Though it resides in the giant shadow cast by the higher profile Film California First (FCF) anti-runaway production program, the State Theatrical Arts Resources (STAR) partnership in a sense offers an even more relevant lesson in terms of what can be done during budget-challenged times to help keep and attract production
While FCF—which has received praise from the production community—offers reimbursement of certain filming-related expenses thanks to a state appropriation of $10 million this current fiscal year, California’s STAR program has no such multi-million dollar allocation. Yet it too has garnered positive feedback from short- and longform producers alike.
As chronicled in SHOOT, enormous state budget deficits have negatively impacted many film commissions and filming incentive programs throughout the country—either eliminating them or significantly reducing their operating funds. Thus the resourcefulness of STAR, whereby a viable incentive is available at a relatively low operating cost, becomes all the more invaluable—and perhaps a viable prototype for others to follow.
Administered and overseen by the California Film Commission (CFC), the STAR system makes designated state-owned and –controlled surplus property and unused real estate assets available to filmmakers for no or a low fee.
These properties for filming include historic homes, hospitals and office buildings. Up until recently, there were about three-dozen STAR lensing venues in Greater Los Angeles. That inventory has been upped by 33 percent and extended to Northern California with the addition of a spacious Oakland warehouse, eight suburban homes in San Rafael and vacant land in Santa Rosa (SHOOT, 11/8, p. 1). Also new to STAR are two cinematic-scale properties within the Lanterman Developmental Center, a state facility in the Southern California community of Pomona.
According to CFC director Karen Constine, 300 days of filming—spanning features, TV, commercials and music videos—have occurred at STAR properties over the past 10 months. "With these additional new diverse locations," related Constine, "more filmmakers across the state will be able to take advantage of all that STAR has to offer."
In tandem with the FCF program, STAR has proven to be a viable incentive for helping to retain production in California. For example, location manager Doug Dresser said that STAR and FCF kept director Quentin Tarantino’s latest project, Kill Bill, from moving to Texas. (Tarantino is available to helm spots via A Band Apart, Los Angeles.) Instead, Kill Bill is being shot in California and Dresser has said that he would enthusiastically recommend both STAR and FCF to other filmmakers without reservation.
The CFC has perennially provided and continues to offer state-owned property free of permit charges and location fees. But STAR has opened up other properties that hadn’t been readily available for filming before. One such example is the 10-story State Building in downtown Los Angeles. As earlier reported (SHOOT, 11/23/01, p. 1), the Universal feature Red Dragon filmed in that venue for 38 days, saving its producers some $200,000 in location costs. STAR properties have also been used by commercial production companies, including bicoastal Epoch Films, which shot a job at the former Employment Development Department (EDD) building downtown. The one-story EDD structure can double for varied sites (e.g., government offices, a bank, a newsroom).
Gov. Gray Davis (D-CA) commended the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) and the CFC for working together to expand STAR. CalTrans owns the Oakland warehouse, the San Rafael homes, the Santa Rosa land and other STAR properties. Davis said that the efforts of the CFC and CalTrans to find additional distinctive surplus properties "are not only helping filmmakers, they are also helping grow our economy."
