Madam Speaker and Members

I rise today to support AB 1696

I am proud to be a Joint Author on this bill because the time has come for the state of California to recognize the economic benefit inherent in being the entertainment capitol of the world.

As a filmmaker, I’ve worked throughout this state on many productions.  From San Francisco to San Diego and from Mammoth to San Juan Bautista and from Monterey Bay to the Mohave Desert I’ve been part of film crews that have been filled with good paying jobs.  Film locations that used local resources, employed local craftsman and bought the wares of local businesses.  And for Mr. Spitzer sake, I’ve even filmed in some of our states prisons and state and local parks generating direct financial benefit to the state’s general fund.

No state in our nation has the many diverse locations, landscapes and opportunities to film than California.  There is so much uniquely rare and special about filming in California.  We’ve got the farms of the San Joaquin Valley to the O C.  We even have every day main streets  that have represented small town America from many other states.  I’ve also seen first hand locations and sets that have doubled for Korea, Paraguay and the town of Bedrock – we truly have it all and County after County has enjoyed these economic benefits for nearly 100 years.  

• In Fresno County, the entertainment industry spent 103 days filming in 2006. 
• Kern County generated an estimated $12 million from filming during the same time frame. 
• In the Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties), film production generated over $67 million. 
• And in San Diego, that county generated over $77 million in direct film industry expenditures.

The benefits to the state as a whole are unmistakable.

From the food actors and crews eat to the hotels and support businesses that help a production’s needs the survival of filmed entertainment in California is central to our chances of having a healthy economy.

Our production leakage has been so great that several entire facets of filmed entertainment no longer exist in California.  One such area is Made for TV movies where nearly 100 percent film outside of the US in Canada.  However, there’s been a recent change in the exchange rate that has production managers beginning to look at cities back inside the US.

The time is ripe for us to institute this tax credit so that these comparative budgets can include California.  Not can we help low to large productions continue to film here but if we act this year, we can attract back these TV movies to California locations.  It is critical that we capitalize on this opportunity this year before another state replaces Canada as the TV Movie capitol.

In addition to the jobs and overall business support generated by a film shoot, local governments enjoy permit fees and a sense of pride by having major films shot in its streets homes and parks.  I know that the league of cities is drafting a support letter for this bill because the 400 plus cities in California understand the importance filmed entertainment it is to our state.