Gina Vernaci, President & COO of Playhouse Square, sees great synergy between the film and theater industries, “First and foremost, we are both telling stories. But beyond that, the skills needed overlap. Both industries must have actors, of course, but also carpenters, electricians, make-up artists, hair and wig stylists, plus costume, lighting, set and sound designers.” 

Playhouse Square President & COO Gina Vernaci

Gina believes Ohio is more than ready to take its place as a premier location for film and theater production, with a wealth of resources, locations and skilled labor.

“All we are missing is the expansion of the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit,” she says of a bill currently being considered in the state legislature. “Although theater and film already are important drivers of our economy, the passage of this tax credit will have a noticeable, positive impact on spending and job creation that we need in Ohio.”

Like the Greater Cleveland Film Commission, Playhouse Square focuses on economic development and actively advocates for production to take place in Ohio. In her role at Playhouse Square and as the Road Vice Chair of the Broadway League, Gina regularly meets with leading theatrical producers, “They all love Ohio, but the lack of a tax credit makes other locations more attractive for pre-Broadway production and rehearsals.”

As partners, GCFC and Playhouse Square have the privilege of sharing what those of us who live already know: Ohio and its talented, hard-working people deserve to be in the spotlight. 

“We are proud to partner with the GCFC to build a business sector and supportive working environment for those who make film and theater,” says Gina, “We know it is time for Ohio to take its place in the spotlight.”

Learn more about Playhouse Square by visiting their website.

Native Son, which filmed in Northeast Ohio last year,
will premiere on HBO on April 6th at 10:00 pm!

Native Son was chosen as one of the films which opened the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and will premiere on HBO on Saturday, April 6th at 10:00 pm.

Directed by Rashid Johnson, written by Suzan-Lori Parks, and produced by Matthew Perniciaro and Michael Sherman, Native Son is a modern retelling of Richard Wright’s classic novel. A young African-American man named Bigger Thomas takes a job working for a highly influential Chicago family, a decision that will change the course of his life forever. The cast is comprised of Ashton Sanders, Margaret Qually, Nick Robinson, KiKi Layne, Bill Camp, and Sanaa Lathan.

When it filmed in Cleveland early last year, Native Son created over 100 jobs, with about 80 of those going to local crew!  This film also employed over 200 extras and engaged many local businesses.

Watch the trailer below!

Ohio’s increasing film tax credit key to a sustainable state film industry

By Alex Semerano
Partner, Director-CFO Services
Pease & Associates, LLC

The filming of The Avengers brought movie making to the spotlight on the corner of East 9th and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland in 2011. Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson offered a preview of what Hollywood’s impact to this city could be. Native Cleveland directors Joe and Anthony Russo also shot Captain America: The Winter Soldier in 2013, featuring a memorable fight scene on the West Shoreway.

Marvel Studios selected Cleveland for both projects, not only because of the city’s likeness to Manhattan, where the stories are set, but by the attraction of over $14 million in tax credits granted by the state. Since then, several hundred movies, documentaries, commercials and other media formats have been produced throughout the state, with movies ranging from Draft Day, Fun Size, and Dog Eat Dog in Cleveland to Carol, The Public, and The Old Man & The Gun in Cincinnati. What began as a $10 million tax credit in 2009 to encourage and develop a sustainable film industry in Ohio has steadily increased to the $40 million credit available today with plans to support $100 million within the next few years.

(Top to Bottom): Ivan Schwarz, President & CEO of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission.
Filming of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Downtown Cleveland

The motion picture tax credit available in Ohio, one of 35 states offering similar incentives, provides for a refundable or transferable tax credit of 30 percent of production-eligible in-state spending, which includes cast and crew wages. There is no per-project spending cap and production must spend at least $300,000 to qualify. Production projects include feature-length films, miniseries, series, music videos, and television commercials. A production interested in shooting in Ohio must submit an application and budget to the state’s film office. Once approved, they are awarded a letter from the state guaranteeing their credit. Upon completion of the project, production companies must have a certified audit by an accounting firm to verify qualified production expenses prior to receiving the rebate check or transferable credit.

