CENTRAL CASTING 2012 CBS MORNING SHOW

New Tax Credits for California Mean Production Coming Back to Los Angeles?

California Governor Signs Expansion of State Film and TV Tax Credit
from Variety
September 18, 2014
by Ted Johnson

“A bill that more than triples the size of California’s film and TV tax credit is now law, as Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday signed the legislation designed to stem the tide of runaway production fleeing to other states and countries.

“Yes, it’s taxpayers money, but it’s taxpayers money going to build jobs for the future,” Brown said at a ceremony at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, where he was joined by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti; the bill’s principal co-authors, Assemblymen Raul Bocanegra and Mike Gatto; and a bevy of other lawmakers and industry officials who filled the forecourt of the landmark theater.

Garcetti predicted that the expanded credit would mean that 10,000 jobs would return to the Los Angeles region next year. He said that the legislation will “level the playing field” with other states offering credits.

Dozens of crew and union members attended, as well as a smattering of stars like Warren Beatty.

“Thank you. This means a lot,” said Beatty in very brief remarks to the crowd. He was among 12 speakers, including State Sen. Kevin de Leon, California Labor Federation chief officer Art Pulaski and crew members who addressed the gathering, before Brown sat at a desk placed just above Mary Pickford’s footprints and signed the bill. No studio chiefs were present, but Steve Papazian, president of worldwide physical production for Warner Bros. Pictures, spoke briefly.

“Today, we remind the world that the Golden State is the home of the silver screen,” Brown said.

Also present were Los Angeles’ “film czar,” attorney Ken Ziffren, and Rajiv Dalal, director of the mayor’s office of motion picture and film production.

The legislation will increase the annual allocation of state tax credits to $330 million per year, more than triple the current amount, starting with fiscal year 2015-16 and lasting for five years. It will expand the eligibility to include big budget feature films and new one-hour drama series, categories of production that have migrated away from the state as studios and producers increasingly take advantage of generous subsidies elsewhere.

The legislation also provides extra incentives — beyond the current 20% — for visual effects and music scoring, as well as to producers who shoot in parts of the state outside of the Los Angeles region.

The California Film Commission can start distributing the funds on July 1, but it also will have to rework the way that the money is awarded to producers. A scoring system in which will be determined based on applicants’ abilities to employ a significant number of workers will replace the present lottery where credits were awarded by chance.

A key question will be whether the tax credit is sufficient to compete against states like Georgia and Louisiana, which have become production centers in their own rights and do not put an annual cap on credits. New York allocates about $420 million per year, and the industry coalition that lobbied for an expansion of California’s program sought to use the Empire State as a benchmark for competition.

The tax credit pool will be divvied among different categories of production. Features will get 35%, independent films will get 5%, relocating TV series will get 20% and new TV series, pilots, movies of the week and recurring TV series will get 40%.

Although the legislation, AB 1839, passed the state Assembly by a vote of 72-0, and the state Senate by 34-2, the overwhelming support masked what the bill’s co-authors said was an uphill climb to convince other Sacramento lawmakers of the need to greatly expand the program. They withheld a figure for the annual allocation until August, a strategy they said was necessary because of uncertainty over the state budget environment. But it also allowed the coalition of union, studio and civic lobbyists to press their case that the legislation would protect middle-class jobs before the total figure became the target of debate.

Gatto said that “at every step of the way, from the building of the coalition to the last hearing, the whole thing was always in jeopardy of collapsing. We are just ecstatic that it did not collapse, that we got this far.”

Garcetti made the passage of the legislation his top priority in Sacramento and among his top priorities citywide, he said. Brown, he said, was the key figure who needed convincing. “I love this governor because he is cheap and smart, so we had to make this case on the dollars and the merits, and we did.”

Garcetti said that he intends to retain the Film & TV Office, with a focus on reducing city fees, streamlining permitting among Los Angeles County cities, and marketing.

The latter may be in play as L.A. tries to high profile productions that have migrated elsewhere. But not all production is eligible for the incentives. The newly passed bill does not cover talk shows, and there are big doubts that CBS will keep “Late, Late Show” in the city when James Corden takes over from Craig Ferguson next year. New York offers a credit for talk shows that move to the state.

Nevertheless, even as studios like Warner Bros. plan layoffs, city leaders characterized the expansion as a turning point.

