Sunday, January 25, 2009

Stan, Frank, and the Ducky


Bumped into Stan Atkinson at the Sacramento Home and Landscape show... OK, OK, Stan was a cardboard cut-out. But I couldn't help tormenting his ducky... especially since Stan didn't do his last commercial at The Studio Center like he had planned. That ducky will pay dearly for that!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Is Hollywood Leaving Hollywood?

In a word... Yes. Those of us who have followed the Film Industry for years already know this, but it was underscored in this weeks CFAA (Capital Film Arts Alliance) meeting with Burbank Assemblyman Paul Krekorian. He mentioned that 43 other states have some film industry incentives...California is not one of them. And I'll bet we won't get some anytime soon with this current legislature. How can lawmakers be persuaded to cut a deal for one group in the face of the catastrophic deficits? And especially most Republicans will block any such attempt. So as Assemblyman Krekorian said, "It's a dead issue". Just as the aerospace industry left LA, wave goodby to the film industry.
That being said, the big studio lots will still be there, but mostly to do Television, which will stay. Movies will still be financed out of those big building in Century City, just as Redwood Palms finances movies out of Folsom... But they won't be made there, as they are not here.
Don't forget... The the movie industry moved to LA from New York indeed for mostly economic reasons. And that's why they will now move out of LA to more receptive places like New Mexico, Louisiana, North Carolina, along with Vancouver, etc.
What does that mean for us here in Sacramento? Pretty much nothing. We haven't seen a big budget Hollywood movie up here for years...and that probably won't change ( remember, we're still in California). What can we do about it? Pretty much nothing (remember, we're still in California).
More comments about Sacramento Filmmaking to come !!!