When Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser take a stroll through town, the money is bound to follow – but that's not all.
The actors, film crews and a flurry of excitement came to Vancouver recently to film "The Untitled Crowley Project" with shoots in Portland and Vancouver at the Columbian Building downtown and Big Al's in East Vancouver.
While hard dollars are important, especially in a tough economy, the excitement and attention of a major film shoot puts the region and local businesses in the news and on the big screen, which business leaders said is immensely beneficial to the local economy in the long run.
For Daniel Kirkwood of Big Al's, where the crew filmed a birthday party scene, the experience was not only exciting but a huge boost to business – just on the "buzz" factor alone.
"It gave us incredible exposure," Kirkwood said. "Everyone in town was talking about it. That was really positive."
Exposure statewide and in the Portland market made the effort worth it for his business, Kirkwood said, despite the fact that the cash payoff on the contract with the production company was minimal.
The film company discovered Big Al's while scouting for locations and worked out a contract directly with the company.
"They wanted to film a kid's birthday party and started asking around," Kirkwood said. "People said they had to check out Big Al's. They immediately fell in love with it and we worked out the contract."
Tapping into economic development
David Alonzo, owner of Vancouver-based Wide Angle Studios, said the Southwest Washington business community would benefit from paying more attention to major film production.
He is in the process of making a documentary highlighting the economic benefit of major film projects in the region.
Awareness is a major issue, Alonzo said.
"Crowley" employed 250 regional workers, said Charlie Carlsen, a regional representative for the International Alliance of Theater State Employees. It came at a great time for people seeking work and when states are eager to earn the attention and interest of major productions through incentive programs, he said.
Jill Bingham, administrative assistant in the city of Vancouver's economic development department, said the city is in the process of ramping up its efforts to not only attract film companies to the area but make it easy for them to do business here. She said the city will soon release a new "Scene in Vancouver" film production requirements manual and establish a $75 "master permit" to streamline the permitting process.
The city and the Southwest Washington Convention and Visitors Bureau are also strengthening ties to state film offices in both Washington and Oregon, Bingham said.
The city's efforts began before Harrison Ford arrived on the scene, but Bingham said "Crowley" added some incentive to move the effort along.
The city also will serve as a liaison for film companies through the Economic Development Department and provide information about catering and equipment rental businesses and suggest suitable shooting locations.
Statewide, film incentives are now stronger thanks to legislation approved in January by Gov. Chris Gregoire. On April 15, she signed revenue-neutral SBH 2042, which increases the Motion Picture Competitiveness Program tax incentive from 20 percent to a 30 percent return on production's Washington State spend.
The nonprofit Washington Film Works manages the state film program, which administers the incentive. The bill doesn't increase the total state budget for film incentives, only the amount that each production crew can receive – after they've spent at least $500,000.
More than 40 states offer anywhere from 5 percent to 42 percent in financial incentives hoping to lure film production's lucrative spending to their local economy.
For the Vancouver area, it is not Canada but Oregon that creates competition with an incentive program that is more aggressive than Washington's, Alonzo said.
Oregon's incentives program is under fire for perhaps being too generous to wealthy investors, selling tax credits to investors for a discount of up to 90 percent, thus significantly reducing their state tax liability. A public policy center in the state has requested an audit of the program.
Washington's incentive is strategically targeting $2 million to $15 million productions to entice productions to hire local cast and crew, and rent equipment from local vendors instead of flying in equipment from California.
