A Partnership to Train Young Film Professionals In Houston

City of Houston, Local School Districts Develop Workforce Training for Film Students

Houston, Texas | November 20, 2019

Lynn Birdwell: Welcome to the Bird Feed Podcast, and I'm here with Juliet Stipeche from the City of Houston. She's the Director of Education. Welcome.

Juliet Stipeche: Thank you.

Lynn Birdwell: Juliet, tell me what you do.

Juliet Stipeche: Well, it's the new position that was created by Mayor Sylvester Turner in February of 2016. The mayor wanted to have someone at the city that was going to be able to be transformative and innovative and making sure that education is something that is consistently thought of in the minds of Houstonians. We created an office that assists with collaboration, coordination, and communication amongst the various educational entities in the City of Houston, and my goodness, there are certainly a lot.

Lynn Birdwell: So, you're dealing with kids as they go through school. Is that all the way through college?

Juliet Stipeche: Yes. We work these kids from early childhood education, the K through 12 system, and also higher education and workforce development and training. We cover the full gamut from cradle to career as they described it.

Lynn Birdwell: This podcast is primarily about film production and the production industry in Houston, but also just the entire creative industry economy that we have here in Houston. So, I know that in some of the schools, just found out recently, have some wonderful production studio sets set up for those kids to start that process. Tell me about those.

Juliet Stipeche: There's some amazing programs at the elementary, middle school and high school levels for young people to have an opportunity to experience what it's like to be in the film and art career fields. You have some places that literally have full-fledged studios that are operated by young people, and they write, produce, edit, and learn cutting edge technology that they're able to use and have access to.

I have worked with some schools that have produced some short films and documentaries that went on to receive prizes at the state level. At one high school, I worked with the group of young people and they created a documentary called The Other Side of Town, and it was extraordinarily influential on my perspective of serving as a school board member.

Lynn Birdwell: These programs, do these kids have an opportunity to have a vocational outcome and stay in Houston? That's my goal.

Juliet Stipeche: Well, I think that's how we can sit and talk about how we can better connect those that are in the industry to those that are aspiring towards being in that industry. I think young people are consistently looking for mentors and role models, and we know that the pace of the economy and transformation of things occurs so quickly that it's really important for schools to connect to those leaders in the community that actually know what's going on in their industry because sometimes the children may get something that is outdated. So, we want them to be learning what they need to know the most of in order to be able to connect and get that career in the film industry that they so desire, and that really requires building social capital, knowing the right people, and connecting to people such as yourself.

Lynn Birdwell: You had a sister who went to one of our very famous art schools here in Houston, the High School of Visual and Performing Arts. Tell me about how that was for her.

Juliet Stipeche: My sister, she never had an opportunity to take a formal art class, but she always had a passion to draw, and my parents always encouraged her. My dad would buy books and she would try everything with crayons and pencils and poster boards. She was accepted into the High School for Performing and Visual Arts because they saw that she had natural talent. It was something that allowed me to see a larger world, as well. Visiting HPV was just an amazing experience. My sister says that if weren't not for art, she does not know where she would be today. Art is transformative.

Lynn Birdwell: And, I heard someone say, I was at an event this week, and one of the major patrons, it was a theater event, and he said, “theater is so important, we cannot let it die. There are certain times, and we are in those times now where sometimes art is the only way we can communicate.”

Juliet Stipeche: Absolutely. I think that's something that my sister told me, too. She was like, “there are moments in my life when art was the only way that I could find the most satisfactory way of expressing myself.” I think that working collaboratively in using the creative expression, it's an opportunity for those that are vulnerable and voiceless to be heard. It's also important for young people to have a creative expressive outlet. It's important to be able to develop the mindset of, of older people that may not be familiar with a particular community. Art on so many different ways is truly transformative in terms of its method of communication but also creation. It is truly something that allows a person to feel a sense of, of self-motivation, of, of just being able to create something that is able to exist in the world and to be able to share that with others is very transformative and empowering for young people.

