Taking It To The Capitol Steps

Hi folks

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm headed down to Salem this morning to lobby the Oregon legislature for Senate Bill 621, which seeks to increase funding for Oregon's Film Investment Fund. I stayed up until... well, now (that'd be 1am) putting together materials to take down with me for the scheduled meetings with my legislators... and a few extra packets just in case some of the legislators don't have anyone from their district show up.

If you're going to be joining us at the Capitol today (or you're planning on writing a letter in support to your State Rep and Senator - find them by clicking here), and haven't quite figured out what you're going to tell your State Representative or Senator, I've got a couple of resources that might help. Of course, this would have helped a lot more if I'd gotten these posted before the day of the trip... but I plead overwork, exhaustion, and a decided lack of World of Warcraft in my diet. I just didn't couldn't seem to get to it in the midst of everything else going on.

Mea Culpa.

Hm... did that come off as cranky? Is Hawowd Tiowed? Hmmmmm??? Well, yeah, dag nammit.

ANNNNNY WAY... the first thing you're going to want is some statistics. Thankfully, the Oregon Media Production Association gave us these handy-dandy cheat-sheets to refer to. Please feel free to download the sheets below and use them:

Letter to the Membership

"Shutter-Ready Jobs" flier (page 1)

"Shutter-Ready Jobs" flier (page 2)

Now, I'm not holding myself up as the be-all and end-all of lobbying... but as I mentioned above I put together a packet of materials to hand to the legislators when I meet with them. Feel free to take any of the ideas below - you certainly don't have to go to all the effort of putting together a packet like I did, but it is a good idea to give your rep's something to hold onto after your meeting - they see a lot of people during the day in several meetings squeezed between floor sessions and committee meetings - it's easy to get lost in the shuffle. At the very least, jot some thoughts down on paper so you can hand your legislator something to refer to later when s/he is trying to remember what you talked about.

I myself elected to put together a folder. On one side I attached a business card and tucked a signed headshot on one side. On the back of the headshot (where my resume usually is) I wrote a little narrative about how much the Production Investment Fund has helped me and my community.

In the other pocket of the folder I placed a personalized letter, the first page of the "Shutter Ready Jobs" flier, this article from Variety (sorry California... your loss is our gain and all that...) and a copy of the bill. Knowing that Senate Bill 863 is waiting in the wings while we work to pass this bill, I also attached a personalized note on the back of one of my postcards to a copy of that bill (SB 863 is the bill we've been waiting for - a re-allocation of OPIF funds to LOCAL filmmakers!)

So, that's what's in my packet - you can see it all by clicking here (be warned, though, it makes for a pretty big PDF file).

So, there we go... I'm going to hit the sack, then I'll get up, put on the suit (with a green shirt and tie - hey, it IS St. Paddy's day!), pick up my friend Lindsae, and head on down. I hope I see you there... and if I don't, please do take a moment to write to your legislators. We need all the help we can scrape up to get this bill passed!

See you there...

-Harold