The State of Filming in Tuolumne County

A few weeks ago, Discovery Channel’s, "UFO Hunters" filmed a full episode in Tuolumne County. A lot of excitement was made over this one episode. But only a few decades ago, entire Season’s of TV shows and many motion pictures were filmed here.

Tuolumne County Film Commissioner, Jerry Day, was KVML’s Wednesday Morning Newsmaker of the Day.

Day said, "The industry has changed along with the economy. We still offer the finest scenery for numerous commercials and we continue to bring in several independent films, but with the current economy, Hollywood itself has a tendency to overlook us."

Foreign filmmakers from Korea, Japan, Germany and South America are utilizing the Motherlode. The value of the American dollar and Tuolumne County’s own natural settings and historic communities are quite favorable for filmmaking.

One problem that Day points out for domestic filmmaker is the inviting tax incentives that other States use to lure Hollywood. As recently as 2002, Sixty two percent of all feature films were made in California, in 2007 that dropped to 30%. That means California is losing billions of dollars that only five years ago, used to stay here.

Day is the Chairman for the State Organization of the Film Liaisons, which is made up of forty-four Film Commissions throughout California. They are working with numerous legislators and politicians to bring Hollywood back home to California.

The Newsmaker of the Day can be heard each weekday morning at 6:47, 7:47 and 8:47 on AM-1450 KVML.

Written by mark@mlode.com