READY TO ROLL
Oklahoma film industry poised for possible boom after pandemic
Oklahoma's film industry is poised for a possible boom after the pandemic
On Friday, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Directors Guild of America, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Basic Crafts released a multiunion report touted as the next major step in resuming film and television production in the United States.
Also on Friday, producer-director Danny Roth marked day 13 on the 16-day shoot for his feature film “Harvest of the Heart” in the Oklahoma City area.
Roth's romantic drama, which began lensing May 27 and wrapped Monday, is one of the first — if not the first — live-action productions to start in North America since the coronavirus pandemic brought TV and moviemaking to a halt in March.
“It's been going pretty smoothly. We normally shoot these in fewer days, but we expanded the amount of days to accommodate for the new protocols,” Roth told The Oklahoman by phone Saturday. “The (coronavirus) case count and the recovery rate ... was certainly the best of the tax credit states that we looked at. ... We were looking to set up a hub here for these smaller movies anyway, and then the pandemic happened, and it just worked out great that we were coming here.”
While “Harvest of the Heart” is the first U.S. movie production approved by SAG, the actors' union, it isn't the only film project underway in Oklahoma. The non-union productions “Joey and Ella” and “Family Camp” started rolling this month.
“(There's) lots of inquiries and phone calls from the major streaming companies and some of the studios saying, `Hey, we want to know if Oklahoma is open,'” Oklahoma Film + Music Office Director Tava Maloy Sofsky said. “It is a huge, massive opportunity.”
Streaming wars
Despite delays, she said Martin Scorsese has confirmed that he still plans to film his big-budget adaptation of “Killers of the Flower Moon” in Oklahoma. Oklahoman Sterlin Harjo and Oscar winner Taika Waititi's TV pilot “Reservation Dogs” had to be postponed due to the pandemic but is expected to come back. Another installment in the “God's Not Dead” franchise, a Ronald Reagan biopic and the sports drama “American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story” also are in the queue for the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program
“We actually landed `American Underdog' because of COVID,” she said. “The Erwin Brothers were already prepping in another state that shut down ... and just kind of reevaluated like, `We know everybody in Oklahoma. We loved making “I Can Only Imagine” there. Let's take this there.'”
Richard Janes already was eager to enter his adopted home state into the burgeoning streaming wars with the launch of a project in January to transform the 12-acre former site Green Pastures Elementary School into a movie soundstage and backlot, an academy for aspiring crew members to learn film-set skills and etiquette and a coworking space for film and television companies.
With the pandemic forcing Americans to spend more time at home watching TV and movies, the streaming wars are heating up even more — and Oklahoma is perfectly
positioned, he said.
“We've been consuming so much more content at home that most of the streamers are running out,” said Janes, who is a partner and cofounder in Green Pastures Studio and the Oklahoma Film & Television Academy.
“They're having to commission so much more — and already they were going to be commissioning so much more because they need depth in their brandnew libraries that they're launching. So, we're in the position where the demand around the U.S. is just massive ... which is why we've been having so many phone calls — so many phone calls — from productions wanting to shoot here.”
Although the spring launch of the Oklahoma Film & Television Academy's classes was scuttled due to the pandemic, Janes said the academy is now eyeing a summer start and planning remote learning possibilities.
“We have a really good film industry workforce here in Oklahoma already, but quite frankly, with the phone calls we're getting, that needs to jump ... which means that there's a huge amount of job opportunity for people who are currently out of work,” he said.
Diversified economy
Gov. Kevin Stitt signed legislation last year to offer film and TV productions a 35% to 37% cash rebate on qualifying labor, goods and services, with a fiscal year cap of $8 million.
“We have to look at what are the growing industries moving forward in this country 10 years from now? We need to be a little bit more, I think, visionary. When you see just the four or five big streaming services, they'll invest over $50 billion on content. That's Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, obviously, Disney, Apple,” Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell said. “They're gonna have to film it somewhere.”
Rep. Jason Dunnington, D-Oklahoma City, who teamed with Sen. Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, on last year's successful legislation, introduced this year a bill that would provide up to $50 million in annual tax credits for film and TV productions.
“We weren't successful this year. ... But absolutely we'll make a push next year,” Dunnington said. “We have an incredibly unique opportunity when we talk all the time about needing to diversify our economy and have more balance, so that we're not dependent on oil and gas in Oklahoma, to lean into an industry that is literally doubling every couple of years right now.”
Winning hearts
He pointed to states like Georgia and New Mexico that have been building billiondollar film and TV industries.
“Tulsa's done their whole big pitch for getting Tesla here ... and that's great. I want all the new industry we can get to come to the state of Oklahoma. That's one company that's going to hire a thousand people. When you talk about film and TV production, you're talking about literally hundreds of companies and ancillary companies, whether it's lighting or makeup or costumes or production or post-production, catering, rentals,” Dunnington said.
“This isn't about outsiders and outside industry. We're just creating an offramp for them to come and get a taste of what it's like to work and live and experience
Oklahoma, and as soon as that happens, we'll win hearts and minds. We're good at that.”
Safety protocols
Roth said he worked with Sofsky and his line producer to develop a 17-page Powerpoint presentation on COVID-19 protocols for “Harvest of the Heart.” He presented it to multiple SAG representatives on a conference call to gain union approval.
The precautions included requiring the crew to wear masks and limiting it to 23 people. The cast and crew underwent temperature checks multiple times a day and signed agreements to limit their outside activities. And everyone — even extras — had to present a negative COVID-19 test result before coming on set.
“I felt like Tava and her office were so helpful in the process that we've already put in another application for our next project. The issue that we're going to run into is, having trailblazed here, we're opening the door for everybody else,” Roth said. “So, there's going to be a lot of competition for crew and equipment. Which is a good thing for Oklahoma, not as good a thing for me.”