Wednesday morning the Colorado film community with gather at the State Capitol building for the Feb. 8 Cinema Day Rally. A press conference will be held at the West steps of the Capitol, as Colorado Film Commission Director Donald Zuckerman and Melissa L. Kuipers, a legislative representative for CINEMACO, introduce senators.
The rally kicks off just before 8 a.m. with Rep. Tom Massey, Sen. Linda Newell, Rep. Nancy Todd, and House Minority Leader Mark Ferrandino speaking about Colorado’s new film incentives program. A high note comes with Iconic actress and recent Denver transplant Pam Grier (“Jackie Brown”) wrapping up the speeches.
In addition to the congressional supporters mentioned above, Republican House Speaker Frank McNulty and Colorado Senate President Brandon Shaffer have expressed support for the new incentives program. The driving force behind bringing more film and media productions to Colorado comes from Governor Hickenlooper and Zuckerman’s passion make things happen for the state.
Plans to double Colorado’s incentives for media and putting more funding into the state’s film and TV office have been in talks all year. Zuckerman has made the rounds with local business leaders and political representatives, which is finally making its way into congress as legislation.
Colorado filmmaker James Drake, along with other producers, created an official CO Film Incentive Commercial and a series of short videos explaining the impact higher incentives will have on local economies.
In their official press release, the Colorado Film Commission has noted these film incentive highlights:
Job creation: In 2010, the average film production and post-production salary in Colorado was $57,998. On average, a movie with a budget of $10M will create 120 jobs. This also includes creating new jobs for the underemployed sector of our creative industry, the unemployed from building and transportation trades, as well as a broad class of highly skilled crew, talent, vendors, and local services (salons, restaurants, hotels, etc). These are careers, not just jobs.
Economic impact/new revenue: On average, a movie with a budget of $10M will reap $11.2M in economic benefits to the State and $5.7M in wages to Colorado residents. These are new dollars that Colorado will realize immediately upon passage of this legislation.
Student retention: About 1,100 students in Colorado film and television programs will relocate to New Mexico, Utah, California or Louisiana, as few jobs will be made available following graduation, ultimately draining the states investment of $8 million over the course of their four-year education.
Environmentally friendly: These are clean jobs with little to no waste or byproducts.