Lynn Birdwell: It is, and I was talking with someone at the UN this week who said that they thought in communities all over the world, the arts were where additional jobs can be created for people who may not be good fits for other kinds of jobs, help them grow in other ways. That's another conversation, too. So, film from my perspective as an economic industry, but it's also an art form. And, only through the schools I think can we start our city thinking that way?

Juliet Stipeche: I agree. I think you're truly a visionary in recognizing that the pipeline starts, whether it be Pre-K or elementary, you know, young people, the longer they have an opportunity to have rich access to the arts and be able to talk to industry experts, the reality of joining and becoming a part of the film industry is a reality. The arts are extraordinarily important in developing this unique perspective and being able to create, but also being able to connect to the economic opportunity that allows one to then be able to have the capital and the support to be able to turn their art pieces into things that can bring job opportunities and investments into the community, as well. We want it to be win-win and what's the best way for us to be able to allow the workforce pipeline to develop in the most appropriate way? It's coordinating and connecting industry mavens and leaders to the young people so they have examples and role models for which to follow.

Lynn Birdwell: It also gives them places to go directly to immediately after their education instead of thinking they have to go to Hollywood, they have to go to New York, so they can see that they can create here. Thank you so much for being with us today.

Juliet Stipeche: It's been a pleasure and an honor. And you know, one of the mayor's initiatives is the Hire Houston Youth program. We would love to see how we can try to get some more collaboration for young people to be able to work in the film industry. Let us know. We'd love to partner.

Lynn: This will be all for Houston. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

The WOND3R Team Shares How Cities All Over the World Have Built Creative Economies

And Why They Think that We Can Build a Creative Industry Economy in Houston

Work-In-Progress: Production Slate in Development, Midtown Arts and Theatre Center Houston, Houston, Texas | December 4, 2019

At the Work-In-Progress event on December 4, 2019, the team from the creative agency WOND3R spoke about working all over the world and shared how cities who've built creative economies did it and why they think that we can build a creative industry economy in Houston.

Charlie Le:

So we've worked at a lot of agencies around the world, and obviously all of these great agencies are not here in Houston. What we kind of realized is that we had to leave to kind of really love Houston, and what it forced us to do was really explore a lot of the interesting things that we had known before, especially for me.

So, we get asked this question very often, especially when we're outside of Houston and talking with our comrades at other agencies, what is so unique about Houston. Well, we believe that it's wholly underrated. A lot of people really overlook it, and to us that means that if it's being overlooked like that it can really pack a punch.

And everyone talks about diversity in Houston, and that's very true, but we really think that it is very special because, you know, we don't really ask for permission -- we should just ask for forgiveness, right? We should really do things first. Like Paul said, we should go out and do it and then seek forgiveness later. So I think, I think that's where we had this opportunity here, which is, um, if no one is doing anything that means no one is doing anything. We have the opportunity to do something, and I think that's a really unique point about Houston.

Kerry Chrapliwy:

I think one of the things that we forget is the economic impact of this. So, you know, this all looks like fun. Everybody thinks it's a fun industry, and it's a lot of blood, sweat, tears, passion, energy, and building it brick by brick. But when you look at the economics behind it, the creative economy in New York City in 2017 delivered $30 billion of revenue to that city --$30 billion!

So, when you think about what the economic potential is and where the city always talks about Houston wanting to grow with the young millennials and they want to create some kind of creative community here, you know, it's not just for fun. It is actually 300,000 jobs in New York City, $30 billion. And I believe that we can do that here because we have such a low cost of living, a high disposable income that we could take a huge chunk out of that $30 billion and bring it to Houston. That's our mission.

We're right across from Toot Suite downtown and East Side. Our office is always open. We have a happy hour every couple of weeks. Everyone's always invited. And, we're just trying to build the creative economy here, brick by brick, stone by stone.

Graham Painter:

What I can say is Lynn, thank you so much for everything you're doing. You're really a champion for all of us. And uh, you've taken really the first step toward what we've always been talking about with you, which is talking about this creative economy, establishing something that that becomes dialogue and it becomes a reality here in Houston. As Charlie was talking about, I considered myself a refugee. They call Houston a flypaper city. People get here and they get stuck. Well, I was an unstuck fly. I ran away to go do my thing in New York and London and around Asia Pacific and so forth and came back. I realized that those cities that I had gone to, each one of those had been developed almost artificially as creative hubs.

