February 17, 2021

Legislature notebook: Bill would bar ‘sexually explicit’ movies made in New Mexico from claiming tax credits (lcsun-news.com)

LAS CRUCES – Legislation introduced this week in the House would create a new government board to determine which movies were too risqué to receive the state’s film production tax credit.

House Bill 283 would prohibit the tax credit from being claimed for any movie that “contains sexually explicit conduct that most parents would consider patently too adult for their children aged 17 and under.”

The bill, sponsored by T. Ryan Lane, R-Aztec; Candie Sweetser, D-Deming; Gail Armstrong, R-Magdalena; and Stefani Lord, R-Sandia Park; will get its first hearing in the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee.

By: Walter Rubel

Continue Reading at lcsun-news.com

Film Professor Discusses COVID’s Effect on Streaming Habits (newswise.com)

Following almost a year of pandemic-required home confinement, live entertainment has been replaced by binge-watching TV shows on Netflix and other streaming services. From gripping dramas to surreal documentaries, these shows provide much-needed escape.

Nielsen’s Streaming Meter noted that Americans spent 142.5 billion cumulative minutes weekly streaming video in the second quarter of 2020, an increase of nearly 75 percent from the second quarter of 2019, according to Forbes magazine.

Aaron Daniel “AD” Annas, associate professor and director of Buffalo State College’s television and film arts (TFA) program, talked about this phenomenon and other aspects of streaming services, especially in light of the pandemic

By: SUNY Buffalo State College

Continue Reading at newswise.com

‘Studios will keep financing’ quality, diverse projects: Will Packer Productions President (finance.yahoo.com)

Will Packer Productions President James F. Lopez joins Yahoo Finance’s Kristin Myers to break down his outlook on diversity in film, and how movie theaters with fare post COVID-19.

Video Transcript

KRISTIN MYERS: Welcome back to Yahoo Finance Live. Now, the film industry has been heavily impacted by the pandemic, while audiences have really been demanding greater diversity in stories and film talent that they are going to be seeing on screen. So let’s talk outlook for this sector and more with James Lopez, President at Will Packer Productions. James, thanks so much for joining us today for this conversation.

So I want to start with the outlook looking forward. I’m wondering when you think the film industry will be back to normal, so to speak, or do you think that the film industry has been forever changed by this pandemic?

JAMES LOPEZ: You know, it’s hard to predict. Obviously, life gets back to normal as more vaccine rolls out and herd immunity is achieved. I happen to think that there are audiences out there that are clamoring to get back into theaters. We’ve been locked in our homes for over a year, close to a year now. And I just have to believe that once we come out of this, the, the appetite for in-person entertainment and getting out of the home will be fervent. That same goes for live music and just public gathering in general.

So I happen to think that the theaters will come back. And it’s all about the content that’s being offered. You know, the– obviously the movies that will be more of eventized, the big tentpole projects, will continue as in the past. The question will be, what is the threshold for a film that is theatrical worthy versus streaming, because obviously during this pandemic a lot of habits in terms of viewing have been formed. So some of those may be harder to, to break, or in terms of what types of programming people are willing to leave the home for.

Continue Reading at finance.yahoo.com

Bill will increase safety for FDNY on film sets across NYC after firefighter killed in 2018 (abc7ny.com)

NEW YORK — An agreement was reached Tuesday to protect firefighters with more safety on film sets throughout New York City

Eileen Davidson, the widow of a firefighter killed on a movie set in 2018, has pushed hard for the safety crackdown.

Michael Davidson, 37, was killed on the set of “Motherless Brooklyn” on March 23, 2018 in Harlem. When he and Engine Company 69 were called to the fire, they had no idea the building was not as it appeared.

False walls had been erected and flammable materials were brought on site. Davidson became separated from his team and ran out of air.

The pending legislation will protect future film locations and will require a fire safety director to be on set all the time, so if the layout is changed, responding firefighters will know before they go charging in.

Davidson and members of the FDNY were concerned that amendments proposed to the bill by the film industry would strip critical safety elements from it.

Continue Reading at abc7ny.com