“I would be deeply more concerned [about layoffs] if AB 1839 had not been signed,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell, whose district includes Hollywood. “This changes everything. It changes the landscape, for five years as well.

“This is a signal that we are sending to the industry, saying, ‘Look, this is a five year investment, a five year incentive, to bring it back, grow it again here in Los Angeles and here in the state,’” he added. “I am very optimistic at this. And it does put some responsibility and onus on industry professionals now, producers, those that make the decisions, on where and when and how they film.” “

Why Atlanta? Why are the film and TV industries leaving Los Angeles?

My brother is a filmmaker – and he made this documentary about the film industry’s growth in Atlanta, GA. If you were wondering what’s going on down there and why.

KICK ASS!

What it’s like to be a ‘Foreign Film Ambassador’

KPCC a local NPR (national public radio) station based out of Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California has a cool segment they do called ‘Odd Hollywood Jobs’ that interviews people that work in the entertainment industry with possibly unknown or unrecognized jobs. Chances are if you are a successful actor you will be asked to travel as part of your job, this is for filming or PR purposes. When a film or TV show goes global they need someone to guide them through the differences in foreign locations and markets… learn about this position below.

Take Two
Odd Hollywood Jobs: US-China film ‘ambassador’
Leo Duran
July 8th, 2013

“This is one in a series on Odd Hollywood Jobs — not acting or directing, but rather the tasks you haven’t heard of.

Back in the day, performers used to ask whether they could take their act on the road by asking, “Will it play in Peoria?”

But in 2013, it’s now Hollywood out there asking, “Will it show in Shanghai?”

And it’s Peter Shiao’s job to help be a guide.

“As you look at the growth of the Chinese market, box-office-wise they’re going to surpass North America within five years,” he says.

Shiao is the CEO and founder of the production company Orb Media group and the head of the U.S.-China Film Summit.

In addition to making films, he also acts as an ambassador between the two countries’ film industries. And that partnership is worth a lot of money: The Chinese audience is estimated to be worth $5 billion by 2015.

“That’s going to cause a major shift in how business is done, so we know how to work with that reality,” says Shiao.

One piece of insight he gives is what works for Chinese audiences and what doesn’t.

For example, take an action film high on explosions like “The Avengers” or a high-budget romance like “Titanic,” and you’ve got a blockbuster in Beijing.

But make a movie with cultural faux pas or insensitivities, and your film’s chances overseas are sunk.

“Right now if you look at current Hollywood movies, there’s not too many reasons for Chinese audiences to be excited about Hollywood movies,” says Shiao. “They don’t reflect any level of accessibility to any average Chinese person.”

What didn’t work

Here’s a movie Shiao says didn’t work: M. Night Shyamalan’s 2010 film “The Last Airbender.”

The live-action film was based on a hit Nickelodeon cartoon series. It’s set in a world influenced by Asian culture and martial arts. And it’s about a boy named Aang, born with the power to manipulate the elements.

“By the time [it came] to casting, they made every Asian character in that story Caucasian, and then they decided to make all the bad guys in that movie Asians,” says Shiao. “Here’s a potential tentpole franchise that you can use to connect the world, and it didn’t.”

To pitch your tent in China, you also have to win over some tough critics: the Chinese government.

“I think one of the things when people think about China, they think about regulations. How do you dance with the regulatory barriers?” says Shiao.

And you need to take care not to step on some sensitive toes: Only 34 foreign films can be shown in the country every year. That’s tough competition.

To help make the cut, Shiao educates American filmmakers on how to make movies that attract Chinese audiences. But at the same time, he’ll advise them on how to get a thumbs-up from the censors.

“Certain freedoms of storytelling and expression that is here is not there,” says Shiao. “So when that is taken from you, you don’t know where to push and where to let go.”

But as much as Hollywood needs China at the box office, China’s growing film industry needs L.A., too, for the know-how to make them a worldwide player.

L.A. expertise

“There’s global distribution channels, there’s marketing, there’s a wealth of information that’s been contained here in Hollywood that’s been building for over a century, whereas China is new to the game,” says Shiao. “China needs all kind of expertise.”

Shiao helps Chinese filmmakers connect with L.A. screenwriters, directors and more who have those skills they need to develop.

