| Next MCA Meeting... |
| Summer Party!!!
August 9, 2007
Mike Duffy's Pub & Grill in Kirkwood
5:00pm
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| 2007
Board of Directors |
PRESIDENT
Yvonne Niemann
myniemann@sbcglobal.net
PAST PRESIDENT
Lou Stemmler
LouStem@silver-streak.com
TREASURER
Jim Trevor
JTrevor@ameren.com
MEMBERS AT LARGE
Tom Barry
Tom_Barry@ssmhc.com
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| In Sync! Editor |
| Please submit all articles, Production Notes, and Members in the Spotlight paragraphs by the 20th of the month for inclusion in the following month's issue. Text should be embedded in the body of your email and pictures should be emailed as J-peg attachments.
See you in the next issue!
Emilie Barta
Newsletter Editor
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| 2007 St. Louis MCA
Calendar of Events |
August 9
Summer Party
5:00 pm, Mike Duffy's in Kirkwood
September 12
Perspectives on Editing
6:30 pm, Location TBD
October 10
Audio for Production and Post-Production
6:30 pm at Joyce Meyer Ministries
November 14
Monthly Meeting
6:30 pm, Location TBD
December ??
Holiday Party
Location TBD
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Greetings!
 Summer is beginning to wind down. The signs are everywhere. School supplies are stocked at the stores, summer clothes and items are on deep discount while fall items take their places on racks and shelves, people are trying to squeeze in some vacation time before the kids have to go back to school, winter projects are heating up at work and the MCA-I ProTrack takes place next month.
We sent out an e-mail a few weeks ago telling you all about the 2007 MCA-I ProTrack which launches in Milwaukee, WI September 20-22 at the Milwaukee Hilton City Center. The conference will feature three tracks - Evolving Delivery Systems, Business Success, and Media Craft - each with several seminars and workshops and a Media Festival. MCA-I is also offering Business Masters Classes with a certificate of completion for finishing a specified number of sessions.
The emergence of virtual communities and social media is opening new opportunities for visual communicators and will take a prominent role in this year's ProTrack conference. Sessions are designed to bring fresh perspectives and keener insights into how convergence of various media disciplines and the evolving media landscape impacts today's producers. In-house and Independent Corporate Media Producers and Indy Filmmakers will find sessions to fill each day.
Conference headliners include social media expert Julie Gomoll, general manager of Halsoft.com, who will explain the current state of affairs with the social mediasphere and how it can be used in both large and small enterprises. Jan Ozer, consultant, on-line community guru and author of Publishing Digital Video and PC Magazine Guide to Digital Video will bring real-world examples and checklists for encoding into Flash® and Windows Media® formats. Eric Miller with Apple Genius and video producer for Aquent/RA Studios, Clint Chilcott, digital artist and podcast trainer for Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin and Pete Walchli, manager of eMedia Services for GE Healthcare Performance Solutions will team up to cover podcasting and mobile delivery.
Registration is open now! You can sign-up for the Premium Package, which covers all three days of ProTrack, the MCA-I Media Festival and the Sunday morning Golf Outing, raising money for the G. Warren Scholarship Fund. If you'd prefer to just attend the ProTrack Conference and the Media Festival, sign up for the Professional Package (Non-member pricing includes 1 year of membership!). For further details on the event and pricing, logon to www.mca-i.org/en/cms/?3556
Yvonne Niemann
President; MCA-I, St. Louis Chapter |
 August Summer Party!!
It's time for the MCA's (Media Communications Association) annual summer party, co-sponsored this year by the Missouri Film Commission.
It's a great way for you to catch up with old friends, make up with old enemies, and pick up new friends. Plus, there will be cold beer and FREE food -- what better way to spend a hot Thursday night in August? Oh, and did we mention, there will be FREE food.
WHERE: Mike Duffy's Pub & Grill in Kirkwood
124 West Jefferson Ave., Kirkwood, MO.
WHEN: Thursday, August 9, at 5:00 PM
COST: FREE! (Plus FREE food!)
DIRECTIONS: From I-64 (Highway Faarty) get off at the
Lindbergh (South) exit. Take Lindbergh until it becomes
Kirkwood Road. Turn right on Jefferson, which is in the
heart of downtown Kirkwood.
From I-44 (Highway Faarty Faar) get off at the Lindbergh
(North) exit. Take Lindbergh until it becomes Kirkwood Road.
Turn left on Jefferson, which is in the heart of
downtown Kirkwood.
WE CAN'T WAIT TO PARTY ON...SEE YOU THERE!! |
June Meeting in Review
The June St. Louis MCA meeting focused on animation. Each of the featured presenters; Darin Clifton, President of Animagic, Jeff Pickett, President of Pickett Productions, and Mike Long, professor of animation at Webster University, was challenged to spend just 15 minutes talking about their chosen field of work. It became immediately obvious that each has a real passion for working in animation.
