LAS VEGAS—The Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) has re-elected Pat Swinney Kaufman to a two-year term as its president. Kaufman is deputy commissioner and director of the New York State Governor’s Office for Motion Picture and Television Development.
Also re-elected to serve another two years is AFCI treasurer Ken Roy, director of the Central Virginia Film Office. Re-elected to yearlong terms were AFCI VPs Sara Shaak and Jay Self, and secretary Janice Arrington. Shaak is director of the Okanagan Film Commission in British Columbia, Self is director of the Savannah Film Commission in Georgia, and Arrington is film commissioner of the Orange County Film Commission in California.
The slate of officers was re-elected during an AFCI board meeting held during the organization’s educational/informational/networking Cineposium confab from Sept. 20-23 in Las Vegas. The 29th annual Cineposium came on the heels of AFCI’s two-day (Sept. 19-20) Film Commission Fundamentals program, which covers varied aspects of the business, including what goes into the formation of an effective film commission operation.
The AFCI events drew some 250 people, including commissioners from 131 film offices, collectively representing 21 countries. Among the highlights of Cineposium was a discussion on how to best market to and serve commercialmakers. Moderating the session was Steve Caplan, senior VP, external affairs for the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP).
Kaufman described the Caplan-moderated discussion as informative, particularly relative to outlining the time constraints and rhythms of spot production, to which the film commission community needs to be responsive. "Commercials are the bread and butter of virtually every film commission around the world," she noted.
Along the same lines, film commissioners are finding that their bread can be buttered by indigenous production, which a Cineposium panel addressed. "Everyone is chasing Hollywood films," related Kaufman. "But within a region’s own backyard there are local producers and filmmakers.
"Just think of New Zealand committing to and working with their hometown boy, Peter Jackson. … Look at what sprung from that," she added, referring to The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
The Cineposium runs on a continuous three-year cycle in terms of venues—one year being in Southern California, the next in North America and the last outside North America. The 2005 Cineposium will be in the third leg of that cycle; Glasgow, Scotland, is set as the host city.
