Economic Development & Job Creation: The Greater Cleveland Film Commission

Greetings everyone, and welcome to Mighty Line Minute. This is Dave Tabar and we've got a special guest today. We're very pleased to have with us Bill Garvey with the Greater Cleveland Film Commission. What is the Film Commission here in Cleveland, and what does it do for the State of Ohio, and why is it important to all of us? 

We often go into new rooms and people that haven't heard from us before and we often say, well, what's a film commission and we're confused with the film festival here. So, we have a really great Cleveland International Film Festival (www.ClevelandFilm.org) that brings movies, and it's a great resource and cultural institution here in Cleveland. We're different. So, the Film Commission (www.ClevelandFilm.COM),  the reason that we exist is economic development and job creation. So, when we go out we will leverage our relationships, in the industry to bring motion picture production, to choose Northeast Ohio. Members spend money at the local small businesses to create hundreds of jobs on each project that comes. So that's why we exist. And over the last 15 years, we've generated a lot of money for Cleveland, for Northeast Ohio. Created a lot of jobs. And we're about to take the next step in this industry as we've grown the state program that we use as the tool to pitch studios to pitch business, to choose this area. We're about to embark on a series, a pipeline of projects back-to-back-to-back-to-back. 

Wonderful. 

Coming into Northeast Ohio to make Ohio more prominent in the world and spotlight this region as a place to do business. 

Wonderful. I've had the opportunity to visit Columbus and actually testify myself to support the Film Commission. And I did that voluntarily because I realized how important it is to have this kind of support for the film community. And I've been impressed from what I see around the country. Cleveland is really on the map, isn't it, with what they're doing? 

It is, and we're growing and, you know, we've generated $1.38 Billion of total economic output over the last 15 years. That's about to take the next step. So, you know, when we talk about why is this important, it's not that film people are just working that's just one element of it. This money gets infused into the economy. Hundreds of non-movie industry specific vendors work and participate in this motion picture economy. So, think lawyers, plumbers, and electricians, and blacksmiths and restaurants and hotels. All these, ancillary businesses, well they benefit from the work that we do. And then in addition to that, hundreds of jobs are created, and these are careers that have a pension, they have healthcare, they have longevity and stability. It's not that, you know, you make one movie and then what? Yeah, no, it’s movie-after-movie, it's commercial and documentary work. It's work at Playhouse Square in theater. So, all of these jobs have the same skillsets. And as a person that comes from this industry, I worked in these productions for 26 years before coming to the Film Commission. I've made my living my entire adult life doing this work. And the last 13 years before the film commission doing it specifically in Ohio, never having to leave (Wow) for my entire salary. And it's a six-figure salary. So, you know, we're getting high rates to do this work, and we don't get a discount because we live in Ohio. We get the same rates. 

That's wonderful. I noticed when I went downtown during the last couple weeks to talk about the Superman filming with DC Studios, the amount of people working down there. And the jobs, the activity, the buzz, what I liked hearing from you just now is that you're talking about a pipeline. Something where we're not just talking about two weeks of filming. We're talking about the on-going efforts by many in this community. So, that's really great to hear. How is that different than the way we've done it in the past? 

To a certain extent, it is how we've done it in the past. The difference is we have more tools at our disposal to attract this business. So we've increased and doubled the program, the State program that we use to attract this business. So we had an existing crew base, veteran crew that had been doing this for a very long time. So that's where it starts. We have beautiful architecture. That's personal. It can tell any story. Great topography (Yes) that can mimic any topography. We have The Great Lakes that looks like the ocean. All these are tools that we use. So now we package it together in unison with a bigger program to attract this business. And that in itself grows. So, it snowballs into something more robust because of that. 

How about education? I noticed that CSU, Cleveland State University, has got programs. Are there other educational opportunities here where people can kind of navigate a career forward in this space? 

Yeah, and the fortunate thing here is, you know, we have all these other tools and then the education is really great. So, you have a lot of different opportunities. So, CSU Film School is growing, and it's been around for a while now, so its reputation has grown. You have Tri-C that has offered an amazing program for a very long time generating, and again, pipeline, right? It's about pipeline of talent, new generations of talent coming into this industry. They're doing a great job. In different ways, all the schools around here, Kent State has a program and B-W (Baldwin-Wallace University) has an amazing, amazing performing arts program. And CIA (Cleveland Institute of Art) has a great graphics design and screenwriting program. So, all these schools are teaching elements of this, that kind of have a teamwork way of, educating the new generations to get a career. They can keep them here in Northeast, Ohio. And that's the ultimate goal. Because, you don't want to just educate people and then have them leave. (Exactly) We want them to stay here (Right) to build this economy through that talent. 

I love hearing that! 

Then the other thing that we as a film commission do is, we partner with all those educational resources. But then we also have designed programs ourselves. So, you know, this is a career where you can go to school and there's great education there, but there's also ways for economically disadvantaged and underrepresented to take advantage of this as well. And we've designed programs that speak to that, to offer opportunities to more folks in the community and go out into the community where people are, so that they recognize and are aware of these opportunities. 

I've noticed in my own experience, when I developed a short film a few years back, that all of a sudden we needed legal help. We ended up using an attorney in California, then another attorney in California. These days when I hear someone tell me they're going to law school, I asked them, have you thought about Entertainment? Have you thought about Music? Have you thought about the legalities involved in areas that you haven't even thought about? And even myself, I come from Safety background, and I see how much safety is required on sets. I'll have a podcast coming up that deals with some of the safety standards with film and television production. But I can see that as a career, and I know people now that are pursuing that as a path forward. So, it spawns many areas that you really don't really think about. 

It is an expanded role and in the, actually just ratified yesterday contract for IATSE, that is a big part of that. (Wonderful) And you know, certification for Safety is a more recent development in the motion picture industry (Yes), but obviously we take this very seriously because every set has to be OSHA compliant. And obviously when you have experiences like the "Rust" experience, that just puts it on the forefront that this has to be important for everybody. A lot of new policies were established because of that. 

Yes. Well, it's wonderful to have Bill here today, and I'm really pleased that you took the opportunity Bill, to take time with us to talk about what the Film Commission does. Any final remarks as to what our listeners might want to consider doing to help the Film Commission or to help others with pursuing careers, or even how to direct people to do work in Cleveland, or all of Ohio? 

Yeah, I mean, we function as a resource hub as a central marketplace through which all this happens, right? So, we are a resource. If you go on ClevelandFilm.com we have all sorts of resources, education, and job opportunities that are listed there. Please sign up for our free newsletter to get notified whenever there are new job opportunities, workshops, resources that come up online. And then we do networking mixers. 

So, there is a big community here already, but we want to grow that, and aspiring filmmakers that want to get into this as a career. Veteran crew always come to these mixers. So, it's a good way of educating yourself, getting your name out there, and networking, yes. 

I've been to some and they're wonderful. So, thank you Bill for taking the time to be with us today. And for those listening take a look at Cleveland Film Commission online (www.ClevelandFilm.com) and see what they do. And then take a look of course at www.MightyLineTape.com to see how we can help you with Safety in your facilities. Have a great day take care.

Thanks again, everyone for being with us today on Mighty Line Minute (www.MightyLineMinute.com) . We hope you enjoyed the discussion with Bill Garvey, the President of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission. Be sure to take a look at www.ClevelandFilm.com where you'll find more information about how the Greater Cleveland Film Commission can be of help to you, whether it be for production or help with regard to a career that may take you down a path that you haven't thought about before. Look at www.MightyLineTape.com as well, where you can learn more about how we can help in your areas of Safety, 5S, and Operational Excellence. Take care, have a safe day and we'll see you next week!