What prompts this little rant? I received an email yesterday from an acting related blog I’m apparently subscribed to that led me to a link to a message board at backstage dot com. For those who don’t know, BACKSTAGE is trade type publication that originally was centered on NY theater and film issues and has for some years also been also covered the LA market as well. It is a legitimate publication, so what I have to say is not a criticism of Backstage.

Here’s the link: Backstage Message Board

Do me a favor and finish reading here before bolting for the message board. I’ll give you a taste of what you’ll find. Here’s the way the discussion begins:

Is anyone familiar with Peter McMahon? He wants my 14 yr. old daughter to be in his new movie. I am excited about this, is it for real? …he said I needed to send him $250. for the SAG, AFTRA, and ACT memberships. He said he could get her 150 hours in in about 3-5 days, because he owns a radio station, cable network, and so on in New York. We were in touch via telephone. He got my daughter’s resume from ***talent.biz, where she can go for casting calls, gigs, and so on for $20.00 per month. I haven’t heard from him since Friday night, and he said he’d send us a “confirmation” for our airline ticket on Sunday night, or Monday morning. It is Monday after 2pm, and he hasn’t returned my phone call. I realize that I am not high on his priority list, since she has 0 experience, but I am getting nervous. His phone number is out of Nashville, TN. Thank you for ANY info you can give me!!

How many red flags do you spot in this post? For the promise from a complete stranger, via a contact across state lines and over the internet, some well meaning but completely clueless parent is about to waste her money, at the very least, and quite possibly jeopardize the safety of her 14 year old daughter. Unbelievable. But believe it, it’s true.

Let me save you some time it will take to read the entire thread on Backstage. An frighteningly large number of other posters responded that they had already sent the scammer identified as “Peter McMahon” at least $250 to be ‘cast’ in his supposed film project called “Italian in the South”. At least one person posted that they had already purchased their tickets to NYC but were waiting for Mr. McMahon to forward their itinerary.

Uh…don’t hold your breath on getting that ‘itinerary’. But this poor person wasn’t the only one taken in by this rather transparent scam:

All of this is happening to me now I have been talking to him peter mcmahon [sic] all day and am suppose to fly out to new york tomoorow [sic] I sent him 250 through western union. I think I got taken.

Ya think?

And this:

Same thing happened to me yesterday. I had noticed this blog yesterday but thought surely that he would call you. I actually called him last night and he answered and said that he would be sending my schedule and itenerary soon. Has anyone else heard anything??

And finally someone injects a bit of good old common sense:

DO NOT FLY ANYWHERE. Obviously, we are missing some information in this situation, but this simply cannot be legit. I guess this COULD just be a money scam, in which case you will never hear from this guy again. But if he was intending to actually fly a child to NYC, it sounds like more than a scam: it sounds more like sex trafficing [sic] . I’m not kidding.

Listen up actors, wannabe actors, and parents who want their kids to be the next big thing in TV and the movies:

I don’t even know where to start listing the DON’T and NEVERs that apply but here are a few in no particular order of importance:

1. NEVER pay any agent upfront money to ‘represent’ you or your child in the entertainment business. That is NOT the way a legitimate agent / client relationship works.

Agent’s work FOR talent in a effort to secure employment. AFTER the talent books a job and is paid, the agent will receive a commission. NOT beforehand.

NOT on the promise of getting the performer work.

NOT in advance in any legitimate situation.

IF an agent requires you to pay a FEE of any kind in exchange for representation that is NOT a legitimate agent and you will be throwing away your money. PERIOD.

Agent scams are as old as show business. See my former post on Headshots for some discussion of the old ‘use my photographer’ scam where the ‘agent’ is nothing more
than a referral service for one or more photographers from whom the ‘agent’ receives a kickback.

Old scam, still going on every day in Hollywood and across the country.

2. NEVER pay a casting service that purports to cast roles in film, television or commercials. Casting directors get paid by production companies, not by actors.

I suggest you check out LEGITIMATE casting offices like casting director Beth Sepko’s where you’ll find the following statement. By the way, Beth’s company casts both principal roles and background:

There is NEVER a fee to be registered or on file with our company. There is also NEVER a fee collected from the talent or extras for any booking. We are compensated by the production companies who hire us. Which means we only book talent for projects we are casting.

Google Beth’s name and you’ll find her site. Read all the information there and you’ll get a good idea of how a legitimate, professional casting director works.

Also check out the web site for THE ALLIANCE. There you’ll find a wealth of information about legitimate conduct for actors, agents and casting directors. This information applies nationwide, not just for actors in Central Texas, so if you’re in LA or NYC or Nashville, TN check out these resources for some very solid information.

