MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 23, 2017 MEETING 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place City Hall, Room 416 San Francisco, CA 94102 CALL TO ORDER President Villy Wang called the meeting to order at 2:00pm. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Denise Bradley-Tyson Marlene Sharon Saritzky Villy Wang Jon Rubin Mark Fishkin Melanie Blum Matt Stiker Claudine Cheng Commissioners Excused: Jim Beaumonte Belle Taylor-McGhee Commissioners Absent: *Jonathan Moscone APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE SEPTEMBER 25, 2017 MEETING (ACTION ITEM) President Wang asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the September 25 th, 2017 meeting. President Wang asked for comments and Commissioner Cheng requested that the minutes from the September 25 th meeting be changed to mark her as abstaining from the approval of the July minutes because she was not present. President Wang confirmed and asked for any other comments. Commissioner Stiker made the motion for approval and Commissioner Fishkin seconded the motion. The minutes were then approved. PRESIDENT S REPORT (DISCUSSION ONLY) President Wang began by asking about logistics for the next Commission meetings in November and December as well as possible dates for the next Commissioner retreat. From the discussion that followed, it looked like Monday, 1 DR. CARLTON B. GOODLETT PLACE, ROOM 473, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA 94102 TEL: (415) 554-6241 FAX: (415) 554-6503 * COMMISSIONER WAS REPORTED AS EXCUSED DURING ROLL CALL ERRONEOUSLY. C OMMISSIONER MOSCONE WAS ABSENT FOR THE MEETING.
November 27 th is the preferred date for next month s meeting and the December date was still undecided. The scheduled date for the December commission meeting is Monday, December 25 th (Christmas Day) and will need to be rescheduled or cancelled. For the retreat, President Wang asked if it can serve as a substitute for a normally scheduled meeting. Film Coordinator Portia Fontes replied yes, a body may schedule regular meetings at dates or times that are not uniform if there is advance notice to the schedule, preferably 15 days. President Wang asked if there was anyone with any answers to the dates in question in January and February. A quorum was not reached yet with the given answers so President Wang said to please let Film Coordinator Fontes know as she will email everyone to see which date works best. The facilitator from the last retreat is available for any of those dates and it may be longer than a half day retreat. President Wang ended her report and asked for Commissioner and public comments none were given. COMMISSIONERS WORKING GROUP REPORTS (DISCUSSION ONLY) President Wang began by asking for reports from the Working Group Committees: Facilitation and creation of the dedicated Stage Space: o Commissioner Rubin and Executive Director Robbins confirmed that they met previously to this meeting. o Commissioner Rubin stated that there seems to have potential for some space that we are looking at as one of the groups the Committee needs to talk to has close connections with the Commission. o Commissioner Saritzky asked if he can more specific. Executive Director Robbins stated that the information is still very preliminary but they just discovered that the Commission has a connection to an off-market location. o Commissioner Rubin stated that they had a conversation with a stage developer who knows how to make it all work, financially and operationally. o Executive Director Robbins stated that because of the guest at the meeting, they were not able to create a group plan today but they will submit soon. o President Wang thanked the Committee for the update. Scene in San Francisco Rebate program: o President Wang stated that Commissioner Moscone is officially off of this Committee. o President Wang reported that she and Commissioner Blum have not connected yet since Commissioner Blum was out of the country so there is no update. o Commissioner Bradley-Tyson asked why Commissioner Moscone is not part of this Committee anymore. President Wang answered that he could not participate in 2 Working Groups he is already part of the neighborhood relationship working group. Build relationships with the Bay Area Film/Media/Tech/Production companies: o Vice President Stiker reported that he did not send invites out yet for a next meeting but it will probably be right before or after the November Commission meeting. Strengthen Neighborhood/Merchant Association relationships: o Commissioner Cheng had no updates Create a strong branding/marketing/advertising program: o Vice President Stiker had no updates but they will try to get a plan in by the next meeting. President Wang asked the Committees to please make sure to meet and create a work plan before the next meeting and before the retreat. President Wang ended the reports and asked for Commissioner and public comments none were given. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT (DISCUSSION ONLY)