London that had been implemented there. It was very intentional. They developed the creative ministry there. That's still there. It's like 42% of jobs in Southeast England are all coming out of the creative industries. Then I go to Bangkok 2002, the prime minister had developed something called the Thai Culture and Design Center, and he made design and post production and production of all types of reality -- advertising and film and all sorts of arts that spurned outside of it. I think I'll steal Remy's line, which is a film was the most inclusive of all art forms. It builds everything else up. And, I think that was absolutely true, but these were not that long ago that these systems were put into place, guys. I mean those of you who think of London, you think creative Mecca, right? But, it wasn't until '97 they really started talking about creative economy and building this ministry. Thailand, for those of you that have spent time --obviously Megan did here, she went to Bangkok to get that boot [laughter] -- but, it's a creative hub. There's this energy. Obviously, when we're in New York, you know, we feel it.

So, it's up to us to really build that together. I think the fact that we're starting from zero, but we are this, somebody said third largest city, you know, I know we're certainly the fourth largest, if not the third largest, and we're the most diverse. So, we're also building things that are going to become the future for everybody else. And we're almost, because we're doing it in spite of ourselves, we're working harder, but we're having to come up with more creative solutions. We need to balance the economy here. We have the greatest minds in engineering and science in the world. Oil and gas has done that, but those of us that are hiding here, that are the creative minds to balance that, it's time we step up and do these projects. If we could do half of these projects that were up there, we're going to be way ahead guys. Thank you all for coming. Thank you. [clapping].

Working to Make an Impact on Houston’s Film Industry

Q&A with the TXMPA PAC Treasurer Susan Fowler

4th Annual TXMPA Impact Awards, GRB Convention Center, Houston, Texas, October 19, 2019

LYNN: Susan, how long have we known each other? Do we even know?

SUSAN: I don't know. Do we want to say?

LYNN: Okay, so maybe the 90s. Somewhere in there. Okay, it's safe. So, tell me about the history of the TXMPA, briefly, and what your role has been?

SUSAN: The TXMPA was started to fight for jobs and to fight for incentives in Texas so that we could be competitive with other countries and other States that have incentives and try to attract film and television there. We've had a successful run of it. We've been going for about 15 years. There are a lot of people here tonight. I'm glad to see that our founding members are here, and we're excited to be in Houston for the first time for the Impact Awards. This is our fourth year of having the Impact Awards. The reason that we wanted to do that was to highlight the cities that we're going to and give them an opportunity to shine and have the crews and the producers and everyone that's here to network. And, we actually have a lot of people who come in from all around the state.

It gives us a chance to really shine and show Houston and you know, show what our downtown looks like. And, it's fun. It's a fun event. The reason that we call it the Impact Awards is because that's our focus. That's our job. It's like how our film and television productions are making an impact in Texas. And so, we invite legislators as well as shows that have been produced in Texas by Texas people with Texas crews because that is the impact. And, so we try to highlight that and have some fun doing it.

LYNN: You are a Houstonian, and you and I have been doing production in Houston for a really long time. We know what's possible here in our city, and I feel like most people, when they think of production in Texas, they think of Austin and Dallas because they don't know what we know. What do they not know about Houston

SUSAN: Well, I think they don't really know how easy it is to work in Houston, how vibrant it is here. I mean, the culture and the people and the locations are friendly and accessible, and we have a really hard-working crew. We've had a successful run. A lot of people aren't as familiar with the successful run that we've had in professional productions and studio productions because the focus in more recent years has been on, you know, commercial and independent film, but a lot of people don't know that we have produced Emmy-award winning television here. Fox was here for almost 10 years and produced for Emmy-award winning productions out of that facility.

LYNN: What do you think that will take to bring that back to Houston, and how can we work in Houston to educate and bring production here?

SUSAN: I think that events like this are important. It highlights the city. I think we don't talk about ourselves enough. I don't think that we share enough of our successes. Let people know what you're doing, try to get interviews with the papers, hold networking events, attend them, put your name out there. It's important even if you've been doing it a long time.