3. NEVER post your home address and/or home phone number on some internet ‘casting’ site. Most of these sites have as much chance of generating a legitimate casting opportunity as I have of beating Lance Armstrong in a bike race. Not Likely.

I understand that parents and young actors are trying in every way possible to gain entry into a very competitive business that doesn’t seem to have many open doors.

You should understand that most legitimate casting sites, sites that are actually utilized by professional casting and production people, require that talent have some credentials: an agent, legitimate credits, SAG or AFTRA or AEA membership, for instance.

Listing your home phone and address only sets you up to be more easily scammed or possibly worse.

4. NEVER allow you minor child to have a private meeting with a casting person or agent. That is particularly true if you’ve made contact via the internet or, heaven forbid, Craig’s List.

You are a parent first. Your child’s future career, if there is to be one, will not be thwarted because you exercise good parental judgement.

On the other hand, your child’s safety could definitely be compromised if you do not. Unfortunately, pedophiles and other scumbags can be very clever. Wise up.

5. NEVER post provocative photos of yourself or your children on casting forums or sites. Don’t invite trouble. Unless you’re trying to get into the porn business,
no legitimate casting site wants to publish your nude or semi nude photos. Period.

And to wrap this up:

If you get contacted about a casting call, do your homework. Google is your friend. The IMDB is your friend.

The national or regional offices of Screen Actors Guild or AFTRA are your friends. You do not have to be a union member to get lots of FREE information off the SAG dot org site, for instance.

If you have a question about a producer or production that is supposedly shooting in your area, check with SAG. See if it is a signatory production. Not all legitimate productions are SAG signatory, but the SAG office may have information that will be helpful.

Understand that every state has CHILD LABOR LAWS and legitimate casting and agent’s office go out of their way to make sure they are in compliance with all legal requirements for working with or even interviewing minor children.

Finally, don’t be so desperate to break into the film business that you break the rules of common sense. I could go on forever on this subject…and probably have but the situation that prompted this post is disturbing. To resurrect a line from Hill Street Blues (yeah I’m old enough to remember HSB), BE CAREFUL OUT THERE.

Dear Screen Actors Guild Member,

I am very pleased to inform you that early this morning, the SAG/AFTRA Joint Commercials Negotiating Committee, under the capable leadership of John McGuire, Mathis Dunn and Ray Rodriguez, reached a proposed deal on the commercials contracts. The committee voted unanimously to recommend this agreement to the SAG/AFTRA Joint National Board for approval and membership referendum.

I would like to express my congratulations and sincere appreciation to the members of the negotiating team for their hard work and dedication during this challenging process.

Please take a moment to review the below news release which provides some details about the proposed agreement.

In unity and looking forward.

David White

AFTRA AND SAG REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH ADVERTISING INDUSTRY ON NEW COMMERCIALS CONTRACTS

NEW YORK (APRIL 1, 2009)—Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists announced today that the AFTRA/SAG Joint Negotiating Committee has reached a unanimous tentative agreement with the Joint Policy Committee (JPC) of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) on terms for successor agreements to the AFTRA Television and Radio Commercials Contracts and the SAG Television Commercials Contract, subject to approval by the SAG/AFTRA Joint National Board.

The new three-year agreement contains a more than $36 million increase in wage rates and other payments for all categories of performers in the first year of the contracts, approximately $21 million in increased contributions to the SAG Pension and Health Plan and the AFTRA Health and Retirement Fund, establishment of a payment structure for work made for the Internet and other New Media platforms, important new monitoring provisions, and improvements for choreographers, extras, and Spanish language performers.

The new contracts also contain an agreement in principle outlining terms for a pilot study for the purpose of testing the Gross Rating Points (GRP) model of restructuring compensation to performers as proposed by Booz & Co. The two-year study is scheduled to commence on April 15 and will be conducted by a jointly retained consultant engaged by the Unions and the Industry. The results and possible adoption of the study’s findings will be subject to negotiation by the parties not later than January 3, 2012.

The unions successfully protected the critical “Class A” payment structure and continued unchanged the editing provisions in the existing contract.