Executive Director Susannah Robbins began her report by giving an update on the number of recent film permits and notable productions which have shot in San Francisco. The Office had 69 permits with 131 shoot days and $17,700 in permits. This is up from the previous month, where there were 52 permits, 82 shoot days and $14,350 in permit fees. Last year at this time, there were similar number of permits but more shoot days due to the TV series Chance being in town, as well as more web shoot days during that period. Commissioner Rubin asked if Chance will be coming back to San Francisco. Executive Director Robbins answered that they will come back only for exteriors and b-roll. Executive Director Robbins then reported on notable productions this past month: 4 day Suzuki commercial 20 shoot days for Pottery Barn catalogs 2 day shoot for Keeping Up with the Kardashians, where they filmed at: o Fisherman s Wharf o Painted Ladies o Lombard Street o Cable Car charter o Yank Sing on Stevenson Street o Kokkari Estiatorio on Jackson Street o Fairmont Hotel Executive Director Robbins next gave an update on upcoming productions. The Office will have an exciting and busy time coming up and they continue to keep finding out about more productions coming to town in the next 7 months: Cherry Blue is shooting 1st unit work from November 14 21 Billions (HBO) is shooting sometime in late November/early December (TBD # days) A Taiwanese Tale of Twin Cities (Netflix TV series) is shooting from Jan. 10 Feb. 11 o The Taipei Film Commission reached out to the Office to connect as sister cities. Executive Robbins will be seeing them at AFM and invited President Wang to also attend and show support at the event. Antidote (Marvel) is shooting from Jan 17 19, 2018 for 2 nd unit and from Jan 22 26 for 1 st unit Large Independent Film is prepping from Feb 5 March 16, 2018 and plan on shooting from March 19 April 24 Last Black Man in San Francisco, produced by a local independent filmmaker, is shooting in March 2018 Untitled Ali Randall Project (Netflix movie) is prepping next Feb/March (they plan on building sets in March) and shooting from April June 2018 o Executive Robbins stated that they are currently try to find space for them and have placed a hold on the spaces in the Presidio. The OA Season 2 (Netflix) is planning on filming April 2018, TBD # days Executive Director Robbins then gave a report about the recent mixer held at the University Club on October 11 th. The Film Office hosted a wonderful mixer at the University Club. Originally, the mixer was going to be at the Stanford Court Hotel but their renovations were not completed on time so they graciously arranged this alternate location. There was a great turn out around 50 people attended including Commissioners Cheng and Beaumonte. Commissioner Cheng had invited Mr. Masashi Niwano, the Festival & Exhibitions Director for Center for Asian American Media (CAAM). They spoke about meeting in the future to see how the Commission and CAAM could work together during their spring festival and connect with filmmakers to let them know about the Rebate Program.
Executive Director Robbins next gave a report about Film SF s participation at the Mill Valley Film Festival which ran from October 5 th -15 th. This year, the Commission was happy to participate at the Mill Valley Film Festival. The Office placed a ½ page ad about the rebate program in their Souvenir Guide, had a presence at the filmmaker lounges with our postcards about the Rebate, did Social Media cross promotions with their team, and more. The Commission was also able to attend two Sunday Brunches with filmmakers and sponsors Executive Director Robbins went to one and she thanked Commissioner Saritzky for attending the second brunch, as the Director was out of town. She found this incredibly effective, as they both spoke to filmmakers at each table about the incentives and already have two meetings set up with independent filmmakers that they met during the brunch. Executive Director Robbins then asked if Commissioner Sartizky had any comments. Commissioner Saritzky stated that she also had similar experiences in talking with the local filmmakers and went table to table she stated that it was a great use of their time. Commissioner Fishkin stated that he was delighted in the involvement by the Commission and thinks it s a good model of what the Commission can do. There were about 630 filmmakers at the event and he was happy it was beneficial for all. Executive Director Robbins then thanked Commissioner Stiker, Cheng and Moscone for their assistance with an upcoming production involving stunt bike rider Danny MacAskill shooting a Postcard from San Francisco. They are trying to get iconic SF locations for the production and have been having some difficulty due to the venues concerned about copy cats but the Commissioners have been making calls to help with some of the problematic locations. Commissioner Cheng was able to help to facilitate an approval for the pedestrian bridge near Portsmouth Square in Chinatown, Vice