Film Commissioners in different states and cities play a vital role in helping to get a film made, but who are these mystery people? In this episode, host Sandra Abrams pulls back the curtain and chats with the three film commissioners from the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia). She first speaks to Andy Edmunds, the Director of the Virginia Film Office, then Angie M. Gates, the Director of the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment (OCTFME) in Washington, D.C., and finally Director Jack Gerbes from of the Maryland Film Office. Each one chats about their daily challenges of a job that aims to also promote their region for jobs, tourism, and future repeat business.
For the Virginia office - https://www.film.virginia.org/
For the D.C. office - https://www.entertainment.dc.gov
For the Maryland office - https://marylandfilm.org/
Film Commissioners in different states and cities play a vital role in helping to get a film made, but who are these mystery people? In this episode, host Sandra Abrams pulls back the curtain and chats with the three film commissioners from the DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia). She first speaks to Andy Edmunds, the Director of the Virginia Film Office, then Angie M. Gates, the Director of the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment (OCTFME) in Washington, D.C., and finally Director Jack Gerbes from of the Maryland Film Office. Each one chats about their daily challenges of a job that aims to also promote their region for jobs, tourism, and future repeat business.
For the Virginia office - https://www.film.virginia.org/
For the D.C. office - https://www.entertainment.dc.gov
For the Maryland office - https://marylandfilm.org/
Thank you for joining us on media and monuments. I'm Sandra Abrams. Your host for this episode in this episode will shed light on the critical role of film commissioners in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia film offices. These offices serve as a resource for media makers seeking to get projects done. They help with permits, finding locations and offer tasks.
Directors. And these offices also strive to promote their region as part of a state's economic strategy by providing opportunities for businesses, jobs, and tourism. I'll chat with Andy Edmonds from the Virginia film office, Angie gates, the director of DC's office and Jack Gervis who heads up Maryland's film office.
Andy Edmonds is the director of the Virginia film office and vice president of Virginia tour. Andy is a Virginia native. In fact, he studied music at BCU and then went on to produce a music video of one of his songs that was broadcast on MTV. That was a pivotal experience for him because it introduced him to the film industry.
Then in 1997, he joined the Virginia film office and he has worked with many notable filmmakers over the years, including Terrence Malick, Ridley, Scott and Steven spiel. Welcome Mandy, the median monuments.
Thank you Sandra so much for that.
Well, one of the things I realized in looking at your bio, you wear a lot of hats. So either director of the film office and your vice president of tourism, what's the most important role that people don't know that.
you have in this capacity.
Well, as a film commission We're the liaison between production world that runs at 187 miles an hour, as you know, and government world that runs, let's say a little bit slower sometimes. Right? So we at our office, we were all production people. So we, we know the needs of producers and they can be intense needs and a long list of needs because making a movie is pretty much like disaster management sometimes.
Right? So. Problems that need to be solved. So my kids used to ask me, you know, what do you do for a living? And I say, well, I turned no into yes. Because it's really very easy for, for example, a government official to say, no, if you have some unusual requests, let's say, if you want to land a helicopter on a highway or on a building, or you need to set a building on fire for a movie, it's easy for someone to say no, because then they go on about their.
Now our role is to express to them what an advantage it is to have this production work and the economic opportunity. It brings to a community. To justify these unusual things we may have to do from time to time that are for the good of the many. Our role at the film office is to be the liaison, not only between government and production between communities and production between location owners.
So we're peacemakers, we're psychologists, we're babysitters, we're private investigators. It really is a long list of things. We do, which makes it so exciting. And so, so much why I love what I do. at the film office, we, we like to say we're in the, in the, we're all about filmmaking for the art and for the business. We understand both sides of the coin and helping filmmakers execute the vision they're seeking.
Within the budget they have is what we're here to help them do. And whether it's a big massive production, or like to say, whether it's Steven Spielberg or Steven Johnson, you know, we, we help them all with whatever, whatever they needed to do. And really for our industry here in Virginia, I, I like to help smaller movies.
With great enthusiasm because often they need the most help. Right. And I would rather do five small movies in one big movie. One of the reasons is that with a smaller movie, a lot of the local crew has an opportunity to work up at a higher level of the food chain than on a big movie that might bring in all of their key positions.
So it's great to have a mix of, of bigger scale production with smaller, independent film to create kind of a health. Community of, of the whole production pallet, if you will, the whole production pie for it. So everyone gets to jump in and have that dessert.
So it sounds like there's no typical day of the week or, or typical project that you're doing. It's just a lot of different things that can happen seven days a week.
It's an avalanche of problem solving. That's what production is, you know, and it's in this business. Because we're in marketing and sales on one side and we're in. Problem solving and disaster management. On the other side, you have to live in a world and bifurcate your brain into two mindsets of optimism and pessimism. You have to be really prepared for anything that could go wrong at any time, you know, is that person going to show up with a leaf blower on set?
That's going to mess up the production while they're trying to film. At the same time you want to be optimistic in your. Presentation to your clients in a very optimistic way, because you want them to feel positive about the opportunity, but at the same time, you don't want to sugar coat it for clients.
I never tell them what they want to hear. You know, and I think that's, what's given us a reputation of, of developing trust. You have to develop trust with your clients, trust with your crew trust with the communities it's trust is so important in whatever business you're in and the relationships you develop over the years.
what really leads to your next job, whether you're a cast member, a crew member, a screenwriter, it's about this relationship that you develop, and I'll tell you, Sandra, I can draw a thread. From projects today that have most recently happened, you know, back 15 years to, to various, you know, relationships we've had that will lead to our next project.