Highlights of the new agreement include:

• Three-year agreement, term effective April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2012
• 5.1% overall increase in wages and other compensation over the life of the contracts, including a 4.43% increase, effective April 1, 2009, in Class A, Wild Spot, and basic cable session fees
• For product made for the Internet or in New Media, 1.3 times the minimum session fee for 8 week’s use and 3.5 times the minimum session fee for one year’s use
• 0.5% increase in the employer contribution rate to the AFTRA H&R and SAG P&H plans bringing the total contribution rate to 15.3%. The agreement provides for a cap on P&H and H&W contributions, but the committee successfully negotiated the industry from their initial demand of $250,000 to $1,000,000 per performer, per contract, per year.
• Secured five, new covered jobs for commercial extras, up from 40 to 45
• Established new exclusivity provisions for made-for cable only commercials
• Instituted, for the first time, a contract provision to pay extras a round-trip mileage fee of $8
• Increased foreign use payments under the Spanish Language section of the contract

What a sight! Hundreds of film industry professionals and business people who benefit from a thriving film industry, many dressed in red, answered the call of the TXMPA and showed up for lobby day.

According to the Bob Hudgins of the Texas Film Commission,7000 film jobs and $500 million in film industry revenue have been lost in the state since 2003. That’s when states like Louisiana and New Mexico began their programs that aggressively court film producers with tax incentive programs. Louisiana and New Mexico have been offering incentive and/or rebate programs that amount to roughly 25% of a film’s expenditures if shot in their respective states. Michigan is now drawing productions with its 40% incentive.

In 2006 in a ‘better late than never’ reaction to the well documented downturn in Texas location filming, the Texas Motion Picture Alliance (TXMPA) was born. After securing lobby firm Hillco Parters, TXMPA led the way and Texas produced its own film incentive package in 2007.

Unfortunately that legislation, with a 5% incentive and a cap of $20 Million spread over two years, just wasn’t competitive with the other states’ programs. The 2007 bill did produce some dividends in commercial and video game production but the feature film work that was a primary target of the legislation did not materialize.

The classic example of the failure of the 2007 legislation to stem the tide of lost feature film production is Drew Barrymore’s film, WHIP IT!. That film story is set in Austin, Texas and was scheduled to shoot in Austin. But that was before the state of Michigan implemented their whopping 40% film incentive program. Suddenly Ann Arbor, Michigan started looking a lot like an acceptable substitute for Austin, Texas. Goodbye Texas, hello Michigan. Goodbye jobs, etc. etc.

During today’s Lobby Day I was on a team that visited with four different legislators. All were open to the new legislation and passage of the bill looks like a good possibility. However, passage of the bill is only the first step. The program goes through a separate process to receive funding. If the bill passes but is not funded, it would be a completely hollow ‘victory’.

Late in the day I sat in on a committee meeting for House Bill 873 and listened to testimony by people like director/writer Richard Linklater and producer/director Garry Brown (Prison Break).

Linklater told the committee that he has a $17Million film that is set in Texas and is ready to go. He wants to shoot in Texas but he may end up shooting in Shreveport, LA if Texas doesn’t get an improved film incentive package passed this session.

Similarly, Garry Brown, who was responsible for bringing PRISON BREAK to Dallas for its second and third seasons, offered the committee the insight of a producer who has shot many projects in Texas and wants to shoot more. In fact, Brown announced that he has a TV Pilot for Twentieth Century Fox that he wants to shoot in Dallas. Once again, the selection of a shooting location will be heavily influenced by tax incentives.

The new proposed legislation (HP 873 / SB 605) seeks an increase in funding from $20Million to $62Million and gives the Texas Film Commission office much greater flexibility in negotiating the incentive rate on a project by project basis.

The tact that supporters were urged to take with legislators was to underscore that this is not a giveaway bill but a job creation bill and a bill designed to let Texas once again compete with other states on a more level playing field. No rebate money is distributed until after production money has already been spent on in-state moving picture projects.

The progress of these bills (HB 873 / SB 605 ) through the legislative process over the next couple of months will tell the story of the future of the Texas film industry.

TIME: 7:15am

LOCATION: The South Steps of the Capitol Building

WARDROBE: Wear Red. Look nice.

AGENDA:

· 7:15am – CALL TIME! Be on the South Steps of the Capitol Building in
your snazzy red outfits! There will be a table set up where you can get
information, pick up a Rally Fan, and be directed to the Rally area.

· 7:30am to 8:30am – Governor Rick Perry and other film bigwigs will
address our group while we RALLY and make a big show for the press

· 8:30am to 9:15am – Skits based on popular Texas films will be
performed for our entertainment and encouragement

· 9:15am to 11:15am – Rally on the steps OR walk the halls of the
Capitol wearing your red and carrying a sign or fan

· 11:30am to 1:30pm – Form a receiving line into and out of the lunch
tent so we can thank the legislators for their time and attention to our
issue (NOTE: Lunch is being served only to the legislators, their staff,
and TXMPA members who are taking meetings with them, not all in attendance!)

