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COMMITMENT TO INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
Film and television is an industry that is
inherently glamorous and even seductive. The business, as
seen through the eyes of most people who don't work in it, is
confusing. It shouldn't be. Just like any other
business, you create a product and take it to the market
place. It's that simple. Make a good commercially sound
product and sell it.
Waiting for film makers to come to our state
and make a picture, that they in turn take to the market and sell,
is ludicrous. We will never realize our potential waiting for
outside film makers to lead the way. A few Alabama film
makers are pushing ahead and just doing it. Huntsville,
Mobile, and Birmingham are the current centers for film and video
development. We need more. We need to band together as a
statewide industry so that our voice is heard.
Many in our state complain that all the film
industry wants to do is come here and make us look bad. Slavery,
civil war, civil rights, and unrest. These are the elements
that the rest of the world sees as the South. We as
filmmakers can change that. In order to tell our own stories
we must develop our indigenous film and video industry.
The key to the development of the industry in
Alabama is partnerships of financial, human, and knowledge
capital. The challenge is creating the network that will
support and nurture the filmmaker from the idea stage, all the way
through to exhibition of a responsible, creative, and commercial
production. The components of the network must cover areas of
development, production, distribution, and exhibition. They must
also include broadcast and theatrical opportunities. The
network should be a combination of public and private funding, and
support. AFTA will pursue the partnerships.
If we are to create production, then we need to create financial
opportunity, a broader crew base, a greater
support service sector, and broadcast/theatrical
possibilities. The essential partners are those that can
provide either funding, training, or support. We will propose
a working task force of representatives from each of the
following:
Primary partners:
Community Colleges of Alabama
Alabama Arts Council
Alabama Public Television
Alabama State Film Office
The University of Alabama System
Alabama Shakespeare Festival
Jacksonville State University
Montevallo University
Secondary partners:
(A second line of partnerships will be pursued to offer either
more support service or greater opportunity for training or
broadcast. We must also consider those entities that can
provide story ideas and research.)
Church Councils of Alabama
AIDT
Alabama Department of Archives
Alabama Historical Societies
Virginia College School of Graphic Design
Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival
Muscle Shoals Music Hall of Fame
Black Belt Publishing
Funding partners:
(There are several types of funding partners
that will be approached: public, private and in-kind.)
ALFA
Alabama Power
Bell South
Knology
Charter Communications
Sony Manufacturing
JVC Manufacturing
The success of this philosophy will create a
production mentality statewide and the financial support to
develop and produce that product. For this alliance to
succeed, we must create a network capable of support and growth,
establish lines of communication and avenues of training between
our educational and production communities, and create financial
opportunities to support inspiration and inspire financial
confidence in the value of our industry. Within this
commitment to industrial development, the work will be produced.
The state of Alabama has been a flash point for
the south. A leader of sometimes dubious events, but a leader
none the less. A state rich in heritage as well as
beauty. Incredible stories of heroism, faith, warmth and love
abound and abide in each of us. Let us tell our stories in
our films and our television product, created by Alabama talent
and crew base.
If we as filmmakers are indeed going to be
among the next generation of Alabama's incredible heritage of
innovators and story tellers, then the work that we set out to
produce must support that legacy. Your family, friends and
neighbors, for generations to come, will enjoy the opportunities
that we create now.
Much of this 'commitment' paper comes from the
generosity of Ward Emling, Director of the Mississippi Film
Office. He is committed to the growth of the industry in the
South, including Alabama's. Are you?
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