You know, they came, they had a great experience, you develop friendships and relationships, and then they're the ones that ring the phone when they have another opportunity that they think that we could support them with and help them with. And that's really what's most rewarding is that you are able to work at a business where you create lifelong friendships.
You know, it's, I like to say making friends is a lot more important than making movies.
Well, speaking of making movies though you have all these relationships and people keep coming back. Well, how do you find new business? You know, what is that process like for you? When trying to find perspective people to come and film, because now there's a lot of competition. For people, everybody, every state, Mr.
Pality has a film office and they're bidding for new business. How do you, how do you find you?
Well, it's interesting because. job at F film commission used to be about logistics of helping them find how to get a permit to film. Right? So it started out as this permit, facilitation operation, and then it turned into a location service. Then every film commission was expected to. Provide this service, which is fine.
Cause we used to have just, you know, thousands and thousands of Manila folders of taped together, photographs that we would send out FedEx boxes to clients. And so then we had to obviously create a digital database to do that. And we were actually in Virginia, one of the first states to to scan in thousands of photos into a quote unquote digital database that was new at the time because when I started at the film.
Actually offered to work for free. I went to Rita, McClenney my boss, still tourism, and offered to work for free to convert the, all these Manila folders of pictures into a digital format. And back then, and like 19 96, 97, everyone was like, what's that? And I said, believe me, it's going digital. We have to scan this stuff in.
And so we work with Virginia tech and we sent thousands of files up to Virginia tech. They scanned them in and we created this. Database, which was like groundbreaking at the time where you could
sounds like it. yeah, Back in back then.
yeah, it was, you could actually search, you could type in with these keywords. You could type in, you know, red barn by a pond
or something.
and, and yeah.
And you could pull it up for the first time, but it was really a groundbreaking at the time. And we were the first state to have and use this technology. The only other state that had. W it was California. They had a system developed by NASA. So we were like right on the cutting edge of the technology.
And. I say that just to say, we we've always tried to use technology as a tool to give us an advantage to, to get new business. We used to use a GIS mapping when we had civil war projects, looking for battlefields that we would go to in the economic development and get all this cool satellite photography.
So we could really look at the topography of land and find out where warps and docks were of waterfront and use this technology to give us a competitive advantage. But now what's happened to Andrews, you know, Is that you basically have to buy the jobs, you know, it's tax credits, it's grants and it used to be about locations and having the best logistical doughnut to offer a client having everything in a small geographical area to execute the work and the, the crew of course is super important, but really now you have to have a robust incentive program to compete.
So the notion of going out for new business, It's all predicated on the fact that you have enough of a war chest to attract that business. So I used to go out on calls to California, probably two or three times a year to meet with friends and relationships and talk about what they had in the pipeline and things like that.
But if you go on those calls today and they're like, well, how much, how many tax credits, how much do you have left detect credit pool? You go, well, we've kind of used it on this or that. And we really don't have a, it's a very short conversation. So it's really frustrating. For example, You know, Georgia has $1.2 billion a year that they stroked out in tax credits.
Last year in Virginia, we have 10 million to 10 million versus $1.2 billion. I mean, that is a really hard competitive reality. However, that being said, we're really efficient and how we use ours to try to target things. Create the maximum return on investment for Virginia. And we actually created unique relationships with some of our partners.
First of which was AMC, we did a television series here called turn, but George Washington spies. And how George, why should it use espionage as a tool to win the revolution? Really fascinating series. Right. Great.
Yes, I saw it. I saw it.
Great show. And they, they spent over four seasons, you know, north of a hundred million dollars here.
And it required a significant incentive at the time, but we thought it would be a great investment for Virginia. And we made an arrangement with AMC said, okay, well, we could provide this incentive, but we want to do something unique. And have you produce it your expense because you have cameras, you have all this stuff.
You make a commercial for Virginia tourism to promote. People to come and learn more about colonial history, come visit Virginia. And they said, well, we've never really done that. I'm like, well, if you want these incentives to be sustainable, we have to come up with unique ways and innovative ways to maximize the ROI for the state.
And so they agreed to do. And they ended up producing this a 15, second commercial that was broadcast nationwide on all the AMC channels, including Sundance channel and their other properties. And it was over 200 plays so that that's like a big media buy that Virginia would have had to pay for. And in fact, the only national advertising Virginia had for Virginia tourism was through our relationship with film.
Right? So this added to the overall ROI equation. To justify expanding our incentive program and in a technique and an innovative idea that no other state had done. Now, some of them had started to do that more. But we were the first ones to get an actual media buy as part of our deal. And then to take that to another level, another way that we kind of leverage it, Sandra is, you know, we had a wonder woman, 1984 interestingly, the way that came down was you know, they needed a mall. They needed a mall that they could dress up as a 1980s era mall. And they had to come to Washington DC for many of the other script elements. So we knew they were coming to Washington DC. So they really wanted to find a mall within striking distance of DC.
So we have. Fortunately the big landmark mall in Alexandria that had been empty for awhile. And there were some other models they were looking at in Philadelphia. I think there was one in Maryland, but they were trying to do the math, frankly, between building a mall on a sound stage in the UK. Right.
And how much we cost them to do that versus. Using a mall in the United States while they're doing the DC work and in the United States. And so we, we knew that we had this mall and we showed it to them and they really liked it. And we were able to help them facilitate an arrangement with the owners of the.
