The massive budget shortfalls plaguing most if not all states has legislators debating the validity of filming tax credits, and the Southwest isn’t immune from scrutiny and cutbacks. Still, talent throughout the region is on the rise, with many citing increased depth in crews. Such depth and improved infrastructure, however, have been aided by a greater volume of work spurred on by financial incentives, meaning there is cause for concern in some quarters over the long-term impact of incentives being decreased or outright eliminated.
At press time, New Mexico’s filmmaking community had its collective fingers crossed that the scaling back of its incentives package won’t be as dramatic as initially projected. At one point, it was thought that the state’s tax rebate on qualifying expenditures would be cut from 25 to 15 percent with an annual cap of $45 million (as compared to no annual cap previously). However, back around mid-March the state Senate approved a measure that would preserve the 25 percent film tax subsidy while capping the total amount of funds paid out annually at $50 million.
Subsequently the state House of Representatives voted for a measure on par with that of the Senate, representing an increase from the House of Representative’s prior measure which carried a $45 million cap.
So now the reconciled House and Senate bills are part of a 2011-’12 fiscal year state budget awaiting the signature of New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez, who earlier advocated the reduction to a 15 percent film tax rebate. It’s believed she will sign the budget, which takes effect in July, but her approval is not a fait accompli.
Similar jockeying has been going on in Texas as a number of state lawmakers are considering while others are advocating a significant cutback in the Lone Star State’s incentives program which had been on the rise–launched in 2005 with funding increased from $22 million over two years to $62 million in ’09.
This past January, though, a proposal was floated that would have drastically cut funding to $10 million. Last month Governor Rick Perry’s office requested an additional $20 million for the program. It remains to be seen what the bottom-line funding will be. The Texas Film Commission reported that from April ’09 to August ’10, the incentive program helped generate nearly 3,800 full-time jobs in Texas as well as some $415 million in spending.
Meanwhile, Arizona’s film incentives effectively expired at the end of ’10. A movement, though, was afoot to get them renewed but the package that was introduced this legislative session is currently being held in the House Ways and Means committee. It appears at this time that the legislation will not be put on the committee’s agenda, according to Ken Chapa, director of the Arizona Film Office.
However, Utah is apparently bucking the trend as lawmakers have passed a bill that would increase the filming tax credit rebate from 20 to 25 percent. House Bill 99S01 passed the Utah legislature and awaits the signature of Gov. Gary R. Herbert.
Talent pool While incentives are an integral part of a highly competitive marketplace as cities, counties, states and countries vie for production, another prime magnet attracting business is the perennial currency, talent.
The Southwest is proving to be a spawning ground for filmmaking artisans, most recently reflected in happenings at the Dallas International Film Festival which wrapped earlier this week. While SHOOT’s coverage of the fest centered on established filmmakers such as Oscar-nominated documentarians Steve James and Morgan Spurlock (SHOOTonline, 4/1), the event also showcased up-and-coming home-grown talent with its Texas Filmmakers Award underwritten by MPS Studios Dallas for the fourth year.
Previous winners have included filmmakers Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas in 2010 for American: The Bill Hicks Story, which hits U.S. theaters this month; and David Lowery in ’09 for St. Nick, a suspenseful coming-of-age story. David Pomes won in ’08 for Cook County.
Lowery used his awards proceeds to finance his latest work, Pioneer, which premiered at Sundance and took best narrative short honors at the SXSW Festival. Pioneer was screened at this year’s Dallas International Film Festival.
The award now includes a prize of $20,000 of cash and in-kind support in the form of cameras, lights and other equipment.
“Part of the award’s purpose is to promote and encourage the industry in Texas,” said Mark Beasley, president of MPS Studios Dallas. “Directors like Richard Linklater and films like True Grit are evidence of the amazing products that come out of Texas, and hint at the great promise of Texas filmmaking that is still yet to be fully realized.”
The 2011 Texas Filmmakers Award nominees were: Five Time Champion (by Berndt Mader); OK Buckaroos (Patrick Tourville); Legends of Hell’s Gate: An American Conspiracy (Tanner Beard); Rainbows End (Eric Hueber); Traveling (Rachel Shepherd); Wuss (Clay Liford); and Apart (by Aaron Rottinghaus).
Mader’s Five Time Champion won the Texas Filmmaker Award while Liford’s Wuss received a Special Jury Prize.
“Being able to offer Texas filmmakers the chance to win an award designated to Texas filmmakers, with such a significant prize attached, has been so important to us,” said James Faust, artistic director of the Dallas International Film Festival. “Nurturing local talent is key to the festival, and thanks to MPS Studios, we can do this.”
SHOOT takes a closer look at talent in Texas, surveying a cross-section of companies in the state spanning music, production, editorial, post and visual effects. We asked artisans and execs at these houses for the following:
Share a recent example that best reflects how one of your directors, editors, colorists, composers, mixers or another key artisan met a creative challenge and contributed to the success of a commercial or piece of branded or entertainment content. (Contributions can span conceptual involvement, creative vision, casting, technical acumen that helped realize a concept, creatively working within budgetary restrictions, etc.)
