The Blog of the Virginia Production Alliance

The recent (Jan. 26) press conference delivered by Gov. Bob McDonnell at the State Capital was more than historic for members of the VPA. It was downright surreal.

Our new governor “gets it” regarding film’s power to produce real jobs. He’s heard us and is with us. Those in the Film Office along with many longtime VPA’ers are pinching ourselves. Could this be our year, especially after last year’s success?

The credits haven’t rolled yet but yes, this is an opportune time. Other measures submitted by McDonnell in his jobs plan include economic development offices in China and the U.K., monies for the biotechnology and life sciences, and other plans that total approximately $50 million in new spending.

Now to the film industry. . . For the first time in decades, we watched a packed press conference room fill up with throngs of supporters and news cameras to hear McDonnell really get behind tax incentives and express his desire to beef up the tourism industry to attract new jobs (and to keep what feature film jobs there are). McDonnell understands that film production can contribute significantly to the state economy, especially at a time like this when revenue is needed most.

So what’s next? We need your help in keeping our message on our legislators’ radar screens full-time. VPA lobbyist Bud Oakey put it best; he said we need to show our support for more tax credits and more funding to the Motion Picture Opportunity Fund by personally making contact with our delegates and senators. If you say nothing else to them, simply say: “Hey, I don’t bother you (my delegate) a lot, but this is about my job. This is about working or not working.”

This is NOT a done deal. There is no certainty to its passage. We need you to contact your delegate and senator NOW in support of two bills (SB257 & HB861) and the Governor’s budget amendment in support of the film industry. (You can do this from legis.state.va.us. Select “Who’s my legislator?” and send your email to both your delegate and senator). We also need people to sign up for “Two-a-Days.”  This is an opportunity for you to meet with our lobbyist and learn how to most effectively communicate our message to legislators.

We’ve only got a few weeks to make a big difference. If you know Virginia-based crew who are working in other states, please contact them and ask them to email their delegates. Any amount of support will help our chances. Thanks, and please, save the high fives until we’re in the end zone!

P.S. Watch the chat below with Gov. McDonnell and Kahil Dotay, VPA 1st Vice President, from the recent “Film Day” at the State Capital.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 29th, 2010 at 1:02 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.