Don't Lose Your Chance To Vote In This Year's Election!

Hey everyone

If you work in Oregon's Film and TV industry, you probably already saw this post a couple of days ago on http://www.oregonfilmandtvdollars.com/.

While many states' voter registration deadline was yesterday, here in Oregon we've still got until next Tuesday, October 12 to register. It's so so so SO important that you vote this year, folks! Please:

• Check to see if you're already registered on the State of Oregon's Elections web site.
• If you need to change your address, fill out this Online Form and get it in. Your ballot will be sent to your new address.
• Not registered yet? No problem – you can register online here. You’ll need your Oregon driver’s license number for this process… if you’d rather register in person, print off this form and take it to your County Election Office.

Look, folks, we're picking a new Governor this year, as well as electing the entire State House Of Representatives and half the State Senate. Nationally, we're picking our entire Oregon delegation to the federal House of Representatives and one of our Senators.

On the state side, the people we send to Salem this year are going to be in charge of guiding Oregon through the economic mess we're currently in. Whether you're a Kitzhaber or Dudley supporter, though, don't kid yourself - the governor doesn't have much power in this process. It's our legislators who will be writing laws and passing the budget for the next two years - so be sure you're sending people you agree with (I would say "trust," but you know... we are talking Politics here... :) ) to Salem in November. Learn about your district's Representative and Senator, and then find out who's running against your sitting Representative and your sitting Senator. Visit the candidates web sites. Go to a meet-and-greet with the candidates like I did last weekend. Be sure that the person who's going to represent YOU in Salem thinks the way you do!

On the federal side, this election has been called the most important election of our time - and there's some truth to that. Look, just like the state-side, President Obama has no power to write laws that affect the budget of the United States. Sure, he proposes the budget to Congress... but it's the people we're sending to Washington this November who will actually create the budget bill and pass it up to the President for signature.

There's another reason that you need to participate in this year's national election. There's a singular question being asked in just about every house and senate race across the country: are we, as a nation, going to move forward? Or are we going to move backward?

I think the fight over healthcare reform this past year and the fact that Republicans in the Senate have used the Filibuster maneuver more in this past Congress than at any other time in history go to prove that our government is at an impasse until we, the voters, decide which direction we want this country to go in. On one side we've got a party whose only desire seems to be to stop anything and everything the president wants to do, and to go back to running the country the way they did in 1994. On the other side, we've got a party that seems divided in its loyalties and unable to work together, let alone with the opposition and the president (and that's not even mentioning their collective lack-of-spine when it comes to standing up to Republican obstructionism)

You get to decide which option is better this year: return to the "Contract With America" days of the 1990s, or move forward with President Obama by giving him more support in Congress to get new ideas and new solutions past the opposition.

I'm not here to tell you how to vote - if you've been reading my personal blog for any length of time, you've pretty much figured out my politics... but I am here to ask you - to beg you - to show up and do your duty as a citizen on November 2. The United States of America doesn't ask a lot of its citizens, but this is one duty that every American over 18 is expected to do. Vote. Be a part of the government. Help decide which direction our state and our Country heads in for the next two years.

Or, you know... don't - but if you don't, I don't want to hear you complaining about the direction things are going in. You had your chance to make your voice heard...

And Now, Something NEW: OregonFilmAndTVDollars.com!

So you remember this post from a couple weeks ago? It's actually gotten quite a bit of attention... it was even re-posted in The Oregonian's online "The Stump" section, and garnered a couple of comments (one of which was fairly critical of the Oregon Production Incentive Fund... I hope I didn't make an enemy at the Oregon Center for Public Policy with my response :) ).

As I mentioned in the article, a lot of states are scaling back or cutting their film incentive programs. Given the woeful state of Oregon's economy, our next governor (and legislature) might be tempted to do the same thing - it's a politically expedient thing to do, after all... many people see the OPIF as a "give-away to rich Hollywood filmmakers," without looking at the milions of dollars and thousands of jobs the program brings in to the state.

If we don't want to see that happen, we in the Film, TV and New Media industry need to raise our visibility... we need to keep reminding everyday Oregonians that this industry provides jobs to lots of people - not just actors and crew members, but drivers, carpenters, electricians, and so many more... we need to remind them that the money these productions pay filters throughout the entire state, not just the urban areas... we need to remind them that our industry is vital, growing, and providing opportunities to everyone state-wide.