Here’s a sampling of the feedback they provided:
 Stephen Arnold, president, Stephen Arnold Music, Dallas A good example of how we work can be found in the theme we composed for HLN’s (part of CNN) new show “Dr. Drew,” featuring the addiction specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky.For us, musically, it’s always about the “sonic brand.” The challenge was to tap into HLN’s sonic brand, which tends to feature a quick, upbeat pace for its programming, and adapt that to “Dr. Drew.” Dr. Drew is a trusted and popular personality among younger audiences so we went with a highly charged, guitar-oriented theme that felt like a good fit not only for the host and his audience, but for HLN as well. Everyone and everything seems to be mobile, social, shared and public, and “Dr. Drew” is no exception. That’s why the music really had to grab viewers by the ears and carry the brand through many cross-platform environments, which this theme was created to do from the ground up. Also, we knew that the music would be used throughout the show, which airs weeknights for an hour, so we composed multiple variations of the theme so the show’s producers had a lot of options to choose from depending on the particular segment of the show, everything from somber to upbeat, including quick hits for bumpers and transitions. |
 Gary Banks, executive producer, Radium/Reel FX, Dallas In late 2010, the Radium/Reel FX team, led by executive creative director Dale Carman, VFX supervisor Dan Dixon, and animation supervisor Jeff Weidner were faced with a significant challenge–completing two fully-CG spots (:30 and :15) in time for the Big Game (Super Bowl) and launch of Chatter.com, which was just 10 weeks away. The spots were created and directed by will.i.am – producer, director, and frontman for The Black Eyed Peas; and produced by Dipdive, Inc. in collaboration with salesforce.com. They feature The Baby Peas — stylized CG characters inspired by The Black Eyed Peas and created by will.i.am – as well as “Chatty,” Chatter.com’s CG cloud mascot, which debuted in the spots.Being involved from the earliest stages was critical. Starting in pre-production, will.i.am and salesforce.com developed scripts which Dipdive and Radium/Reel FX artists storyboarded. The team first had to design the look of “Chatty” to fit seamlessly with the CG Baby Peas characters. We also had to re-rig The Baby Peas character assets and create ancillary CG characters and all environments from scratch. We succeeded thanks to our talented and dedicated team; INSIGHT, our proprietary people/production management tool; and our passion to do the impossible, which is something we bring to any job, regardless of timeline.” |
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Ariel distilled over 25 hours of both 5D and 7D footage to a :30 and 2 x :15 TV spots. The spots tell the story of the place and the people who make the iconic L.L.Bean products that are now shipped for free with no minimum order, no end date. The spots offer broadcast audiences a rare peak behind the curtain of their Freeport, Maine, manufacturing and testing facilities. The collaborative process employed to create the spots, mimics the care and attention to detail that goes into producing L.L.Bean products. Indeed it is how you “Make it Right.” |
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When I started out, I’d spend half my time in a transfer bay, but with Kelly Riemenschnieder from “& Transfer” I have a creative partner with my own sensibilities, someone who really brings my footage up a notch and someone who will work all weekend and late nights to catch up with my schedule. He brings a work ethic and artistic vision to a project that cannot be matched on either coast. Dallas has always been an incredible place to do post and even though we’ve been working with Radium/Reel FX for more than 15 years, this last year we’ve seen them truly explode creatively and bring their collective talents, hearts and passion into projects we’ve taken to them and that has been noticed by some of our clients like Showtime who can bring post anywhere in the world but have been going with the Dallas-based post house now for many projects. Dallas is also lucky to have some gifted gaffers/lighting artists like David Lynn and Tommy Alcala, both of whom are incredible shooters and who always dedicate themselves, as do all Dallas crews, to getting the job done in the most professional, most artistic manner. With crew like this and the support from amazing keys like Marcus Stitt, the Dallas shooting experience is without question one of the best in the world. I would not be working here were it not true. The projects we’ve been shooting in Dallas have been getting a lot of praise. We took home an arm full of Gold Addys on our Gatorade work we shot this year for Kansas City based agency, VML. The key part of the Dallas efforts was focused on re-creating night, high school football games, competitive soccer, basketball and a series of extreme athletes where Gatorade is a key part of their program. The production value we put on the screen was insane and again Radium/Reel FX stood up to the challenge of finishing that work here in Dallas. And I really wanted to add that 3008 has been killing it with their work with us on Hasbro and specifically Nerf, where we’ve been able to create an entire series of edgy, aspirational toy work that the industry has never seen. The team at 3008 will cut and finish scores of spots we do with Uproar and Hasbro and every single spot they are a part of amazes me in that they dedicate so much time and effort in making the spots sing. Jeff Hays cuts and finishes in the room and is equally talented at doing both. |
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Jeremy Besser, executive producer, 
Mary Ellen Farrar, executive producer, Beast Austin
Richard Gillespie, president/editor, 
Norry Niven, director, 
Jack Waldrip, VP/senior editor, 