Motion Picture Editors Guild

I would really like to become part of the Motion Picture Editors Guild out here in the Los Angeles area. They help negotiate to protect their members’ safety and well being from producer exploitation. Being newer to this industry, I think it is important to have a negotiation partner who knows what the expectations are for pay rate in my profession. The benefits of being a member include health and pension plans as well as practice facilities and training courses to stay up to date with current software and technology.

Their health plan is rated as one of the best plans in the country, paid entirely by producer contributions. Benefits include comprehensive medical, hospital, prescription drug, vision, dental and life insurance coverage. In addition, contracted wellness programs offer you preventive screenings and educational programs. 

They offer two pension plans, The Motion Picture Industry Pension Plan (Pension Plan), and the Motion Picture Industry Individual Account Plan (IAP). Both are funded 100% through employer contributions.  The Pension Plan provides a fixed monthly benefit payable for the Participant’s lifetime after retirement.

Their post production practice facilities feature the most modern equipment, popular software, a comprehensive library and access to online training programs. While they offer training courses at participating facilities are also available to members in good standing. The cost for these training courses is subsidized, but many of the facilities waive the cost entirely.  Providing a place to further develop skills and practice your craft is an enticing benefit to becoming a member.

The union also offers plenty of networking opportunities and mixers as well as special screenings to members. They offer all prospective union employers 24/7 access to the Guild’s database of members’ resumes. The database search results include the member’s name, contact information, resume, skills, and references. Providing editors with an opportunity to share their skills with a broader audience. 
 

Their website offers detailed instructions for application procedures, initiation fees, and making appointments to join as well as breakdowns of pay rates for each role. Now, if I can just get a few projects that qualify for the hours necessary to become a member, I will also be able to take advantage of these great benefits.

The MPAA: Analyzing the Movie Business

“The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA), together with the Motion Picture Association (MPA), serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries in the United States and around the world. MPAA's members are the six major U.S. motion picture studios: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; Universal City Studios LLC; and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. They are a proud champion of intellectual property rights, free and fair trade, innovative consumer choices, freedom of expression and the enduring power of movies to enrich and enhance people's lives.”

By setting the industry expectation, the MPAA is able to provide accurate market trends for films and their accompanying audiences. According to the MPAA, overall box office dollars for US and International markets have shown 25% growth over the last 4 years. Fifteen percent of that is from the United States and Canada alone. Last year, all films released outside the U.S. and Canada increased by 13%. Unfortunately, there was no additional revenue growth at the box office from 2009-2010 in the U.S. and Canada. This is not uncommon as there was also no revenue growth from 2006-2007. I think this speaks a lot about the current economic state of our country. History tells us that entertainment in the form of film has been one the forms of entertainment that thrived even during the Depression, but that does not necessarily mean that there is revenue growth.

3D films received a very large boost in growth of 2221% over the past five years, with 91% growth from 2009-2010 alone. Last year did see a dip in attendance, though I would imagine with the several 3D films and sequels due out this year, we may see the average attendance increase. Many films released in 3D were animated films, directed towards younger audience, which explains why 2-17 year olds make up the peak audience of 3D films. This also relates to the increase in parents worrying about the affects of 3D television and films on children’s sight.

Moviegoers are expected to attend an average of 6 films per year. In 2010, that equated to 1.3 billion tickets sold. Females dominate the young adult demographic of moviegoers ages 18-24, as well as senior viewers aged 50 or older. Males dominate the midrange from 25-49 years old. I would like to think this could be a result of women dating older men, contributing to the shift in female and male viewers from ages 18-39. Overall, it seems that women attended more films from 2009-2010. Looking at the top 25 films released last year, they seemed less pointed towards the male adult demographic. With the several action and superhero movies due out this year, I would expect this might actually switch for 2011.

In comparison to sports events and theme parks, cinemas remained on top for attendance. Even though ticket prices increased by an average of 39 cents, it still remains the most affordable means of family entertainment. In the past 4 years, there has been a decrease in attendance by about 5%, which I strongly believe is due to digital distribution. Some distributors offer films on premium cable channels that same day they are released in theaters. Moviegoers can also wait until the film is available On Demand, on Netflix or some other streaming device to play instantly at their leisure.

