SACRAMENTO, Calif.—With a budget deficit projected to run as high as $35 billion, California, like many other financially strapped states, is in the process of cutting—if not outright eliminating—funding for assorted programs, entities and services. And for a brief time, it appeared that the Film California First (FCF) anti-runaway program was in danger of becoming extinct.
As earlier reported in SHOOT’s "Street Talk" section (12/13/02, p. 22), Gov. Gray Davis (D-Calif.) had proposed in his fiscal year 2002-’03 budget that the $10 million annual allocation for FCF be cut to $7.9 million. However, the State Assembly Budget Committee subsequently rejected funding for the FCF altogether, and voted to end the program, which has been a marquee initiative for California, while helping to spur on anti-runaway measures in other states. The California Assembly Budget Committee action then went into Conference Committee with the State Senate.
In response to the Assembly Budget Committee decision, different segments of the production industry immediately lobbied legislators in the California State Assembly and Senate. Among those sending e-mails and faxes was a sizeable contingent from the spotmaking community, including member production houses and associate members of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP).
These efforts likely played a key role in a Senate Conference Committee decision to restore the FCF program at the $7.9 million allocation proposed by Gov. Davis. This eleventh-hour save came as welcome news to the production industry. As chronicled in SHOOT, FCF has received favorable reviews from its users in the commercialmaking community. FCF provides reimbursements of certain film-related costs incurred by qualified production companies when lensing on local, state or federal public property in California. Eligible projects include commercials, TV programs and theatrical features.
Reimbursable costs for qualified productions under the FCF program include:
•Local public entity costs for fire, police and safety personnel.
•State employee costs encompassing such entities as the California Highway Patrol, state parks (for rangers), and the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems.
•Federal employee costs.
•Federal, state, UC and CSU film permits and public-property use fees.
•Local property use fees.
•Costs for rental equipment mandated and owned by a public agency (with a $500 cap per each piece of equipment).
The FCF program is overseen and administered by the California Film Commission (CFC). The CFC also oversees the State Theatrical Arts Resources (STAR) partnership, an anti-runaway program instituted in ’01 and recently expanded (SHOOT, 11/8/02, p. 1).
The STAR system makes designated state-owned and state-controlled surplus property and unused real estate assets available to producers for filming at no charge or for a nominal fee.
