Last week was quite a crazy week so I didn't get a chance to post. Two great things happened in terms of moving forward: RMM kicked off our new Quarterly Topic Series with our first presentation focusing on what we are calling Phase 2 Pre-Production. And I had a great meeting with Nora Brown the Film Commissioner for the Finger Lakes Region and head of the Finger Lakes Film and Video Office (FLFVO).
First, the new meeting format was a huge success! There was close to 30 people in attendance and the presentation was well received. Lots of details on the middle section of pre-production tasks. We dived in on topics like recruiting Cast/Crew, doing call sheets, Story-boarding, and creating shooting scripts and shot lists. The less sexy parts of production, but for those experienced enough to know, the most important if you want to produce a quality final product. The presentation lasted about an hour and we recorded about 90% of it (barring some first time technical difficulties), which I will be editing into a visual presentation and make available on the RMM website.
It's the first step towards creating better value to RMM members, but also pushing our goal of cultivating production in Rochester at large. If we can educate and create resources for local filmmakers than we are making it easier for production in Rochester to start happening more often. One step at a time.
Second, my meeting with Nora Brown was as interesting as it was positive. Nora is a no-nonsense kind of lady so she cut right to the chase. For those who don't know who Nora Brown is, she was a veteran production professional and assistant to Robert DuVaul for years. She is very well connected and has opened a lot of doors for Rochester in the production industry. She is also a certified Film Commissioner, which is a seriously hard title to obtain.
Nora's concerns were that historically some outside professional production representatives might have been contacting RMM members directly instead of going through the Finger Lakes Film and Video Office and thus creating a sticky situation. One because they might have received inaccurate information, two because whomever they spoke with may not have given the full amount of information, and three they might be misrepresenting Rochester in general. I understood her concerns and want to take a moment to explain them in other words so the importance can be re-iterated.
RMM does not represent unionized production workers. We have no affiliation with the Local 52 or any other professional production entity. We are for all definitions of the words a collection of amateur filmmakers who some of which also work professionally in production disciplines. There is a distinct difference between that, and say a full time SAG actor who has an agent, a full time Director who is registered with the DGA, or a union official gaffer. If a studio or major production representative called, they will need to talk to Nora/FLFVO at some point anyway so it makes more sense to direct them there first and foremost.
In addition to this, it is technically illegal for a Non-For-Profit 501(c)3 organization (as we are) to "recommend" a particular person or entity for a job request. So if Joe Hollywood Producer calls RMM and says "I need a Lighting and Sound guy for this weekend" we should not and CANNOT say "ok so and so can do it". However, if we direct them to FLFVO first, the group there can then say "here are a list of professionals who are available" and all of the RMM members can be on that list. No laws are broken.
Now there are some folks out there who will say (and not be 100% in the wrong) that there is a likelihood of favoritism if everything gets funneled through that office. I would say that I don't know of specific examples of that, but I know production personalities and they do stick to their favorites. But unfortunately in the production world, you're a 'nobody' until you've worked with a 'somebody.' So I brought that up to Nora and we agreed on a compromising pathway that should help that situation in the long term.
RMM's goal is to further cultivate production in the Rochester area, and FLFVO is responsible for bringing high quality production work into the area - a natural and aligned goal. RMM's other goals are also to foster and educate the community at large instilling the knowledge and wisdom of experience in professional production environments to our members. If we can raise the bar of knowledge to our general membership, than we can lean on Nora to create more opportunities to include local amateurs or fledgling professionals into the larger productions in a partnership style approach that we will build and structure over time. Eventually as those people become more and more knowegable and experienced, they will naturally float up to the "preferred" list (if you will). This is the long play, but it's also the right play.
If we can work together with existing professionals and gain a larger vote of confidence because our members are being well educated and trained, than we can create synergy where there are real actual internships, assistants and actual full paid positions made available within otherwise closed productions. However if we try to bully our way in or push volunteering too fast too soon, we may shut the door on our long term chances and make the goals a lot harder to attain. These are not happy facts, but they are hard and fast facts.
I however am not deterred. I have made it my goal to further educate myself as much as possible so that I can be sure RMM (or whatever we are called in the future) will continue to stream high quality and accurate educational information to the community and in essence give everyone their fair chance.
These were physically small steps, but they were logically important ones that needed to be made. I for one feel like things are going well! Next on the list is to meet with Malcolm Spaull, Head of RIT's school of Film. RIT turns out some exemplary talent and if we can integrate them into this model not only are we exposing them to more professional experience opportunity, but we are also encouraging our best and brightest to stay local. It's WIN for local productions, WIN for RIT students and WIN for the Rochester Production Community as a whole. For those counting, that's WIN/WIN/WIN!
Until next time, keep shooting!
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