these boutiques, explained Rainey, operate in a hands-on manner, meaning they’re less likely to leave their home bases for an extended national conference, such as the annual ITS Forum. Thus the ITS board reasoned that a shorter Mini-Forum on a nearby coast might be more feasible for member facility executives to attend.
Meanwhile, the Monitor Awards will still be bestowed upon deserving work. Judging of this year’s field of Monitor entries is already underway. With a generally tightening economy and less revenue being generated by membership dues (because of the aforementioned fallout of mid-sized facilities—see SHOOT, 2/23, p. 1), the ITS opted to pull the plug on the gala Monitor celebration. The organization plans to revamp its dues structure for next year.
OTHER EVENTS
The ITS is also planning a panel discussion for later this month, to address the falloff in business that’s hit the New York production and post market. At press time, the ITS was in the process of lining up panelists from different sectors of the industry to assess and provide insights into the state of the biz in New York.
Also under consideration are changes in the annual ITS Technology Retreat, as well as its Presidents’ Retreat. The latter will undergo a name change to reflect the event’s being open to different senior executives throughout the facility community. Additionally, the executives’ retreat will be held within the continental U.S. Retreats in recent years have been held in more exotic, out-of-the-way, resort-type locations.
Furthermore, the annual Technology Retreat in Palm Springs, Calif., may soon have a counterpart event on the East Coast. Case noted that technology is changing so rapidly that two Tech Retreats per year may be justified. Even with a sluggish overall economy, attendance at this past February’s ITS Tech Retreat registered an all-time high.
The changes in events ranging from the Tech Retreat to the reorganized Mini-Forums have come from a streamlined ITS board. As reported in February, the number of board members was scaled down from 13 to five in order to be more responsive to membership needs. The rationale was that a 13-member board had been a bit unwieldy in terms of attaining quorums and addressing issues in a timely manner.
The five-member board consists of PMI’s Case; Bob Solomon, senior VP/finance of Burbank-headquartered Four Media Company (4MC); Bob Scarabelli, president of Vancouver, B.C.-based Rainmaker; Mike Topel, president of Swell Pictures, Chicago; and Rainey. This marks the first time that Rainey has had a voting position on the board.
Supplementing the current board are three advisory committees, including one for affiliate members, which will have a voice on the board. Serving on the affiliate members committee are execs from leading manufacturers such as DaVinci Systems, Panasonic Broadcast & Television Systems, Thomson Multimedia, Discreet, Microsoft, Avid Technology and Sony.
The other two advisory committees are for members at large and chapter presidents. The ITS board has not yet determined who will serve on the members-at-large committee. The current lineup of chapter heads consists of ITS/Southern California president Leon Silverman of Laser-Pacific Media Corp., Hollywood; Midwest president Jim Cowhey from Optimus, Chicago; Mid-Atlantic prexy Bill Parks of Dominion Post, Arlington, Va.; Virginia chapter president Tommy Thompson of Park Group, Richmond, Va.; Atlanta chapter president Kevin Garguilo of MCSi, Atlanta; and a trio that presides over the ITS/Northern California chapter: Nancy Berke of Robert Berke Sound, San Francisco; Al Nunes of American Tape Masters, Santa Clara, Calif.; and Jeffrey Pennington of FilmCore, San Francisco. The presidential slot for ITS’ New York chapter was in the process of being filled at press time.
FINANCIAL FEEDBACK
The ITS is also conducting its annual financial survey to get a better handle on the business climate, according to Case.
Additionally, a drive has been launched to drum up membership from facilities in Canada. Spearheading that campaign are Rainmaker’s Scarabelli and ITS Pacific Region director Eileen Kramer.
And the ITS hopes to continue pushing for a research-and-development tax credit to help U.S. post facilities transition to DTV, including HDTV, as mandated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). ITS’ involvement in this matter will have to be a bit more makeshift than it was during the past couple of years. A shortage of funds necessitated that the ITS end its relationship with Washington, D.C.-based The Advocacy Group, a political lobbying firm that was helpful in initially connecting ITS leadership and key legislators.
Rainey noted, however, that any grassroots ITS legislative effort probably won’t get underway until July, as the current taxation focus on Capitol Hill is President George W. Bush’s tax bill. Once the final disposition of that measure is determined, then industry-related proposals for tax relief figure to gain more attention in the U.S. Senate, as well as in the House of Representatives.
As previously reported, the ITS made significant strides last year in gaining Congressional support for a postproduction industry tax break (SHOOT, 11/3/00, p. 1).
