As reflected in this week’s lead story, New York has passed a major financial incentives package to promote filming of commercials in the state. The measure represents not only a victory for New York but for the spotmaking community at large.
Also on this week’s front page, a slight decrease in on-location shoot days for commercials has been reported in Los Angeles for the first quarter of 2006 as compared to the same three-month span in ’05. As reported, the overall results–spanning features, TV and commercials–have been cause for some concern as evidenced in the remarks of Steve Macdonald, president/CEO of FilmL.A., which oversees the joint Los Angeles City/County Film Office.
MacDonald noted that Los Angeles’ overall production days are up four-plus percent for the first quarter of ’06 when stacked up against ’05; however, that is due to a dramatic nearly 128 percent increase in reality TV production, which rose to 1,942 days, compared to 856 days during the first quarter of ’05. (TV dramas increased 6.8 percent, but sitcom location production dropped 65 percent. Feature films, though, were up nearly nine percent.)
“The big jump in the reality sector, which tends to have lower budgets and less of an economic impact helped to shore up our [production day] numbers,” said MacDonald. “While the figures might suggest that L.A. is holding its own, a look at other jurisdictions provides a different perspective. MacDonald cited record production-day increases reported by New York City, for example.
FilmL.A. also referenced figures compiled by the California Film Commission regarding other states, such as Illinois seeing its production spending jump 198 percent from ’03 to ’04 and then 28 percent from ’04 to ’05, and New Mexico reporting a whopping 348 percent rise in production spending between ’04 and ’05.
“The production landscape is expanding both in the U.S. and internationally, and these dramatic growth figures prompt important questions, such as how many jobs and how much revenue is Los Angeles losing to other regions? asked MacDonald. “When you take into account that other regions are just beginning to develop a talent pool and long-term infrastructure, L.A.’s modest growth is not encouraging.”
And indeed, the competition just from within the U.S. is continually escalating. In the “Meet the Commish” column below, Michigan Film Office director Janet Lockwood noted that she hopes to get a beefed-up incentives program off the ground. During the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) Locations Show last month, assorted states reported having financial perks in the offing to stimulate filming, including commercials.
At press time, SHOOT heard of likely incentives emerging in Hawaii, Connecticut and Wisconsin. In the latter state, Gov. Jim Doyle is expected to sign an incentive measure into law next month. The Film Wisconsin incentive legislation passed the State Assembly on a voice vote last week. Earlier the Senate voted in favor of the lensing-friendly package.
Such initiatives provide more than tangible financial benefits, related George Tzougros, executive director of the Wisconsin Arts Board and a member of the Film Wisconsin volunteer organization’s task force. Tzougros said simply, “The state legislature sent a loud and clear message to the worldwide film, television and video industry–Wisconsin wants your business.”
New FDA Rules To Take Effect For TV Drug Commercials
Those ever-present TV drug ads showing patients hiking, biking or enjoying a day at the beach could soon have a different look: New rules require drugmakers to be clearer and more direct when explaining their medications' risks and side effects.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration spent more than 15 years crafting the guidelines, which are designed to do away with industry practices that downplay or distract viewers from risk information.
Many companies have already adopted the rules, which become binding Nov. 20. But while regulators were drafting them, a new trend emerged: thousands of pharma influencers pushing drugs online with little oversight. A new bill in Congress would compel the FDA to more aggressively police such promotions on social media platforms.
"Some people become very attached to social media influencers and ascribe to them credibility that, in some cases, they don't deserve," said Tony Cox, professor emeritus of marketing at Indiana University.
Still, TV remains the industry's primary advertising format, with over $4 billion spent in the past year, led by blockbuster drugs like weight-loss treatment Wegovy, according to ispot.tv, which tracks ads.
Simpler language and no distractions
The new rules, which cover both TV and radio, instruct drugmakers to use simple, consumer-friendly language when describing their drugs, without medical jargon, distracting visuals or audio effects. A 2007 law directed the FDA to ensure that drug risk information appears "in a clear, conspicuous and neutral manner."
FDA has always required that ads give a balanced picture of both benefits and risks, a requirement that gave rise to those long, rapid-fire lists of side effects parodied on shows like "... Read More