California voters have overwhelmingly rejected Proposition 21, a measure which would have provided funding for state parks by instituting an extra $18 charge on the annual registration fee for most vehicles. Assorted film industry groups, including the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), supported Prop. 21 on the grounds that without such an additional revenue stream, a number of parks could close or at least have curtailed hours and not enough staff to facilitate activities such as location filming.
The parks represent one of the California’s biggest location draws for motion picture lensing and professional still photography. Not only does this activity generate dollars from production but the screening and airing of breathtaking vistas in these projects in turn promote the parks as tourist destinations, another major contributor to the state’s economy.
According to the California Film Commission (CFC), state parks account for the majority of the state filming permits it issues. In the latest available figures–which are for 2009–parks represent 62 percent of state permit filming days. Caltrans properties (roads, highways) are a distant second at 30 percent. California’s network of state parks cover 1.5 million acres and one-third of the state’s coastline.
Based on the importance of location lensing, such groups as the AICP, The Location Managers Guild of America, San Diego Film Commission, Sacramento Film Commission, Santa Cruz County Film Commission, Monterey County Film Commission, Mendocino County Film Office, Santa Barbara Film Commission and the Humboldt Film Commission endorsed Prop. 21.
Now that Prop. 21 has been defeated, the industry is hopeful that location filming will still be not only welcomed but also fully facilitated in a timely fashion–despite the dramatic budget shortfall being felt by state parks. Tough economic times certainly make it all the more prudent to make efforts to accommodate revenue-generating production shoots.
In the past decade, California lost more than 36,000 jobs and $2.4 billion in wages because of production leaving California to film out-of-state. California’s 278 state parks rank as the state’s most popular state-owned location for filming, offering low-cost and diverse locations to help keep film and commercial production and jobs in the state. In 2008 and 2009, California state parks hosted more than 400 television commercial and print advertisement shoots.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More