It’s all part of his job as cultural matchmaker.

And when he’s not counseling studios on both sides of the Pacific, Shiao makes his own movies that, coincidentally, also bridge cultures. Like an action film currently in production called “Legend of 18.”

“Kuang Ju who is a warrior monk who just emerged from a very, very prolonged meditation deep in the mountains of China,” explains Shiao,.”And he’s meeting his ancient nemesis and former best friend Joey Sawyer, who’s an American mixed-martial arts fighter being released out of prison.”

It’s an apt metaphor for East meets West. And if this film – coproduced in the U.S. and China – is a hit, Shiao says it could blaze a trail in how more movies make it to your theater.”

What it’s like to be a ‘Military Liaison’

Take Two
Odd Hollywood Jobs: Military liaison
June 24th, 2013

“This is one in a series on Odd Hollywood Jobs — not acting or directing, but rather the tasks you haven’t heard of.

When he joined the Army 18 years ago, Lt. Col. Steven Cole never thought he would be working in Hollywood. After a long career with the Army that has sent him around the world, he now serves as a liaison between the Army and the entertainment industry.

“The army has an entertainment liaison office out here in Los Angeles that basically serves as a conduit between production companies for film and television, studios or individual production companies, and the army,” said Cole on Take Two. “We help translate army into production company and production company back into army.”

As part of our series on little-known Hollywood jobs, Cole joins the whow to talk about how he got into this line of work, what he does and how he balances the real with the fictional.

Interview Highlights:

On what his day to day is like:
“Who we deal with on a day to day basis are the people that roll through on the credits. I see productions as army units, so director is the commander, the talent are the soldiers, and then the producers and all those that make the movie or TV show run, those are the people that I deal with.”

On the Army’s longstanding relationship with Hollywood:
“I think one of the most interesting things about the job is that the very first Academy Award-winning Best Picture in 1927 was a movie called “Wings,” a silent movie. The army provided an aircraft for it. In a lot of ways the army has been involved in Hollywood as long as there has been a Hollywood. There’s times where we do more and there’s times where we do less just based on viewer appetites for films that depict the army.”

On why its important for the Army have a relationship with Hollywood:
“We don’t work for Army recruiting, but one of the biggest barriers to military service in general and the Army in particular is just familiarity with the service. I happen to come from a family that has a long military history, but if you don’t know anything about the Army, all you know is what you see on television. So outdated depictions of the army may be all that you know. So what we try to do is depict the Army as realistically as possible so that future soldiers come in with their eyes wide open about what it is they’re joining up to do.”

On how he became a military liaison:
“The golden path to this job, I was commissioned out of West Point in 1995, that was about eight years of my career, spent in what conventional Army units. Then the military academy asked me to go back to graduate school, then I went back to teach at the military academy for three years in the history department. From there I became a public affairs officer and then deployed to Afghanistan to be part of the international security assistance force NATO staff there. Coming back from that assignment went to work at FleishmanHillard, which is a corporate global communications firm, to try to understand how big business uses communication to explain what it is they do. Took that experience and I’m not really applying those lessons to explain what the Army is all about.”

On toeing the line between real and fiction:
I think there’s a fine line between exciting and reality, so sometimes you want sexy. The lone wolf character, or whatever, and we say look the Army is a team sport. This isn’t how it would be. Most people that work with us understand that and that’s why they ask us to participate. The DOD instruction that we follow provides for those things that don’t exist, but in a world where they did exist how would the Army react to them? The U.S. Army having Superman’s back is probably what we would do, in defending the country and supporting the Constitution of the United States, that’s our job. So would we do that in these make-believe worlds? Sure. If we were doing that how would be act? That’s how we have to think about our roles in these films.”

What it’s like to be a ‘Dialect Coach’

KPCC a local NPR (national public radio) station based out of Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California has a cool segment they do called ‘Odd Hollywood Jobs’ that interviews people that work in the entertainment industry with possibly unknown or unrecognized jobs. This interview is with a dialect coach. A dialect coach mixes linguistics and story telling together to help you (the actor) sound authentic in any situation. Read what that requires below.

Take Two
Odd Hollywood Jobs: Dialect coach
Michelle Lanz with Lauren Osen
July 15th, 2013

“This is one in a series on Odd Hollywood Jobs — not acting or directing, but rather the tasks you haven’t heard of.

