Florida Film & Entertainment Advisory Council

2nd Quarter Meeting Minutes

June 28, 2006

 The Mayfair Hotel, Crystal Ballroom

Miami, Florida

 

The second quarter meeting for Florida Film and Entertainment Advisory Council was called to order on June 28, 2006, at 10:16 a.m., at the Mayfair Hotel in Miami, Florida.

 

Members Present                                                Excused Members Not Present

Paul Meena                                                            Charleene Closshey

Katie Waters                                                          Lew Klechak

Dick Lobo                                                             

Hollis Batchelor

Mark Zubaly                                                           Unexcused Members Not Present

Todd Roobin                                                           Raul Mateu

Patrick Keating

John Welch                                          

Leslie Ann Bartlett                                           

Alan Randolph

Lorraine Wood

Ann Herberger

Arlene Herson

Rebecca O’Dell Townsend

 

Ex-Officio Member

Frank (Bud) Nocera

 

Office of Film & Entertainment

Paul Sirmons, State Film Commissioner

Natalie Recio, Executive Assistant

Susan Simms, Los Angeles Liaison

 

The Chairman, Paul Meena at 10:16 a.m, called meeting to order.

 

Introductions

 

Roll is taken and there is a review of excused and unexcused members.  Council members introduce themselves.  A special thanks is given to Alan Randolph and Mellon Bank for sponsoring the Film Florida Entertainment Advisory Council working lunch.

 

Election of Chair and Vice-Chair

Paul Meena states that every year the chair and vice chair shall be elected.   Hollis Batchelor nominates Katie Waters for Chair and Todd Roobin for Vice- Chair.  Lorraine Wood nominates Mark Zubaly for Vice Chair.  All three accept their nominations.   There is no other nomination for Chair, the council votes unanimously for Katie Waters.  The council members votes for Vice-chair by written ballots.   Paul Meena collects the ballots and Natalie Recio counts them.  Out of 13 voting members: 7 Todd Roobin, 5 Mark Zubaly and 1 for Paul Meena.  The Council votes for Todd Roobin. 

 

Katie Waters thanks Paul Meena and congratulates him for his leadership during the last year, including his efforts with the Glitch Bill, and presents him with a plaque.  Paul Meena accepts the plaque and compliments the FFEAC and Film Florida’s efforts to focus on Florida’s film and entertainment industry.

 

 

Future meetings

 

The 3rd quarter meeting will be held in St. Petersburg.  The tentative date is either Monday, September 22, 2006 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. or Friday, September 29, 2006.   This meeting may be held in conjunction with Film Florida.  Film Florida is having a difficult time setting a date in September so they are planning their next meeting in October.  If the FFEAC meets in October they will be violating the bylaws which require a meeting every quarter.  Meeting with Film Florida is very helpful but for now we would need to hear from Film Florida.  Legislative Committees start to meet in November and it is essential that everyone ramps up the legislators before then.  Film Florida works closely with Paul Sirmons on initiatives, marketing and several other cooperative efforts.  FFEAC members will be copied on Film Florida’s news and events.  The 4th quarter meeting will not be held in conjunction with Film Florida since Film Florida will be meeting in January.  The 4th quarter meeting will be a fly-in meeting in the Orlando airport either December 1, Friday or December 4 on Monday from 12:00- 4:00 pm.

 

Old Business

 

Review and Approval of the Minutes

 

            FFEAC 4th Quarter Meeting, December 12, 2005

                        Approval moved by Todd Roobin

                        Second by Mark Zubaly

                        Motion approved

 

            FFEAC 1st Quarter Meeting, March 24, 2006

                        Approval moved by Leslie Ann Bartlett

                        Second by Ann Herberger

                        Motion approved

 

           

FFEAC Membership Committee Conference Call, April 10, 2006

                        Approval moved by Arlene Herson

                        Second by John Welch            

Motion approved

 

 

 

From now on the OFE will send the minutes to the Council via e-mail as soon as possible after our meeting.  Council members will have two days to send feedback to the OFE with any changes before they are posted online.  The Council members will then formally approve the minutes during the next formal meeting. 