But they still, they wanted a significant incentive for coming to Virginia, which I can understand that. Cause they think just the standard operating procedure was like, you know, we're going to spend $16 million. You need to give us $4 million. Right. And that's just what the expectation is. But obviously when you have a annual pool, that's only at the time was only about $9 million.
We were like, you know, we can't give a $4 million, half of our pool just for one show that we'll film for this portion in Northern Virginia. So. We came up with a much smaller figure to offer them less than a million actually. And we said, look, we can offer this, this grant for the production because we want to support you in every way we can.
We know the mall will be a great asset, but how about if you incorporate into the mall scene? Way to promote Virginia tourism and let's put the Virginia's for lovers brand and a welcome center in the mall or something like that with people with Virginia celebrity t-shirts and it basically a product placement for Virginia tourism in this big global movie.
Right. And they said, okay, well, we might be able to work that out. So they agreed to do that. But then what happened is. Patty Jenkins, the director who's from Virginia with the school, Northern Virginia, very familiar with the Virginia's for lovers brand. She made a suggestion. She knew we wanted to get some product placement in the movie and this welcome place that they would do.
She came with the idea and they proposed this to me and they said, well, how about Patty had an idea. We're going to create this big six foot drum in the movie. And we're thinking about putting their Virginia's for lovers logo on the drum, and then wonder woman grabs the bad guy and throws the bad guy through the drum and busted the drum with the Virginia's for lepers logo on it.
Would that be okay? I said, yeah, that'll be just fine because I mean that, I knew that would be a scene where they would not get cut for the movie. Right. That's going to stay in the film. So we're like, okay. And then I pushed it to another. And I said, well, look, that's great. But after you finished with the drum, can we have the drum?
And they said, yeah, sure, whatever, you can keep the drum. So we kept the drum. They was in the movie very much highlighted in the beginning of the film, huge, greatest product placement in the history of the world for any tourism entity. Right. And then we kept the drum, we put a new skin on it, and then we put it in a place in Alexandria where visitors can come by and Instagram in front of it with a picture window, wonder woman next to it.
So it just became this whole. You know, social media thing we could explore long after the film was gone. So that's the kind of thing we do to try to maximize the people's money to, to bring this work here, to maximize those dollars. So we can not only do it for. You know, treasuring the, the, the Commonwealth's treasure, but also to demonstrate to legislators that look, we do things just beyond even getting the jobs, which is great.
We do even more to maximize that ROI, hopefully justifying a larger pool in the future because it really, it takes money to make money. We need some more fuel. There's so many opportunities that we could have right now that if we don't have the fuel in the tank, we won't be.
one part of your job I guess, is interacting with the house of delegates finance committee. And then also you have to make Sure. you have these two different incentive funds. So can you talk about your interaction with the house of delegates, how that works and then about these fines?
At the film office, we have multiple constituencies, you know, we have the communities we serve, we have the crew and the cast. We serve all the vendors that support the industry. And we have the clients we want to bring in and the clients that are within the state. But then of course there are other constituencies or our partners in government, including the legislature and the governor's office.
And the fuel we need for incentives is driven by policy makers that decide the priorities of the state. So. And our office, we're not allowed to lobby per se because we're a state entity. So the lobbying on behalf of the industry happens to the Virginia production Alliance. So we incorporate, we encourage everyone to join this group.
That is really the, the lobbying and the, and of course, women in filming videos, of course, is a great lobbying entity, too. They can help support this and there are other. Groups that have an interest in making sure our industry can grow. Now, my interaction with the legislature and with the governor's office and all the policy makers is one of education.
You know, I I'm able to go on appointments with these legislators and tell them, or show them. Here are the facts. Here's our experience. Here's where the competition is. Here's what's happened. You know, we had walking dead, a world beyond show. They were provided this amount of incentive. It spent this much based on their, their CPA review that they paid for at the end of the show, the audit that they did, and this is what the return was.
So I bring all that data, all that marketing. Challenge that we're faced with and go on meetings with the lobbyists sometimes as a point of reference for, because we're at the front line, we're the, we're the ones that take the calls and deal with and know what the clients need and know what the benefit can be.
It's not a business about Hollywood, right? This is a business about Holly Smith.
I like to say Holly Smith, single mom, working in hair and makeup as a crew member, making $85,000 a year as a crew member that does not want to leave her family to have to go work in Georgia or Pittsburgh or somewhere else. They want to continue the job that they love right here in Virginia. The other point being.
Sandra, when I tell my kids that when I was their age, we only had three television stations to choose from. You know, they look at me like I'm an alien. And when you think about it today, where there's an unlimited number of platforms, streaming services, cable channel. And all of this means that there is a global demand that is insatiable for content.
And the creation of this content at the end of the day is a manufacturing process that employees, hundreds of skilled workers that are in everything from hands-on carpentry, seamstresses to technicians in the digital world to writers, to artists, to painters, to actors, to everything in between. So it's an industry that we should really aggressively pursue, I believe because.
When you add that reality to the, just the fact that Virginia is such a perfect palette for storytelling because of the diverse locations we have because of the relatively small geographical area that you can get from mountains to beaches and everything in between, because of all the historical assets, because of the reality that.
Richmond in particular is the Northern most city with Southern architecture and the Southern most city with Northern architecture and Richmond, you can do Boston, or you could do new Orleans, very few cities that have that capability to do that. So that's why when filmmakers come to Virginia, they love it and they want to come.
the Virginia film office is ready to serve you and they will go above and beyond and do whatever they can And if you want to reach out and learn more, go to www.film.virginia.org. So, thank you so much, Andy. We appreciate your time.
