Bollywood and The Weinstein Company: a Marketing Method Match?

   A presentation discussing the overall progression of marketing in the film industry, “Social Marketing for Bollywood Movies,” provides an illuminating perspective on today’s customer and keeping one’s movie on their minds.  Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the presentation is the fact that the author is focusing on film marketing strategies for India.  India and the Bollywood film market play an extremely important example in the future of cinematic marketing.  In order to reach a vast and lucrative audience via multiple screens, filmmakers have to maximize their pre-release marketing campaigns onto the screens of various devices. 

    Today’s customer has an ever-reducing attention span that requires filmmakers to give them something “extra” in their marketing campaigns.  The reason filmmakers must continue to produce interviews and clips that are unavailable through regular print and TV is the fact that there are so many multiplexes, films “only stay in theatres for a maximum of 2-3 weeks (Tapia, 2012).”  Therefore, the ‘word of mouth’ recommendation films depend on must begin sooner in order to get the “buzz” going before it hits theatres in order to ensure a successful launch of the film. 

     As if this was not challenging enough, budgets are increasingly limited for marketing and this is where the emphasis for Internet and Social Media campaigns are crucial to a film’s success.  According to Tapia, it is best to put together “a small team of social media managers that create a strategy for the movie content to be released in a staged manner right until the point of release.  This ensures that fans are continually fed information about a film via various online touch-points and the buzz for a film reaches a crescendo by the time a movie is set to release (2012).”

    This presentation is extremely succinct in defining the process by which a producer arrives at an entire marketing campaign for a film project, especially concerning the film’s online presence.  An excellent point to consider, before the execution of the marketing campaign, is the target audience of the film’s message or what demographic the film is meant to entertain.  Consider the questions: “who is the intended audience,” and, “what is the film’s underlying message?”  From this stage in the project, one should posit the tone of voice and communication involved in delivering the message to one’s audience.  The reason to evaluate these points with equal reverence is that both of these business aspects will tie together all marketing efforts for the film. 

     Of course, for most film projects, the steps to take in marketing a film are very similar to those of Bollywood.  However, in this presentation the most intriguing step is the portion regarding film leverage over third party associations like co-promoting one’s brand with in-film advertising, multiplexes, and malls.  It is a lot like grass roots marketing with a virtual twist. For example in India during the “City Tours,” promoting a film in the cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata, there are relationships that exist with the multiplexes’ fans, and the malls’ as well.  The reason this is significant is due to the fact that these social meccas release newsletters to the massive public within these cities announcing film tours, theatre releases, movie times, premieres, and possible contests.  Tapia recommends that marketers capitalize on contests as another venue to increase the allure and attention towards one’s film.  This recommendation works and is used in modern film marketing campaigns, such as one for the film, The Giver, released by The Weinstein Company in August of 2014 staring Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges (The Weinstein Company, 2014).  The parameters of this particular online and social media marketing campaign demonstrates crowd-funding, charitable contribution for the arts (connects with the film’s theme), and the contest for the fans who want to experience the cast and crew in serious A-List style (Eventbrite.com, 2014). The package involves an exclusive premiere screening in New York with the cast and crew, meeting the stars of the film in a VIP after-party held for the film, and personal meet and greets with Jeff Bridges, Brendon Thwaites, and Katie Holmes. The point is that this marketing event keeps customers checking in to see if they in fact win, or who is bidding on the prize, and this successfully allows the marketers to relay continual information to the customer who in turn tries to get more supporters to help them win the contest.  It is brilliant.  Turn the fans into free grass roots social media marketing machines. 

    Ultimately in filmmaking, an incredibly thoughtful and well-researched marketing campaign can make or break one’s film project.  Based on the presentation, “Social Media for Bollywood Movies,” film marketing is now competing to capture, maintain, and mystify the customer’s ever waning attention span on multiple screens: theatre, TV, mobile and laptop.  There are two extremely important concepts to keep in mind throughout any successful film marketing campaign.  One, always consider the scope and nature of the audience the film’s message is inspiring/entertaining.  Two, be extremely mindful of the tone of voice and method of communicating the message of the film through the entirety of the marketing campaign.  More over, consideration of such points and having a social media management team can ensure that a film’s universal message successfully captivates audiences long before it is released.  The key is to market the extra footage unavailable through print or television in order to keep the customer searching for more on the film long after it has been available.  The goal is to get them to connect and keep them connected for as long as humanly possible.

