Group supports area's independent filmmakers

The Missouri Film Alliance of Springfield was founded in January and has grown to about 115 members, according to President Scott-Arthur Allen.

“The whole purpose of the Missouri Film Alliance is to educate people to the benefits of films shooting here – from Hollywood and all over the world – and also to get legislation to change its tax laws so we can entice these people to come and shoot their movies,” Allen said.

Allen and Outreach Committee Chair Richard Pillé credit Bucky Bowman for bringing together a group of film production professionals and enthusiasts to discuss the atmosphere for filmmaking in south Missouri.

“Part of what the alliance wants to do is create that financial environment for major motion pictures to come to the state,” Pillé said.

Pillé said the alliance is multileveled, with the goals of changing state laws on tax incentives in order to attract film producers to Missouri, educating citizens to the economic benefits of shooting films here and assisting independent filmmakers.

The alliance supports independent filmmakers by providing information, an investment option and a place where people can come and share ideas about their projects, Pillé said.

Filmmaker incentives

The incentives for filmmakers, Allen said, are presented as a way to stimulate the economy, since film production boosts the economy by attracting the dollars of a film crew.

While Missouri does have some incentives for filmmakers, the state is not drawing in as many films as it could.

For instance, according to the alliance’s Comparative Incentives report, other states such as Louisiana and New Mexico have more financial benefits to offer filmmakers for shooting movies in those states.

The group feels that Missouri, which offers tax credits of up to 50 percent of expenditures related to film production, are too restrictive. In Missouri, the tax credits for filmmakers cannot exceed $1 million on a single project, and there’s an annual statewide cap of $1.5 million on the tax credits. Additionally, according to the Missouri Film Commission, reservations for tax credits for a project must be completed before a filmmaker has announced the selection of Missouri as the location for a project.

To complement an attractive tax incentive package, an area also needs to offer a professional work force, said Mark Biggs, the first vice president of the Missouri Film Alliance of Springfield and associate professor of productions at Southwest Missouri State University.

Local work force

The alliance hopes to assist in developing a trained work force in Springfield through workshops beginning this fall. There will be a one-day workshop in production management and two-day workshops in field and audio and lighting and electrical issues for filmmaking, Biggs said.

In addition to his work with the alliance, Allen has an active role in cultivating professional actors through Creative Actors Workshop. Allen, who has 35 years of experience in talent management, acting and coaching actors, teaches the professional acting classes every Wednesday at the Executive Conference Center, 910 W. Battlefield Road. More information is available at www.creativeactorsworkshop.com.

Allen said students from his class acted in a movie the SciFi Channel shot in Springfield called “Larva.” The parts that were not cast in Los Angeles, he said, went to members of his class.

“It was a big event,” Allen said. “It was good for the economy. It was good that a lot of people worked on the crew, a lot of local actors got work out of it, and one of the biggest things, the producers were impressed that they could actually find professionally trained film actors here.”

In addition to trained actors, producers look for on-site trained lighting and electrical technicians. Biggs said it’s too expensive for producers to bring their own crew from Hollywood.

“You’ve got to have trained people and some of the physical facilities that encourage filmmakers to look at a location as a viable alternative to shooting in Hollywood or shooting in a big city that may have sound stages and other kinds of personnel available,” he said.

Film festival

The alliance is planning a film festival centered around downtown Springfield for next spring, Allen said. Allen declined to release details about the festival because most are not finalized.

Information on membership rates and meeting dates and locations is available at its Web site, www.missourifilm.com. Allen said residents in Kansas City and St. Louis have expressed interest in the alliance.

“It’s grassroots right now, but it will go statewide,” Allen said.