The west coast city of Seattle wants more of what the movie industry has to offer. It has created a Film Commission to build on work by the Washington State Legislature to raise the state’s filmmaking incentive from $3.5 million a year to $15 million. The Seattle City Council moved forward this past Friday with confirming the appointment of the first members of the Seattle Film Commission.
The city is a part of making the Evergreen state more competitive. The move also focuses on more funds being allocated towards underrepresented communities. A couple of years ago, King County unveiled a 117,000 square-foot project named Harbor Island Studios. It has two soundstages and has already hosted shows.
The 11-member commission will be the city’s group dedicated to connecting to the film industry. Seattle sent out information stating that the new film commission will also engage the community and “advise on the development of efforts that reinforce and grow the role of film in the region’s content and creative industries, build inclusive career pathways into the film industry, and drive economic growth by attracting and retaining local, regional, national, and global business.”
Seattle has tasked the commission in partnership with the Office of Economic Development with working together to “advise the city on policies and programs to strengthen the regional film industry, create more living wage jobs in the creative economy, and attract more film and television production to Seattle.”
The Council confirmed the appointment of the first 10 commissioners includes:
Position 1: Lowell Deo (On-screen talent or their representatives)
Position 2: Melissa Purcell (Film industry labor unions)
Position 3: Michael Huang (Advertising and creative agencies)
Position 4: Tom Florino (Commercial producers or production companies)
Position 5: Laura Cronin (Film schools, film programs, or film educators)
Position 6: Champ Ensminger (Post-production companies and personnel)
Position 7: Kat Ogden (Film production crew)
Position 8: Beth Barrett (Film festivals or film content distribution companies )
Position 9: Mark Freid (Film location managers )
Position 10: Anthony Tackett (Film organizations belonging to and advocating for underrepresented communities)
These commissioners will elect the 11th commissioner themselves.