    Best wishes towards meaningful marketing campaigns and thank you for reading,

Michelle Fernandez

Indie Incline

     The article is really examining the overall economic success of the Indie Film genre at the 2013 Sundance film festival.  Many of the indie films purchased sold for over one million to almost ten million dollars.  The excitement was largely because over a dozen films at Sundance in 2013 went for over one million dollars.  More importantly, the article highlights the performance of the documentary film category at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, which raised its sales in 2013 from 2012 impressively.  In fact, at Sundance 2013, four documentary films sold for well over a million dollars versus the previous 2012 result of one documentary that actually sold for over a million. 

   

    Because Sundance occurs in the beginning of film festival season, this festival inherently sets the pace for subsequent South by Southwest, Tribeca, Cannes, and Toronto film festivals.  Overall, it is suggestive of how strong the indie market is and that it is recovering from the previously disappointing purchase results of 2012.  Furthermore, The Hollywood Reporter features an opinion within the article regarding Sundance 2013 deals.  Graham Taylor, from WWE Global, stated, “The hills are alive with film sales,” which had everything to do with the fact that he believed, “Sundance has curated a great crop of films this year, hence the deal making (Miller & Siegel, 2013).”

     Perhaps the most intriguing part of this article has to do with a filmmaker like Shane Carruth who made Upstream Color.  This particular filmmaker was discussed based on his unique utilization of the festival as a platform to self-distribute his film.  The process of self-distribution at a film festival was a point of high interest and Sundance reported that it would be a concept that they will see way more of in the future.  Carruth was quoted by The Los Angeles Times regarding his thoughts on his journey to self-promote his film: “It’s not necessarily about revenue or that I don’t think it will sell; it’s that I get to frame this thing exactly the way I think it needs to be framed.  I get to continue narrating through marketing, releasing teasers, and artwork that you could make the case aren’t the most commercial ways to sell this but they absolutely are in tune with the way I think of the film and what I want to communicate (Olsen,2013).”

    Based on the article, “Distributors Pay Top Dollar at Sundance, Has Indie Film Recovered? Plus a Complete List of Acquisitions,” evidence suggests that the indie film market is strong now and will keep its economic momentum as companies continue to fight hard to acquire titles (Marine, 2013).  Most importantly, in 2013, the control and courage to self-distribute, self-market and promote one’s film is the future trend that will be seen at future festivals from indie filmmakers.  I think this is a great movement towards the encouragement of profound content within indie films and supporting hardworking filmmakers who have meaningful pieces of art that were made to inspire audiences with their films’ messages world wide.  As an indie filmmaker/producer, I understand the need to get the story marketed the way the film’s message was meant to be conveyed without commercial interference, but its also great to get bought and have meaningful distribution deals go well with studios who share the same vision.

