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Greetings!
The 2010 Colorado legislative session is well under way and the Governor's "Creative Industry" bills are moving through the committee process and have either been approved by the house they were introduced in or should be receiving approval within the next few days.
The film incentive clean-up bill has been approved by the House Business Affairs and Labor and the House Finance Committees and last week it was approved by the full House of Representatives and sent to the Senate.
The legislation will remove the 75% below the line spending and the 75% local hire requirements that are causing many production companies to pass Colorado by in their search for states with viable incentive programs.The bill was amended in the House Finance committee to require that at least 25% of the total work force of qualifying productions be Colorado residents.In addition, the legislation will expand the projects that qualify for the incentives to include commercials. We believe that by removing the restrictions included in the current legislation we will actually be able to create more jobs by making it easier for production companies to qualify for the incentive and to bring their projects to Colorado.
If the bill receives final legislative approval and is signed by Governor Ritter it will allow feature films, industrials, television productions, video game development and commercials to be approved productions for the incentive program.
More information on all of the Creative Industry bills is included in an article below. We will keep you informed about the progress of all of the bills as they progress through the legislative process.
We are also proud to announce our newest "Hall of Fame" inductees. Our new inductees are Academy Award winning producer Donna Dewey and long time Film Commissioner Stephanie Two Eagles. They were the top two vote getters in an on-line survey we conducted last month and then a panel of industry veterans ratified the ballots.Learn more about these two amazing women in an article below.
Also, below you will find an article on the first ever Digital Media Convergence Symposium (DiMe) that was a partnership between the Office of Film, Television & Media, The Boulder International Film Festival and the Boulder Convention & Visitors Bureau. The event was a smashing success with over 200 attendees and dynamic presentations by a Colorado based panel.Based on the success of this event we will begin planning for the 2011 DiMe Conference in the very near future.
If you have an article that you would like to distribute to the Colorado production community please send the information to info@coloradofilm.org.
Happy Filming!
Kevin Shand
Director
Colorado Office of Film, Television & Media | |
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Donna Dewey and Stephanie Two Eagles Honored with the 2010 Office of Film, Television & Media Hall of Fame Award |
The Colorado Office of Film Television and Media is proud to announce the 2010 Hall of Fame inductees: Donna Dewey and Stephanie Two Eagles.
Dewey is currently Colorado's only Oscar® winner to date. That may change the night she is inducted to the Hall of Fame at this years Academy Award presentation. Several Coloradan's are nominated for their work this year including Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness for "Precious" based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire, Daniel Junge for "The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner" and Louie Psihoyos for "The Cove".
The Hall of Fame Award, originally established in 2006 by the Colorado Film Commission, recognizes and honors individuals for their extraordinary work in feature films, television, cable, commercials, still photography, interactive media or video game design. These exemplary individuals merit recognition for their long-term service, accomplishments and leadership, and vision in these industries. The Inaugural Inductee to the Hall of Fame was photographer John Fielder.
The induction ceremony will be hosted by Lt. Governor Barbara O'Brien and will take place on Sunday, March 7, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. at the Denver Film Society's Party with Oscar® at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 1485 Delgany St., Denver. Individual tickets are available through the Denver Film Society website, "Party With Oscar".
The individuals were chosen through a process of Advisory Committee selection and voting among their peers and leaders in the industry.
Donna Dewey
Donna Dewey is an Academy Award winning filmmaker who has been writing, producing and directing documentaries, commercials, series, industrials, and theatrical films for over twenty years. Dewey's documentary, A Story of Healing, filmed in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, won the 1997 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. Her film, Chiefs, won the documentary competition at Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, and received a national broadcast on the PBS series, Independent Lens. Dewey also co-produced ReadingYour Rights, which garnered an Emmy nomination.
Dewey's numerous documentaries and series have been broadcast and distributed by PBS. Her films have been invited to and have won awards in film festivals around the world, including Russia, Italy, France, and Spain, as well as numerous festivals in the United States. In 1984, Dewey and her business partner Rock Obenchain formed Dewey-Obenchain Films. The company has a reputation for high quality commercial work backed by numerous awards, including Clio nominations, Tellys, and Alphies. Dewey has collaborated on four feature-length screenplays with her mentor, the late British director Jack Clayton (who is best known for directing Room at the Top, The Innocents, The Pumpkin Eater, The Great Gatsby, and Momento Mori). She has also produced several narrative feature films including Skills Like This and Looking For Sunday. Skills Like This was the Audience Award Winner at the 2007 South by Southwest Film Festival
Dewey is a member of the Independent Feature Project, International Documentary Association, Colorado Film/Video Association, New York Women in Film, serves on the Board of Directors of the Denver Film Society, was named 2000 Colorado Businesswoman of the Year, is a 2004 Girl Scout Woman of Distinction, has served on the Colorado Governor's Film Commission Advisory Board, and has been appointed by Denver's Mayor John Hickenlooper to serve as Chair of the Denver Commission on Cultural Affairs.
