California puts money into local training
California puts money into local training
"The television industry is undergoing drastic changes with new technology. Jobs that traditionally guarantee lifetime employment are now changing," said Joseph F. Champa, president of NABET-CWA Local 53, on behalf of participating members at NBC.
New technology has transformed the traditional film production process. According to Video Symphony, the Avid Media/Film Composer was used on more than 90% of 1999's primetime TV shows as well as a large majority of major feature films.
Keep production at home
"California needs to continuously invest in its workers' skills so that production stays within the state," said Charles Lundberg, ETP marketing director.
Under this agreement, Video Symphony proposes training 758 current employees with an individualized curriculum to meet the needs of participating employers located in Southern California such as NBC, Cinesite, Channel One Communications and Motion Syndicate.
Courses will include film and video editing, integrating graphics, audio editing and mixing, Adobe Illustrator, PhotoShop and After Effects. Also included are CD-ROM authoring, animation, Web site creation, computer game design and production, set development and post-production techniques for film, video and multimedia.
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Tejon Ranch proved that scoring in Super Bowl XXXIV didn't require a touchdown. Advertisers shelled out millions of dollars for one-minute spots hoping to win viewers' brand loyalty.
Two such ads were shot on Tejon Ranch, 60 miles north of Los Angeles and 30 miles south of Bakersfield. One, in which a can of Mountain Dew is taken from the throat of a cheetah by the "Dew dude," was the second overall favorite ad shown during the Super Bowl, according to AdWeek's national consumer poll; in the second ad shot there, for EDS, a group of men are shown herding thousands of cats across the Great Plains.
Big ranch
Tejon Ranch Co. is a diversified real estate development and agribusiness company of which the 270,000-acre ranch is the principal asset. The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and generates operating revenue from its four divisions: real estate, livestock, farming and resource management.
The diverse landscape, boasting filming venues categorized as Australian outback, European countryside, Midwest landscapes and Vineyards, can be viewed on the Ranch Web site at www.tejonfilm.com.
The facility has been the filming locale for feature film, video and commercial TV production. Shoots have included a Paul McCartney video, Universal's "Rocky & Bullwinkle Movie" and a Vanity Fair cover photo shoot of Demi Moore.
Production revenue amounted to about $500,000 after 175 filming days in 1999. The ranch is projecting a 10% increase in filming with the construction of two new mountain cabins in May.
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The Assn. of Film Commissioners Intl. has announced that Feb. 25 will be "Digital Day" at the Locations 2000 Global Expo.
Two seminars will be featured. At "Location Scouting: Fade Out Film ... Bring Up Disk" (12-1:30 p.m.), panelists including Marino Pascal, creator of Locolist; Scotte Davis, founder of Kiote; and Thea Iberall of USC Entertainment Technology will discuss how to take advantage of the newest developments in digital technology for scouting.
The second seminar, "Pixelize the Punch: Digital Distribution via the Internet" (3-4:30 p.m.), will focus on using the Internet as a tool to promote, distribute and exhibit films to a targeted audience. Panelists are to be announced.
Locations 2000 Global Expo runs Feb. 25-27 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, West Hall, section B. For more information, call (323) 883-1655. To register online, visit www.afc.org.