Best wishes towards meaningful distribution of meaningful work,

Michelle Fernandez

Pirates, Ramapo Mountain people, and Iran

    Film production is full of controversy.  In some of the latest controversy regarding the Oscar nominated film, Dallas Buyers Club, the company behind the production of this poignant story sued thirty-one people in federal district court in Texas in February earlier this year (2014) for downloading the movie illegally through the legal file-sharing service BitTorrent.  The lawsuit is just another example among the thousands of recent lawsuits filed against BitTorrent users to dissuade Americans from stealing licensed productions such as movies, music, pornography, books, and software (Liebelson, 2014).  These efforts to prevent the theft of such artistic productions may have an increasingly more difficult task at hand due to a recent ruling made by several federal judges.  The ruling basically states that key information, which are the IP addresses (computer Internet protocol locations) used as evidence to support the alleged thefts, is insufficient to continue with such lawsuits.  According to the article, copyright experts suggest that, although companies are still winning a large amount of settlements, the law firms are pursuing fewer plaintiffs compared to previous years.  “I think the trend is towards judges looking at [piracy] cases more carefully than they used to, requiring more upfront investigation,” stated Mitch Stoltz who is a staff attorney at Electronic Frontier Foundation (Liebelson, 2014).  Stoltz also noted that, “There may always be some judges who will simply rubber-stamp these cases… but there are fewer of those judges than before (Liebelson, 2014).”  
     Now the issues of connecting people to their IP addresses through their Internet Service Providers, after getting a judge to issue a subpoena based on the evidence that the theft was committed through the identified IP address and supposed owner of that computer’s Internet protocol address, has become almost impossible to do accurately because of the WIFI routers sixty percent of the population utilize.  Judges have become cautious issuing subpoenas based on IP addresses alone as a result of WIFI not accurately linking the account holder of an IP address as the true pirate involved in stealing.  For example, federal district judges in New York and Illinois between 2011 and 2012 reached the conclusion in their cases that the plaintiffs “relied too heavily on IP addresses and did not do an adequate enough investigation to bring claims (Liebelson, 2014).”  Furthermore, professor of law at the University of Pennsylvania who specializes in intellectual property law, R. Polk Wagner states that, “Judges are increasingly realizing that [IP addresses] don’t have a high degree of reliability, and they’re not an accurate representation of who has control of the computer (Liebelson, 2014).”
  For the film production industry, this is an increasingly difficult challenge to try and take on everyday.  It is an expensive and time consuming part of distribution rights control and protecting the art made by one’s company and its affiliated artists.  The strength of a claim does depend on the evidence gathered beyond IP addresses moving forward in any lawsuit involving the illegal downloading of a film. Perhaps releasing a digital download version simultaneously with the film’s theatrical releases, DVDs, online streaming and Blu-Ray to inhibit the amount of piracy attempted on a studio’s productions can help to thwart theft.  It will be interesting to see how this fares when the release of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon II is released in theaters and on Netflix the same day.
          As if the challenge of keeping the works produced and protected in the film industry is not enough of a chore, characters could always sue over defamation. The case that recently raised the issue of a well-known film producer being sued for defamation of character of the people who the film was based on has to do with Leonardo DiCaprio and his work on Out Of The Furnace.  Out Of The Furnace, was co-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio in 2013 and contained an A-list cast ensemble including Woody Harrelson, Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Forest Whitaker, Zoey Saldana, Sam Shepard and Willem Dafoe.  The story line was based on a particular culture of people from New Jersey known as the Ramapo Mountain community. The group of eight people claimed that the film’s depiction of their character caused emotional and psychological harm due to the film demonstrating the group as “unfairly portrayed drug-using ‘inbreds’ (Lu, 2014).”  Furthermore, the Ramapo Mountain community claims that this portrayal caused them “emotional distress” and characterized them in an ultimately negative way with comments in the film such as, “You f*** with these inbreds, you’ll come crawling back if you’re lucky,” and “inbred mountain folk from Jersey (Lu, 2014).”
      According to the legal documents the Plaintiffs filed in January of 2014 in New Jersey, the defamation lawsuit reads:
     The movie and article in the New York Post places Plaintiff’s and their family members in a false light. Each have (sic) had an extremely negative effect on Plaintiff’s community. It is extremely embarrassing to the Plaintiffs. Plaintiffs and their family members are harassed and discriminated against. The children are teased at school.
(Lu, 2014)
