ALSAM

Thanks to everyone who pitched in to help save the New Jersey Film Commission, we have recieved the following message from Joseph Friedman, Executive Director of the NJ Motion Picture & TV Commission

Dear Supporters,

We are pleased to inform you that the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission has been funded for the 2009 Fiscal Year, which began on July 1st.

We will continue to be fully operational, and look forward to assisting filmmakers, serving the New Jersey production community, and bringing revenue and employment to the state now and in the future.
Your strong and unequivocal support was key to the Commission’s survival. The many letters and phone calls received by the administration and legislature sent a clear message about the value of our work. They listened and were very responsive.

On behalf of our commissioners and staff, thank you for taking the time to voice your concerns and express your support for our office. You made the difference, and we are deeply appreciative.

Sincerely,

Joseph Friedman
Executive Director
NJ Motion Picture & TV Commission

While the neighboring states of New York, Connecticut, & Pennsylvania are all increasing tax incentives to filmmakers, New Jersey Governor Corzine has decided to eliminate funding for the New Jersey State Film Commission starting July 1st 2008 - 

The New Jersey Film Commission provides invaluable services to location scouts and location managers working in the New York City area, without which, many projects would not have been filmed in New Jersey

Filming in New Jersey Brought in 92 million dollars last year, money that will be spent in other states next year if the New Jersey Film Office is eliminated

Immediate action is needed to prevent this blow to the film industry in the northeast !

please visit www.savenewjerseyfilm.com for information on what you can do

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ALSAM :: Association of Location Scouts & Managers :: New York City

Governor Announces New Tax Incentives During Start of Seventh Annual Tribeca Film Festival

Tax Incentives for Commercials info

Tax Incentives for Feature Films & Episodic Television info

New York State Governor David A. Paterson today announced that he will sign legislation this afternoon, which will dramatically expand the Empire State film production tax credit program and help attract even more movie and television industry business to New York. The significant expansion of the tax credit will keep New York the most popular destination outside of Hollywood for filmmakers, and further promote an industry that creates billions of dollars in economic activity in New York each year.

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ALSAM Location Scouts Sam Rohn. Carl Bellavia, Les Fincher, Sasha Tsyrlin and others have provided the cover photo and all index tab photos for the 2007-2008 & 2008-2009 editions of the New York 411 Production Guide. Check out more of our members photographs of New York City locations in this essential reference guide for the New York film industry !

to see more photos from ALSAM Member Location Scouts, Visit our Photo Gallery

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ALSAM :: Association of Location Scouts & Managers :: New York City

The Hunter

A veteran film and TV location scout shares how he finds unusual spaces

Event producers aren’t the only ones scouring the city for the perfect place with a certain mood. Location scouts are also on the lookout for environments to communicate the proper feel for films, television shows, commercials, and photo shoots. We talked to location scout and manager Steven Knee of LocationNY, who specializes in commercial shoots and has worked for such clients as Toyota, DeBeers, The Office, MTV, and Saturday Night Live.

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On Location in the Homeland

By Deren Getz as told to Jaimie Epstien - November 13, 2005 - NYTimes.com

from ALSAM Location Scout Deren Getz -

Do you remember that restaurant scene in “Quiz Show,” where John Turturro is told to take the dive? It took me weeks to find that place. And it wasn’t even a restaurant. It was the old Grolier Club, between Madison and Park - you’ve got to think creatively. That’s my job. That’s what a location scout does. The director gives me a script or a storyboard, and I search for the settings that will make his vision happen. I’ve been in the business for 25 years, done production work, been a location scout since 1991. The job’s still the same as it was, but since 9/11, the game has changed a bit.

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Giving Commercials Their Best Shot

By DEBRA GALANT - New York Times October 26, 1997

To David Fitzgerald, New Jersey suburbia essentially breaks down into two basic types: Norman Rockwell and Edward Scissorhands.

Montclair and Tenafly are classic Norman Rockwell towns, with stately colonials on shade-dappled yards, places that evoke a memory of a time when childhood was safe and unhurried. Clifton and Cedar Grove will serve as your basic Edward Scissorhands towns, slightly menacing places where 1960’s split-levels gleam unshaded under the midday sun and where the foliage forms perfect geometric shapes.

”Norman Rockwell was always the standard for commercials,” Mr. Fitzgerald, who scouts locations for television, explains. But lately, that has changed. The Edward Scissorhands towns have been more in vogue. Then there are your gritty urban locations: Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken. And your rural ones, places like Oldwick and Lebanon. Of course, you never know about those rural locations. The way new suburbs spring up these days, last year’s great cornfield could be this year’s new Edward Scissorhands town.

Whatever. Wherever. New Jersey can, and does, provide the backdrop for almost any scene a film or television director could want. Last year, 69 feature films, 240 commercials and numerous other film projects were shot on location here, contributing $48.2 million to the state’s economy, according to the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission.

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