Wendy Keeling's Lounge Discussions

Happy to have you here - best of luck!

Much success with your film Wendy and your web series. It sounds as though you are on a roll. Keep rolling.

Wow Wendy. Nice to meet you. My link: amazon.com/author/kevindoyburton

Welcome!

Welcome fellow Nashvillian!

Here's an article from today Variety. http://shar.es/zI0fZ "Countries like South Africa, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Ireland continue to be welcoming to the biz, as even more nations enter the competition." All the incentives do is move spending from place to place. Your town will gain today but lose tomorrow. Will you still do the happy dance about hating LA, when your job goes to Hungary.

David, I am certainly not doing any "Happy Dance" about LA or anyone losing work. All I am saying is that it is possible to have a career in the industry and not live in LA. I already travel to other states to work even though I am based out of Tn. Traveling to work out of country has come up for me but I haven't done it for this industry yet. The work is not always studio based and you have to be prepared to travel. I have just found some people in the industry in LA that don't understand that there are talented individuals both union and non union that work and live outside of California. They are often surprised when they find a go getting skilled crew member or a talented actor not from LA. There are many of us out there that either by choice or necessity do not live in LA.

Legislators are saying North Carolina would be better off cutting taxes across the board or giving incentives to manufacturers offering long-term jobs. “We spent $70 million on film incentives last year, and what else could we have done with that $70 million?” said Rep. Mike Hager, the GOP majority whip, told WSJ http://www.deadline.com/2013/08/north-carolina-to-end-its-procuction-inc...

I certainly understand the arguments for and against however there is proven money coming for jobs and services to the people of the state in return. We are willing to do it for car manufacturers and Walmart that can pull their business out at anytime at least this is only given to working productions that provide proven income and jobs to the state. “Iron Man 3” spent about $110 million in the state, including $19 million in wages for North Carolinians, an average of $23,000 per job. The production spent about $41 million on goods and services with more than 700 vendors, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/05/01/2863585/lights-camera-and-a-69-mi...

Actually that was a pretty dizzying indictment of tax credits for filmmakers. The author postulates that the tax credits are given to companies that are formed around a single project, are gone in less than 6 months, and who spend a lot of the tax credit money to pay for things out-of-state. As a filmmaker, what I see is, 'cool, I can fund a big portion of my production with tax dollars,' but as a citizen, I have to think, 'wow, this is a happy light show that gives away tax dollars and doesn't actually bring anything solid to the state except for a few beneficiaries.' I believe the article has an intended slant, but still I have to wonder if it's a wholesome arrangement.

You can also check me out on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3900272/

Thank you very much for your support!!

My pleasure!

Thanks Chris and Mehul!!

Almost everyone is press these days.... Anyone with a blog that does movie critique will fit your bill.

Many thanks to W. Mark Dendy for writing an article for "Just Grate"!! Hopefully we will get more attention soon!

There is a news wire service for the LA / So Cal area only called City News Service. www.socalnews.com Every radio and TV station pulls this service (called the Budget) and decides on their daily coverage at 4 AM. If you are not on the Budget, you will not get covered. You need to send a news release to them way in advance. Now your problem is how do you make your screening an event worth covering.

Zach, Thanks so much for the info!! That was a connection I did not have. Just sent out the press release. Crossing fingers for now!!