This was great.
Thank you so much. And thank you to women and film a video for the great work you guys do great group group of folks and keeping people connected.
Angie gates is the director of DC's office of cable, television, film, music, and entertainment. That's O C T F M E she's from Louisiana by way of Mississippi with a bachelor's and a master's degree from the university of north.
Prior to joining the DC film office, she was with DC mayor Muriel Bowser's. She served as the director of inauguration. She was also the general manager of the one or theater and was the first African-American to hold that position. And she's also a member of the recording academy, also known as the Grammys.
Welcome Angie to medium monuments.
thank you so much for having me, Sandra. I am delighted to be here. I'm like, was that me? You were talking about.
Yes, it was. And speaking of the DC film office, I guess I wanted to start off with this question since we are with the federal government it's known for its acronyms. We have the CDC, the FBI, the H. What was DC thinking? Did, were they trying to outdo with the number of letters? We have the O the C the T the F the M the E, as they say, on Saturday night, live what's up with
And now it, I think we have almost every letter in the alphabet and people tend to get fancy and it created a word around it. But we do a lot in a shout out first to mere Mirial Bowzer under her leadership and administration. And with the support of the council our office merged, it was originally motion, picture and television developed.
That merged with the office of cable television and the new new office office, the cable television film, music and entertainment was birthed in 2015. Now DC is the home of Gogo. And so it was very important. Navitus the official music that we put some city efforts and resources behind the music industry.
And we are the first agency really. Focus day to day on the music. And when you couple that with our film focus as well, they really go hand in hand along with the television. So yes, it's a mouthful, but we, you know, we are, our sandbox is, is plentiful here on our playground.
Well, what are the things reasons I wanted to talk to you was because you're from Louisiana. How did that experience being from Louisiana help you with what you're doing now in your current position?
I will say this. I, and I tell people this often my Southern roots the dirt roads of Mississippi and the by use of Louisiana really prepared me for where I am today. I come from good stock, a legacy of women, but I've been in Atlanta. Before I was born, my dad was a jazz musician. So when my mom was pregnant with me, I would be at a, the gigs before I even made it to this, this world.
So I was destined for, for entertainment, but I studied at the university of new Orleans undergrad. Is in arts arts administration. I did a specialty in film and communication, and then my master's is in arts administration as well with a special concentration in sports management. And so in undergrad, I did my first silent film, but my internship was epithelium office in new Orleans.
So years ago, There was a discussion about tax credits and tax incentives. I had no idea at that time that I would be doing what I'm doing today in life comes full circle. So I did an internship was hired as the film special. Worked on interview with a vampire with Anne rice, blue chips, which Shaquille O'Neal.
But what was interesting being the film specialist, we worked on the Pelican brief with John Gresham. When I came to DC, I walked in the Warner building and I was like, this looks so familiar. This looks very familiar. I had an epiphany. One of the scenes in the Pelican brief, the law scene was actually shot at the Warner theater here in Washington, DC, so years, but my very first film gig to transition from being the film specialist in new Orleans to the film commissioner here in Washington, DC confirmed that I was on the, on the right path, confirmed.
That was on the right path. And it's so exciting.
Well, one of the things I noticed and looking through as to what happens with the DC film office, you also create show. So, which is something different that you don't see with other film offices. So can you just talk a little bit more about that particular situation?
Can I start by saying we are a Emmy award producing team here at LC.
Great, great. 2 0 2, I
Yes, we brought home the first Amie here to the district government with an interview bail bib Devoe with the 2 0 2. And you know, the one thing with us, it's not that we were trying to obtain a Amie. We just wanted to do good work. That was the main thing we just wanted to do. Good work. And so, we had the freedom and the flexibility to really showcase our talents internal.
But then to also showcase the talents of the creatives of Washington DC. So we have three television networks, we have DCN which is one of our longstanding networks, the district of Columbia network. We have DCC, which is our city county. Traditional policy and legislative channel. We have DK an, which is the district knowledge network, and that is our education component.
And we utilize all of those networks, especially doing our time of being virtual, but we want it some of the best creative content to be on these networks. And so we started producing in. We started working with the creatives and we touch on everything from a creative perspective and we make sure that we remain inclusive and equitable as well as highlight what the government has to offer.
Now, we did something historic we launched DC radio, so we also have a full power radio station. The second full power station in the country ran by municipality. That was historic. We made another historic move recently by launching DCE, which is the district of Columbia entertainment network.
So those are all platforms that we've utilized our visual components, our video components, our audio components to really push the Dow forward to have some really wonderful creative content here, here in Washington, DC.
Do you ever sleep?
You know what actually, I think I'm, I think I'm half unicorn, honestly. I, I, I have what I call a never ending days. I'll do catnaps in between and it's, it's wonderful. Cause not one day has ever been the same in my, in my career. So I love what I do. I'm passionate about it. I work with such a wonderful group of individuals that I really consider family.
So it doesn't feel like work when we're here. And that's very rare. One of the things. We did during the time when we were going through this, you know, pandemic posture, we never really started to focus a lot on mental health and that's something that we did differently. So normally it's the radio, television film, things of that nature, but we developed something care for the creatives.
And that's when we started walking a wa doing a partnership with the George Washington university, where you get. Practically pay what you can. And if that's a penny, you get mental health counseling services and that's something that you would never imagine that would happen in our office. Another thing that we learned during the pandemic is as creatives, you always focus on your brain.