LYNN: It also shines a spotlight on Houston, which doesn't always get the film spotlight right. Let's talk about development and education at the university level. Growing from within is always a great opportunity. Do you think that would be something that would allow Houston to elevate a film industry Here?

SUSAN: I can actually tell you something that's even more exciting that’s happening. We have high schools here that have taken a step even further back into the educational levels. We have students who are graduating from high school that the city has invested in, along with partnerships with Sony, with Apple, with Dell, with Comcast. Believe it or not, some of our high schools have some of the best production facilities in the state and they are actually graduating students with associate's degree ready to move on to some of our great colleges, like the University of Houston, University of Texas, really well-known programs, and they're also graduating students to some lesser-known programs that have had a recent investment in them, as well. So, these corporate sponsorships have started coming in and really trying to help train the next generation of people coming out.

SUSAN: I am not positive that that's happening in any of the other cities. I can't speak to that, but I can speak to what's happening here. When you have Sony come in and build an entire stage with all of the grid and the equipment, you know, state of the art cameras, state-of-the-art sound, state of the art training for distribution, and all of that, those kids are already a step ahead of where a lot of us were when we started getting that more technical training when we went to college. So, I just think it's a great time to be in Houston in terms of education because that path starts at a much younger age.

Film Supports All Art Forms

Film is the only Art Form that supports all other Art Forms

BY LYNN BIRDWELL

Making quality film and television is a team sport. It’s not just one human engaged in a creative process, there can be hundreds of people engaged in the development and execution of the single creative vision of the film.

When a film is truly great, it’s only due to a masterful collaborative spirit of all the personnel involved because film requires so many specialties and skill sets. A great film must have all cylinders firing in every department, all the way through post-production.

Whether heroic and visionary or a simple formulaic film, the departments and moving parts are vast and include many art forms. Every person involved plays a part in the final on-screen imagery and emotion the viewer will experience.

Most of us know the feeling of being touched by an individual work of art: a painting, song, play, poem, or novel. When touched, we are moved and transported. This, through one particular form of art.

Film, the combination of so many different types of art forms, provides the transformative experience that art is constantly seeking. It is rich and complex. We are allowed an experience viewing film that can sometimes eclipse anything else.

From the initial concept and development of a film, every form of art that can be conceived can be considered and engaged as a part of the overall vision. Film can be the one form of art a city decides to support, which in turn can serve to promote every other type of art in that community.

And when a city embraces the arts, the city and all of its citizens are better for it. A creative industry should be embraced by all in the city of Houston, the fourth largest city in the U.S. Houston’s creative base would include the most international art force in the nation, maybe the world.

The Past and Future of Film in Houston

Q&A with the Executive Director of the Houston Film Commission

4th Annual TXMPA Impact Awards, GRB Convention Center, Houston, Texas
October 19, 2019

LYNN BIRDWELL: This is Lynn Birdwell with Bird House Productions. I'm with our film commissioner, Rick Ferguson, who's been a film commissioner here as long as I've been in the industry. So Rick, how long have we known each other since I started in 1993.

RICK FERGUSON: At least 30 years. I've been with the film commissions since 1987. So a long, long time.

LYNN: I got into this industry in 1993, and I'm pretty sure I came to your door as soon as I could.

RICK: Well, I also came to your office when it was on Eado, wasn't it?

LYNN: So, we had an office, up Milan and Winbern, which was the Ida Wortham apartment building, and then we had a Wagon Works building. We had another office there with an edit suite. So, tell us about the history of film production here in Houston.

RICK: Well, it's been an interesting evolution, and it sort of follows the pattern of the evolution of the industry, not only domestically, but internationally. Certainly, when I first started, it was before there was ever any concept of incentive programs. And for quite a while in the '90s, we actually had the most production in the state of Texas, and a lot of that was because of Movies of the Week. And then unfortunately, when the Movies of the Week, that whole concept, started to dissipate, and what was left then started gravitating to Canada because of the incentive programs that Canada was offering, then it created a whole new slate. It was a whole different equation. You had to go about cementing business in a completely different way. Before, it was everything that we had, which we're locations, crew base, talent, cooperation, service, all of the above, and then they sort of flipped over and it was how much money will you give me to come to your city? So, that did make a big difference in the whole process.