Recent legislative changes since the last renewal of the credit mandate documentation of financial ability to undertake and complete a motion picture by demonstrating secured funding equal to at least 50 percent of the total production budget. In addition, eligibility was extended to certain live stage theater productions and Broadway productions after initial performance in a qualified state production facility such as Playhouse Square.

The beginnings of the incentive program can be traced back to president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission and producer of Band of Brothers, Ivan Schwarz. Upon joining the commission in 2007, Ivan has worked to bring a sustainable media industry to Ohio through a statewide effort in creating and passing the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit necessary to generate jobs, develop an industry workforce, and build an infrastructure necessary to attract and maintain media productions. As a result of these efforts, Cleveland State University recently opened a new school of Film & Media Arts, the first standalone film school in Ohio.

Since 2010, Pease & Associates has developed a niche in this area of practice by providing certification of tax-eligible production expenses as well as assisting in forming entity structures necessary to achieve investor’s tax objectives. Producers and other media-related companies work hand-in-hand with the firm’s partners and senior managers, who are committed to personalized added value. The firm has developed an industry reputation by focusing on quality and timely delivery of its services as well as serving as a strategic tax advisor to project producers and investors.

The possibility of increasing the tax credit to $100 million in upcoming legislation would transform the Buckeye State into one of the most competitive in the nation for attracting movie productions, leading to a sustainable industry through the creation of companies catering to the industry, such as media technology campuses complete with sound stages and offices for supporting vendors, in addition to the creation of permanent specialized jobs. This will, in turn, significantly increase ancillary revenue already generated by retailers, restaurants, hotels, caterers and other businesses that benefit when a production sets up shop nearby. Outside of deserts and mountains, the state of Ohio and, in particular, Cleveland, offers the look of classic America through its numerous attractive locations, including the lakefront and the ability to easily transition from the city to the country, qualities that producers often look for when choosing a location to invest in.

Read more from Pease & Associates, LLC in their new magazine, Edge – Volume 1

Alex Semerano, Partner, Director – CFO Services
216-472-4482  –  [email protected]
IMDb.com – Alex Semerano

Crain’s Cleveland Business has been following the Cleveland Film industry closely, sitting down with GCFC President & CEO Ivan Schwarz at the beginning of the year to discuss increasing the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit and what the proposed increase to $100 million will mean for Northeast Ohio. The recent conversation with Robbie Chernow of Good Deed Entertainment (GDE) takes an in depth look at how film companies are throwing off tradition and leaving New York and L.A. for Ohio.  ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE

Originally Published: March 23, 2019 04:00 AM
Mark Oprea
[email protected]

It was a few weeks before Christmas last year when 31-year-old Robbie Chernow arrived by car in Ashland, Ohio. He’d just taken a job as executive assistant at a new film production company called Good Deed Entertainment (GDE), which had, like Chernow, relocated from Los Angeles the month before. Pining for job security and a breather— he’d been working 12-hour days — Chernow accepted GDE’s offer eagerly.

Now, at the start of December, instead of Sunset Boulevard, he found himself driving amid falling snow and Amish buggies.

“It was like jumping into a Hallmark movie,” Chernow recalled. “I remember going up Main Street in December, thinking, ‘I am in the quaintest town in America.’ No joke.”

Part of a trend of coastal film companies fleeing the burnout and high turnover of New York and L.A., GDE shows the potential for a startup to thrive in Ohio’s burgeoning film ecosystem. After the grand opening of Cleveland State’s standalone film school last August, GDE and a number of other companies are positioning themselves to shun tradition and do the previously unthinkable: attract and keep industry talent and productions in Ohio rather than Hollywood.

With filmmakers and the Greater Cleveland Film Commission advocating for a $60 million increase to the Ohio film tax credit this year, every aspect of the industry is wondering: What the heck is taking so long for Columbus to act?

