DC becoming a more "film-friendly" city.

“One-Stop-Shop” concept on the forefront of the District’s Office of Motion Picture and Television Development’s request for more government funding.

As the Committee of Economic Development evaluates spending during the 2009 Fiscal Year, it looks to make adjustments in the upcoming 2010 year. At an oversight hearing in front of Councilmember Kwame R. Brown, chair of the Committee on Economic Development, Friday, members of the motion picture and television communities in the District testified.

In Brown’s opening statement, he said it was necessary to look at both accomplishments and spending of the committees, and to evaluate accountability and transparency to see if agencies would receive city funding. Due to the “tough economic climate,” which Brown referenced many times during the hearing, he said it was necessary to hear from the agencies, as there is less funding to distribute than in previous years.

A main agreement between the different speakers was that a “One-Stop-Shop” arrangement would be helpful for the industry as a whole. The “One-Stop-Shop” concept would be a centralized government office to handle requests and permits for members of the film and media arts industry locally in the District.

Chan Clagget, a location manager, said that support from the office is necessary for help. He has been in the industry for over 25 years in DC, and he said the Office of Motion Picture and Television Development “makes filming in DC possible.”

Before having a centralized office for the members to go to with issues, or when needing permits to film, Jonathan Gann, a member of the DC Film Alliance and worker for the DC Short Film Festival, said he used to have to get permits in New York, which could take days.

With a centralized office in DC, it is now possible for film directors and producers to get permits within the same day, and through a variety of ways. Executive Director of the Office of Motion Picture and Television, Kathy Hollinger, explained the process her office goes through, which cuts the process of filmmakers receiving a permit down from days to hours.

Along with providing permits to filmmakers, the mission of the Office of Motion Picture and Television is to initiate, implement and manage all multimedia productions in the district’s borders, as well as promote DC as a “film-friendly” city.

With the help of the Office of Motion Picture and Television, 326 projects were registered during the 2009 Fiscal Year, $26 million was spent locally, and 2600 temporary jobs were created. Hollinger said that of the 326 projects, 114 participated in an exit survey evaluating the city, and the help provided by the office. All 114 surveyed rated their experience filming in DC as satisfactory or over-satisfactory.

Because of the satisfied response from those who had worked with the office, as well as the amount of money they brought to the city, and jobs they provided, the office claimed in 2010 they would continue to provide jobs and find local citizens who were qualified for filmmaking jobs before looking outside the city, and that they would create business to vendors as well.

The office hopes to make even more profit in the next year, as they plan on implementing a free structure effective March 1. The fee would be for filmmakers to film in DC, and the amount of the fee would be dependent on the crew size and amount of time they were planning on filming. Hollinger considered it a conservative fee, and estimated it would create $51,500 in revenue. She said it would ease access to filming in DC, as the filmmakers would be provided with more help, and that the “One-Stop-Shop would be crucial.”

All members who testified at the hearing agreed it was important to ease access to filming in DC, and that it was important to keep the industry strong in DC. The amount of jobs created and money brought into the city through filmmaking, as well as the interest in tourism would be helpful to the city.

Jonathan Gann stated that there are over 70 film festivals in the DC area, and that the majority of those occurred within the district boundaries. This gives DC the area with the most festivals per capita. He said that $2.6 million was brought in by the film festivals through the audiences admission last year. He said that it would be important to have more centers that were metro accessible, since as of now there is only one metro accessible venue for the festivals.

Councilman Brown stated that the Committee on Economic Development would be meeting to discuss allocation of the budget, and that they would be taking into account the past fiscal year, as well as what was said during the hearing. He then moved on to the Commission on Arts and Humanities.