New group laments loss of film industry incentives
By John Temple Ligon Temple@TheColumbiaStar.com

FilmSC, a grassroots non- profit membership organization created to promote the film industry in South Carolina, announced its formation on Tuesday, January 8. Comprised of working film industry professionals as well as members from the business community who have an interest in growing movies in the state, FilmSC is dedicated to advancing the film industry in South Carolina through education, professional training, networking, and advocacy.

FilmSC will focus its efforts on four main areas: (1) creating highpaying jobs in the motion picture industry for South Carolinians; (2) strengthening South Carolina's motion picture and television production infrastructure; (3) developing educational opportunities to help residents find jobs in the motion picture industry; and (4) establishing an environment where creative talent and new media industries can flourish.

"From July 2006 to June 2007, the film and television industry in South Carolina was an amazing success story," said Martin Bluford, president of Film-

SC. "From Army Wives

iLne aCthhaerrlheesatodns to in the Upstate, Asylum in

Rock Hill to Who's Your

Caddy? in Aiken, our state was selected for six feature films, two television pilots, as well as numerous commercials. Over 7,100 high-paying jobs resulted,

with more than $64 million in direct expenditures invested in our state's economy. Since early summer the pace of film production in South Carolina has plummeted, and Film- SC is working hard to turn that around."

One quick way to turn around South Carolina's film fortunes is to return to the wage rebates offered by the state through early last summer. Since July, since the reduction in film production incentives, there have been no new films announced for production in South Carolina.

Until last July, as long as it was not over $1 million, whatever a person was paid in a film qualified for a 20% wage rebate to the production company.

The wage rebate was in place for almost a year, and other states noticed South Carolina's gains in film production. Soon following South Carolina's lead, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and others to a lesser degree, all offered state- sponsored wage rebates. And now that the Film Office at the South Carolina Department of Commerce offers no more than a $3,500 maximum wage rebate, film production has moved elsewhere.

Staff at the South Carolina Department of Commerce, particularly in the Film Office, are hesitant to talk about the current condition. Apparently they are told not to.

On the other hand, FilmSC has an easy solution to offer: Go back to the way you had it. That's it. That's the way to see Kevin Bacon and his movie crews in Five Points and the Vista again.

Meanwhile, a new wrinkle is seen in Columbia's arts opportunities fabric. The Rhode Island School of Design has designs on the South. There have been serious talks between RISD (pronounced "rizdee") and Charlotte's Hugh McColl. McColl was the driving force behind culinary school Johnson & Wales' move from Charleston to Charlotte. McColl, former Bank of America CEO, is trying the same in talking RISD into a Charlotte branch campus.

Well, if Charlotte, why not Columbia?

RISD is one of America's top art schools, the top in many informed circles, above Yale and the Chicago Art Institute. The school also has a department of architecture and a film department, both in a class with its studio art and art history programs. The film department would understandably be impressed with South Carolina's return to a flourishing film production setting.

The next step for

FilmSC is to get the

attention of Joe Taylor,

head of the South Carolina

Department of

Commerce. The next

step for Columbia is to

get the attention of the

president and board of

RISD.