The Idea of Film Bridge
Four Ways to Make Filming Work Better in Neighborhoods
1. Give Up Old Industry Habits:
Give up old habits that became industry standards for odd reasons we don't
remember; like roman numerals and two brads in a three-hole script.
Give up superior arrogant attitudes toward extras and the public.
Expect good PR skills from P.A.s, Police and Security.
Change the habit of giving big location fees to the fewest people.
Do more with the same money.
2. Inform, Involve, and Reward the Community:
Meet people door to door.
Find people in the neighborhood to help our assistants.
NEW LOCATION FEES
Re-structure location fees that allow owners to share with
neighbors, keeping budgets the same.
Owners of popular locations could become more popular with their neighbors.
Instead of burn-out, we might have neighborhoods who want more film business.
COMMUNITY GIFTS:
With the extra money, work with the neighborhoods to find a gift that
everybody likes…
restore a park….
paint an elderly neighbor's house….
plant trees and landscape...
train local youth…
provide a shopping list for departments to buy locally…
and arrange film crew discounts from local business.
rent driveways and garages to store equipment...
rent hotel rooms and restaurants instead of more tents in parking lots that
take away parking spaces from customers....
give raffle tickets during signature surveys…buy prizes
with local business gratuities.
buy gift certificates from stores on one side of the street---and give them to
residents on the other side…
Offer information and let people watch...
SIDEWALKS OF FAME
Leave something of lasting value behind in the neighborhood. Commemorate
this gift with a special medallion of appreciation. Over time, each neighborhood will have a
record of these gifts and the movies they helped to make.
3. Find New Locations:
Give neighborhoods a break who want it. Find new locations.
Some of the richest production value in the city is located in districts that
are filmed the least. Get the word out to neighborhood and business councils
that we're looking for locations where property owners and their
neighborhoods cooperate and receive mutual benefit.
Get to know the councils and it won't be so hard to scout new homes and
offices. Neighborhood and business councils and preservation groups could become our most important film
commissions.
We could make an idea list for the Writer's Guild, of the unique location
types we know about that are never in the scripts.
4. Produce an Educational Campaign about Filming:
Make a training film for film crews and neighborhoods about film crews and
neighborhoods.
Enlist the support of our crafts and alliances to help produce the campaign
to be shown in movie theaters and given to libraries.
Visually explain our operation, so everyone can understand what's necessary
to film on the streets of this city and why. We can't make a movie without
equipment, trucks and control and the public needs to know that we don't have the
deep pockets they think. Show what it's like to film in a neighborhood.
Show what it's like to live in a neighborhood with filming.
Show people how the film industry contributes to the economy. The more times
a dollar changes hands, the stronger the economy. If we followed the path of
one dollar paid by the film industry through its cross-town journey, people
would be surprised to see how that dollar ends up in their own pocket.
Show cast and crew how filming can hurt local business. Show them simple
ways to help.
Illustrate these concepts while we follow a location department, neighbors,
cast, crew, city government, services, vendors and the general public
over one day to show how everything is connected, when things go wrong and what
to do on both sides.
CONCLUSION:
Pay our neighborhoods the respect and appreciation they're due for playing
major roles in our movies for almost 100 years. Show people more than the
money, that Los Angeles can grow with the film industry and if we support each
other with new attitudes and ways of doing business, we could both be proud to
live in a neighborhood where we make the world's greatest movies in our own
backyard.
Jody Hummer
Location Manager
June 28. 2003
1. Give Up Old Industry Habits:
Give up old habits that became industry standards for odd reasons we don't
remember; like roman numerals and two brads in a three-hole script.
Give up superior arrogant attitudes toward extras and the public.
Expect good PR skills from P.A.s, Police and Security.
Change the habit of giving big location fees to the fewest people.
Do more with the same money.
2. Inform, Involve, and Reward the Community:
Meet people door to door.
Find people in the neighborhood to help our assistants.
NEW LOCATION FEES
Re-structure location fees that allow owners to share with
neighbors, keeping budgets the same.
Owners of popular locations could become more popular with their neighbors.
Instead of burn-out, we might have neighborhoods who want more film business.
COMMUNITY GIFTS:
With the extra money, work with the neighborhoods to find a gift that
everybody likes…
restore a park….
paint an elderly neighbor's house….
plant trees and landscape...
train local youth…
provide a shopping list for departments to buy locally…
and arrange film crew discounts from local business.
rent driveways and garages to store equipment...
rent hotel rooms and restaurants instead of more tents in parking lots that
take away parking spaces from customers....
give raffle tickets during signature surveys…buy prizes
with local business gratuities.
buy gift certificates from stores on one side of the street---and give them to
residents on the other side…
Offer information and let people watch...
SIDEWALKS OF FAME
Leave something of lasting value behind in the neighborhood. Commemorate
this gift with a special medallion of appreciation. Over time, each neighborhood will have a
record of these gifts and the movies they helped to make.
3. Find New Locations:
Give neighborhoods a break who want it. Find new locations.
Some of the richest production value in the city is located in districts that
are filmed the least. Get the word out to neighborhood and business councils
that we're looking for locations where property owners and their
neighborhoods cooperate and receive mutual benefit.
Get to know the councils and it won't be so hard to scout new homes and
offices. Neighborhood and business councils and preservation groups could become our most important film
commissions.
We could make an idea list for the Writer's Guild, of the unique location
types we know about that are never in the scripts.
4. Produce an Educational Campaign about Filming:
Make a training film for film crews and neighborhoods about film crews and
neighborhoods.
Enlist the support of our crafts and alliances to help produce the campaign
to be shown in movie theaters and given to libraries.
Visually explain our operation, so everyone can understand what's necessary
to film on the streets of this city and why. We can't make a movie without
equipment, trucks and control and the public needs to know that we don't have the
deep pockets they think. Show what it's like to film in a neighborhood.
Show what it's like to live in a neighborhood with filming.
Show people how the film industry contributes to the economy. The more times
a dollar changes hands, the stronger the economy. If we followed the path of
one dollar paid by the film industry through its cross-town journey, people
would be surprised to see how that dollar ends up in their own pocket.
Show cast and crew how filming can hurt local business. Show them simple
ways to help.
Illustrate these concepts while we follow a location department, neighbors,
cast, crew, city government, services, vendors and the general public
over one day to show how everything is connected, when things go wrong and what
to do on both sides.
CONCLUSION:
Pay our neighborhoods the respect and appreciation they're due for playing
major roles in our movies for almost 100 years. Show people more than the
money, that Los Angeles can grow with the film industry and if we support each
other with new attitudes and ways of doing business, we could both be proud to
live in a neighborhood where we make the world's greatest movies in our own
backyard.
Jody Hummer
Location Manager
June 28. 2003