Runaway production and its profoundly negative impact on the industry’s infrastructure were once again articulated at a couple of recent industry sessions. During a panel discussion in Beverly Hills sponsored by the Creative Coalition, director/producer/writer Tony Goldwyn worried openly about the U.S. losing its "apprenticeship system" that enables young talents to learn a craft and move up the ladder to become productive artists and crew members.
Members of the Creative Coalition—a group formed to address entertainment industry issues, including runaway production—picked up on Goldwyn’s observation, noting that by virtue of luring work from the U.S., Canada has built and is continuing to grow its infrastructure.
Similarly, earlier this month at the Milken Institute’s State of the State Conference in Los Angeles, panelists pointed to production and the entertainment infrastructure as being invaluable components of the American financial engine. Erosion of filming leads to erosion of infrastructure, which in turn eventually leads to further erosion of filming.
The fact that infrastructure is essential has not been lost on key movers in the commercialmaking business—as chronicled in SHOOT, perhaps most notably by Matt Miller, president/CEO of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP). Miller offered a historical perspective on the issue (SHOOT, 9/28, p. 1). "During the past several years, there has been a trend towards advertisers and agencies exploring cost savings by bringing production outside of the country," related Miller. "This hit a critical point last year when SAG/AFTRA struck the industry. Many advertisers left the country to avoid pickets and protect their production investment; unfortunately, this created a new alternative for many that had never before been looking to work abroad. Those employed by this industry in this country have been hit hard by each and every production that has left.
"Even before the tragic events of Sept. 11, the production and postproduction businesses were reeling—not just from a weakened economy, but also from the opportunities that are out there being brought to other countries," continued Miller. "Companies that have been in existence for some time have been closing up shop. Many people are unemployed."
Miller noted that producers and suppliers have "worked diligently to make the point that cost savings in the short-term will truly weaken, if not break, the infrastructure that employs so many people here in our production centers. In fact, twenty-seven percent of production costs go directly to production payroll—not to mention the majority of production costs, which supports all of the supplying companies, their state-of-the-art equipment and their staff payroll. If our production centers weaken and are not maintained in the manner that everyone has grown accustomed to, many production opportunities will go away, as will the film industry in the U.S."
According to published reports, at least 100,000 film workers have lost jobs in the past six months. Ron Ver Kuilen, director of the Illinois Film Office, is a board member of Film US, a group of state and local film commissions looking to help the U.S. keep and attract more production.
Earlier this year, at the Locations Global Expo sponsored by the Association of Film Commissioners International (SHOOT, 3/2, p. 7), Ver Kuilen observed that the projects that come into a city, state or country help to build infrastructure within those geographies, better positioning them to garner filming in the future. Infrastructure that can support production is key to long-term success in attracting long- and shortform filmmaking. A growing number of countries have instituted policies to promote filming incentives and infrastructure. He suggested that the U.S. do the same on national, state and local levels.