       The portrayal of characters in a film that actually exist in real life is a very fragile subject matter to produce, especially when the storyline is a dark or negatively based content. It would be wise to have a creative consultation with the writers and one’s attorney over the liability of character defamation involved with producing a film based on a community that exists in real life and any damages the release of such a film may consequently bring on as a result of pursuing the production without certain creative permissions legally authorized.  However, the parties involved could be sensitive and overly subjective and the possibility of such liabilities is sometimes unavoidable, but being prepared and aware of them helps a film producer prior to the execution of a project. 
        No matter how prepared a film producer can be, the third controversy that has occurred recently regarding lawsuits and the insulting of a party portrayed in a film is that of Iran and the film Argo.  Iran has retained counsel, a controversial French attorney, to file a lawsuit against Hollywood over a number of films, especially the Oscar winning Argo.  The premise of the suit is that the films have supposedly depicted Islamic republic in a “distorted and unrealistic manner (Dehghan, 2013).” The lawyer, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, is known to be an “anti-Zionist” lawyer. Coutant-Peyre went to Tehran, met with authorities to file a case in international court against Hollywood directors and producers that have been described as propagandizing “Iranophobia (Dehghan, 2013).” 
       Now the irony of the counsel filing this monstrous and politically charged legal action is the controversial character of the attorney herself.  Her husband is one of the world’s most infamous terrorists, Carlos the Jackal. She married him in prison, and she is representing him as well.  However, she is true to her convictions and demonstrated this in her statement, “I’ll be defending Iran against films that have been made by Hollywood to distort the country’s image, such as Argo (Dehghan, 2013).” In Tehran’s Palestine Cinema, at the Hoax of Hollywood conference, Coutant-Peyre was a speaker during the event, which was held immediately after Argo’s Oscar-win. The film had not been available to the public, however it was shown only two times for a select audience. Ironically pirate DVDs of Argo, are attainable throughout the black markets of the entire nation of Iran for a very small amount of money (Dehghan, 2013). 
    The film’s basis is on the 1979 US hostage crisis and it is infused with thriller touches and spiced up with some imaginary events to bring forth a cinematic success for Ben Affleck’s Oscar winning title.  Regardless, the film itself does illuminate one of the “darkest episodes in Tehran-Washington relations (Dehghan, 2013). It is about a CIA rescue mission bringing back six stranded US diplomats who escaped the Embassy within moments of the revolutionaries taking control of the compound.  Supposedly large groups of Iranians feel that Argo stereotypes Iranians in a negative manner and it fails to separate everyday citizens from the revolutionaries responsible for the 1979 US Hostage Crisis. There are other films that enrage Iranians. For example, 300, in this story King Leonidas and his force of three hundred men fighting the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 BC, was said to have been “insulting to Iran,” according to Iran’s president Mahamoud Ahmadinejad (Dehghan, 2013). They are not very fond of Brian Gilbert’s 1991 film, Not Without My Daughter, and they do not like The Wrestler either. This Hoax of Hollywood conference is a politically fueled conference where the purpose is to “unify all cultural communities in Iran against the attacks of the west, particularly Hollywood (Dehghan, 2013).” After their meeting, Argo was condemned as a “violation of international cultural norms,” and they bashed the film’s Oscar claiming it was “propaganda attack against our nation and entire humanity (Dehghan, 2013).”
      According to New York based journalist, Omid Memarian, who has also written on Iranian films, “For many in the Iranian regime, it’s impossible to fathom that Hollywood is not a state-run entity, as it is in Iran (Dehghan, 2013).” Therefore, it is because of their cultural misunderstanding (and perhaps ours too) that “Iranian officials therefore seriously perceive any cultural products about Iran, like movies, as a political statement and a part of what they call the west’s cultural invasion against Iran (Dehghan, 2013).” The particular jewel of perspective this article demonstrated is the impact and importance film itself can have on the audience and this lawsuit exemplified this idea quite well. Moreover, the New York journalist Memarian was quite interesting in his observation, “I think the fact that Michelle Obama awarded the movie’s Oscar has intrigued and magnified their suspicions about the involvement of politicians making such movies, which they consider anti-Iran, or more accurately, anti-Islamic republic (Dehghan, 2013).”
      Ultimately in the end of this “announced lawsuit,” a producer can experience a publicity stunt, a political campaign against their work, and in this case a whole country supposedly going to follow through on an “announced lawsuit.” Sometimes, the frivolity of such suits can overwhelm the plaintiffs and perhaps they burn themselves out. Most importantly, be aware of each one of these liabilities because they could happen to anyone in the entertainment industry and their complexities evolve constantly.   
Thank you for reading,
Michelle Fernandez

