Saving Oklahoma Film & Video Production!

It failed last year when it was quickly and quietly brought up to a vote to prevent supporters from making their voices heard. 

It failed yesterday by three votes.

Oklahoma Video Production.jpg

But today, the Compete with Canada Act (HB 2580) passed the Oklahoma House of Representatives by a vote of 65-28. A Senate version of the bill has already passed. The Film Incentive needs only to get passed reconciliation and get the governor's signature.

http://newsok.com/house-passes-film-tax-rebate-bill-after-reconsideration/article/3939791

What does this mean?

It means we will continue to see great films come to our state and our talented crew base get jobs. It means that the businesses that have sprung up, started by my fellow filmmakers and yours truly, can continue to build our careers and generate economic growth for the state.

I cannot begin to tell you how different things are today in the Oklahoma film and video community as a result of the first film incentive. Making a living ten years ago in this industry was a very difficult task. Today, there are more aspiring filmmakers than I can count. Every time I meet up with industry comrades, I meet several new people.

The ancillary benefits of bringing big movies into the state are just as important! It's allowed people to specialize in various aspects film & video production. Editing, gripping, camera, even rental houses have sprung up in the last ten years. And with more talent and equipment available, video production for local commercials and web videos has exploded. Projects that would see Dallas or other out-of-state filmmakers come to town to make are now going to Oklahomans! Local marketing, advertising, and PR firms are get larger Oklahoma-based companies as clients because they are able to offer high quality video services in state instead of looking elsewhere.

Keeping the film incentive in place gives filmmaker like myself the chance to build off the success of the last ten years. In the near future, I want to start bringing regional and national commercial work into the state. And eventually movies and television series of my own! 

The Oklahoma film and video community is a strong and vibrant business and we've only just begun to impact the state's economy! I applaud the Oklahoma State Legislator for getting it right and keeping the incentive. I can't wait to see what our industry looks like ten years from now!

Patrick Kirk

Filmmaker | Owner Video405

 

Patrick Kirk

No one knows the exact day Patrick Kirk was born, because he was carried into town by a pack of wild coyotes, but the end of March seems to have some consensus built around it. The townsfolk hadn’t much need for a coyote-raised wild boy seein’ as they already had a town idiot. So, they set Patrick off with the next traveling circus that rolled through town. It was there that the young boy learned of books and math and writing and other cultural offerings from Martha, the kindly old bearded lady, and her husband, Harold, the world’s tallest midget. In between shows, he would explore each new town, never having the chance to make friends with children his age, mostly because they didn’t speak coyote… However, it was on one such trek in his later teen years that Patrick happened upon a small cinema playing an engagement of Major League II. From then on, he knew that he must dedicate his life to motion pictures. The members of the circus were sad to see him go, some angry calling cinema ‘beneath them’, but Patrick took his leave and headed off to university to study the filmic arts. Over nearly half a decade of study, Patrick learned from notables such as Fritz Kiersch, director of Children of the Corn, and Gray Fredrickson, producer of the Godfather Trilogy. Patrick has worked locally in the Oklahoma City market as a grip, camera operator, and editor. He has directed a number of short films and commercial projects and aspires to do more. When not in the editing suite or on set, Patrick can be found relaxing at local sporting events or playing a round of golf. He is particularly fond of poker and has been known to frequent the local casinos. Patrick also experiments with cooking and can make a mean batch of tacos. Among things he still would like to accomplish, Patrick hopes to fly to the moon one day and get into an old fashioned pistols at dawn duel; preferably both at the same time.