You are not REQUIRED to stay for any length of time for the Rally, but
we’d love to have the largest group possible earlier in the day to make
the best impression on the Governor and the press. If you can only come
for an hour or two, plan to be there right at CALL TIME!

SPEAKERS: A Panel of Speakers from THE ALLIANCE
* Donise Hardy, President, Talent Works-USA
* Veronica Kelly-Albiez, Vice President, DVA Talent
* Liz Atherton, TAG Talent
* Heather Collier, Collier Talent
* Gabe Folse, State Theater

Our September 24 Mixer will feature the panel of Speakers listed above from
THE ALLIANCE, a cooperative of Casting Directors, Talent Agents and Acting
Coaches that provides insights into the needs and concerns of the acting
community. SEE: http://www.theallianceaustin.com/index.h….

This is a very important Mixer and all actors, and those in the film community in general,
are encouraged to attend.

Please pass on information about our Mixers to your friends and associates
in the film/media industries, and if you have a website associated with
those fields, please post our website - www.networkaustinmixer.com

————————————

To: My fellow TEXAS film workers, from the Red River to the Rio Grande, from the piney woods in the east to the dusty rolling hills in the west.

On many of my countless trips between Austin and Shreveport, I often think about what Texas film workers are doing with their lives. I wonder how they are supporting their families, how the strain of working out of town is affecting them and whether or not we will see Texas rise up to be the industry destination it once was and we know it can be.

A few weeks ago Jeanette Scott, local Set Decorator and Austin Film Society board member, visited my office to discuss ways to raise funds for The Texas Motion Picture Alliance , a nonprofit organization founded to become the legislative advocate for the film, video, interactive, and digital media production industries in the Lone Star State. Many people have worked tireless hours without compensation to raise funds and support this movement. Tom Copeland and numerous others have also donated many hours to the same cause. Elected officials are consumed by the thousands of bills that are proposed each legislative session. Getting our bill passed requires the hard work of an experienced lobbyist. The main goal of TXMPA is to raise funds to pay for a lobbyist so the Texas State Legislature can hear our demands to increase the film incentives.

Those of us familiar with the movement to raise the incentive package to bring films home to TEXAS (not just Austin but all of TEXAS!) know that in the last Legislative session Film Fleet and its sister companies donated thousands of dollars to this cause. Jeanette assured me that the money was well spent, but now they need more!

This led us to the brainstorming of additional groups to talk to. My question for Jeanette was this: Aren’t the TEXAS crew members behind this? Let’s get their support!

When each and every one of us is on the set, if you need sun block – see the medic; if you need a snack – go to Craft Service; if your car had a flat that morning – see Transpo; need some tape – go to Camera. We all know the drill. Now there is another department “on set” to take care of us. It is none other than the Texas Motion Picture Alliance. The TXMPA will secure the right people to help raise the incentive package, but they need YOU behind them so that we all can bring films home to TEXAS!

I propose that each and every one of you join this organization. The membership fee is $50.00 per year. Fifty dollars is less than one tank of gas, less than one dinner out and less than my yearly latte budget.

Film Fleet and its sister companies will pledge an additional $10.00 for every new paid TXMPA membership. I will take it one step further. If there any film crew member that cannot afford the membership fee right now, e-mail your story directly to me. The address is  phil at filmfleet.com. Instead of a crew t-shirt on the next project, I will assist you in paying your membership.

Not only am I asking crew members to join, I am soliciting all industry related vendors such as Longhorn Car & Truck Rentals, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Capps Truck & Van Rental, Crocker Crane Company, Omni Hotels, Rush Truck Centers, Play-Mor Trailers, Southwest Airlines, Raco Leasing, Hope Lumber Company, SWW Production Rentals, Juan In A Million and more! If you think a vendor could benefit from the efforts of TXMPA, forward me their information. I will contact them directly.

Like all of you, I do not want to work out-of-state. I want to work at home, in Texas, with my family and friends by my side.

Do the right thing. Join TXMPA today. You are just a click away… www.txmpa.org!

I, Phil Schriber, wrote and approved this letter.

All my best,

Phil Schriber

SAG and AFTRA, which plan to negotiate jointly on the ad deal, made the disclosure Wednesday in a brief joint announcement with the ad industry.

It’s the second extension of the pact, which had been set to expire Oct. 29. The unions and the ad industry agreed in 2006 to a two-year extension of the contract in order to allow Booz Allen Hamilton to conduct an independent study about changing revenue models in the ad biz due to the impact of new media.