President Stiker helped for Pier 39 (still pending) and Commissioner Moscone helped for Yerba Buena Gardens (still pending). Executive Director Robbins ended her report with a reminder to mark calendars for the upcoming Film Commission Holiday Party on Wednesday, December 6 th which will be held at Hotel Zepplin on Post Street from 6-9pm. President Wang asked for Commissioner comments. Vice President Stiker asked in all the productions if there are any notable talent coming. Executive Director Robbins stated that Tom Hardy is coming in January, Michael Douglas in November, the actors of Billions, and Netflix s untitled project will feature Ali Wong and Randall Park. Vice President Stiker then stated that large independent sounds like an oxymoron and asked why so many features are coming. Executive Director Robbins answered that she s not sure but streaming content is bring in a lot of productions. Vice President Stiker stated that Netflix is putting $8 billion toward original content and are also bringing back filming to California. Executive Director Robbins added that she found her contact there and will reconnect again with them to follow up. Vice President Stiker added to see if the Los Angeles film office can offer some perspective. Vice President Stiker then thanked Commissioner Fishkin for allowing the Commission to work together in this way with the Mill Valley Film Festival it is exactly what the Commission is looking for in terms of exposure. Commissioner Fishkin agreed and said he was delighted too by the collaboration. He also added that he can try to get more contacts with Netflix as well. Commissioner Cheng asked if Netflix has any offices near San Francisco. Executive Director Robbins stated that they have some in Los Gatos but would need more information on specifics. President Wang thanked the Commissioners for their comments and asked if there were any more or comments from the public none were given.
PRESENTATION BY BAYCAT (PRESENTATION) Ms. Senait Hailemariam, BAYCAT Studio Production Coordinator, presented on the work the organization has done in relations to filming in San Francisco. She gave background on herself, her work and shared why she does the work she is doing. She then presented about the BAYCAT Studio s Internship Pathway Program. Many of the interns in this program have found work through First Source Program and the Scene in San Francisco Rebate Program. She specifically talked about why diversity in production is important and showed a testimonial video from BAYCAT interns and intern program graduates (https://vimeo.com/132979448). She then gave epilogues to the interns in the video and other interns that have been a part of the program. She then showed a studio reel of the work the interns at BAYCAT have created (https://vimeo.com/173972997). She ended her report by thanking the Commission for the support that they have provided in bringing productions to the City and allowing interns to be hired through First Source. Vice President Stiker stated that Ms. Hailemariam did a terrific job presenting and asked if there are companies or industries that are proving difficult for graduates to get into. Ms. Hailemariam stated that through the internship program, the BAYCAT staff gets to know the individual interns very well and therefore can really help to place them in spaces that will fit them the best. It s not too hard and if there are challenges, it s can also come from outside their professional life that s where mentorships come through so that there can be follow up to make sure the interns are supported in whatever their needs are. Executive Director Robbins stated that the work is really beautiful and high quality. The Commission thanked Ms. Hailemariam for her presentation. GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT (DISCUSSION ONLY) President Wang asked if there were any additional public comments. Frank Simeone, DGA and SAG-AFTRA representative, thanked Commissioner Fishkin for a great festival and thanked the Film Commission for a great mixer. He reported that it s been very busy for SAG-AFTRA as there is the same amount of work for actors and background actors as last year. It is mostly being done in northern California. Their offices have been getting calls from the productions mentioned by the Executive Director Cherry Blue and Last Black Man in San Francisco want very many actors (side note: Brad Pitt is head of the production company for the independent film). The DGA did not get a quorum so no updates from them but Mr. Simeone thanked the Commission for the ad in the quarterly DGA magazine. He then introduced to Mr. Barrington Gore, the Corporate Education and Commercial Business Representative, who was present at the meeting and works with commercials that come into the City. President Wang thanked Mr. Simeone for his report and asked if there were any more public comments none were given. ADJOURNMENT (ACTION ITEM) President Wang asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting and the meeting was adjourned at 2:49 pm.