Why Is The Art Of Negotiation So Important? An Interview With The Producer From Bluegate Entertainment, LLC: Robby Brooksby.

     On September 3, 2014, I had the chance to discuss an interesting situation involving the recent wrap of a parody series filmed and produced by Bluegate Entertainment with it’s producer, Robby Brooksby.  The parody was based on the Emmy award winning Television series, Breaking Bad.  The negotiation conversation that we discussed for the purposes of this interview has to do with the actor involved in my colleague’s everyday process of being an entertainment industry producer.  More specifically, a film producer, because Robby Brooksby actually has been doing this for a number of years, and his most recent parody series available on his YouTube channel, is where I mean to focus the scope of my interview with my production colleague.  To Mr. Brooksby’s credit, he is a student Emmy award winning film producer, who graduated from Ball State University, Interned in Los Angeles with a production company, produces privately for an array of clientele, and is also working on feature films in the pipeline.    
 
      Our Interview went as follows:

MF:  So Robby, how would you say that you handle separating the people you are dealing with from the problems that you are handling when it comes to negotiating?
Also, do you have any tips for negotiators who are trying to do this, like myself and other producers in this business?

RB:  You have to realize that everyone is human.  You need to focus on people’s strengths and weaknesses.  By that, I mean what they bring to the table, or what they are lacking.  In what they are lacking that is where I try to get them to understand how it is to their advantage to team up with us at Bluegate Entertainment, because working with us on a project we are able to bridge a solution towards developing the person’s weaknesses into strengths.
     I really think it is all about compromise.  What you are comfortable giving up, and what they are comfortable receiving in the deal.  You go into the negotiation knowing that you are not going to get 100% of what you want, and I really think that is a good middle ground to start on (a foundation if you will).  Most importantly though, don’t bend over backwards to someone who does not have the bigger picture in mind-achieving the goal of the overall project.  Know that you can always walk away!

MF: Great advice. Interesting that you consider the developing of the other party’s talent in your negotiation.  I think that gives credibility to your leadership skills as a producer in this industry, and I like the fact that you are not afraid to walk away.

MF: How would you say that you handle positional bargaining tactics?  Like for example, when you told me about an actor who offered to “help” you by acting a part in your parody movie and you had him sign a “model release,” then that same actor decided to ask for compensation after the project was wrapped.  How would you handle that situation with the positional bargaining tactics?

RB: That situation can be stressful, but that is exactly why I have an entertainment attorney who I discuss theses matters with and colleagues I confer with, who both agreed that I have an “at arm’s length” business relationship with this actor.  In general, my counsel advised me to inform him of the 29 contract releases he signed, plus the expenses covered during the project’s promotional campaign by the production company.  However, when I spoke to the actor I point out the advantages of having such work on his C.V. and the doors it will open for him in this business.

MF:  True.  Thank you for that.  Not an easy circumstance to handle but it is inevitable.  So on another and final note, would you give me an example how you worked mutual benefit into negotiating a deal with a client of yours?

RB: I often have to hear out the clients’ concerns while expressing my own professional concerns for the project’s completion.  That being said, I took creative control once when I had this bridal client whose wedding shoot I was producing with a sun setting feature involved.  The bride wanted the actual shot of the sunset captured, but I knew it was not optimal for capturing the actual shots of the wedding due to the glare, the spectral light issues reflecting of the tops of people’s heads and into the lenses of the cameras, etc.  Therefore, I took editorial/creative control and during the editing process I entered the “sunset” using a “green screen” image to satisfy the client’s needs and my own professional integrity to produce an excellent product and it ultimately worked out- or as you like to say, “ it was mutually beneficial.”

MF:  Awesome.  Robby thank you so much for your time, knowledge, expertise and input.  I know negotiation can be tough sometimes, but you have a great way of going into it and looking at it with a positive attitude.  I learn from you, and I hope others who read this sharpen their skills in the art form of negotiation as well.

  Thank you for reading,
Michelle Fernandez
LIVMOR Producknz, LLC

Evolution is the Key!

Evolution is the key to unlocking the potential of the future candidates for entry- level job opportunities, based on the Article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Where did all the Entry Level Jobs Go?” That is exactly what is happening in the job market today for young adults; it is getting a makeover!  The definition of an entry level position, which is crucial for most first timers entering the professional labor force of today, has been eliminated or redefined by the technological evolution of tasks that previously were available as positions for entry level workers to be employed as viable personnel.  Due to the economic bruising companies experienced from the recession, the automation of tasks and outsourcing of core functions were just a couple of streamlining examples that contributed to the redefined concept of what the “entry-level job” existential dilemma now is.  Companies have slashed training budgets and payrolls in order to stay in business.
 The unemployment rate for 20-24 year olds is declining as the economy recovers, but with this recovery comes the new expectations and evolution of what it means to be an “entry-level candidate/employee”.  College degrees are more important than ever, but sophisticated and experienced professionals who can show up and sit in front of clients as experts is now the redefined “role” of this era’s entry level job existential evolution.  The keys to success in gaining positions in companies that are among Fortune 500 categories like Humana, Inc., Oracle Corp., and 3M Co., are possessing abstract and sophisticated skills like collaboration and problem solving skills versus basic report preparation or checking boxes on a list and data entry (Korn & Weber, 2014). But the challenge still lies in the fact that companies have seriously slashed their training programs for positions that handle multimillion- dollar accounts. These training programs used to be 2 years long and encompassed sales training, product information, market trends for distributors and end users but now they are lucky if there is 6 months involved in the training process.  This professional selling analysis was noted by the expert Andrea Dixon who is the Executive Director of Baylor University’s Center for Professional Selling ( Korn & Weber, 2014).  Ultimately, the set of high expectations for low-level employees translates into the imperative essential of early experience.  It really just feels like young adults who are experienced and have the skill set and education are these horses with a carrot tied to a stick that is dangling out in front of their face to keep them going towards this path of a promising career opportunity.  Especially noting that the unemployment rate is still at a historic 11.3% for young adults, yet we still keep it going and keep our faith and raise our children and build our brands and businesses, because we believe that we are more than just a number or a statistic.  Our evolution is a force that causes change and will succeed because we are greater than the roles defined by “entry-level.”