If Claudette Roche is doing her job, you won’t hear anything except a perfect accent coming from an actor on screen. As a dialect coach, it’s Roche’s job to make sure actors master their characters’ accents with such precision that audiences won’t know the difference.

As a former actor, Roche fell into the job after doing what she calls, “Ask Five Friends.” This entails calling on some close friends and asking them, “What am I good at?”

“I was open to anything. The first person said, ‘Well you’re a good cook.’ … She said, ‘Open up a restaurant,’ and I said, ‘That’s the last thing I want to do in life,'” said Roche. Another friend told Roche she could be a writer, but that didn’t quite pan out.

Finally, a fifth friend mentioned that Roche was good with accents and suggested she become a dialect coach. Since then, Roche — originally from England — has coached countless actors and radio personalities how to master a non-native accent or how to quell their own accents if need be.

Roche joins Take Two to tell us more about her job, which accents are the hardest to master and why the American accent is so important.

Interview Highlights:

On the one dialect many people have trouble with:
“I think Australian, because as Americans, we don’t hear a lot of Australian, and we hear more English. A lot of Cockney. There’s a certain similarity between Cockney and Australian. When an American is working on Australian, they end up sounding way too English or a strange hybrid of something. Australians are notorious for loathing when an American does their accent. I don’t think anyone has anyone has said they’ve done it well.”

On the similarities between Scottish and Jamaican accents:
“If I say the word ‘wait.’ Jamaican would be ‘whey-it.’ I met a Scot once, and said, ‘So you’re Jamaican?’ And he said, ‘What?’ Because the Jamaican accent is influenced by Scottish people way back when, generations ago. The Scots landed in Jamaica, hence the accent is heavily influenced by Scotland. Some of those vowels are just the same.”

On the most difficult part about her job:
“The most challenging is if it’s an actor who needs to sound 100 percent American, that’s the challenge.You and I don’t actually speak English properly because we have shortcuts. Every language has shortcuts, doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It’s just how we speak. It’s teaching someone to have those little shortcuts that you and I accept. This word, ‘spare.’… Here’s what you actually said, ‘sbare.'”

On the existence of a neutral accent:
“A neutral accent is neutral of the language. They’ve decided that the neutral Spanish language accent would be Mexico City, so actors or anyone on radio, from Venezuela, Puerto Rico, have to learn a Mexico City accent.”

On the most surprising things she’s learned as a dialect coach:
“I think it’s how important the American accent is for people. I didn’t realize how important it was, not just for actors, but for real people. A lot of people don’t get jobs because they have foreign accents. They don’t get jobs because people have a bias against them about their accent. They’ll assume they are not as intelligent or perhaps they don’t like people from that nation and people don’t advance because they don’t have the right accent and it’s upsetting and sad, but I let them get that leg up.””

Theme Park Jobs : Face Characters at Universal Studios Hollywood

Emily is 23 and has worked in many capacities at Universal Studios Hollywood. I asked her to tell us a little bit about her positions so you know what it’s like to work different positions year round in the park.

Emily has always played face characters (roles that do not require a mask or mascot type costume). She is employed year round as a famous cartoon character, during Halloween worked at Horror Nights as an iconic horror film character in a maze, and during the holidays has played a Who in Whoville twice for Grinchmas. All of her roles are covered by AGVA.

Auditions for each role included:
Grinchmas Audition 2012: A one minute monologue in your own Who character. Callbacks: A one minute improvised scene with a partner revolving around a set of props. Then a dance combination, then a short “personal” improvised monologue answering a panel-given question about Grinchmas in your “Who” voice and character. Sizes taken, paperwork and sit down interview.

Grinchmas Audition 2013: A one minute monologue in your own Who character. Callbacks: Type out. Answer a panel-given question about Christmas as yourself. An improvised story revolving around a given topic with a line of other auditioners, again as yourself. Sizes taken.

Horror Nights: Improv with no callback

Cartoon Character: Type out. Short introduction as Character in Character voice. Sides in Character voice. Walk around room as character. Sizes taken and photos taken in wig/makeup

Cartoon character: is a look alike role as well as voice acting.
Grinchmas: is an improv heavy role and voice acting is also beneficial.
Horror Nights: is a look alike role.