The data that the MPAA provides helps these major studios analyze their current, future and even past production successes to determine necessary adjustments to be more profitable at the box office. The partnership that the MPAA has developed with the 6 major studios will help shape the future of how films reach their intended audience. The MPAA also provides up to date government filings available online. One of their recent articles includes details about what they are trying to do to decrease online theft on websites. I would expect that the MPAA would help develop better digital watermarking to prevent illegal use of films, protecting the intellectual property rights of those who own them. 

Voiceover Artists and Animators: Future careers for young teens

I am a firm believer that to be successful in post-production, whether that’s audio, video or animation, you have to continue learning. You have to have the ability to adapt to the changes in technology, helping this form of art progress into the future. I found two interesting articles about post-production; voiceover work and animation.

The first is an after school program for teens launched by Voice Over There and Voicebank.net, encouraging careers in voiceover. They offer a 4 week course and at the end of the term, the students compete for the chane to record a commercial and comedy sketch for a trailer for the company. They currently have 20 schools involved in the program and hope to expand to 60 or more over the next 3 years.

The program not only helps develop public speaking skills but also teaches students about the recording process. I think this is a great way to further expand technology in schools and I can only hope that it would help contribute to music programs in schools. For additional information on the competition, click here

Voicebank.net collaborates with producers, directors, ad agencies, talent agencies, and actors providing a one-stop shop when it comes to voice over talent and booking.
Voice Over There is a mobile voice over booth. Having a mobile booth provides the ability to be on set, recording ADR when the conditions on location cannot capture a quality audio performance.


Continuing on the subject of education, Escape Studios is opening a campus in Los Angeles. They are currently developing their advisory board, which includes members of Pixar and Sony Imageworks.

It seems like more and more these days, college is never enough to actually pursue a career in film, television, audio or even animation. The hope that Escape seems to ignite is mentorship with the instructors and advisory board members, helping develop the future of the animation industry."We pride ourselves on having direct contact with the VFX industry and incorporating their insight and feedback into our training programs," said Dom Davenport, CEO and founder of Escape Studios. "I am delighted to welcome this caliber of industry talent and experience to our advisory board and look forward to working with them to make our US campus the best it can possibly be.

"It's an honor to be part of Escape Studio's advisory board and influence the academy's direction and training offerings, especially when it comes to new VFX and 3D technologies," said John Leonti, the co-head of 3D at The Mill's Los Angeles office. To read more about this, click here

I am excited to see how this campus is able to benefit the future of the animation industry. Maybe they can partner with the voiceover competition for an animated short.

Production Sound and a Greener Initiative.

As I continue into the world of audio post-production, I decided to take a look into the side that provides content to the studio and spend some time in production sound. At UCDenver, I had one class that had some production sound, post production I. I do not have much experience on set, but I think the best way to understand the filmmaking process is to understand what happens in both production and post. Communication is key in making sure projects are completed on time and understanding how your production sound mixer works and organizes tracks will make the post production workflow that much easier.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to spend a day on set with Paul Marshall, CAS. Paul has been working in production sound since the early 1990’s from documentaries, short films, and television; Paul’s experience expands from being a boom operator, production sound mixer, director and even producer. I had several questions about processes and how things worked from beginning to end or the production process. Paul was great, not only answering my questions but  also providing me with stories and situations explaining why certain measures are taken. Paul’s boom operator is also named Paul, and he gave me some tips on the importance of being detail oriented. Paul and Paul are also business partners who are developing greener solutions for production sets. 

As more and more studios and productions look for way to save on expenses, Paul and his team have developed a greener solution for keeping phones, laptops and other electronic devices charged throughout the shoot, without eating into other power devices, Solar on Set. Their ray catcher is able to catch sunrays and provide solar power to their charging station. They also have it equipped with 4G wifi to provide locations with Internet connectivity, giving even producers the ability to check their email on location. Their website is still in the development phases and will soon look a little different.

Overall, it was a great opportunity to see a production sound team at work and how they are trying to contribute to the greener campaigns many people and companies are now employing.