we are stimulus

Holiday Guest Blogger #6 - Matt Fretz, the NY operation at Epoch Films, is my last guest blogger. Tomorrow it's back to writing for myself. A lot to discuss in 2010. Excited to get started. In the meantime read Matt's post. He has the unique distinction of being the first Epocher to actually volunteer his services. Thanks, Matt. 

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When asked to describe what we do by those not in the industry, I often say manufacturing.  I realize it’s not a popular description from within, however, it’s the fastest way to convey the image of our impact.  Our functions of talent development and storytelling mean very little to nothing for those outside of our bubble.  However, when you explain we hire a lot of people and spend a lot of money to build our product, people get it. 

 

Unfortunately, a quick review of most states’ film incentives reveals how painfully few recognize our value as an industry.  We have a perception problem in most state houses.

 

New York doesn’t happen to be one of those states.  Over the last couple of years, I’ve authored around a million in successful tax credits for Epoch, the bulk being in commercial credits.  The state provides the credit, and as reported for our 2008 credit, we hired over 1,500 people and injected millions into the economy in one year alone. 

 

We are economic stimulus, even in a down year.

 

To facilitate changing our station in the tax code, we need to help legislators and taxpayers see the value in what we do.  There are a number of ways to do this, but the sheer visibility of our productions can serve as our greatest asset.

 

I volunteer as a manager at the Waterfront Film Festival every year.  It’s held in West Michigan, which is not suffering as much as Detroit, but had unemployment in the mid-teens when I was there last June.  Knowing a large part of our fundraising is from the local community, and that it had taken a hit, many of us realized we needed to demonstrate the ROI of the donations from our donors that went beyond the films, seminars, and occasional celebrity sightings. 

 

Most of us from out of state made a decision to eat out; with our lanyards showing at every meal (benefit of being a manager is the lanyard).  I have eaten at many of those restaurants for years, but always without the credentials showing.  However, we felt it important to let people know we were there.  Many of our volunteers did the same thing, leaving their name tags on when running around town.  By the end of the weekend, one restaurant owner asked me (half joking) if we could do another festival the next weekend.  People also seemed to have had their spirits lifted.

 

Use your creativity to figure out ways of setting us apart, especially if lanyards are not a palpable way to raise your profile.  Find ways to distinguish a PA buying coffee from a regular office assistant (pay with gold dollars maybe). Or make sure the local restaurants know who you are with, by making reservations in the company’s name even if none are needed.  Maybe hand out tee shirts.  The goal is to remind people we’re very much a part of the economic landscape wherever we roam.

 

It’s easy for a legislator to dismiss comments from an AICP lobbyist.  However, if their voting constituents have our back, we become harder to ignore.  Maybe they’ll even see us for the valuable story manufacturing industry we are.

 

Matthew Fretz has been with Epoch for six years, having also interned for us in 1997. He currently serves as our Manager of Operations. His previous experience as a successful grant writer made him a natural fit to tackle tax credits for us. Matt is also author of Blog the Fifth, releases his own music, writes, golfs, and is an avid fan of documentaries.