Committee Approves Revamped Legislation; Measure Must Pass Both Houses & Gain Clinton's Signature.
By ROBERT GOLDRICH
At press time, a bill governing filming on public lands—specifically within the National Parks and National Wildlife Refuge Systems—had successfully made its way out of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and was headed for the Senate floor.
It has not yet been determined exactly when the Senate would discuss and vote on the measure, HR 154. But a staffer from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources told SHOOT that prospects for passage by the full Senate are good. If that comes to pass, HR 154 would then have to gain approval from the U.S. House of Representatives and be signed by President Clinton to become law. As the House of Representatives passed a similar version of HR 154 earlier this year, legislative analysts generally believe that
the new measure would stand a good chance of winning the necessary support in the House of Representatives this time around.
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources merged two bills—one authored by Congressman Joel Hefley (R-Colorado), the other by Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyoming)—to create this latest version of the Hefley-initiated HR 154.
Though the full text of the restructured HR 154 wasn’t yet available as SHOOT went to press, informed sources said the bill retains key provisions that had gained endorsements from the spot community, including the Association of Independent Commercial Producers and the Association of National Advertisers. For example, fees to lens on National Parks Service land would be based on crew size and length of stay on location. Clearly these barometers would be favorable to commercials, which are usually smaller-scale productions and have shorter filming periods compared to their TV program and theatrical feature counterparts. In previous testimony before U.S. House and Senate subcommittees, representatives of the motion picture and spot industries advocated crew size as a reliable, equitable measurement of a production’s impact on a location (SHOOT, 4/23/99, p. 1, and 5/29/98, p. 1).
It’s also believed that HR 154 allows for timely film permit processing. Again, the timetable for processing would be tied to the length of projected filming. For lensing permits of shorter duration, as is typical in commercials, the turnaround time for processing would be shorter than would a request to film for an extended period of time, which is often the case for theatrical movies and telefilms.
Leigh von der Esch, director of the Utah Film Commission and a past president of the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI), has been a longtime proponent of legislation that would provide predictable, clear and consistent guidelines for filming on public lands. Encouraged by HR 154, von der Esch hopes the measure will be passed this year, before the current session of Congress adjourns.
However, at this same time last year, indications were similarly positive that Hefley’s National Parks filming bill would become law. On its own merits, the measure passed the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. But in the Senate, the bill got packaged with other unrelated proposals, including one for the establishment of a water project in South Dakota. The package of bills was then sent back to the House of Representatives, where it was defeated (SHOOT, 10/30/98, p. 1).
This time, von der Esch said it’s imperative for the Washington, D.C. outcome to be different. "With the increase in runaway production, it’s more important than ever that the U.S. be responsive to filming concerns," she contended. "Legislation that would promote filming on public land is one way to help to meaningfully address the runaway problem."
At one point, von der Esch was concerned that the newest version of HR 154 would divert the bulk of film-related fees to the federal government and not leave much revenue within the local park site where filming takes place. As earlier reported, segments of the filmmaking industry support local retention of fees, reasoning that it would serve as additional incentive for local public land managers to service the production community. Generating more local revenue might also help justify the hiring of a liaison to handle and expedite reasonable filming requests. Currently, many public land managers have a full plate of responsibilities, making it difficult for them to apportion time to facilitate a quick turnaround for film permit issuance.
Von der Esch said she’s heard through legislative channels that HR 154 calls for a division of revenue along the lines of "80-20," in which the lion’s share of fees, around 80 percent, would be retained by the local jurisdiction.
Jury Presidents Named For The One Show 2025
The One Club for Creativity has announced the global creatives from around the world who will serve as jury presidents for The One Show 2025.
These creatives will lead judging for each discipline, and have a vote on the work.
Confirmed One Show 2025 Jury presidents, by discipline, are as follows:
--Brand-Side/In-House: David Lee, CCO, Squarespace, New York
--Branded Entertainment: Malcolm Poynton, Global CCO, Cheil Worldwide, London
--Creative Use of Data, Creative Use of Technology: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, CCO, FCB Canada, Toronto
--Cultural Driver: Bianca Guimaraes, partner, ECD, Mischief, New York
--Design: Liza Enebeis, creative director, partner, Studio Dumbar/DEPT®, Rotterdam
--Direct Marketing: Vicki Maguire, CCO, Havas London
--Film & Video: Javier Campopiano, global CCO, McCann Worldgroup & McCann Global, Madrid
--Gaming: Taj Reid, global chief experience officer, US CCO, Edelman, New York
--Integrated, Experiential & Immersive: Chris Beresford-Hill, worldwide CCO, BBDO New York
--Fusion Pencil: Walter T. Geer III, CCO, Innovation North America, VML, New York
--Green Pencil: Barbara Humphries, ECD, The Monkeys, Sydney
--Health & Wellness, Pharma: Wendy Lund, chief client officer, WPP, New York
--IP & Product Design: Ronald Ng, global CCO, MRM, New York
--Moving Image Craft & Production: Irene Kugelmann, chief creative officer, DDB Group of Companies Germany, Berlin
--Music & Sound Craft: Joel Simon, CCO, JSM Music, New York
--Out of Home, Print & Promotional: Kainaz Karmakar, CCO, Ogilvy India, Mumbai
--Public Relations: Patricia Ávila, regional director for Latin America, Ágora, São Paulo
--Radio... Read More