Organizing endeavors—one designed to help address the runaway production problem, the other on the part of spot location scouts to gain union representation—emerged during the course of the 15th annual Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) Locations 2000 Global Expo. The three-day event (2/25-27) wrapped earlier this week at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
But even before Locations got underway, the show received some criticism. For the second consecutive year, the Entertainment Industry Development Corporation (EIDC), the private/public partnership that oversees the joint Los Angeles City/County Film Office, did not exhibit at Locations. EIDC president Cody Cluff decided this year to publicly explain why the EIDC opted not to participate. Alluding to the contingent of foreign film commission exhibitors at Locations, Cluff released a statement last week, which read that "the EIDC is not going to subsidize a show designed to lure production away from Los Angeles." Cluff described Locations as "a glorified junket for film commissioners. … I’d prefer using our people and resources to facilitate a shoot in downtown Los Angeles rather than handing out brochures and ballpoint pens at the Convention Center. … Our job is to make it easier to film in Los Angeles. You do that by being on the streets with filmmakers, not indoors with out-of-state bureaucrats."
Cluff also serves as first national VP of Film US, an organization of 196 U.S. state and city film commissioners formed to keep production in the country. The Film US board and members held meetings during Locations to discuss ways to best build upon the momentum they’ve gained over the past 10 months in the battle against runaway production.
However, many Film US members exhibited or had a presence at Locations. Ron Ver Kuilen, director of the Illinois Film Office and second national VP of Film US, disagreed with Cluff’s assessment of Locations. Ver Kuilen characterized the show as one that offered film commissioners the opportunity to form relationships and strengthen existing ties to decisionmakers in the production community. He observed that U.S. film commissioners need to have a strong presence at the show, particularly as foreign countries are on hand to woo business. "There’s no other way that I could potentially meet the four-thousand or so people who attend [Locations]," he said. "The show is of tremendous value to us."
Despite the difference of opinion, Ver Kuilen and Cluff are firmly united on the Film US front. The organization has compiled a state-by-state breakdown of key legislators and elected officials with whom local and state film commissioners should initiate a dialogue. This breakdown was circulated to Film US members during Locations. It’s part of a grassroots effort to build support for pro-filming legislation that will offer financial incentives—be they in the form of a tax credit or a related measure—to help keep and attract more production in the U.S. As earlier reported (SHOOT, 1/28, p. 1), Film US recently joined with other industry organizations—including the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), the Association of Imaging Technology and Sound, the Production Equipment Rental Association, the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild of America and the American Film Marketing Association—to form the National Entertainment Coalition, which supports several proposed pieces of anti-runaway legislation.
Asking state and local film commissions to write and lobby their legislators for runaway reform is the next step in the evolution of Film US, said Ver Kuilen and Joe O’Kane, director of the San Jose Film & Video Commission. Film US established itself last year (SHOOT, 7/16/99, p. 1) via an association with the National Association of State Development Agencies (NASDA). While Ver Kuilen said that a positive relationship with NASDA continues, Film US has decided to take the initiative on its own, in part out of necessity. "NASDA is well connected in Washington, D.C., and helped us tremendously in organizing, in establishing our charter and bylaws, and giving us insights into the legislative process," related Ver Kuilen. But, he added, Film US’ funds are limited, and enlisting NASDA’s support was a costly proposition. That cost also entailed having a Film US presence in NASDA’s Washington, D.C., office. "There’s a strong sentiment that once we hopefully progress in our efforts to gain legislative relief, we can then revisit NASDA and work closely together with it again," he said.
Ver Kuilen noted that runaway production is an issue that hits close to home. He estimated that over the past two years, Illinois has seen a 40 to 50 percent decrease in its spot production, with much of that business going to Canada and other foreign outposts.
Also in the ad arena, some 80 spot location scouts have signed cards authorizing Teamsters Local 399 to represent them. Veteran location manager/scout Marino Pascal—creator of Locolist, an online discussion group for location scouts and managers—was a speaker during a Locations 2000 panel discussion on scouting locations digitally. Earlier, he told SHOOT it was via Locolist that scouts talked about organizing to gain health and pension benefits. This led to their approaching the Teamsters and fashioning a West Coast agreement with the union. Last month, that agreement was mailed out to commercial production houses on the West Coast. Thus far, one production company has signed the contract, according to Pascal.
The mailing is of concern to the AICP, which believes the agreement could cause confusion among spot houses. AICP president Matt Miller noted that the AICP did not negotiate the contract, and that individual production companies are under no obligation to sign it. The agreement between the group of scouts and the Teamsters, continued Miller, is in no way related to the contract covering drivers that was negotiated between the AICP and the union (SHOOT, 7/24/98 and 1/14/00, p. 1). Companies that are signatory to the drivers’ pact, he said, "have no obligation to negotiate the [location scouts] category." He affirmed that AICP is not a party to the proposed spot location scouts agreement. Jane Nunez, AICP’s manager of labor affairs and national government relations, recently mailed an advisory to that effect to AICP companies concerning the agreement.
Locations 2000 drew 3,868 visitors—17 percent more than last year’s attendance of 3,300. The Internet had a hand in contributing to the increase. According to O’Kane, some 200 pre-registered via the Web for Locations ’99; this year, the tally of pre-registrants increased to 1,800.