Stephanie Two Eagles
Stephanie Two Eagles has been involved in more film, television and commercial productions that anyone in the history of the Colorado film industry. She joined the Colorado Film Commission in 1978 as a student intern and was subsequently hired. She has worked on thousands of projects as location/marketing specialist.
In 1991, she created Colorado Camera Ready, a two-day certification program for communities wanting to attract production to their areas. Over 200 community representatives throughout Colorado have been trained to establish and operate local film offices through the Camera Ready seminars.
Two Eagles was asked to manage the Colorado Film Commission in December 2000. In March 2003, funding for the Colorado Film Commission was eliminated due to a state budget deficit.
In August 2004, Two Eagles retired after 26 years with the Colorado Film Commission. She served on the Boards of Directors of Association of Film Commissioners International, the Denver Film Society, and the Colorado Film and Video Association, as well as on advisory boards for the Colorado Film School, the Digital Animation Program at the University of Colorado at Denver and the Art Institute of Colorado.
Since her retirement from the Film Commission Two Eagles has joined the ranks of Colorado's film producers. She has help to produce two short films Her Life Is My Teacher and One Story. |
Digital Media Convergence Symposium A Success |
The Inaugural Digital Media Convergence Symposium, "DiME" was a sold out event with over 200 people in the St. Julien Hotel & Spa, Boulder. Don Marostica, Executive Director of the Colorado Office of Economic Development & International Trade, kicked off the session noting the importance of the Creative Industries. Creatives such as producers, writers, digital technologists, animators and business leaders from across the state came together to hear from the panel of eight visionaries in the converging fields. The Inaugural DiMe was the first official event of the Boulder International Film Festival, a co-sponsor of DiMe. The Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau was the third organization to collaborate and produce the panel, symposium, reception, and film event. Robert Reich, founder of Boulder's OneRiot who also has grown the Boulder Denver Tech Meetup from about 50 to 5,000 registered users, moderated the panel. The huge acceptance of blogging and social media makes millions of people across the globe into published writers. "I think self-publishing has widened the world" of creatives, said David Rolfe, Partner, Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Boulder.
With the success of the 3-D Avatar movie, the topic of how quickly 3-D will be adopted was high on the list. Calling the hit movie a "significant event," Rolfe said the movie has changed viewers attitudes from whether they thought it was a good movie plot or not to "Wow, that was quite an experience."
Theaters are now in a catch-up mode, said Don Hahn, a producer with Disney, to jump on the more profitable 3-D movie experience. "It's a real game changer," he said, adding that there are now about 80 3D theaters being installed each week. The 3D theaters, he said, generate about 50 percent more profit than standard movies.
The panel also debated whether the new Apple iPad would be another "game changer." Boulder-based venture capitalist Jason Mendelson, a partner in the Foundry Group, had his doubts, saying he wasn't that sold on it yet, although he certainly was going to buy one.
But other panelists, including Aidan Chopra, with Google's Sketchup office in Boulder, and Krista Marks, one of the founders of Kerpoof that was bought by Disney Interactive Media Group in 2008, quickly disagreed, saying the iPad 's tablet functionality will start to change the way people can access both entertainment and games as well as their work.
Brian Robbins, a game developer who started his own company Riptide Games, says his goal is to attract attention quickly in the very crowded world of mobile game apps, but getting each game to work on the different platforms makes his business much tougher. Michael Brown, founder of Serac Adventure Films, wowed the audience with footage of films he has made and talked about the challenges of the equipment in the IMAX/3D as it applies to extreme sports.
After the two hour panel discussion, attendees enjoyed a reception with music by the Bilbao Jazz Trio, hors d'oeuvres, lively conversation and connections surrounding digital convergence and the creative community. Following the reception, Don Hahn's "Waking Sleeping Beauty", a documentary about his experience in the world of animation was showcased as part of the DiMe and part of BIFF programming.
We want to especially thank Kerpoof and Krista Marks for generously speaking on the panel and also for being the Premier DiMe Sponsor. Thanks to our other corporate sponsors, Red Pine Studios and Mighty Fudge Studios who made the event possible.