The announcement did not include any indication of when negotiations will start, but it’s unlikely that SAG will be ready to begin talks until it resolves its feature-primetime deal.

Read the whole story at DAILY VARIETY

Folks, the legislative season is upon us. Long before the session begins in January, much work has already been done — and there’s a great deal yet to be done — toward making Texas’ incentive program more competitive, and regaining some of the ground that Texas has lost. The only way to revise the system is through legislative action, and if it doesn’t happen this session, it will be two years before we have another chance.

If you work in any capacity on films of any stripe; television; commercials; corporate videos; music videos; animation; or video games, you need to help us make these changes happen. You may wonder what these different production types have in common. First, they all create visual content. Secondly, they’re portable industries, with no need for factories or big infrastructure to create their products, and that’s why this industry can be so severely impacted by incentives offered in other states. If you offer a competitive incentive, they will come. That’s been solidly proven elsewhere, at Texas’ expense.

Changes will not happen without the involvement of those who work in this industry. And unfortunately, most of you have not been involved: you haven’t yet joined the Texas Motion Picture Alliance.

Quite frankly, we don’t have the luxury of any more time for people to think that others will take care of participating in the process. It is up to you, and you can do it right now. Join the TXMPA, participate in its calls to action, and maybe you won’t have to take a job in Louisiana ever again. If you can’t be bothered to help your own cause, believe me, the legislature won’t bother either.

Bob Hudgins
Texas Film Commission

TXMPA is a statewide all volunteer not-for-profit advocacy group for the moving image industry in Texas.

TXMPA is the industry advocate before legislative, regulatory and judicial bodies, representing a robust community of professionals seeking economic and creative incentives for media work in Texas.

To join or learn more about how TXMPA is bringing business to Texas, go to:
www.txmpa.org

08:49 AM CDT on Friday, July 25, 2008

By JOE O’CONNELL / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
 filmnewsbyjoe at yahoo.com

Don Stokes skipped junior- high classes to watch Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway succumb to a spray of bullets as Bonnie and Clyde. Now he’s charged with bringing the Texas film industry back to life.In June he was elected president of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance, the voice of a Texas film industry that’s seeing Hollywood take its projects to Louisiana, New Mexico and other states that offer heftier financial incentives.

Mr. Stokes is the third TXMPA president and the third from Dallas. His predecessors helped persuade the Texas Legislature to join the film-incentive race with a 5 percent incentive. He is charged with persuading lawmakers to increase it to a more competitive level, something that may come naturally to a guy whose life has been steeped in filmmaking.

“I saw when Dallas and Texas earned that third-coast reputation,” he says, “and I’ve seen it erode significantly in the last few years.”

His father, Bill, was a photography teacher turned film-industry pro who provided the soundstages and production facilities for Bonnie and Clyde in the ’60s. Bill is said to have been the model for Gene Hackman’s Texas accent in the film.

“It was a great experience,” says Mr. Stokes, now head of Post Asylum. “There was tremendous camaraderie on the set. You knew something different was going on, that it wasn’t the same old Hollywood industry movie. There was a different feel, a fresh feel.”

He’d like to see that feel return to Texas film, and he’s not alone. Close to 100 North Texans traveled to Austin recently for the state TXMPA meeting at which Mr. Stokes was elected. About 20 Austin film professionals showed up, a disparity he attributes to the greater urgency felt in Dallas.

“We’ve been hurt more than others, so we rally because we remember when we were really busy,” he says. “I do think the people in Austin get it, but they haven’t felt the overall loss yet like Dallas and Houston have.”

Regional rivalries need to be put aside, Mr. Stokes says, as the industry unites to convince the Legislature that the film industry is worth saving and growing. The unstated goal is a 15 percent refund of in-state expenditures that would still fall short of the 25 percent incentives offered by Louisiana and New Mexico – Michigan offers up to 42 percent – but with the difference offset by a strong Texas crew base and diverse locations.

“We still are a large industry, but we’re viewed as being fragmented,” he says of the challenge the industry faces in getting its message across. “We’re not all in one building or one area of the state.”

What happens if the Legislature doesn’t act? “Texas is losing infrastructure, and we’ll see an acceleration of that loss,” he says. “To an extent we might see a give-up. We need to not only retain what we have, but to grow it.”

Mr. Stokes, a co-producer of the acclaimed documentary TV Junkie, would also like to see the incentives revised to allow more low-budget, homegrown independents to benefit.