Utah 2009:04

April 7, 2009

WE WON!

By Anne Sward
Utah Branch Vice President

We won! Senate Bill 14 passed with flying colors and hopefully this package will encourage big-budget television and film production to shoot in Utah. There are many people to thank for this, mainly Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. He put together an economic development team headed by Jason Perry, the director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, who made a comparative study of all the U.S. film incentives. He then offered suggestions on how to change Utah’s incentives to make them more competitive without scaring our legislators with an overwhelming fiscal note in this economic downturn. We can thank President Obama as well. Governor Huntsman will use $15 million from the federal stimulus money to help fund the film incentives package.

Along with Marshall Moore, our Utah film commissioner, our Utah SAG Branch had a presence and played a part in supporting the legislative committee hearings. And we owe a lot to the Motion Picture Association of Utah, headed by Don Shain of Salty Dog Pictures/Disney, director Tim Nelson and casting director Jeff Johnson, for all their hard work testifying to committees and informing the film community about the bill.

The January SAGIndie/Utah Branch Forum launched our involvement with this issue and we had in attendance nearly 200 people to listen to Marshall Moore; Tim Nelson; our own Todd Amorde, national director of organizing; Mark Friedlander, national director of new media; Darrien Gibson, SAGIndie director; and Susan Dolan, Utah Branch president. We also had Utah Branch Executive Don Livesay, Deputy National Executive Director of Policy & Strategic Planning Pamm Fair and other executives from the Guild to field questions from the audience about many of the issues facing us at this time.

Be sure to log onto the film commission Web page (film.utah.gov) to see the details of this new legislation. We now have tools to work with to encourage producers to come to Utah. So get ready to work—hopefully they will come. You might want to call or e-mail Gov. Huntsman’s office to thank him for supporting the film industry, and if you run into Don Shain, Tim Nelson and Jeff Johnson on set or at auditions, be sure to thank them as well. They are our heroes in this.

NEW STIMULUS IN PLACE FOR UTAH FILMMAKING

Among the three dozen bills signed into law by Governor Huntsman on Monday, March 23, was one specifically designed to reinvigorate state efforts to coax film, television and commercial productions to Utah. Utah now offers a cash rebate with a $500,000 cap, plus a 20 percent fully refundable tax credit for qualifying productions.

Championed by the Motion Picture Association of Utah, Screen Actors Guild and other local filmmakers, Senate Bill 14 is meant to level the playing field in Utah’s ongoing competition with neighboring states for film, television and commercial production. The change brings to $10 million a year the amount the state is spending on the incentive. Unused amounts will roll over. The program will be reviewed on or before October 1, 2014, and every five years thereafter. Jason Perry, director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, is optimistic that it will birth 4,500 jobs and generate millions more due to a multiplier that statistically adds two-and-a-half dollars into the economy with every dollar spent by the state.

The state continues to offer a transient room exemption on productions that stay longer than 30 consecutive days and a sales tax exemption for point-of-purchase sales on machinery and equipment.

UNFAIR LIST AVAILABLE ONLINE

The Unfair List is composed of Guild-signatory producers who have either 1) been found by a neutral arbitrator or court to have violated one or more of the Guild contracts; or 2) defaulted on payments to performers during production and have had production halted pending full payment. We encourage performers who may be employed by one of the listed producers and the agents of such performers to negotiate additional personal financial assurances with the producer, such as creating an escrow account for the salary a performer expects to be paid by the producer. For various reasons, some producers who fit the above criteria may have been omitted from this list. SAG members always should check with the Guild prior to agreeing to accept employment with any producer.

To see the entire up-to-date list, log in as a member and click here.

UTAH SAG CONSERVATORY TO DEBUT SOON

By Anne Sward
Utah Branch Vice President

We have some exciting news. The Utah Branch is launching a SAG conservatory program, and we really need your involvement to make it work. The mission is to provide a program for the development of actors through educational and informative workshops, acting classes and industry forums. This program is offered as a benefit to Utah SAG actors and a service to the acting community at large in Utah. We hope to invite film stars and/or directors to have Actors Studio/ Conversations-style events, acting classes with Utah’s best coaches and opportunities to work with directors and your fellow actors. We also want it to be a means to build the membership and to organize by informing actors about the benefits of the Guild and our contracts.

Please let Branch Executive Director Don Livesay know if you want to serve as a member of the Conservatory Committee. As a committee member, you will participate for a year to help develop the annual program of events and, of course, take advantage of attending the events. We need your ideas, talent and involvement. Our last event was highly successful and we want to keep up the momentum.

If you want to become a committee member or have further questions, send an e-mail to Don Livesay at don.livesay@sag.org. Our time has come! We have the place, we have some money and we have great ideas, so now we need some actors...YOU! It will be fun! Thanks.

PROFESSIONAL ACTORS MAKE PROFESSIONAL CHOICES

By Don Livesay
Utah Executive Director

Professionalism is the commodity we offer when producers sign on to our contracts, and Screen Actors Guild is synonymous with professionalism. That is our message. We don’t guarantee our people are better at what they do just because they are members. Our people tend to be better than those who are not members because they choose—and keep on choosing—to do things that help establish themselves as highly qualified, ready-to-work actors.

I am not an expert in what makes an actor competitive, but a few things seem clear from my vantage point:

1. Professional actors stay on top of their game regardless of how often they audition and work.
2. Professional actors market themselves, using tools that keep them ready for the work that does come.
3. Professional actors develop relationships in the industry with those who could recommend them for jobs or could hire them directly.

The first point means actors must keep skill levels at their peak through workshops and other ongoing training activity. Although SAG as a matter of policy does not recommend specific classes for actors, I know of several excellent ones for adults and young performers. Do some shopping and invest in yourself by taking a class. Someone I admire once said she is not just an actor when working. She’s an actor as long as she works at working, and that’s all the time.

The second point means carrying the tools necessary for being seen as professional, such as pictures that are current and are right for the market, and résumés that show what you do and state everything in the best possible way. Reconnect with your agent or chat with a casting director. Have a serious talk about the marketing tools you need right now. And once and for all—excuse me if I’m preaching to the choir—get yourself on iActor!

My final point deals with networking. Regardless of how well you do at points one and two, if the right people haven’t met you, you are limited to waiting around for your phone to ring. In Utah there is more than one networking group to consider joining. Most are open to actors, and some are made up of local filmmakers, casting directors, agents and other personnel who work in key decision-making jobs for productions that shoot in Utah.

Let me suggest that you start with the Motion Picture Association of Utah. The MPAU created a lobbying base of local professionals in the business who set about creating the film incentive package that was just signed into law. I ask you, is there any better place to be seen than where everyone is working to improve job creation in film in Utah? What can be better for you as a member of SAG than working elbow to elbow with the very people who could hire you in their next film or commercial? Join today at mpau.org. It's good for you and good for Utah.

Hope you are having a great year. See you at the next meeting.

WHAT IS UTAH'S REEL REPORT?

Utah's Reel Report is the official e-newsletter for the Utah Branch. It is published quarterly, and is designed to keep our Utah members informed of news and upcoming events. Your comments and suggestions are welcome. Please send them to Utah Branch Executive Director Don Livesay at don.livesay@sag.org.

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