We look forward to an expanded program next year focusing on the exciting frontier of digital media convergence as it relates to Colorado. Please give feedback and suggestions to Marcia Morgan. We will see you at the DiMe 2011!
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Four Bills Address the Arts & Creative Industries This Session |
The legislature is considering four bills this session that will impact Colorado's creative sector. A summary of the bills is below. To find out the current status on each bill, visit www.coloarts.org. We encourage you to attend committee hearings and to contact your legislator to share your views.
We also encourage you to become a member of Arts For Colorado www.artsforcolorado.org, the voice for the creative industries at the legislature.
House Bill 1180, Criteria to Qualify for a Performance-Based Incentive for Film Production Activities in Colorado, changes the criteria required of a film production company to qualify for a performance-based incentive for film production activities in Colorado. It is designed to make the incentive more usable and thus attract more film and television work to Colorado.
Senate Bill 94, Definition of Capitol Construction Appropriations for Purposes of the Art in Public Places Program, clarifies that the thirty-three year old Arts in Public Places Statute applies to all capitol construction projects funded with state dollars, regardless of the funding mechanism. Senate Bill 158, Creation of the Creative Industries Division within the Colorado Office of Economic Development, merges the statutory provisions for the Office of Film, Television, and Media, the State Council on the Arts, and the Art in Public Places Program, and renames the State Council on the Arts as the Council on Creative Industries and authorizes the Council to establish policies for the merged entity. House Bill 1273, Arts Education for Workforce Development, requires all Colorado public schools to provide education in the visual and performing arts and requires satisfactory completion of a course in visual or performing arts as a condition for high school graduation. The bill also incorporates visual and performing arts education into the description of postsecondary and workforce readiness. Additionally, the bill provides for innovative strategies including BOCES/RSA partnerships, public-private partnerships, and non-traditional delivery such as online coursework. |
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Party with Oscar to Benefit Denver Film Society |
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Game Development Expanding in Colorado |
 Did you know Colorado has its own game development scene? Not only do we have Sony Online Entertainment located downtown Denver, but also IdolMinds and NetDevil in Louisville. These companies continuously produce high quality, branded entertainment for the world, but tend to work in seclusion and under the radar. There are several other smaller companies holding their own. If you have an iPhone/iPodTouch then you are familiar with PaperToss, the hit game available on the App Store. It consistently ranks in the top ten and entertains millions of people. The company behind this brilliant time-waster, Backflip Studios, is located in Boulder and consists of just a handful of employees. Their founder, Julian Farrar, attended my audio talk at the 360iDev conference in September as did developers from all over the world. During this 4 day conference at the Curtis Hotel, I met them all and learned about the tidal wave of mobile development happening today. The highlight was working with Denver based Riptide Games on Gravity Sling, an iPhone game with over 250,000 downloads to date. I created the music and sound effects for this space-themed game. All five team members are local to Denver so it was a welcome change to work locally in today's world of 'distant tradeshows' and Skype conferences!
Noise Buffet is a full service audio production company serving the Film, TV, Video Game and Advertising Industries. The company was founded by Ben Long, a Denver based artist with a focus on original music, sound design and audio production. Ben's music can be heard on HBO, The Discovery Channel & MSNBC as well as video games worldwide. |
Marcia Gay Harden to Host Aspen Film's "Lights, Camera, Oscars®" Party |
 Academy Award®-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden will be the special guest host for Aspen Film's Oscar® Party Sunday, March 7, at the Viceroy Snowmass hotel. "Lights, Camera, Oscars®" at Eight K presented by Viceroy Snowmass, a fundraiser to benefit the nonprofit organization, will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. (or until the last award has been given out). Local celebrity and Plum TV on-air personality Oliver Sharpe will co-host the event with Harden. Prices begin at a very accessible $80 ($75 for members of Aspen Film's Reel People. One exclusive VIP room still available for 20 guests ($2,500); amenities include buffet service to the table, champagne, movie candy, in-room plasma TVs for viewing the ceremony and multiple tickets to Aspen Film's upcoming Shortsfest 2010. For information on the VIP room, contact Allison Levy at alevy@aspenfilm.org. The Viceroy is also extending a special room rate of $150 for the night of March 7 exclusively to guests of the event. Party attire is Oscar chic. For more information, visit www.aspenfilm.org. |
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Estes Park Film Festival Call for Entries |
Founded in 2005, the annual Estes Park Film Festival takes place each September in beautiful Estes Park, Colorado, home of Rocky Mountain National Park! Each year filmmakers from around the world travel to Estes Park to showcase their newest films at the beautiful Historic Park Theatre. Built in 1913, the Historic Park Theatre is one of the oldest movie theatres still operating in America, and in 1984 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
We are looking for the best feature length films, documentaries, short films, and student films for our 5th annual event! This year we have partnered with Withoutabox to offer a complete and seamless online submission process. To enter your film, click here.