Social media, your brand, your logos, but your business would be key, especially to get funding. So we started business over brand, and that is another initiative that we did separate and apart just really to make sure our entrepreneurs and creatives have. Putting in the business industry. And of course we as celebrate what 2 0 2 creates all month long.
So I wanted to highlight that cause that's, that's important, you know, your creative being is, is key, but your physical and mental being is so important. So we don't ever want to overlook.
If somebody is new to the film business and is listening to this, how to they connect with your office? Like, what is it that they need to do? They go, oh, you're doing shows while I'm just starting to write something and I'm new to this, you know, what is it that you recommend?
So we always like to take what is a concept and make it a reality. We are here to help walk through ideas and put action behind them. You can always contact our office directly. You can reach us at 2 0 2 6 7 1 0 0 6 6. I'll repeat 2 0 2 6 7 1 0 0 6 6. Visit our website entertainment that DC, that gov or you can email our film division in particularly@filmatdc.gov.
There is no Level of produc tion that we are not happy to assist with. We have, of course our permits division. We have resources when people like your, your company and podcast, the media monuments DC is so much more than the traditional monuments. We have very iconic landscapes here throughout all eight wards of Washington, DC.
So we have like DC. Well, we can help you find locations, DC, real crew DC real vendors, where we help promote our various vendors and businesses and help you get your business started. So people should just reach out to us directly. And we have funding, you know, we have the film rebate fund which is cash back, but we also have sponsorships and partnerships where we're happy to help, you know, facilitate what you may need financially, or may provide some in concert.
So I did want to speak about the monuments. We do have. Iconic monuments here. So it seems like to me that it would be an easy sell, but maybe because I'm, you know, from DC that I think everybody would want to come here and film. But what's the reality when you have big pictures. So for example, wonder woman, 1984 came and they wanted to film when you have these big budget pictures and they say, we want to close down the street and we want to make sure that we're including this iconic building.
What's the reality that's going on.
The reality of you can't show up in one day and it's all done in one day. We believe in communication. DC is open for business. We've been open for business. You can get. Wonderful shots. We are a multi jurisdiction city. So yes, you can have one foot on the street in this city, property, and one foot on the sidewalk and that's federal property, but we all collectively work together.
We don't wait until the project comes to the forefront. We have longstanding relationships. With various federal agencies. There's also the mayor's event task force that we work with. We don't believe in sending people to all the different agencies, whether it's city or federal agencies. We pride ourselves on being a one-stop.
So we often love the fact when people start here first and that way we can serve as a liaison on the federal side. And on the city side, wonder woman was the largest and most economically impacting projects we've had here in Washington, DC, since we've started doing films and. Talk about some good marketing and branding that spoke about him, but that a lot of these crew members and companies talk to each other, it all starts with customer service.
Like, yes, LA is on a different time zone, but we're available like no matter what time, and we don't stop working at five o'clock. So, you know, we're not a nine to five. Type of operations. Entertainment is a year long weekends nights, you know, and we're just we're available. So we make sure that we can make things happen.
We have some projects that are here, you know, currently and student films. So across the board, we're here, we're here to serve.
you have any particular? We just talked about wonder woman. Is there any other particular film or media? Going on where you have a special fond memory that you could share with us.
For us, what I quite often think about is just the, the embracing of when there are scenes in our, our historic neighbor neighborhoods. What I think is very important to I'm sure you're familiar with George Pelican. Working with George and going on set with George and to really witness a DC story unfold.
I did a set visit with George over near Howard university. And just to witness the amount of students that. Impacted that was his, that particular project was DC Noah. And just to witness the Howard students that were there as PAs to witness our local actors, like, you know, big G Antwan Glover to just see all of that on.
And then the people that were doing the production and then the local culinary and transportation companies to be in that moment. And it was like reality. You don't have to go to LA, you don't have to go to New York. You can stay right here in Washington, DC and have an amazing. Product project and you have all the resources you need above the line and below the line and then some.
And so that was a very special moment to just see, from start to finish where we're here. So it's not always around the focus of the national or the regional, but just to see that all unfold here locally really made a big difference and it was impacted.
And one of the things you talked about was the students and jobs about, say for example, the catering business. Can you give us an idea of how, what jobs or how many jobs that brings each year? Any, any type of figure.
Of course, I can always point to some figures. Figures are good because figures lead to facts. So I would say since the program has been reinstated and once again, shout out to mere Bowzer, we've had 56 projects with the 56 projects. I'm happy to also say 25. Of those projects were produced here locally.
Now what those 56 projects brought in to our city, a lovely city is $42.6 million. That's a huge economic impact. 1,214 district resident job hires have occurred from those 56 projects. Just to talk about having a pathway to the middle class for our creatives, those projects resulted in $4.8 million in total compensation for our district residents.
So that's how important. It is to be able to maintain a film industry here. You can live here in DC, work in play. You can be a creative here, but our goal is to make sure that we provide you the key resources that are needed, but at the end of the day, the jobs and the educational training that comes with that is what will carry a lifelong opportunity and really set a portfolio in place for our film.
One of the things that I wanted to ask you if you could share any challenges that you had in. You overcame a challenge? Was it a challenge with say, like blocking off a street or was it a challenge to get, you know, a celebrity from one location to another location, anything like
Yeah. I tend to look at things from a different lens. So what most people may consider a challenge or some people may consider an obstacle. I take that obstacle and make it into an opportunity. So, that's really how I view things. Now, this is the nation's capital. This is the seat of government for our country.
And so we have to be mindful and respectful of anything that comes into play with blocking streets, or there's always something going on in Washington, DC. I mean, we just finished the big cherry blossom, you know, festival. We just had emancipation day a in downtown Washington, DC. There's never a dull moment here.