So... I've started a new web site: http://www.oregonfilmandtvdollars.com/. As I say in the "About" section, there are lots of sites that talk about Oregon Film… this site is something different. It's focused on highlighting the economic benefit our industry brings to the state - we'll be re-posting news stories, writing editorials, and most importantly sharing the stories of people in Oregon who have benefitted from the money our Film, TV and New Media Industry brings to the state.

So... here's where I ask for your help, Oregonians. I'd really appreciate it if you could:

>> Spread the word - tell everyone you know about http://www.oregonfilmandtvdollars.com/.

>> Subscribe To The Site - In the upper-right of every page is a button to "subscribe" - clicking this button and registering will send you an email every time a new post is published. I promise I won't overdo it... hey, you see how often I post on this blog!

>> Send me your stories - Have you gotten money - even $1.00 - from the Film and TV Industry here in Oregon? We want to hear from you - visit the "Share Your Story" page and let us know about it! If you have a photo you'd like to attach to your story, feel free to email it to me. While you're there, scroll down and place a pin on the Oregon Film And TV Dollars Google Map - show everyone how Film and TV dollars filter through the entire state.

>> Show The State (and the World) You Support The Industry - Yeah, this one's gonna cost you a few bucks... but only a few! You'll notice a box in the upper-right corner of each page leading you to my Zazzle Store, where there's a variety of T-shirts, Caps, bumper stickers and bags (more products will be coming in the next week or so) telling everyone how you use Oregon Film and TV Dollars. Spend a few bucks and let everyone know that it's not just "rich Hollywood filmmakers" that benefit from Oregon Film and TV Dollars - YOU use them too!

There ya go, folks... start spreading the word, and start sending me material for the site. With your help, we can keep the film and TV industry here in Oregon first-and-foremost in people's mind when they're looking at ways to heal Oregon's ailing economy. You and I know that the film industry, one of the few industries growing in Oregon, has a lot to offer the state's economy... now it's time to let everyone else know about it!

Hope you're all doing well...

-Harold

A Real Stand-Up Guy

Hey guys, I want to introduce you to someone. Meet my state representative for the 48th district of Oregon, a guy named Mike Schaufler
.

Mike's been my Rep for about seven years. I'm ashamed to admit that, until recently, I didn't really know that. Like most people, I knew the President's name, Oregon's Governor and Portland's Mayor. Like (sadly) fewer people, I also knew my Senators names. My State Senator and Representative, though? Eh... not so much.

You might remember that back in March I and a group of people from Oregon's film industry went to our state capitol in Salem and lobbied for the passage for Senate Bill 621 and its companion bill, Senate Bill 863. Mike was good enough to meet with me (on short notice) and talk about the bills. I could tell from our first meeting that he was a "regular Joe," a working man in a suit. He got the positive economic impact that the bills would bring to the sate, but he also got the political realities of the economic crisis the state was facing. We had his support on the bill, but he didn't whitewash things - he let me know that it'd be an uphill battle to get it passed.

Fast-forward to late June of this year... the session was winding down, and SB 621's future was in Jeopardy. Trish and I joined the dynamic Leanne Littrell and Lana Veenker as they were shuttling back and forth to Salem to lobby for SB 621's passage. Mike was on the front lines of that fight - he and I had several conversations in between votes about the bill, and he was instrumental in gaining the support that eventually got the bill passed.

Mike gets it. He's a regular guy who understands people who work hard for their daily dollar. He also knows that the best way to help working people at the bottom of the ladder is to help THEM, and not the people at the top of the ladder. Sit down with Mike, and you won't get a patrician attitude or the idea that he thinks he knows more than you do - he's the type of guy you might run into at your local diner, or out at your local supermarket.

This effort to pass SB 621 was a real wake-up call to me... if you've read the blog much in the past, you know that I keep an eye on politics. Those politics have always been on the national level, though... and this was a reminder that "all politics are local." Get to know your State Rep's and Senators - they really want to hear from you on the issues, and it's a great way to play a part in shaping the decisions that get made on a local level.

And if you're one of my neighbors in Happy Valley, get to know Mike. He's the type of guy you want on your side.

-Harold