 

Review of Legislative Session

 

Paul Sirmons states that during the last legislative session the Glitch Bill was introduced which would have made administrative changes to the current tax incentive.  These changes would have included a lower threshold for minimum qualified expenditures and the addition of queues for commercials and television pilots.  Late in the game a tax credit was added to this bill taking it from revenue neutral to one that would have had budgetary consequences for years to come.  The combined bill did not pass. 

 

Paul Sirmons describes that the Talent Agents’ account at the DBPR has operated in a deficit since its inception.  The intent of the $1,800 special assessment was to address that deficiency.  As of this date, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) has agreed to lower the assessment fee to $180 with the understanding that talent agents will form their own association to regulate themselves.  Yesterday, an officer of the DBPR answered many questions that talent agents had during the Film Florida talent agency meeting.   Paul Sirmons is looking into writing a Talent Agency Bill that will have more enforceable rules against unlicensed talent agents.

 

Paul Sirmons explains that in recent months, production insurance companies have begun requiring large premium increases on policies written for location shooting within 100 miles of the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts during hurricane season.  This new fee can add one hundred thousand dollars or more to a production budget.  Florida has recently lost at least 7 substantial projects to states that don’t have our coastal exposure.  Mitigating this expense is a major priority this year.  No legislative remedy can be enacted until July 1, 2007, so short-term solutions are being vetted now in order to salvage this hurricane season and long-term solutions are being addressed by a joint FFEAC/Film Florida Task Force.

 

Paul Sirmons worked hard to revise the incentive application and the policy and procedures.  Now it is much less confusing, and more user friendly.

 

Incentive Rules, Policy and Procedures Committee

 

Katie Waters decided to disband the Policy and Procedures Committee since the glitch bill did not pass this legislative session.  It was decided to table this committee until next year if the glitch bill passes.

 

 

 

Membership Committee Teleconference report April 10, 2006

 

Katie Waters explains that during the last membership teleconference Council members went over upcoming expiration dates of council appointments. Particularly, Leslie Ann Bartlett’s term that expired on April 30, 2006.  The Membership Committee recommended and voted on possible appointees to who will fill Leslie Ann’s spot.   Leslie Ann was subsequently reappointed by Representative Alan Bense.

 

Membership Committee Meeting report June 28, 2006

This meeting was called to review the expiration dates of the Council members whose term expires this year.

Kathryn Waters - August 20, 2006 - Governor (seeking reappointment)
Raul Mateu - October 3, 2006 - Governor (will not seek reappointment)
John Welch - September 4, 2006 - Senate President (seeking reappointment)
Hollis Batchelor - September 4, 2006 - Senate President (not eligible for reappointment)
Lorraine Wood- October 16, 2006- Speaker of the House (will not seek reappointment)

The resumes or Bios of several other qualified persons had been forwarded previously to FFEAC members and those persons were discussed.  The following slate names were put forward for submission to the Governor, House Speaker and Senate President for their consideration:
Howard Butler
Leslie Ann Bartlett
John Perros
Melody Shaw
Susie Allen

Status of Economic Assessment

The OFE commissioned an economic assessment to assess the size and extent of the motion picture production industry in the state of Florida.  The goal of the analysis is to develop a baseline describing the size and extent of the industry and to outline regional conditions and suggest public policy responses which would be likely to lead to future growth of motion picture output and employment in Florida.  The OFE submitted a drafted formal Request for Price Quote (RFP) to the Purchasing Director.  The formal RFP process allows any company, nation-wide, to submit a proposal for the project.  The estimated cost of the Economic Assessment will be taken out of the fiscal year 06/07, when the assessment is expected to be complete.

 
5 Year Plan

 

The OFE had Rollins College; Crummer Graduate School of Business students create a first draft model for the 5-year plan in order for the OFE to guide the direction of the office’s progress.  The OFE is currently revising the 5 year plan. 

