American Cinematographer - August 1994 - 117

rWHO DO YOU CALLn
WHEN YOU WANT

70,000 WATTS
OF SIMULATED
NY's New Film Commissioner

LIGHTNING?
FOR RENTAL:

Returns to Her Old Post

UOHTUING STRIKES!

by Brooke Comer

Fax:213-461-3067

6571 Santa Monica

Pat Scott knows her way around the pro¬
duction community. New York's new film

commissioner, chosen by Major Giuliani

replace Richard Brick, brings insight
from her old job - film commissioner
under former Mayor Ed Koch - and from
her career as an actress and singer. She
won an Emmy for the PBS show Getting
On before moving into city government
and public relations in the early 1970s.
"There was a great need then,
as there is now, for the city film office to
have enough information and services to
supply the volume of film business New
York is capable of servicing," says Scott,
to

who received the Governor's Award for
the

Expansion of Television in 1989,

well

as

as

the National Film Board of

Review's award for Outstanding Service
to Motion Pictures.
Scott remembers when former
New York Mayor John Lindsey founded
the film office 28 years ago. "It was

small, but it's become an ancillary, and
it has a great many changes on its plate.
No other film office has unilateral per¬
over such a wide area."
How will the city office face

mitting ability

of the problems that have plagued
New York production? "For one thing,"

some

Scott, "Mayor Giuliani has shown
the film industry significant support
through his film financing initiative. Ba¬
sically, he's using the city's ability to go
to the credit market and get a better in¬
says

terest rate,

the

closer to the commercial rate

prime rate." For a production
to qualify, the project must have a
completion bond guarantee and distribu¬
tion deal and shoot 70% of its shooting
days in New York. If those conditions are
met, the financing incentive can serve as
a "friend at the bank," says Scott. "We
can save smaller productions debt ser¬
vice costs, which vary according to rates.
Since we borrow far below the prime
rate, that's a big help. The money saved
versus

can

be put on

the screen."

Meanwhile, the city has a
healthy influx of productions in town. The

Cosby Mystery Series was picked up for
22 episodes, and will join Law And Order,
which also shoots at the Chelsea Piers.

Fox Cable's FX Cable, which features live

programming out of New York, will reach
18 million subscribers

over

the

new

cable

system. With any luck, Dick Wolf's new
Universal TV series Uptown UnderCover
will be as successful as the producer's

previous venture, Law and Order. If it is,
it will also occupy space on the ample
Chelsea Pier stages. "Don't forget the
talk shows and soaps," says Scott. She
counts five full-hour soap operas in pro¬
duction 52 weeks of the year.
Scott is enthusiastic about

Atlanta
Boston

Victor Duncan
Bob Potter

Chicago

Victor Duncan
Victor Duncan
Victor Duncan
Tek Lighting

Dallas
Detroit

Nashville
New York
Orlando
Amsterdam

Key Lite
Technovision
Tai Shun Movie Equip.

Taipei
Tokyo

the tax down to 15%, which is the norm
in other big cities like San Francisco and

Chicago. Further, Mayor Giuliani chose to
remove the 4% sales tax on "everything

Sanwa
William F. White
William F. White

Toronto
Vancouver

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401-423-3244
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214-869-0200
810-471-1600
615-370-3694
212-243-3164
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861-202-5380
4481-964-1232
392-2622-7492
514-939-1 989
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consumable, like lumber for sets."

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Scott is also excited that New
York has a shot at taking the lead in the
field of multimedia arts. "We need to
find out exactly what the new technology

a

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August 1994

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Animation

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that is manufactured with tools and is

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ture arts, we offer 4 of the
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"People remember the positive
things about a city," Scott points out.
Producers will remember the better pric¬
ing on hotels when New York State takes
off its 5% hotel tax and the city of New
York takes off an additional 1 %, bringing

Moli-Flex/White

Rome

tures, starring rapper Marky Mark;
bet Schroeder's 20th Century Fox

Paul Mazursky's

Hua Yuan
Cirro Lite
Technovision

Paris

a

III, Hackers from MGM/UA, and Jon Pe¬

Techniq/TLC Prod.

London
Milan
Montreal

slated for summer and fall of '94. She
lists Basketball Diaries from Island Pic¬

ters' Money Train and
Faithful from Tribeca.

Bob Potter
Steve Heller

Beijing

$22 million film that "looks like it's com¬
ing to town," as well as the projects

Barfilm
Kiss of Death; Gomez' Jersey Drive;
Caravan Productions' derky Boys for
Disney; as well as Batman III, Die Hard

Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90038 USA

a

Vancouver, B.C. Canada
V6B 2S2

115
American Cinematographer - August 1994

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