Support Your Local Economy... And Filmmaker!

Hey there, folks

You might remember my mentioning a presentation I gave to the East Portland Rotary club on the Oregon film industry. Part of that presentation was about what people in the local community can do to support their local film industry (given Rotary Club International's commitment to community service, it seemed like a good angle to take). The most basic thing the Rotarians - or you - can do? Buy a DVD or ticket to a locally produced film.

See, our local film industry (and yours, too, if you're reading this outside the Portland area) is a part of the local economy, just like the high-tech, manufacturing, and service sectors. The products we produce pay to employ thousands of people state-wide in a variety of positions... if those products sell. As with any other industry, sales directly impact the jobs available in our sector. All you have to do is look at the auto industry to see what poor sales do to the jobs in that sector... and the economies affected by that particular industry.

Case-in-point: this spring I shot some preliminary "investor scenes" for a new film called My Soul To Take, directed by Todd and Jason Freeman. These scenes are going to be brought to potential investors to raise money for the full production of the film.

One of the things these investors are going to look at as they weigh whether or not to give us money is the performance of Todd and Jason's previous films. Todd's last film, Pray For Hell (formerly titled Come Hell or High Water), was just posted on Amazon for pre-order. If the pre-orders start flooding in, Amazon will promote the film more (on their sites and through their network partners).

Which will increase sales, which will prove to investors that Todd and Jason can make a film that performs.

Which will get me and a lot of other people a job working on Todd's and Jason's next film.

Which will pump more money into our local economy, from the pay checks that Todd and Jason hand over (courtesy of the aforementioned investors), the rentals for use on the film, the catering for Craft Services, the lumber for building sets... etc. etc. etc.

Now, magnify that scenario exponentially for each local film shot in your area, and you can see how paying $20 for a locally produced DVD (or just $8.00 for a ticket in a theater) helps to pump a lot more money into your local economy. Also, consider the fact that this is a cycle - when you buy a ticket or DVD to one locally-produced film, that money goes to produce another, which then goes on sale, and helps to produce another... you get the picture.

So, please, pop by Amazon and pre-order Pray For Hell today. While you're at it, spend an extra few bucks at http://www.indieflix.com/ - find another film that was produced in your area and buy that one, too. The money you spend is an investment in your local economy... and helps to build another sustainable industry that will help to support that economy in the future.

That's it for today's economics lesson... I'm off to the first appointment of the day! Hope you're all doing well...

-Harold