 

 

2006/2007 Priorities

The Council addresses several lists of priorities that have been previously submitted by Council members for consideration.  The following list is prioritized during the discussion:

1.                  Passage of Glitch bill. Tax Credit to be stand-alone bill.

2.                  Research current Florida resources for mitigating consequences of mandatory 5% insurance uploads on insurables for production companies doing business in Florida during hurricane season.

The Florida Film & Entertainment Advisory Council (FFEAC) and Film Florida will form a joint task force to address this issue.   The main goal for this task force is to look into possible ways of mitigating the increase, including creating a verifiable hurricane preparedness plan for the industry and seeking other ways to offset the cost of higher insurance to attract the larger films to Florida.

3.                  Aid talent agents in transition from regulation by DBPR to self- regulation.

4.                  Recommend two new Members of Distinguished Honor and plan installation event.

5.                  Educate next Governor about film industry and our priorities.  Open dialogue about their priorities.  Enlist their assistance in achieving our goals in 2006/07FY.

6.                  Establish an Ad Hoc Standing Rules Committee to write standing rules of the Council.   Enlist appropriate OFE staff member to update as necessary.

7.                  Establish committee to review and recommend changes to bylaws.

8.                  Encourage post-secondary institutions to establish cooperative programs designed to focus on critical needs in professional infrastructure in entertainment industry.  Include programs for continuing education for entertainment workforce veterans.

9.                  Establish a Task Force to address needs of indigenous and independent film producers.

10.              Create a Film Development Fund Task Force to research and propose public and public/private programs for the financing of feature films.  These programs will be meant to compete with the New Mexico and Louisiana programs already in place and very successful.

11.              The Republicans in the House of Representatives have initiated “100 Ideas for Florida’s Future”.  We must make sure that the Film and Entertainment Industry is included on that list.

12.              Plan and execute an event in conjunction with Film Florida to thank Governor Bush for his vision for our industry during his tenure as Governor.

 

Numbers 1,2, 5,11 and 12 are considered highest priorities

 

 

Judd French from Digital Media Alliance is asked to report to the Council at the 3rd Quarter meeting about ways that the state might assist this unique industry in achieving their goals

 

 FFEAC Committee Assignments

EXECUTIVE 

Kathryn Waters, Chair

Todd Rubin, Vice-Chair

Leslie Ann Bartlett

Alan Randolph

Rebecca Townsend

Lorraine Wood

Mark Zubaly

 

 

BYLAW TASK FORCE

Lorraine Wood, Chair

Lew Klechak

Mark Zubaly

 

 

JOINT FILM FLORIDA/FFEAC HURRICANE INSURANCE TASK FORCE

Carol A. Bressi-Cilona (FF) Chair

Leslie Ann Bartlett

Jeff Peel (FF)

Ed Stamm (FF)

Rebecca O. Townsend

Graham Winnick (FF)

John Hilsman (FF)

David Goodman (FF)

Karen Marshall (FF)

 

LEGISLATIVE

Mark Zubaly, Chair

Ann Herberger, Vice-Chair

Patrick Keating

Lew Klechak

Paul Meena

Todd Rubin

Rebecca O. Townsend

 

 

 

 

STANDING RULES TASK FORCE

Rebecca O. Townsend, Chair

Patrick Keating

Richard Lobo

 

 

INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION INCENTIVE TASK FORCE

Rebecca O. Townsend, Chair

Joe Humphreys (non-member)

Gregg Hale (non-member)

 

MEMBERSHIP       

Leslie Ann Bartlett, Chair

Arlene Herson, Vice-Chair

Hollis Batchelor

Charlene Chlossey

Richard Lobo

Raul Mateu

John Welsh

 

FILM DEVELOPMENT FUND EXPLORATION TASK FORCE

Alan Randolph, Chair

Ann Herberger

Joe Humphreys (non-member)

 

 

 

Film Florida Update

 

Todd Roobin informed the FFEAC of the future activities of Film Florida. 

 

Meeting adjourned at 2:34 p.m.