To Chernow’s mind, the possibility of a gigantic tax benefit was just part of the reason to say goodbye to West Coast life.

He’d been shopping around a film he’d written, an Adam McKay-style comedy based on his experience “attending a bachelor’s party in Chicago alone,” and had even met with the producer himself. Two years spent shuttling between L.A. and New York for meetings on the project, while also working at NBC Universal — where he read an endless parade of cookie-cutter scripts — had led Chernow to grow cynical and experience a “loss of a lot of heart and soul.”

“But when I met with [GDE], I bought into their vision very much,” he said. “To me, their vision was a really exciting proposition. I mean, one that had me pack up my stuff and drive across the country.”

A Georgia state of mind

As far as other states drawing West Coast film companies, there may be no better model these days than Atlanta. After the state uncapped its film tax credit program in 2017, there was a mad rush of production companies and actors into the city, leading to an economic impact of $9.5 billion. FilmLA, the nonprofit film office for the city and county of Los Angeles, dubbed Atlanta the No. 1 Filming Location in the World.

That model is what film heads in Cleveland and around Ohio point to as proof of this region’s potential if the current tax credit’s $40 million cap is raised to $100 million. Film commission president Ivan Schwarz asserted that the credit is not just a perk for out-of-staters, but an absolute necessity to draw and keep new startups working in Ohio.

“Having the $100 million incentive is the difference between having an industry and not having an industry,” said Schwarz, the writer of the original tax incentive in 2009. “I swear, we have over $250 million worth of production wanting to shoot here, and we’re going to lose it mostly because our incentive is capped.”

A proposition for the $60 million boost as part of Senate Bill 37, Schwarz said, could not only encourage more events like “Captain America” shooting on Public Square— a production that spent $35 million alone on wages, creating 3,875 temporary jobs — but create a stronger environment for more startups like GDE, film distributor Gravitas Ventures and the nascent Dakar Studios, looking to fund projects here that use local talent.

“And the only way to do that is to have a robust incentive,” he added. “Without it — nope! They’re not gonna come.”

Frederic Lahey, the director of Cleveland State University’s new film school, said he’s right alongside Schwarz as far as convincing state politicians goes. Even if the $100 million incentive comes through, however, he noted that production companies, whether temporary or stationary, are still going to be on the hunt for grips, assistants, lighting techs and postproduction talent at the ready. With applications to his program up 70% since last March, Lahey said his 290 students could fill production roles easily. He even wants to have GDE staff guest-teach a class someday.

“Meanwhile, we’ll be providing the farm team,” he said.

Although Atlanta’s Hollywood love affair seems solid, the outcome in Ohio isn’t guaranteed.

Critics of SB 37, such as Micah Derry, director of Americans For Prosperity — Ohio, claim that a $60 million increase to the incentive would actually have a negative impact on Ohio taxpayers. In testimony before the Ohio Senate in early March, Derry cited as examples Maryland and Michigan, states that made similar tax increases in the past few years that didn’t prove glowingly beneficial.

In Michigan, Derry noted, the “average job associated with film tax credits was an average of 23 days,” adding that such “subsidies” should be done away with — “fade to black on film tax credits” — to create “a stronger economic environment for all businesses.”

Schwarz countered that the benefit to Ohio is anything but short-term. A $100 million budget, he said, would not only “cause my phone to be ringing for days,” but could lead to something grander: a 10-soundstage, 250,000-square-foot media tech campus. That, he added, would eventually generate up to 5,000 jobs.

“I want 15 GDEs coming here,” he said. “I’m not talking minimum-wage jobs for a couple of months. I mean, I want an industry so big that a huge Marvel movie could take over the studio and make their move here.”

Into the spotlight

After three months in operation on Main Street, Good Deed is beginning to ease into its new digs.