“The best part about playing a character in a theme park is constantly interacting with people and making their experience complete. You really hold the power to turn someone’s day around for the better. Whether it is a group of traveling tourists all the way from Asia, a small child who has never met a character before, or the locals who have passes and come say hi every day, it is a colorful and exciting experience every day. The most fun I have is when I get really into each character and convince myself that it’s all real or that I’m really in the movie. This makes it more fun for the guests because when you believe it, they believe it too. I would love to play games with guests and share special moments with them and then realize.. “I’m getting paid to do this.” Getting paid to dress up and play make-believe is kind of unreal. It’s what we all do as little kids, but as actors we get to keep doing it.
Horror Nights is “a bit of a different story. With her it’s just fun to scare the crap out of people. I would set goals for myself each night and try to scare more and more people in new and exciting ways. It was fun to just go balls to the wall insane and see how it freaked people out. We also kept tabs of how many people fell each night (out of shock/fear) and would have contests to see who could “floor” the most people or in the most epic way.”

Perks: “Discounts on almost everything from movie tickets and metro cards to food and theme park passes. On site health clinic. Access to the Universal back lot for jogging and boot camp classes. Free movie screenings on the lot. Birthday incentives as well as a rewards program for hard work recognition.

The hardest part about working Grinchmas would be the language barrier between a large portion of the visiting guests and myself. It was easy to turn into a photo-opp in these situations, because you couldn’t communicate well with the guest. The other hard part is wearing a nose prosthetic every day. Mine is so small I can’t breath through it, so for the month of December I’m a mouth breather. The glue/latex/and products used for removal can irritate your skin a lot after so much repetition.

Horror Nights was extremely difficult. It was hands down the most exhausting job physically/mentally I’ve ever had. The hours are intense, clocking in at 3pm and clocking out at 3:30-4 am — and then doing it again for the next 3 days. We wear contacts which can be hard to get in and then irritating. We also have prozaide transfers that go onto our face and arms to make us look cut/burnt/boiled. These take about an hour to put on and an hour to get off and they really irritate the skin. You are covered in 3 different types of blood and grease every night. That being said, the hardest part is the physical demands of the job. We are required to scare for five different hour-long sets with 30 minute breaks in between. My scare consisted of popping out of a door every five seconds to scare guests. I calculated and I popped out of that door 2,160 times each night. This leads to repetitive stress injuries such as pulled muscles, blisters, rug burns and fatigue. After getting bruises and blisters all over my hand the first week (just from pulling the door open), I started wearing a padded glove to prevent worse injury. The other room I was stationed in was not a pop-out, but more of a “stay out and do creepy stuff the whole time while people watch you.” This can also get exhausting since you have to be “On” 100% of the time. Most of the injuries in our maze came from us hurting ourselves accidentally, like bumping into walls, opening doors into our faces, scraping ourselves, tripping, bumping heads etc.. (it’s dark and loud and we are all tired.. hah) My worst was spraining my finger by flinging it into a wall. Occasionally there is a guest-inflicted injury. I got hit in the face, head butted and had my door pushed into my face many times. Guests try to scare you, they mock you, get in your face, curse at you etc..”

Advice: “DO IT. It’s the most fun you will ever have and one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Seriously. You will meet the best people in your co-workers, supervisors etc.. I’ve made lifelong friends. No other job is as exciting/entertaining or keeps you on your toes like this.
Stephanie Pressman is great and if you are industry reading this, you should cast her in your project.”

Ahhh, ain’t she sweet?

If you are interested in working for Universal Studios Hollywood please check their auditions board online at Universal Hollywood Auditions

Knowledge Of All Aspects Of Production Is Essential

By learning other aspects of the industry you make yourself more valuable to “the team” of a production. If you know why the lighting is being placed, what the 2nd AD does, what it means to rack focus you will be able to do your job as an actor better. I highly suggest trying other jobs on sets such as production assistant jobs to find out more about the production industry as a whole.

Where can you go to find on set jobs, such as production assistant jobs or casting assistant jobs
Try…

http://www.mandy.com

http://www.staffmeup.com

http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings

Do you have any insight on how production jobs helped your acting career?
Any other resources for finding these jobs?
Advice?
Please share by commenting below

Who’s who on set

This video from vimeo will help you understand.