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click images for larger view and details
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| L-R Bottom Row: DGA Board Member Carl Weathers, Leadership Council Co-Chair Paris Barclay, Jesús Treviño, DGA Past President Jack Shea, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, DGA Board Member John Rich, Arthur Seidelman, Mary Lou Belli, DGA National Executive Director Jay D. Roth, DGA Board Alternate Randal Kleiser.
L-R Top Row: DGA Board Alternate Robert Butler, Michael Zinberg,Wolfgang Glattes, Nick Marck, Curtis Hanson DGA Board Member Kim Kurumada, Leadership Council Co-Chair Taylor Hackford,Ted Bogosian, Charles Robert Carner, Leonard Garner, Jr., Demian Lichtenstein, and DGA Associate National Executive Director Warren Adler.
photos by Robert Hale - Click images for larger view
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| LC Co-Chair Paris Barclay, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, LC Co-Chair Taylor Hackford and DGA National Executive Director Jay D. Roth. |
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On Friday, March 17, 2006, the DGA PAC Leadership Council (LC) held a meeting with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the first non-federal official to meet with the Leadership Council. The meeting gave the Leadership Council the opportunity to introduce Mayor Villaraigosa to the Guild and thank him for his commitment to local film production, while sharing with him the filmmakers’ perspective on current problems and future challenges facing our industry.
“This is a momentous day because the Mayor and his office are crucially important to this Guild and our industry as a whole,” said Leadership Council Co-Chair Taylor Hackford when introducing Mayor Villaraigosa. “He has established a longstanding positive point of view towards our industry, and he has a strong relationship with our National Executive Director, Jay D. Roth, that goes back more than 20 years in the labor movement.”
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Mayor Villaraigosa addresses DGA PAC LC
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The free-flowing conversation covered a wide range of topics including Mayor Villaraigosa’s point of view on how the City of Los Angeles is involved in the fight against piracy, to his personal love of movies and appreciation of the entertainment industry. But the two topics that dominated the discussion were how the DGA could work with the Mayor to make filming easier in Los Angeles, and our joint effort to achieve the successful passage of California-based tax incentive legislation, AB 777, which specifically targets productions that are most likely to leave California for economic reasons, primarily incentives offered in other states and countries.
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| Mayor Villaraigosa outlines his plans for Los Angeles' film industry. |
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The Mayor firmly stated his commitment to easing the process of filming in Los Angeles. “I see a need for us be very aggressive in reducing the red tape around obtaining permits and working with the homeowner groups to make LA more business friendly to film production,” said Villaraigosa. “In addition to my support for reducing the business tax, I’ve proposed the elimination of fees for filming on city property. And we are not stopping there. I want to look at an effective package of incentives we can put together to support L.A. production.” The Mayor’s comments were well attuned to the importance of the entertainment industry (film, television, and commercial productions) to the Los Angeles economy—our industry generates over $34 billion a year in revenue and directly employs over 245,900 people.
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| Mayor Villaraigosa hears about problems filming in LA from DGA Board Members/UPM Kim Kurumada. |
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Mayor Villaraigosa noted that he and his staff worked closely with the DGA to try and pass AB 777 during the last session of the Legislature. He shared with the Leadership Council his intent to do all he could to secure passage of the legislation this year. “We care about this industry and want to work with you. I think that (our local efforts to fight runaway production) will help us when we do go to the legislature, and will give us a stronger argument,” stated Villaraigosa. “I want to be supportive. This industry is very important to more than just the LA economy. We are, without question, the cultural and entertainment capital of the world.”
Underscoring the Mayor’s argument was mention of a 2005 study by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation on the true economic costs of runaway production. A typical movie on location spends an average of $50,000; one season of a TV drama series creates over $3 million in tax revenues; and an average studio film with a budget of $70 million results in $10.6 million in tax revenues to the city and the state. “When I was in the State Legislature, I represented the Hollywood area, and no Legislature in the country represents an economy like the California economy,” noted Villaraigosa when discussing why other countries and increasingly, other states are seeking to lure L.A. based productions to bolster their own local economies at California’s expense. 19 states have production incentives in place, and beginning in January 2006, 13 states announced their intention to pass new or enhanced tax incentive legislation. Four of those have already passed.
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| Mayor Villaraigosa chats with Director Curtis Hanson about LA's film community. |
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The Mayor ended the meeting by sharing a personal story reflecting the intense interest by the rest of the world in the historic heart of the entertainment industry. "When I was the Speaker of the California State Assembly I was leading a delegation to Singapore to meet with the prime minister and they introduced me as a representative of the fifth largest economy in the world. The Prime Minister’s eyes were glazing over and I knew I had to say something to get his attention, so I said, 'I actually represent Los Angeles,' and he perked up a little bit. Then I added, 'In fact I represent Hollywood, California!' And his eyes lit up and he hugged me and after that we had a great conversation. That shows you what Hollywood and your work as directors means as a symbol of the entertainment industry to the world.” |
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