While California has thus far failed to pass production incentives to help the state keep and attract filming business spanning features, TV, commercials and branded content, several legislators have not given up on that quest. Among the core supporters for an incentives package are members of the State Assembly Select Committee on the Preservation of California Entertainment Industry.
Chairing the Select Committee is Assemblyman Paul Krekorian (D-Burbank). Committee members are Assembly Majority Leader Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), and Assemblymembers Cameron Smyth (R-Santa Clarita), Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo), Mike Davis (D-Los Angeles) Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles), Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach), Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and Anthony Portantino (D-Pasadena).
In June, the committee played a key role in the Assembly’s passage of a film grant program designed to combat runaway production. However, that measure appears to have since fallen by the wayside.
Still the Select Committee is looking to renew support for incentives to help level the playing field for California as compared to the many other states that have such programs–tax rebates and the like–in place.
The Select Committee is holding its first public hearing on Monday, Sept. 17, bringing in experts to discuss such topics as the entertainment industry’s contributions to California’s overall economy and job creation, the adverse impacts that production incentives offered by other jurisdictions have had on California employment and state revenues in recent years, and the major challenges California faces in maintaining, if not boosting entertainment jobs and infrastructure.
The public hearing will take place at the IATSE Local 80 office in Burbank, from 1 to 4 p.m. Plans also call for a second public hearing to be held in San Francisco a month or so later. Additional hearings will also likely be scheduled in 2008.
Based on the input and feedback generated by these public hearings, the Select Committee intends to develop a range of policy options designed to stimulate filmmaking in California.
To help muster public involvement and support, the Select Committee has launched a website, www.assembly.ca.gov/entertainment. Krekorian described the site as a vehicle for Californians to learn more about issues that impact the industry. “Literally millions of Californians are dependent on the entertainment industry for their livelihoods,” he said. “I hope they will use this website as a tool to learn more about the challenges we face in keeping the industry here in California, and also to voice their views about how vitally important the success of this industry is to our state.”
Indeed competition is fierce for the business. “So many other states and countries are working overtime to lure this industry away from us because they know it produces tremendous economic benefits and revenues with good middle class jobs,” stated Krekorian. “The charter of my committee is to fight hard to keep those jobs here, keep California competitive and make sure that the state is a great partner for this industry.”
Assemblymember Portantino cited the wide impact that production has on the broader economy of the state. “From the food actors and crews eat, to the hotels and support businesses that help a production’s needs, the survival of filmed entertainment in California is central to our chances of having a healthy economy.”
FCB Stays Atop The One Club’s Year-End Global Creative Rankings
FCB ended the year repeating its top positions in The One Club for Creativity’s Global Creative Rankings, with FCB New York again crowned Global Agency of the Year and FCB Global finishing as Agency Network of the Year for 2024.
The annual worldwide benchmark report is a comprehensive ranking of agencies, brands, countries, and individuals based on points earned from winning entries in The One Club’s eight global, regional, and local awards shows: The One Show 2024, ADC 103rd Annual Awards, Type Directors Club TDC70 competition, Art Directors Club of Europe ADCE Awards 2024, ONE Asia Creative Awards 2024, and The One Club Denver, San Diego, and Miami chapter 2024 awards programs.
“The Global Creative Rankings is the industry’s most comprehensive and transparent ranking,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club. “There are no secret weightings in calculating the rankings, and unlike others, it’s not hidden behind a paywall. As the industry’s foremost nonprofit organization for the global creative community, The One Club is in a unique position to provide this free, definitive measure for global creative excellence to everyone in the industry.”
Highlights of the Global Creative Rankings 2024 are below.
Global Agency Rankings
FCB New York
Rethink Toronto
McCann New York
TBWAMedia Arts Lab Los Angeles
Serviceplan Germany Munich
Dentsu Inc. Tokyo
FCB Chicago
Marcel Paris
VML New York
Ogilvy PR New York, Publicis Conseil Paris (tie)
Independent Agency Rankings
Rethink Toronto
Serviceplan Germany Munich
Wieden+Kennedy Portland
Brand-Side Agency... Read More