DEPARTMENT: Department of Arts & Culture
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Debbie Racca-Sittre
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: All Council Districts
SUBJECT: Film Strategic Plan and Marketing Update
SUMMARY:
This briefing item is an update on the San Antonio Film Commission’s Film Strategic Plan, adopted by City Council in October 2016, and marketing activities to promote San Antonio as one of the top film-friendly cities in the nation. The briefing will include an overview of successes achieved in the implementation of the strategic plan and a look ahead at upcoming film activities.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Established in 1985, the San Antonio Film Commission has been dedicated to promoting film making in San Antonio for over three decades by providing various services such as film permitting, calls for cast and crew and liaison services.
In early 2016, the City of San Antonio and a group of film industry stakeholders began discussions focused on growing and developing the San Antonio film industry despite a cut in the Texas Film Commission’s incentive fund. Multiple meetings with more than 200 stakeholders led to the development of a vision and key strategies for what the City of San Antonio and local film industry will accomplish in the next five years.
The resulting five-year Film Strategic Plan, along with a change in City Code section 2-3 titled “Commercial Filming of City-Owned Facilities” to designate the San Antonio Film Office as the film liaison agency instead of the Convention & Visitors Bureau and to provide the Film Office and director of the managing city department the ability to waive the $200 fee for film permits, was passed unanimously by City Council on October 13, 2016 to promote San Antonio as a film-friendly city.
The Film Strategic Plan includes a winning proposition, practical vision and three key strategy areas:
Winning Proposition: San Antonio will be the most production friendly city in the United States; celebrating our locations and cultural diversity while supporting the film industry with effective infrastructure, funding, marketing and professional development opportunities.
Practical Vision: The San Antonio film industry will have robust job creation; seamless interaction, collaboration and leadership with the City; a globally recognized film industry presence; state of the art online presence; and abundant opportunities for continuing education and professional development.
Three Key Strategies were identified to achieve this vision and within each of the strategies participants developed success indicators that should be in place in five years if the vision is achieved.
• Strategy #1: Ensure state and local film incentives are nationally competitive
• Strategy #2: Invest, develop and maintain workforce and infrastructure needs
• Strategy #3: Enhance marketing to increase business opportunities and build a strong film culture
ISSUE:
In collaboration with film industry stakeholders, including the San Antonio Arts Commission’s Film Committee, the San Antonio Film Commission is leading the implementation of the Film Strategic Plan with successes since the plan was adopted in 2016 including:
• 79% increase in film permits issued
• Two incentive projects in production - seasons two and three of DIY’s Pool Kings
• San Antonio recognized as a top film-friendly city by Movie Maker Magazine
• Collaboration with other city departments to provide top service to filmmakers
• Nearly tripled San Antonio resources on Texas Film Commission’s production directory
• Productions choosing San Antonio over other cities
ALTERNATIVES:
City Council could choose to not move forward with this planning effort. As a result, the goals and corresponding strategies that were developed through the planning efforts would not be implemented.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This is a briefing item with no fiscal impact.
RECOMMENDATION:
This item is for briefing purposes only.