Success has come in flashes. Andrew Myers, who moved with his wife and two kids from L.A. to become GDE’s creative executive, said GDE is in the process of taking on a “grounded” sci-fi script that will be shot nearby. Nikki Stier Justice, GDE’s chief operating officer since 2014, is prepping promotion of five GDE films set to show at the Cleveland International Film Festival.

And Chernow, just three months in, is set to shed his role of executive assistant and get more involved in all aspects of production and distribution.

“It’s one thing that I told Scott (Donley),” he said, naming GDE’s founder. “That I’m down to work here for life.”

As far as missing Los Angeles, no one on GDE’s five-person staff appears nostalgic for the two-hour commutes and high rent (“I have, like, a two-bedroom now that’s $700 less than what I was paying,” Chernow bragged). Even if they need to fly out west to meet with executives, Justice said, the trips in sum cost less than what it would to live and produce out of Hollywood.

In fact, Justice is deep-down enamored of the company’s new headquarters, which will soon feature a 25-seat screening room and a fully operational soundstage on the building’s third floor. They’ve even taken in four interns (one from CSU’s film program) to help with script screening.

A horror film set in Medina? Maybe a Christmas rom-com right on Main Street? It’s all possible in Ohio.

“The plan was always to have productions going in Ashland and the surrounding areas,” she said. “We wanted to create a new model, have multiple projects going per year. And building that studio infrastructure around the community here.”

Justice added, “And we wouldn’t even have to have the film set in Ohio. For us, there’s something here that just embodies small-town America. And what’s not to love about that?”

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Read more from the Crain’s Cleveland Business “Building A Film Industry” Series
CIFF spreads the cinematic wealth
Cleveland’s Gravitas goes global
Dakar Studios’ coming attraction
Q&A: Robert Banks

The 43rd Annual Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) will showcase
the talent of many local films and filmmakers this year!

Every year, CIFF showcases the best of local filmmakers in addition to those from across the country, and around the world.  The festival is featuring many local shorts and films made about Ohio, filmed in Ohio, or by Ohioans.

Check out some of the notable local films and shorts being shown at this year’s festival!

For more information on all screenings, visit ClevelandFilm.org

Julie of the Jury
Local Heroes Program 1
One woman’s day serving jury duty turns into a wacky eternity.

GCFC Production Coordinator Mike Wendt served as one of the producers for this local short film!

Paradox
Local Heroes Program 1
A journey into a paradox question of what is.

Paradox is a music video by former GCFC employee Antonio Harper!

Two for Twenty
Local Heroes Program 1
A band of robbers must repay their debt.

2018 48 Hour Film Project Cleveland Winner:  Best Film 1st Place, Audience Award, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Supporting Actor – Jaz Securo, and Poster Contest – Group B.

Them That Follow
Tucked away in the mountains of Appalachia, Mara’s isolated community is completely centered around the church…the kind of fundamentalist church that involves speaking in tongues and handling venomous snakes during sermons. As the preacher’s daughter, Mara (Alice Englert) is seen as a prime example of purity in her religious society…but Mara has a secret that might tear her town apart. Though she’s committed to marrying a devout and well-respected Garrett, her heart lies with her childhood sweetheart, Augie (Thomas Mann), who has strayed from the church. Though Mara has always placed her faith in God’s plan, as her own life starts to unravel, she begins to question the morality of what she’s been taught. Featuring an incredible cast including Olvia Colman and Walton Goggins, with a surprisingly serious role played by Jim Gaffigan, THEM THAT FOLLOW is a captivating drama exploring blind faith and its dangerous consequences. – G.S.

While filming in the Youngstown area, Them That Follow created jobs for about 40 local crew members, required over 200 local extras, and engaged with many local businesses and hotels.

My Skin is Grey
After Hours Program 1
A dark thriller with overtones of obsession, confusion, and murder. Josh must comply when a crazed woman from his past holds his wife captive.

2018 48 Hour Film Project Horror Winner: Best Film 1st Place, Audience Award, Best Lead Actress – Lina Edwards, Best Original Song, Best Directing, Best Editing, Best Sound Design, Best Use of Prop, Movie Poster Contest – Group A.