Mike Long said it best: "Fifteen minutes to talk about animation, how it started, where it is and where it's going; heck, I teach a full course on the history of animation alone." Among the highlights of Mike's presentation were the student projects he brought along. Using Toon Boom and other software, Mike's students create animated shorts that run the gamut from beginner to quite advanced. The sample clips entertained and intrigued the audience.
Jeff Pickett walked us through his company's experiences of creating award winning corporate animation and spoke at length about meeting the client's needs regardless of their budget.
Darin Clifton, an architect by training, presented examples of the animation his company has created for various institutions' capital campaigns. Often working from vague descriptions and generalities, Animagic takes viewers over, around, and through buildings that exist nowhere but within their render farm. The firm is now developing its motion-capture capabilities for character animation.
The subsequent panel discussion ranged from the preferred academic majors for future animators to a comparison among After Effects, Motion, Flash, Lightwave, Maya, and the newer Toon Boom.
Overall, the meeting was tremendously interesting and the variety of new faces present reinforced the notion that the field of animation continues to grow and prosper in St. Louis. Thanks again to all our presenters!! | |
 Limelight Studio Announces New Classes for August!
St. Charles, MO-The St. Louis area's go-to photography studio for professional talent, actors and models has announced its workshop schedule for August. All workshops are open to the general public and are held at Limelight Studio in St. Charles. Workshop details below are also available online at www.limelightstudio.us.
COMMERCIAL ACTING NOW! WITH KATE FRISINA
How to Land the Roles You Want!
Thursdays August 16th - September 6th
Kate Frisina's workshops have helped scores of talent land roles in film, television and commercials by learning how to project the right energy for the medium, read scripts correctly, be prepared, and be professional. With over 20 years' experience in the Los Angeles commercial and voiceover market, Kate shares her experience in mastering on-camera acting and auditioning skills. In this very interactive and hands-on course, students are given actual commercial scripts to read and are videotaped and critiqued.
Instructor: Kate Frisina
4-week course of 2-hour Sessions every Thursday night, 7:00 - 9:00pm
Fee $150
For: Ages 8+ who audition for roles as on-camera talent
ON CUE
Know Your CQ (camera quotient)!
Wednesday August 8th 7:00 - 8:30pm
How much do you know about what goes on in front of and behind the camera? On Cue is a must primer for anyone pursuing professional on-camera work: you'll learn how to prepare for a shoot, the mechanics of the shoot itself, what your rights are concerning your image usage and protection, and how you can make the best possible impression to ensure you gain a solid reputation as a true professional. This is must-have knowledge for actors, models and spokespersons who work on camera.
Sessions open to all ages, but persons under 16 should be accompanied by 1 parent (no extra charge for parent).
Instructors: Lance Tilford and Tamara Tungate
2-hour Sessions, 7:00 - 9:00pm
Fee $50
For: All Ages (under 16 should be accompanied by 1 parent, no additional charge) who want to pursue on-camera work of any variety
Limelight Studio is located at 501 N. Kingshighway in St. Charles, 3 blocks north of Lindenwood University. The studio is open by appointment only. To book a photo session or makeup consultation, or to inquire about Limelight Sessions workshops, call Limelight at 636-925-1662 or go online to www.limelightstudio.us. Promotional images and additional quote sources available upon request. |
| Film Tax Credit in Limbo...But There is a Silver Lining
by Mike Ketcher
Governor Matt Blunt vetoed HB 327, which contained the film tax credit. While that's discouraging, there are two positive developments.
First, the film tax credit was tiny part of a larger economic development bill, so the veto doesn't reflect on how the governor feels about the film tax credit. There was substantial bi-partisan support for the film tax credit, and there's no reason to believe that the governor is opposed to it.
There were several other aspects of the bill that were far more controversial -- and costly -- than the film tax credit.
Second, the bill that went to the governor would have lowered the tax credit from 50% to 35% -- and that could have been a disaster for the budding MO film industry. At 50%, Missouri has the highest film tax credit in the country.
Lowering the credit to 35% was a serious mistake by the sponsors of the bill. MO would no longer be highest. Puerto Rico has a 40% tax credit, with no cap and a much larger crew base than MO. It also has other incentives. Connecticut has a 30% tax credit, but also a larger crew base, no cap, and other incentives. MO, because of it's small and relatively inexperienced crew base, and it's lack of any other incentives, needs to stay at 50% to remain competitive.
The problem is that MO has a $1.5 million cap, while most states have a much larger cap -- many have an unlimited cap. This bill would have raised the cap, but only to a paltry $10.5 million. That's enough to bring more work to MO, but not enough to allow MO to compete with the big boys (WI, ILL, CT, LA, SC, NM, AZ, etc.).
