UPDATED: Texas Motion Picture Alliance calls for citizen action

by John P. Meyer

Later this week or early next week (May 17 - 22), the Texas Senate will be considering HB 1634, which has already passed the Texas House and the Senate Finance Committee. HB 1634, otherwise known as the Texas Film Incentive Program, is sponsored by Senator Bob Deuell of District 2 (which encompasses the communities of Mesquite, Rockwall, Greenville, Hunt and Farris).

The Texas Motion Picture Alliance (TXMPA) has sent out a call to action (in the form of an email to its members and friends), requesting that each concerned citizen call their state senator (NOT their representative - that part's a done deal) and encourage him or her to vote YES on HB 1634. And they need to do so right away, since a call after the vote has been taken would be the equivalent of producing a sequel to, say, The Poseidon Adventure long after the box office ship has sailed.

Now, there's a bit of a hitch to this whole thing, in that issues have surfaced relating to content review - in other words, there are provisions being bandied about that would consider the subject matter and/or content of the films up for state incentives. Hector Garcia, president of TXMPA, is encouraging constituents to go ahead and get the dang bill passed and worry about the content review provision later.

"Please resist the temptation to enter into these fights now, as public discussion could possibly jeopardize this entire effort," he states in his message. "We can always review the effectiveness of this legislation after implementation." Hm...

In any case, the script suggested for your phone call to your state senator is copied below verbatim; use your own judgment.

(Oh, and Mr. Garcia wants to hear from you if you receive feedback or questions that you deem important: his email address is HectorG576@aol.com)

THE SCRIPT

When you make the call, here is the best script to follow (and please be very, very courteous) :

* Hello, my name is ___________ .

* I’m a constituent of Senator ___________ . I live in the City of ___________. (They might ask you for your address for their records).

* I’m calling to ask him/her to please consider voting YES for HB 1634, which is the Texas Film Incentive program and is sponsored by Senator Deuell (pronounced “duel”).

* I’m a _____________ (please give them your occupation such as “I’m an actor, or a crew worker, or I’m a caterer or whatever your connection to the industry) and HB 1634 is very important to the future of my profession.

* HB 1634 will be brought up for consideration on the Senate floor very soon and I want to let Senator ___________ know that a constituent of theirs is very supportive of HB 1634 and hopes he/she can support it.

* Is there a staff member in your office I should speak to about this bill or may I simply ask you to please let Senator_________ know that one of their constituents called to respectfully request that he/she vote YES for HB 1634 ?

(NOTE: IF THEY PUT YOU THROUGH TO A STAFFER, SIMPLY REPEAT THE SCRIPT ABOVE AND BE PREPARED TO TALK ABOUT THE PROBLEM WE ARE TRYING TO SOLVE – THAT LOUISIANA, NEW MEXICO, AND CALIFORNIA HAVE VERY AGGRESSIVE INCENTIVE PROGRAMS AND TEXAS IS LOSING JOBS TO THOSE STATES. SEE BELOW FOR MORE TALKING POINTS IF YOU GET INTO AN EXTENDED CONVERSATION WITH A STAFFER.)

* Thank you very much for your time. I really appreciate your help.

* And, please let the Senator know they can call me at (give your phone number) if they want to talk about the bill or ask how it affects their district.

MORE TALKING POINTS

If you are asked what HB 1634 does or you get into an extended conversation with a staffer, here are some of the best things to say:

* HB 1634 creates a program that will allow film, TV and commercial projects to apply for an incentive from the State.

* The goal of the incentive is to entice new projects to film in Texas.

* New film projects will create new jobs and will cause a considerable amount of spending to occur within Texas thus helping our economy.

* Other states like New Mexico, Louisiana, and New York have been very successful in stealing jobs away from Texas.

* As a result, the Texas film industry is in bad shape right now and we’ve let the situation go too far.

* HB 1634 is a responsible reaction to this situation.

* It will solve our problem and make Texas a competitive state for the film industry.

UPDATE: It's official - all you North Texas film folks can stop calling your state senators. On Friday, May 18, that august body passed HB 1634 - aka the Texas Film Incentive Program.

Following is a direct transcription of the message sent out Friday evening by Hector Garcia, President of the TXMPA:

"To Supporters and Members of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance:

"Today, thanks to the leadership of State Senator Bob Deuell (R-Greenville), the Texas Senate passed HB 1634, the Texas Film Incentive Program. This is fantastic news and we owe a great deal of gratitude to Senator Deuell (and to Rep. Dukes and Governor Perry).

"There were two amendments to the bill this afternoon. One amendment clarified the language affecting the underused areas of the state. The second amendment added the video game production industry to the types of projects authorized to apply for grants.

"We will soon send out a Web link that has the complete version of the bill.

"Thank you for all your help with the phone calls to Senate offices. No more calls are necessary.

"Now we wait for the bill to go back to the House where it looks like they will concur with the Senate changes. Once they do that, the bill will then go to the Governor for his signature.

"Just as importantly, we wait for the 10 conference committee members in the House and Senate to finish their work on HB 1, the state budget. As you know, that bill contains the funding for our program ($20 million in the House budget vs. $10 million in the Senate version). Naturally, we hope the conference committee will approve the $20 million version. That decision will be made in the next 48 hours. We will report back as soon as we know something official.

"Again, many thanks to Senator Deuell today and to Rep. Dukes for their hard work on behalf of our industry.

"We are nearly there!"

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