A bit of Hollywood in Oklahoma.
By Jaclyn Houghton
CNHI News Service
OKLAHOMA CITY Mark Marshall is ready to bring a little bit of Hollywood back to Oklahoma.
The Enid native spent close to 30 years in Los Angeles working with Hollywood big shots like Steven Spielberg and Richard Donner, but the Oklahoma winds carried him back home in 2001.
He has returned to Oklahoma to get the film industry rolling in a state that he feels has a lot of potential.
If we can get here and start making movies it s going to attract others, said Marshall, 49.
The economic impact of the film and television industries in Oklahoma has increased in recent years, Jill Simpson is hoping legislation this year may further boost the changing industry.
It s, in my opinion, a wonderful thing because these films can be incubated outside the studio system, said Simpson, director of the Oklahoma Film and Music Office. Interesting stories can be told that might not make it if they had to be done on (big) budget levels. You can tell small stories on a much more conservative budget.
She said there was an $18.9 million economic impact in the state from the entertainment industry in fiscal 2006, compared with about $11.2 million the year before.
Simpson is championing increased tax incentives to film and television companies that choose the state to film, and is also looking to increase educational training programs to provide a stronger crew base in Oklahoma.
Finding a home
Oklahoma legislators passed a law in 2005 to put $5 million in a fund that would be replenished each year. The money is on a first-come, first-served basis and can be used as a 15 percent tax rebate if the film or television company spends between $2 million and $5 million in the state.
The tax rebates have yet to be used.
We re not really set up with the big budget studio films with our incentive, she said. What we are set up for are the small independents.
Filming has occurred in the state, she said, but none of the productions have qualified for the rebates.
Simpson said the industry is becoming more saturated with independent films. She said today s Academy Awards illustrate that change with the large number of independent films nominated.
Oklahoma legislators need to recognize the change and stimulate more growth with the passage of more aggressive tax rebates, she said.
Senate Bill 623, known as the Compete with Canada Film Act, was authored by Sen. Randy Bass, D-Lawton, and is aimed at addressing the rebates.
The bill will, among other things, lower the minimum required Oklahoma expenses from $2 million to $500,000. The bill passed out of committee and may be heard on the Senate floor in the coming weeks.
The tax credits are just sitting there waiting to be used, Bass said.
There is a lot of money in the film industry that can create economic growth in Oklahoma, he said.
Marshall said Oklahoma can be slightly more aggressive in its tax rebates, but he said it is a matter of time before people begin a love affair with filming in the Sooner State.
Bringing production companies and other film- or television-related businesses to Oklahoma is a strategy Marshall said will create that love affair.
He and several other industry folks spread throughout the state are working to bring their own film company to Oklahoma.
Nice Entertainment was set up about 18 months ago and focuses on creating family entertainment.
The violence in movies bothers me now, Marshall said.
It didn t used to. I guess it comes with age Hollywood knows how to do an action thriller with their eyes closed, but they don t know how to make a family film.
He hopes to set up the main office for the company in Oklahoma, but that takes financial backers.
It takes the first few people that will take that leap, Marshall said.
Some native Oklahomans already have set up shop in the state.
Chad Burris grew up in Weatherford and once he graduated from the University of Oklahoma he headed west to California.
He said he tried to become an actor but after a few years decided to change directions. He moved back to Oklahoma and attended the University of Tulsa College of Law.
But he did not give up his film calling.
He now owns Indion Entertainment Group in Tulsa. He produced the independent film Four Sheets to the Wind, which was directed by another Oklahoma native. The film was selected to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this year and received a Special Jury Prize for best actress.
Burris, 35, was chosen for a fellowship program at Sundance for up-and-coming producers. Five industry professionals will mentor him throughout the year.
Indion Entertainment aims to bring more film companies to Oklahoma, he said.
We ve got capable, talented individuals here, Burris said. There seems to really be a thrust to develop right now.
Companies coming into the state to set up a business in Oklahoma can qualify for a state business credit, which Burris said is an incentive for choosing Oklahoma.
Part of attracting businesses, however, is ensuring there is a well trained crew base in the state, which Simpson and others hope will improve.
Watch and learn
It s my opinion that we need more practical curriculum, said Simpson, who worked in the entertainment business for more than 20 years in Los Angeles. It s great that we do have some programs but we need more hands-on practical curriculum that s really preparing our students for more jobs in the industry.
There s such a vast array of jobs in this industry and some of those haven t even been touched on here in Oklahoma.
Andrew Horton, director of the Film and Video Studies Program at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, said students in his program are exposed to a variety of career options.
The more that people come in they realize there s more out there, he said.
The program is growing and he said more students are voicing their desire to work in Oklahoma. He said many may go out to California for an internship but some of those students said they want to come back home.
Marshall said a dependable crew base is essential.
We want not only for our kids to stay here but also, people from out of state to say, I m going to Oklahoma, he said.
Simpson said there is the opportunity for career techs in the state to start training students for more of the behind-the-scenes work. Also, if there are more internship and mentorship opportunities locally there will be more students who stop heading west.
Marshall feels Los Angeles is losing its luster because of more work being exported to other states and countries.
We can do it less expensively and do just as good, he said.
Part of increasing filming in Oklahoma is changing common stereotypes.
He said people may picture covered wagons, American Indians still roaming the plains and people dressed in overalls spitting tobacco when they think of Oklahoma. But he thinks recent attention on the state is helping change the perception.
I know people see with their eyes that s not the case at all, Marshall said.
Stereotypes are hard to break.
He said the landscape in the state is diverse and presents a number of differing filming locations.
Simpson said Oklahoma s time is coming.
I ve felt for awhile we re getting really close, she said. The more marketable our incentives package the better chance I have of getting some of these projects in here.
Marshall is hopeful that businesses will start filtering in so his company will stay put.
We want to be home in Oklahoma, he said. We want to be neighbors.
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