And so what becomes the opportunity is to be able to communicate in advance. How do you get to the yes. And I always say there's a thousand roads that can get you to Texas. It's just about which one you choose that will work for everybody. And so, I think what's important is that we don't over prioritize.
One project over the other. And that has been the, the focus of opportunity that we really have to stay, stay true to. We cannot overpower our ties, our project compared to what may be happening at the white house because at the end of the day DC is you can't replicate. You know, yes. People go to sound stages and things of that nature, but here's the real thing.
So let's see how we can work together to make it happen. And that's what it comes down to.
I read recently Reese Witherspoon came to town and she was at the VPs residents and. The mayor was there. And then this past weekend, we just had the Kennedy center honors and all sorts of celebrities were in town then. So do you get to meet with these celebrities?
Do you have a favorite celebrity or you're not telling anything.
Well, you know, it's interesting. And after mayor Wednesday and without me with Reese, then she, and I'm going to have to have to check
Well, I could have read the wrong thing. I'm just saying allegedly, reportedly, you
no honestly, you know, it's, it's a respectful, fine line with anything. Some things you do have to remain confidential sometimes with where a celebrity is going to be, but, you know, I take that word celebrity and once again, I'm a little bit different than most but I'll look. Celebrities being the individuals that's here pumping into our economy.
You know, I look at, you know, us as celebrities, I look at the T my team, I look at your team, you know, Sandra, you're a celebrity.
honestly feel that when. Individuals are in town. I make it a point to whenever there's an opportunity to sit and talk with whoever is Grayson our city with their presence, because I always want to talk about not only what you're doing now, but what's next.
So I make it a point to talk to who's in front of the camera, but also who's behind the camera.
Yeah. I love it. That that's the perfect, I think note to end on we're all celebrities in our own, right? In this great place, but thank you so much. to learn more, go to the office of cable, television, film, music, and entertainment, and that's www dot entertainment dot DC dot.
Thank you so much. I really appreciate you having me today. And I look forward to talking to you again.
Jack Girlboss is director of the Maryland film office. He joined the office in 1992 and was named to his current position in 2002. Under his stewardship. The Maryland film office has been involved in many notable and high profile television shows and movies, the wire house of cards, Veep, runaway bride, ladder 49 and wedding crown.
He has had the opportunity to work with countless famous directors, including John Waters, Jodie foster, Tony Scott, Clint Eastwood, and David Fincher. Welcome Jack to media and monuments.
Well, thank you very much, Sandra. It's it's a pleasure to be here.
Why don't you tell our audience a little bit about you? Like where did you grow up and where did you go to school?
Sure. I grew up in the Hudson valley in New York. Actually I went to college, a political science major. I was going to be a if I was coming to the capital region, I guess I wanted to be a Congressman or a Senator from New York that obviously didn't work out. But I always had a fascination with film.
I mean, going back gosh, when I was a junior. Hi, I used to make film with my father's bell and Hal eight millimeter camera. And I so now doing what I do and being, you know, sort of on the creative side and helping out filmmakers like a Tony Scott or a David fitter or John Waters. It's it's, it's a childhood dream come true, actually.
Yeah. How did you get from New York down to our nation's capital here.
I was actually teaching up in New York and I moved down here. Now it's close to 40 years ago. And I was not in the industry then, but I began working for a small production company that would do industrials marketing, regional commercials. Basically I was a marketing and sales person.
It was a way to get my foot in the door. And that's what I tell young kids coming out of college. You're not going to graduate and have. Ultimate job in the industry. You got to get your foot in the door, obviously. So I did that for a couple of years. I went to work for a bigger production company in Baltimore, and eventually I said, okay, well, if I'm going to get the client, I want to produce it.
So I sorta was like on the ground. To produce and circumstances just early nineties, that there was an opening at the film office for a marketing person. I took it and I applied and I received the job and then homicide life on the street came in and the then location manager for the film office left to work on homicide, which there was this opening to actually work with designers and work with directors and be out there scouting the locations.
And I raised my hand. I want to do it. And 30 years later here I am
Yeah. The rest is history, as they say, right?
so to speak, I guess. Oh yeah, yeah,
Well, since you've been there so long, how has your job changed? Since you know, becoming the director in 2006,
Yeah, well, obviously when I became the director sort of more pressure and more weight is on my shoulders obviously than when I was deputy director of the office or location manager. But the way I look at what I do or any film commissioner around the country, as we sort of break up.
Pre incentives and post incentives probably for the first half of my career. When we used to get a call from a producer, a studio executive even a director in some cases, you know, do you have that type of location? Can you double for this place? I'm looking for a Victorian home on the waterfront. Do you have that then the second question, tell us about your crew base, which we're very, very fortunate in the capital region.
Extraordinary crew base. Tell me about the film infrastructure we pay fast forward to 2002, 2003. Then the questions start at, tell us about your incentives. Now the first question out of anybody's mouth who calls that's have is, has an interest to shoot in Maryland. How many tax credits do you have with.
And then we carry on the conversation from there. You know, if we have sufficient credits for that particular show, then we start going into our sales pitch. So to speak about talking about the locations, how we can achieve what they want creatively. Expand about a crew base and our infrastructure and why Maryland, where the Capitol region would be a good place for it for them to shoot.
So that's the dynamics basically is pre incentives, post incentives.
So it sounds like then it used to be not as much about the tax incentives yet. That seems to be more the case these days.