   Thank you for reading, and please believe in yourselves.
      Michelle

“Where did all the Entry Level Jobs Go? Many Firms Expect New Graduates to Arrive Job-Ready from Day One.” The Wall Street Journal, August 6, 2014.

Jeff Knoll Lights Up TED!

   
       In the realm of movie production and for all of the right reasons Jeff Knoll has got that special spark or the three ingredients TED curator Chris Anderson speaks about, Light, Desire, and Innovation.  He is an agent provocateur for social media as an instrument to instate global change.
As bright as his plans have been in carrying out his success in gaining independent financing through his startup company "Ebay," he found himself in the throngs of needing to do something to demonstrate to the world's audience that each person can contribute to his belief in change toward an existence of peace, sustainable life, and education of each other to become agents of change.  His organization Participant Media does among many things, produce films that inspire true instances of social reformation like the law against violence against women especially in the workplace and the film released simultaneously to the Congressional vote on the law was North Country.  It didn't perform well at box offices, but it was given credit for enabling the law to get re-passed in the United States Congress.  Jeff invites each person to participate in any way and gives people a way to visualize themselves getting involved in his revolution of social change on his brand's site. He inspires me and is a person I now look up to very much as an industry hero due to such raw and real momentum and passion and reminds me why I want to work in film and be a producer/philanthroper.
Thank you Jeff Knoll, and thank you TED.  Please check out Jeff's organization and Media Brand, Participant Media.

  Take Care of each Other, and Thank you for Reading,
Michelle

"I want to be a Producer!"

 Film Producer
           There's this great line in a song from the Broadway Play and Film, The Producers, and Matthew Broderrick belts it out... " I want to be a Producer!"  It kind of lightens up your mood when you realize that there is such a huge mountain to climb in order to become one.  So doing the research   on how to actually get myself into the position and really walk the walk led me to some great advice.
  The funniest, and truest form was on the getinmedia.com web cite hosted by Full Sail University.  It is a real world-entertainment industry career based advice source that is clear, concise, and doesn't beat around the bush.  Therefore, I looked into "Film Producer," and it starts off by saying unless you're neighbors with The Weinstein Brothers or Stephen Spielberg, or unless you have the unlimited funds to put up yourself for the projects, you will need to start off as a "Production Assistant."

 Production Assistant 
     I am determined to accomplish this career goal through all necessary means.  So it's a big risk, but  getting through to Mr. Harvey Weinstein, my industry hero, is my first task on my goal sheet.  Also, I am working on a project where I do have to come up with the funding for the film, method number 2.  But method number 3, getting a position as a Production Assistant is my current task at hand as well.  And it really does help reviewing the Production Assistant information within the getinmedia.com web cite, so that I have a deeper understanding and I am prepared for what it demands and how it helps bridge the gap from where I am professionally and where I want to be ultimately in Producing Films.

  Building my worth or any film producer's worth in this industry is understanding the finances and what is going on with how films are being shot, where, and what it is doing to the economic workforce as it is now becoming more dispersed outside of Hollywood due to financial benefits mainly decrease in costs and increase in overall value to get quality pictures made.  This is so interesting because it affects everything involved in film production from tax breaks to Production Assistant job availabilities outside of Los Angeles, California.  The main benefits are the tax credits that states such as Louisiana, Georgia, and others, offer  to Producers.  By offering these credits to make movies in their states this augments the corresponding states' economies-because the film industry is considered a "Base" industry, therefore it brings money into a place and will need to utilize the local services or pump money into local business structures.  Hence the tax credits given are substantial enough to  enable the Production team to remain within their designated budgets.  I have to be honest with you, that is music to this new comer's ears.  Examine this article from the Wall Street Journal further. I have included the link.
As Movie Production Scatters, So Do Tinseltown's Hired Hands