Unfortunately, one influential state senator refused to support the
$10.5 million, insisting that the tax credit either be lowered to 35% or the cap only be raised to $3.5 million.
The MO Film Commission and the legislative sponsors caved in to this legislator's demand and agreed to lowering the tax credit. (This senator has resigned and is no longer in office, so he's no longer a factor.)
The lowering to 35% was serious mistake that hopefully won't be repeated by the powers that be in the MO Film Commission and state legislature. The 50% tax credit is the main selling point for MO -- and shouldn't be negotiated away so easily.
Right now, though, everything is up in the air. Things could change by the time you read this. There is talk of a special session of the legislature being called to hammer out an economic development bill that the governor is more likely to sign.
There's a chance that the film tax credit portion will be trimmed down from
$10.5 million to $3.5 million. At least that's what the "St. Louis Post Dispatch" was reporting. I hadn't been able to get that confirmed by our deadline (July 25).
The big question remains whether or not the 35% or the 50% figure will prevail.
Or, the tax credit could be eliminated from the eco-devo bill entirely, in which case the tax credit would remain as it is (50% with a $1.5 million annual cap), and the film industry would have to try to get another bill passed next year. |
 Azalea Agency Moves to Fashionable Delmar Design District
While many people in the city are taking it easy in the summer heat, the folks over at the Azalea Agency have been shuttling truck loads of some of St. Louis' finest talent to a bigger and better address. Although Soulard offered a supportive home to the agency for the last six years, business growth has made it necessary to relocate and centralize. Months of real-estate and neighborhood deliberation led owner Mandi Morris to University City, to the newly renovated Delmar Design District which is located just east of The Regional Arts Commission and Pageant Theatre.
How appropriate for a talent provider to take root in the heart of urban art revitalization. Clients, talent, and the city of St. Louis all benefit greatly from this move. For more business updates, please visit the Azalea Agency website: http://www.azaleaagency.com/news |
Members in the Spotlight
 Alex Fees, TalentPlus exclusive and broadcaster with local NBC affiliate KSDK won two regional Emmy's...one for children's programming, with Cardinals Crew (as producer) and one for channel 5 breaking news coverage, on the Praxair Fire. Congrats to Alex!!
Adam Frick, independent audio engineer and sound designer recently arrived from Chicago, has invested in some major upgrades to his studio. A ProTools HD rig is up and running with complete 5.1 surround sound monitoring, giving him the same capabilities as much larger facilities in town. He is currently creating an assortment of music, sound effects, and final mixes for two children's TV series slated to run on NBC and the Disney Channel this fall, in addition to the usual film, album, and advertising projects. Adam welcomes any clients large or small, from transition sound effects for a corporate DVD to custom music for a TV campaign to full sound design for a feature film, and is happy to accommodate most any budget. He can be reached at 312-213-4628 or through his web site. |
Call for Entries by August 15: Water Works 
Cinema St. Louis and the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts invite St. Louis-area filmmakers to project their imaginations on the Pulitzer building by creating short silent films that employ water as a key element.
In conjunction with the upcoming exhibit "Water," which opens July 20, the Pulitzer will hold an event in September 2007 that features locally created, water-related short films. These "water works" will be digitally projected on several exterior surfaces at the Pulitzer Foundation.
Cinema St. Louis will then choose one of the films to screen as part of the AT&T St. Louis International Film Festival, held from Nov. 8-18, 2007. The film will be part of a silent-film program and receive live musical accompaniment.
"Water" Exhibit Info
This exhibition engages the prevalence of water in the Pulitzer building and addresses the range of responses that water has elicited from modern and contemporary artists. Works will be exhibited in relation to the building's prominent watercourt and the space itself, which was conceived by Tadao Ando as a fluid substance directed by walls. Specific juxtapositions within the exhibition will encourage the visitors to think about the artwork in different and unexpected ways. Artists include Alvar Aalto, Max Beckmann, Robert Gober, Roni Horn, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Long, Henri Matisse, Claes Oldenburg, Cy Twombly, and more.
Contest Details
St. Louis-area filmmakers interested in participating must create silent shorts that meet the following three criteria:
* Incorporate water as an important aspect of the work.
* Run a maximum of 5 minutes (no minimum running time).
* Exclude ALL sound, including music, effects and dialogue.
Experimental, narrative, animated, and documentary approaches are all acceptable. The shorts can be shot in any film or video format, in either color or black-and-white. Filmmakers must live within a 120-mile radius of St. Louis.
All films must be submitted on DVD. There is no entry fee. Deadline is Aug. 15!!
Submission of a short does not guarantee its use at the Pulitzer event. To view the Pulitzer building, visit the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts Web site at www.pulitzerarts.org. For more information, call Cinema St. Louis at 314-289-4150 or visit the website at www.cinemastlouis.org |
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