LYNN: I know a lot of the older A-list guys that you know well, they say that we had the greatest set of teamsters in the entire United States, and they said that we had four, A-list crew deep for movies. Right. And then by the time you were passed forward, then you were going to the B-team and the C-team. So, that's amazing.

RICK: Certainly, we are talking about Ron Kern and Cinema Trucks of Texas, which was a staple and a huge draw for us because Ron and his guys would bend over backwards to accommodate and to do whatever they could to make production work in Houston. And, we certainly appreciated that. And, we miss Ron as a matter of fact.

LYNN: So, we've had a few mayors in the history that have supported film either privately or as a part of their administration. How do we stand now?

RICK: Certainly Mayor Turner has been extremely supportive. He has staff members that we're working more closely than we ever have in the past. He is extremely interested in how the industry is developing. He is interested in film, though he is also interested in the entire spectrum of entertainment, and I think that's not a bad thing. That's a good thing because all of those aspects of the arts can help shore up each other. So, we can't sort of exist exclusively of each other, and I appreciate everything he's done in his interest, especially in film.

LYNN: I think that film is probably the only art form that supports all the other art forms. So, if we're going to have an entertainment or creative industry in Houston, it seems like film is a good starting point.

RICK: I agree 100%. Well, film makes use of all of the other aspects of the arts, but still having the synergy of a healthy creative industry is extremely important

LYNN: And, I think it makes for a better city to live in, too. So, what's next for Houston?

RICK: What's next for Houston? Well, now that we have an incentive program that has been somewhat expanded upon, and we do have $50 million to work with for the next biennium, I'm hoping that that will improve our efforts to be able to bring projects into Houston. I know most people are more interested in feature films, but I think it will affect all of our categories of production, whether it's commercial or a television series or feature films -- all of them will benefit. Hopefully, we're going to be seeing some great things in the future.

LYNN: Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think in a lot of states there are all kinds of things like tax credits that you have to deal with. And our state is just literally, I know because I've done it, you mail in your receipts, you fill out the forms, they send you a check.

RICK: And, there's also something that no one seems to really talk about very much because the other states are tax credits. Those tax credits have to be brokered. There are brokerage fees that go along in brokering those credits, and they can be anywhere from 7-10% of what's being brokered. That actually raises our level to where it's a much more evenly spread field. For some reason that's not spoken about as much as it should, though, I talk about it all the time.

LYNN: It's a strong point, and it also means it's a longer process to get your money. Right. In Houston, do you feel like if we had more education for how to fund films, invest in projects, would that help?

RICK: It would certainly help. We have a really good crew base. You had mentioned before, we're not quite as deep as we have been through the majority of my tenure here, but we do need to get more experienced kids, young people into the crew base, into the talent base because that's who we are going to be depending on in the future. I'm not talking about anyone else, but myself, I'm getting pretty old. There are a lot of our people in the industry that are getting older. We need to have new talent coming in at all times to take our place when we're gone and to keep us as competitive and make us even more competitive than we are now.

LYNN: If our crew, that is the A-list crew, that's here now still working at this time -- and your right, they're in their 50s and 60s -- if they're mentoring and working with the universities, then maybe we have some of these people that come out of the university programs like U of H and Rice and TSU, and they'd come out with a vocational outcome and stay in Houston, is that what you're talking about?

RICK: Absolutely, that's what I'm talking about. Absolutely. For some reason, people just don't realize -- I think Houston is really cool. I think there's great opportunities here, but I also think Houston is a great place to live. As these kids are getting out of school, are gravitating to the industry, I hope they realize that not only is Houston affordable, not only does it have great opportunity, but it's also a really great place to establish your life, and we'd like to be able to keep them here.

LYNN: I always tell people if they can't find a job in Houston, I'm not sure what to say to them.

RICK: Good point. Very good point.

LYNN: Rick, I appreciate your time.