I See You
Filmed in neighborhoods surrounding Cleveland, I SEE YOU stars Helen Hunt as Jackie Harper, whose affair has just been discovered by her husband, Greg, and son, Connor. And neither can stand to look at her. To take his mind off of his wife’s infidelity, Greg turns to his career as a detective, as their town is in a panic after a recent rash of kidnappings that eerily resembles the work of a pedophile rapist who terrorized the community a decade ago.  Meanwhile, Jackie begins to notice strange things happening at home. Her family thinks she’s crazy until they start witnessing the hair-raising occurrences for themselves. There’s some kind of dark presence toying with them, and it’s becoming increasingly more hostile. In order to solve this bizarre mystery, they’ll need to look at things from an entirely different perspective. I SEE YOU begins as a thriller but skillfully morphs into a brilliant blend of numerous genres. When it comes to edge-of-your-seat plot-twisters like this, it’s cliché to say you’ll never see the ending coming. But for this walloping mind-bender, it’s undeniably apt. – E.F.

Directed by Adam Randall, produced by Cleveland based Matt Waldeck and his company Zodiac Features, and stars Academy Award Winning actress Helen Hunt! While filming in Cleveland, the production created over 100 jobs; of those, 60 were local crew members, 50 were local extras, and 16 local actors were cast in speaking roles.  The production engaged with many local businesses during their shoot, and booked over 600 hotel room nights in local hotels.

Sangin
Local Heroes Program 2
Two lives collide and are changed forever in a moment’s time – and year’s later the consequences of their decisions are revealed.

This short film was the culmination of the Tri-C Intensive Film Crew Training Workshop in the spring of 2018.

Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am
Local Heroes Competition
Toni Morrison’s endless accolades – the Nobel Prize in Literature, Pulitzer Prize, American Book Award, Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, and Presidential Medal of Freedom – are evidence of her seismic influence on literature and American culture. However, Morrison’s climb to preeminence was not an easy one. and recognition from the literary establishment was slow to arrive. Her life began on the racially integrated streets of Lorain, Ohio in a home with parents who strongly encouraged her interest in reading and education. But it was quite a culture shock when she experienced institutionalized segregation as a Howard University student when off-campus in Washington, DC. Morrison subsequently held a series of teaching positions before landing a L.W. Singer editing role, which changed the trajectory of her life. Her work led her to become the first black woman senior fiction editor for Random House. Morrison’s instinctive influence helped bring black fiction authors into the mainstream while encouraging autobiographies by activists such as Angela Davis and Mohammed Ali. Meanwhile, she began writing her own work and published The Bluest Eye (1970), Sula (1973), Son of Solomon (1977), and Tar Baby(1981) with a focus on inspiring an African American audience. Broad acclaim did not arrive as quickly, and there was an outcry by dozens of black critics and writers after her 1987 epic novel, Beloved, failed to win major book awards. But many factors, including that protest and ongoing praise and engagement of Morrison’s work from such people as Oprah Winfrey, steered her to the universal praise she always deserved. TONI MORRISON: THE PIECES I AM offers an intimate portrait of an American icon whose early life was shaped here in Northeast Ohio. – Patrick Shepherd

I See You will have its Cleveland premiere at the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF)!

The thriller filmed in Cleveland last summer, just one of many films and TV shows that used Northeast Ohio as their film set last year.

With a production of over 100 cast and crew members, 60 were local crew, 50 were local extras, and 16 local actors were cast in speaking roles! I See You also engaged with many Northeast Ohio businesses during their shoot, and booked 600 hotel room nights in local hotels.

Produced by Cleveland-based Matt Waldeck and his company Zodiac Features, I See You stars Academy Award Winning actress Helen Hunt (Twister), Jon Tenney (The Closer), and Judah Lewis (Demolition).  Adam Randall (iBoy) directed the film, and Devon Graye wrote the script.