Oh, very much so. I mean, and again, the first, probably dozen years or so my career, most of the time I would be either out scouting by myself shooting various locations, giving various options, or you know, in a van with a director, a production designer, a location manager, who's in town to convince them that it'll work here.
Now most of my time is, you know, working with legislators, educating legislators about the incentive program. the majority of film offices are affiliated with some sort of governmental entity. So we're constantly. Justifying our existence or justifying the existence of our incentive programs and you know, and that sort of thing.
So, so it really changed. So that's, so that's the biggest, you know, I, it was, I probably had more. Leeway. And what is more fun when I wasn't a director, because somebody else was answering those phones and those goals, all I had to do was have my camera and my script and go out there and essentially you know, we're, we're salesmen, be it myself or any other film commissioner we're, we're, you know, we're selling a product.
The product is you know, in this case, the state of Maryland, you know why they should come here.
Well, what is it about the state of Maryland? Because I know one of the things just recently a few weeks ago, the film wedding Crashers was on for the umpteenth time and for the umpteenth time, of course. Yeah. I'm watching it. Because it's wedding crashes and it's St Michael's and I have friends who have houses down there and I've been there.
And so how much of that. It's still a draw when people talk about I'm thinking about doing a TV show or a film in marriage.
Yeah. I mean, a lot is because again, you mentioned earlier some of the, some of the productions that have shot here and some of them, you know, are the, either big box office hits or critically acclaimed shows, like the wire like house of cards.
But what you're talking about is sort of the phenomenon of film induced tourism. I mean, to this day, the NF Perry cabin is still getting calls from people because they saw. in wedding Crashers for about the first five years afterwards, their inquiries increased. I believe it was about 30% of people who just wanted to have their wedding there because of wedding Crashers.
when a film comes into Maryland or Virginia or DC, first and foremost, it creates jobs. Secondly, it provides revenue for businesses in the jurisdiction. It certainly puts a positive spotlight on the community where it films. And then also it's like a long lasting effect of this film.
Induce tourism people still go to the town of Berlin on the Eastern shore because. Was where runaway bride film. That's where tuck everlasting film. Speaking of runaway bride in Baltimore county, Maryland, there is the watt chapel church, which she ran away from that church twice during the show.
But You.
go to the watch chapel church. Cute little country church, and then they have the big sign outside where the marquee, where they change, what the sermon is going to be every week. But down below it in paint, it's come worship at the home with a runaway.
You.
So you're talking about, I mean, I don't think he can get more secular and more religion crashing then, being the location of a movie.
And they have people that come to church there because that's where Julia Roberts did not get married. So, Yes. So, there, there is this phenomenon and, and there's been studies about it. And again, it's an additional bonus to having film shoot in, you know, your city, your county, your state.
What's been actually something that people don't know about your job, that they would be surprised to learn. So, you know, there's the scouting there's talking to the legislators. What is it? That's something that people don't realize about your job that you spend time on.
Well, I think it's people in the industry. I. I appreciate what, for instance I may do, or Andy Edmonds in Virginia May do, or herb Niles and Angie and DC may do, but a lot of people think our job is basically hobnobbing with the talent,
Yeah, I think that, yeah.
yeah.
Having lunch with well, we've we've we, the governor recently announced we have a apple, a limited series lady.
That began filming this week in Maryland starring Natalie Portman and Lapida neon go, you know, so already people were saying, oh, have you had dinner or lunch and met with Natalie Portman. Now I'll be lucky if I even see Natalie Portman, you know, we're way behind the scenes, you know what we're dealing with, the location people, the producers,
So, so that's a perception. People think that it's, sort of very glamorous. I love my. Don't get me wrong and I have the opportunity to do just amazing things and in meat and some times become friends with amazing people that otherwise I'd only be reading about in film comment or in people magazine, I guess, but, but we're, we're behind the scenes, you know, we're sort of making sure that they get here and like any good salesperson.
Once you make the sale, you have to service it. You know, you have to make sure. They have a productive shoe and they get what they want, certainly within reason, but they get what they want.
W what is it about this area, you know, and how is it that women in film and video. How does that organization help you when you're doing your pitching?
Well, I, I must say that You know, I will get probably say six to a dozen calls a month from people perhaps new to the area or kids graduating with a degree in film or communication. And they've got the degree and what do I do now? How do I get out there? And my first comment is always, you have to call the grand Dom of Capitol region film, Melissa Houghton,
Right. Our executive director. Yep.
the executive director of women, film and video, you need to talk to Melissa. You need to go on their website. You need to join this organization because one you're going to learn who's who in the Capitol. In regards to producers, production companies, you know, that sort of thing. And to you're going to have a great networking opportunity.
And as we all know in this business, it's relationships it's knowing who you know, and who knows who, and it just, the way this industry works, you know, somebody may be looking for. Exactly you, but unless you get out there and market yourself, they're not going to find you in your basement, so you got to get out there.
And then also the various seminars and various classes that with has to offer. I mean, that's the biggest mistake that anybody moving into the region would do is not becoming involved with women and fill in video. It's a must. It certainly is a must in the capital region.
Well, how has women in film and video helped you with your job?
they support individual filmmakers, obviously, and individual companies, but they also support the film offices in the region. They help us get the word out for things. You know, they give us the opportunity to meet with members. Usually typically pre COVID once a year, all the commissions would get together and we'd meet with the membership and.
educate them on what we do and how we can help them because our job is first and foremost, I'm out of the department of commerce. So my job is to create jobs and revenue for Maryland to give you some indication on that. Each season of house of cards, economic impact was about $120 million.
