"PAC Attack" by Jim Ridley, Nashville Scene, 5/14/08

After watching Big Cable remote-control the Tennessee legislature this session, while Big Liquor put a cork in legislation that would have permitted wine sales in grocery stores, it’s apparent that the clearest way to make your voice heard by lawmakers is through a bullhorn of money—by officially becoming a special interest. So move over, Big Tobacco…and say hello to Big Picture.

An organization called the Association for the Future of Film and Television (AFFT) intends to become the legislative arm of Tennessee’s film and TV industry. Using funds raised through $25 yearly memberships and corporate underwriting, the group plans to hire a lobbyist, Reina Reddish, to push for pro-industry legislation, and form a political action committee to elect sympathetic candidates. Made up of industry professionals from across the state, representing regions that sometimes compete for the same work, AFFT seizes upon the one issue that galvanizes film and TV workers whether they’re in Memphis, Nashville or Bristol: production incentives.

“This is the first time the entire industry in the state has been united,” says Jan Austin, former deputy director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission, who has worked to get AFFT running since April 2007.

“I think it’s phenomenal,” says Linn Sitler, the respected longtime Memphis & Shelby County film commissioner, who was part of a grassroots group that made the case for temporary incentives in 2006. “It’ll show just how much support there is for the industry statewide.”

Production incentives are more than a buzzword: They’re the buzz itself—the principal factor, in most cases, that determines where a film or TV show will spend its production money. By offering whopping double-digit tax credits, states such as Louisiana have been able to parlay film and TV work into hundreds of millions’ worth of jobs and in-state spending. So your film is set in Tennessee? Big deal. To name just one example, the horror movie An American Haunting, based on the Bell Witch legend, found it cheaper to shoot in Romania than in nearby Adams, Tenn.

Film and TV work has accelerated noticeably since 2006, when Tennessee created a pool of $10 million for rebates to production companies that shoot here, hire local crew and/or set up headquarters within the state. Still to come is the most ballyhooed Tennessee feature of all: the much-anticipated Hannah Montana movie, which the state, its film commission and TFEMC executive director Perry Gibson wrested away from Louisiana after white-knuckle negotiations with Disney.

But even though another $10 million was added to the pool last year, there are no signs it will happen again—and no other major lures to replace it. “We want to be sure we don’t lose work,” says AFFT President Roger Hodges, executive producer of Nashville-based Firefly Film & Video, who explains that production companies want to see incentives written in stone before they commit future work to a state.

Gibson, who heads up Tennessee’s film commission—and is not connected to AFFT—says that permanent incentives are a goal for the state, but only in a “long-term, systemic, make-sense” plan. “The governor doesn’t care about stars in limos,” Gibson says. “He wants to make sure every dollar makes an impact.” For now, at least Hannah’s not in Montana.

 

 

Film, TV trade group formed, Knoxville News Sentinel 

Association to work on getting incentives for the industry

By Carly Harrington
Saturday, May 31, 2008

A new statewide film and television trade association has been formed and aims to have an impact in next year's legislative session on industry issues such as incentives.

Jan Austin, founder and executive director of The Association for the Future of Film and Television, said she hopes to unite industry businesses across the state in order to ensure continued growth of the industry.

"Unless the community of film and television folks across the state come together, they will never have a strong voice at the legislative level," said Austin, former deputy director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment & Music Commission.

Within six months the group will form a political action committee to support state and local candidacies of those who are supportive of the industry in general and of individual efforts.

One of the biggest issues for the group will be ensuring the state has a permanent economic incentive plan that provides tax credits for film and television production companies choosing to work in Tennessee.

Austin and others in the industry say the state has suffered over the years because it struggles to compete with neighboring states that have stronger incentive packages.

In fact, the state almost lost the filming of the upcoming Hannah Montana movie, based on the popular Disney TV series, to nearby Louisiana, Austin said.

"Without the incentives, I know they would not have been in Tennessee," she said.

The state passed a new $10 million incentives package in 2006 and it went into effect last year, but Austin said it's something the legislature must reapprove every year.

Tennessee's plan uses a mix of tax rebates, a headquarters incentive and a grant program to assist in the development of productions in the state.

"Hollywood plans its projects well in advance. They're not going to pay attention to us for very long if there's not a guaranteed commitment," Austin said.

Juanell Walker, co-owner of Talent Trek Agency and a board member of the new group, agreed.

"People need to know it's in place and that there's longevity to it," Walker said.

Business writer Carly Harrington may be reached at 865-342-6317.

© 2008 Knoxville News Sentinel

 

Statewide driving force, Memphis Daily News

Meanwhile, that same concept is behind the creation of a new statewide lobbying group that, for the first time in Tennessee, will flex some political muscle on behalf of the state’s film and television industry.

That new group is the Association for the Future of Film and Television (AFFT), which announced plans for a statewide membership drive earlier this month. A board of directors has been named, with members chosen from across the state.

Membership fees and other contributions the group receives will be used to mount a serious lobbying effort in Nashville to sponsor legislation that boosts those industries in the state. Rod Starns and Jonathan Epstein, partners at the Memphis-area media production firm Running Pony Productions, are among the West Tennessee members of the group’s board of directors.

“The first thing we want to really do is get members,” Starns said, “(and) find out if there is the kind of backing across the state that we think there is among professionals in the video and TV industry. That’s step one. Step two is then to ultimately, at some point, establish a political action committee, hire a lobbyist and really let our voice be heard in Nashville on Capitol Hill.

“Because if we want to pass some legislation, there really has to be a driving force, somebody who’s up there, working the bill. We’ve clearly seen productions that could have come to Memphis or some other part of the state that have gone elsewhere because they can save literally millions of dollars.”

The Tennessee General Assembly in 2006 approved legislation called the Visual Content Act that led to the creation of an incentive fund for film and TV projects in the state. Ten million dollars was placed into that fund, which was designed to be split among projects deemed worthy and in accordance with criteria determined by the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission and the Tennessee Department of Revenue.

The legislation that set aside the $10 million, however, did not include a provision to keep the funding in the future. That led Jan Austin, the former deputy director of the state’s film, entertainment and music commission, to create the AFFT.

And that group will now act as the statewide megaphone through which industry players from across the state make their voices heard around Nashville’s Legislative Plaza.

First up on the group’s to-do list, once the organization’s lobbying effort is fully up and running, is to begin selling lawmakers on the concept of a recurring pool of money to use for film and TV incentives.

A message to members of the AFFT on the group’s Web site, www.affttennessee.org, reads: “Our industry simply can not sustain growth and vitality with funding that is in place one year and gone the next.”