What’s Next…

Hurricane season is hitting us hard this year. Really? I hadn’t heard.

Just when we were getting a grip on the devastation in LA, MS and ALA, along comes Rita. Fortunately, my family has escaped, so far, with no more than inconvenience. A new baby’s birth, thought to be possibly delayed or accomplished away from home, now looks like it will take place, as planned, in Houston. Yeah!

The New Orleans area has not escaped this latest storm induced misery and the recovery there will no doubt be set back at least a bit.

What does this have to do with Acting…or the film industry?

Well…in case you don’t know, the state of Louisiana has been very aggressive in courting the film industry. We here in Texas (we being our legislative heroes in particular) have watched as their LA counterparts have put together very attractive incentive packages that had, prior to hurricane Katrina made New Orleans a booming film production center.

At a recent Austin meeting put together by a group called “The Alliance” http://www.theallianceaustin.com one of the local talent agents (who now has an office in New Orleans) asserted that there were (at that date) approximately 35 film productions either filming or scheduled to film in and around New Orleans. He went on to state that at our busiest times here in Texas we had approximately 11 films going or scheduled…and we thought we were HOT!

The state of LA has reportedly participated in somewhere around $200 million in film production over the past two years. At the same time, other states such as New Mexico have also been aggressively pursuing similar legislation that will give tax incentives, rebates, etc. to film producers who meet certain criteria (location filming and hiring of local residents are key ingredients). Meanwhile, the Texas legislature fights over school financing and other important issues but is completely Asleep At The Wheel as our own considerable film industry has been taken away by these other states. During our most recent legislative session, these same political heroes passed a bill with approximately $20 million earmarked for the film industry. BUT…that bill was not actually FUNDED. So here we sit with an unfunded $20 million pool of money with which to try to win back some of our lost film production. Yikes!

Since hurricane Katrina, some LA productions have reportedly had to shut down, others are back up and running already, and some proposed productions have decided to relocate elsewhere.

While I wish no one in the Gulf Coast area any more misery, I hope that at least some of that production will relocate to Texas. Is that cold? Well, no…I don’t think so. If relocation is inevitable, Texas would be a great place ramp up production both for me and for all my fellow film professionals in this market area.

Why don’t I just relocate to LA or NM? Well…were it that simple. And if I were 21, unmarried and otherwise mobile, that would be an attractive option. But that’s not the case. Established people like myself need our film industry to be revitilized…and the sooner the better. For a variety of reasons.

First of all we don’t want to lose the infrastructure…such as it is…the talent base and the crew base that has grown up here over the past decade and more.

Secondly, many of the film community rely on film work for our insurance benefits. For some, and I count myself in this group, that is a critical factor. In order to qualify for insurance from SAG (Screen Actors Guild) benefits, certain income minimums must be met on a yearly basis.

Because of health care costs, those minimum thresholds have risen and at the present level of local production, it is difficult to keep those benefits active. In the case of costly medical events such as childbirth or a serious illness such as cancer, those benefits are even more critical than usual.

In November of 2003, my wife, Jane was diagnosed with a nasty little disease called IBC or Inflammatory Breast Cancer. My insurance benefits have been essential in Jane’s treatment. Thanks to that good treatment, great doctoring and to the prayers of thousands of friends and strangers, she is currently cancer free. But IBF has a bad habit of returning and medical costs are still mounting as we continue to fight to keep Jane well. Thank God for my SAG insurance benefits!! Without a return to a consistent calendar of film production, I will lose those benefits.

So…while I agonize over the misery of the people of Louisiana, I find myself in the uncomfortable position of hoping that because of their unfortunate circumstances, we here in the Texas film industry will reap some benefit.

No easy answers. God bless us all.