I See You had its world premiere at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival, and will be playing at CIFF on Friday, March 29th at 8:15 pm at the Capitol Theater, and at Tower City Cinemas on Saturday, March 30th at 1:25 pm and Sunday March 31st at 4:10 pm.

All showings are now on stand-by!  This doesn’t mean it’s sold-out, this will require you to go to the theater 1 hour before the screening to get in the stand-by line. 

Use the Promo Code: GCFC to save $1.00 on your ticket

GCFC President & CEO Ivan Schwarz was a guest speaker at the recent CreativeMornings Cleveland talk hosted by the Cleveland State University School of Film & Media Arts.

CreativeMornings Cleveland started off their 2019 series by thinking about the SURREAL, the bizarre, and the extraordinary; what better way to start this series than by talking about the “Movie Magic” present in the  Cleveland film industry?

Ivan talked about the surreal as it’s captured for the big screen from the myriad of incredible locations found all across Northeast Ohio, and how Cleveland can be THE place for producing entertainment content if it wants to be.

From CreativeMorning Cleveland:
Moving from Cleveland to L.A., Ivan Schwarz has been on a mission to build the film industry in Northeast Ohio, and he’s been quite successful in attracting blockbuster film productions from the biggest Hollywood based studios. The work is, however, far from over with more jobs, industry, and infrastructure to be built. He talks about siloed leadership in our communities, craft beer, and the opportunity that is available if everyone works together to say yes, to everything.

It has come to our attention that there is another potential identity phishing scam going around targeting Northeast Ohio film crew.

One of our local crew members was contacted by Attic Films, or Attic Films Productions, saying they had a series of short films they were looking to film here.  They sent a fraudulent check to purchase some supplies, and told this crew member that they could keep what was left after they bought the supplies.

The contact said their name was Carlos Mendoza and used the email [email protected]. They claimed to be coming from Singapore to shoot short films from February 25th-28th, and needed someone to cash a check.

PLEASE IGNORE POTENTIAL EMAILS LIKE THIS THAT YOU MAY RECEIVE; THIS IS A SCAM.

Any email from a supposed production company or filmmaker where the person says:
– they will send you a check to deposit
– they are offering abnormally high rates
– the email is written with poor grammar/spelling mistakes
are very likely to be scams, and should be ignored.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to Production Coordinator Mike Wendt if you receive any emails like this!  Mike can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 216-344-7401.

Greater Cleveland Film Commission President & CEO Ivan Schwarz was recently the Special Guest of The Fabulous Boomer Boys, in honor of Oscars® week.  

The Fabulous Boomer Boys and Ivan had fun, discussing the Cleveland Film scene, Ivan’s career, and what’s in store for Northeast Ohio’s media production industry in 2019.  Ivan discussed the importance of the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit, and the GCFC’s renewed efforts to increase the inventive to $100 million.

About the Show
Co-hosted by Bob Snyder and Bruce Bogart, episodes of this rebooted radio hit can be viewed Tuesday’s beginning at 7:00 pm!  From the back room of the famed Corky & Lenny’s Deli in Cleveland, OH — join two life-long friends for talk, smiles and laughter.

Find The Fabulous Boomer Boys on YouTube & Facebook

Congratulations to I See You which will have its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in March!

I See You was one of several films made in Cleveland last summer. Out of over 100 production cast and crew members, 60 were local crew, 50 were local extras, and 16 local actors were cast in speaking roles!  The production engaged with many Northeast Ohio businesses while they were filming, and booked 600 hotel room nights in local hotels.

Produced by Cleveland-based Zodiac Features, I See You stars Helen Hunt (Twister), Jon Tenney (The Closer), and Judah Lewis (Demolition). Adam Randall (iBoy) directed the film, and Devon Graye wrote the script.

Learn more about I See You in the recent Cleveland.com article.

Going to SXSW? I See You will be screened three times: March 11, 13 and 15.