Entry Fees & Deadlines:
Early Submission Deadline:
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Regular Submission Deadline: February 13, 2010 - May 1, 2010: $35 Features (Narrative or Documentary) / $30 Shorts / $25
Students
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Late Submission Deadline: May 2, 2010 - June 1, 2010: $40 Features (Narrative or Documentary) / $35 Shorts / $30
Students
The Estes Park Film Festival was recently been awarded an AdWords online advertising grant from Google. The Google Grants program supports organizations sharing Google's philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts. Film festival co-director Cliff Armitage commented "This grant is a tremendous push in marketing for the Estes Park Film Festival, as it will help increase publicity - and more importantly - public knowledge of our organization and its endeavors."
Designed for 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, Google Grants is a unique in-kind advertising program harnessing the power of Google AdWords advertising product. Google Grants has awarded AdWords advertising to hundreds of non-profit groups whose missions range from animal welfare to literacy, from supporting the arts to promoting HIV education.
In recent years, the Estes Park Film Festival has bolstered their online presence with an interactive event schedule, a festival blog, and various online videos which feature filmmaker interviews and documentaries about the Historic Park Theatre. With the additional support from Google Adwords, the festival will now be able to engage and inform a larger audience on the internet. |
19th Annual Aspen Shortsfest Adds One Day to Internationally Known Film Festival in April |
 Aspen Film celebrates the art of the short film and adds a sixth day to its normal five-day festival, bringing together audiences throughout the Roaring Fork Valley and filmmakers from around the world with its 19th annual Aspen Shortsfest, April 6-11, 2010. Recognized as one of the festival circuit's premier showcases for short films and videos - including documentary, animation, and live action - Aspen Shortsfest features an Oscar®-qualifying International Competition, with cash and prizes to be awarded by a jury of prominent filmmakers and other film professionals. Over 60 shorts, selected from more than 2,500 submissions from almost 80 countries, will screen at Aspen's historic Wheeler Opera House and the Crystal Theatre in Carbondale. For almost two decades Aspen Shortsfest has connected film lovers with the unique qualities of short films, which encourage unparalleled innovation and creativity, by presenting works from established filmmakers and emerging artists alike. For example, Academy Award®-nominated producer and director Jason Reitman (Up in the Air) first garnered notice at Aspen Shortsfest 2000, winning the festival's best comedy and audience awards. Four of the films shown at Shortsfest 2009 were recently nominated for Academy Awards®: Nick Park's A Matter of Loaf and Death and Fabrice O. Joubert's French Roast, for Best Short Film-Animated, and Instead of Abracadabra, directed by Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellstroem, and Miracle Fish, from Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey, for Best Short Film-Live Action. In order to better accommodate the ever-expanding roster of quality short films submitted to Shortsfest, Aspen Film has added a day of programming to this year's festival. Says George Eldred, Program Director for Aspen Film, "Despite the global economic downturn, there has been no slackening in the outpouring of creativity from short filmmakers around the world. We are thrilled to be able to offer our audiences an even larger sampling of outstanding short cinema." |
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 Park County's enduring heritage defines the area and attracts filmmakers and photographers who value authenticity. The Governor designated this region as an official State Heritage Area in 1997 and proclaimed it to be one of the finest resource areas of Colorado and the West.
In 2009 legislation was passed by both houses of Congress designating South Park as one of 49 National Heritage Areas. National Heritage Areas are places where natural, cultural, historic and recreational resources combine to form nationally distinctive landscapes arising from patterns of human activity shaped by geography. These areas tell nationally important stories about our nation and are representative of the national experience through both the physical features that remain and the traditions that have evolved within them. Accordingly, Park County now qualifies for up to $10 million from Congress to undertake a variety of historic preservation, heritage tourism, resource education, and ranch recreation development projects.
To read more about Park County its' history and upcoming historic preservation projects go to: http://www.parkcountyheritage.com/about-our-heritage/ |
  Colorado Office of Film, Television and MediaA division of the Office of Economic Development
and International Trade
1625 Broadway Street, 27th Floor
Denver, Colorado 80202
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