Over 2100 Marylanders. We were hired as crew actors or extras in over 2000 Maryland businesses, supplied goods or services to the industry. So that's first and foremost, that's how we justify our existence so that we call that, importing. Then our job is also to help the indigenous community help the young filmmakers.
And That's where with, really becomes handy where I can use them as a, as a tool to say, yes, you, you want to learn more about script grading? Hey, there's this great.
thing that they have, every fall, the script writing conference or script DC, I guess it's called yeah. That, go to that.
So we want to work with, as a matter of fact, in Maryland, we have a small Maryland production tax credit. So for projects between 25,000 and $250,000, you can get a tax credit. So hopefully this will help nurture the next John Waters buried 11 sin, those sort of filmmakers that have homegrown ties.
But they need that extra. Financing to, to help complete their, their, their fill. the other thing that I certainly need to mention is our partnership with the Baltimore city film office most of the productions shoot in Maryland, tend to shoot in the Baltimore city area for a myriad of reasons. You know, if they're urban based, it makes sense.
The film office has got a great reputation there and a lot of the crew bases air. So Debbie Dorsey is the director of that office. She's a former location, man. And then about 15 years ago, we say that she came over to the dark side and became a film commissioner. She left production and came over and you know, she makes shooting in Baltimore seamless and really, really easy.
And her office does amazing things. So we're very fortunate to have.
Well, you mentioned Baltimore as in favorite place. To shoot because of its urban appeal. Is there any other place in the state of Maryland that you find a favorite place or some unknown, hidden treasure that people may consider?
we would love it for filming to take place in all corners of Maryland, you know, because then other parts of the state see the advantage of it and, we'd get support from the region. I mean, ocean city, we've had some success with some films, shooting notion, city Gosh now it's probably about 10 years ago.
We had a great little film called ping-pong summer that was written and directed by Michael tele. Who's a sweetheart in the independent world. And basically he grew up in Frederick, Maryland, and every year, like many Marylanders, he used to take two weeks off and go down to ocean city for their family vacation.
no, that's, that's what our family did. Yeah. We'd rent a place and.
Yeah, and this, this is set in the eighties and and it was great because essentially, and it played at a lot of European festivals. So basically it was like a a hundred minute commercial for ocean city that was screening all over the world. and.
it was great because it was in the eighties.
You had everybody with the, the girls walking down the boardwalk, you know, with their Madonna were on and the guys have their big boom boxes. And it's, it's, it's sorta like a. You know, coming of age type of thing, but had a great cast. Amy Sudara, Susan Surandon, you know, you know, and it was a delightful little film.
We go out to Western, Maryland, and we had gods and generals, which was a big civil war film, you know, that shot out there. Annapolis is another favorite area for filmmakers because of the cause of the.
Yeah.
know, so yeah, we like to call ourselves American miniature and actually national geographic called us that I think back in the thirties or forties it's cause we do have a variety of locations.
You could be, you know, where the wire shot in 20 minutes later, you could be aware Julia Roberts was riding the horse, you know, through the fields. Yeah.
So, so which is advantageous to filmmakers and producers, you know, to make company moves.
Well, one of the things you talked about was homegrown talent. And I was thinking of there's Trevor and Tim white, and they're the producers on, on will Smith movie, king Richard, and they're from Maryland. And I read that their mother had founded the Annapolis film festival, which just recently ran, how does that help young filmmakers and then.
Oh, yeah, the Tim and Trevor white story is just amazing. And I would like to think maybe our office had a little something to though just a little, but their first full length narrative feature was Jamesy boy, which filmed in that. This is going back to 2014. We are able to get some incentives for them, and that was hurdle one, to get them to come back home hurdle two was to get permission for them to film in the maximum security prison at Jessup, Maryland.
It was vacant, but it was about to be torn down. So. We were able to get them access. They filmed in there for close to a month. And I saw it right from them that these two brothers had something special about them, you know? And. And to see how they've grown. It's such a, such a great story about how, you know, if you really work hard and you really work it and your network and you just, you know, don't let any obstacles get in your way that you can make it.
Because from there they had a couple other independent films. Then they produce the Rob Reiner film LBJ, and then they produced the post that Steven Spielberg directed and then king Richard. And it's just an amazing story. And they're great guys. And we're one of the sponsors of the Annapolis film festival.
So I know their mother Patty, and it's just, yeah, it, it, it, it's just a wonderful story. We're so.
I wanted to ask you about challenges. Is there a certain challenge that you here's the different steps that you did in order to overcome those challenges? For whether it was a production or a director, you know, in order to get that film made.
We blew up a building. And that was that wasn't CGI or special effects that was literally. An explosion that was a bad, 150 yards from . So we had to shut down 9 95. We had a two minute window because you didn't want people rushing down I 95 and see this big fireball, obviously, you know, so, and they had like 14 cameras going, helicopters, train.
I mean, it was, it was just everybody held their breath on that one to make sure everything was working because that was a one-take shot. For sure. Yeah.
thank you Jack so much. This was really very interesting. I learned a lot very entertaining. So again, thank you Jack. To learn more about casting calls, crew opportunities and filming permits, go to www.marylandfilm.org. Or you can also check out the Maryland film office, Facebook page.
Right. And that's when, if there's casting calls or any information or any exciting things happening from whiff. And I want to thank you for inviting me, but also. With an all its members for all the, all the work they do. You guys are a wonderful, fantastic asset to the filmmaking community you know, in the Capitol region.
So thank you.