Rally for Film Incentives in Denver, Colorado

On January 14^th 2009 a rally was held on the steps of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver, CO to garner support for House Bill 09-1010 which would increase tax incentives for filmmakers to bring movie-making to Colorado.

Supporters gather at the steps of the Capitol

The rally was staged and produced by Tad and Beth Jones. Colorado’s film commissioner is Kevin Shand who together with many Colorado legislators are proponents of the bill which will bring much needed revenue to the state. Present at the rally were staunch supporters, Representative Tom Massey, Senator Nancy Spence, Kevin Shand, Sen. Dan Gibbs, Rep.Ann McGihon, Oscar winning producer Donna Dewey, Colorado Film School director Frederick Leahy and many others. Lighting and staging for the event were provided on a volunteer basis by Tommy Cheatham of Light Source Denver based in Castle Rock and by Lighting Services, Inc. in Denver.

The theme of the rally was “Jobs by June”, which is a very timely slogan considering the unemployment rate and economic down-turn in this and other areas of the country.

One of the few industries that has not suffered in this period of recession is the film industry which according to Rep. Ann McGihon currently has a 9.5 billion dollar surplus. This means that if the bill passes, it will bring immediate employment to residents of Colorado in addition to huge revenue increases to the state and local businesses including construction, lodging, tourism, restaurant, retail and more. If the full annual rebate incentive amount ($10,000,000) was used, there would be an overall impact of $1.3 billion over a 5 year period according to the Leeds School of Business, Research Division and as many as 500 direct and 730 indirect jobs created in the first year alone. Production companies must spend a minimum of 75 per cent of their below-the-line budgets in Colorado and a minimum of 75 per cent of their payroll on Colorado residents to qualify for the rebate.

It was noted by one of the rally’s speakers that the 1989 comedy film “Christmas Vacation” brought an additional revenue of approximately $1 million into the town of Breckenridge where it was filmed. Producer Donna Dewey who won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short for “A Story of Healing” in 1997 stated that now, when looking for locations for a film shoot, producers do not even look at Colorado, because the state does not compete with other states that do offer significant incentives. With 30 years as a film producer, Donna said that she shot two of her films in Colorado but won’t be able to afford to shoot the next one here unless the bill passes. Producer Darla Rae is currently in production in Colorado on a film called “Section B” which just signed Cindy Lauper in a role and who also sings and wrote one of the songs for the movie. She expressed the same concerns.

According to Rep. Tom Massey, there are eleven film schools in Colorado we lose most of our media graduates to other states. Sen. Nancy Spence also speaks from personal experience as she has a son who is a film-maker who also must seek locations outside of Colorado to work. Colorado is losing hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue each year.

Currently Colorado has one of the worst film incentive programs in the nation. Film incentives work quickly – Louisiana’s production grew from $12 M to $189 M in one year! Illinois created $155 M and 26,000 job hires through film incentives.

To help this bill pass, Colorado residents need to be proactive and urge their legislative representatives to support HB 09-1010. This is a win-win situation that does not cost taxpayers or the state anything and will stimulate job growth and the economy of Colorado even without the assistance of the Federal Government.

To find your district and state representatives, you need only follow this link: http://comaps.org/allsearch.html

Tommy Cheatham of Light Source Denver with his volunteer crew

Cassandra Perkins, youngest actor and supporter at the rally

Supporters gather at the Capitol on this beautiful day in Denver

"Jobs now" shouted from the supporters of the bill

Rep.Tom Massey, a strong supporter of film incentives for Colorado

Tad Jones, producer for this event

Darla Rae, Colorado producer of upcoming film "Section B"

Crowds shout "1010 wins" referring to House Bill 1010

Enthusiastic supporters cheer and shout "Jobs by June"

Oscar winning Colorado producer Donna Dewey

Inge Kraus Photography

Operating a traveling photography studio, artist Inge Kraus is based in the Denver, Colorado area.

Inge has worked in the field of art since her earliest days and her beginning photographic experience began when her father taught her photographic dark-room technique in her early teen years.  Inge’s paternal grandfather, Sigismunds Vidbergs (1890-1970) was a well known graphic artist with many of his works exhibited in fine art museums throughout Europe.  Through his encouragement and tutelage , he was responsible for instilling an appreciation and love of art in his granddaughter.  Later, Inge was accepted into and attended the prestigious Cooper Union School of Art in New York City, the only full scholarship school in the United States.  She also studied sculpture and painting at the Brookly Museum of Art School.

Since then, Inge won numerous awards in various art shows and had several one woman exhibits of her work in acrylic and oils in New York, Minneapolis , and Washington DC.

Now Inge enjoys pursuing her artistic talents in such mediums as stained glass, jewelry design and woodworking.  But by far her favorite medium continues to be photography.  Inge uses only the highest quality Canon cameras and lenses in her work but only recently began to turn photography into a full-time endeavor.  The advent of digital photography really opened the creative possibilities for Inge and she especially enjoys including sophisticated photo manipulation to create magical effects.

Inge is also fond of fashion and nature photography.  Her husband Don is an actor, writer and director and together they owned a theater company in New York where Inge became familiar with the needs of actors and models in pursuit of expanding their stage and film careers.You may view more of her works at ingekraus.com

My latest fashion photo

Birdwoman

This is a model I worked with several months ago.  I had this idea in mind and finished this photo today.

I love working with photoshop and love being creative with it.  I used the first photo to start with and used some eagle photos to end up with the finished product.  Gives you some idea of what some touchups and creativity can do.

US Marine Corps Birthday Ball

The US Marine Corps celebrated its 233^rd birthday on November 10, 2008. Throughout the country there were numerous Marine Birthday Ball celebrations, including this one. These photographs were taken at the Marine Birthday Ball in Loveland, Colorado.

The first so-called “Birthday Ball” was probably held in 1925 in Philadelphia.

The Marine Corp’s birthday cake-cutting ceremony is important to all Marines, as it is an annual renewal of each Marine’s commitment to the Corps…and the Corps’ commitment to our nations quest for peace and freedom worldwide

The birthday cake is traditionally cut with the Mameluke sword, as a reminder that marines are a band of warriours, commited to carrying the sword, so that our nation may live in peace.  The Mameluke sword gets its name from the cross hilt and ivory grip design, similar to swords used for centuries by Ottoman warriors..

The first piece of cake is given to a guest of honor, the second is given to the oldest Marine present who in turn will pass it on to the youngest Marine, signifying the passing of experience and knowledge from the old to the young andf further emphasizing the fact that “…we care for our young Marines before we look to our own needs.”

At this celebration the youngest Marine present was a young man who had served his country in Iraq and lost one of his legs during the tour of his duty.

iwerxphotography.com