Page 17 - Laker Connection Fall 2015

1987 as an aviation maintenance training facility, in an effort to meet demand for airplane mechanics in what was then a still relatively newly-booming field.
“It is fitting that we are re-purposing this building and we are now meeting another statewide demand for hands-on training. In this case, the demand for people on the set,” he said.
Lee Thomas, the state’s deputy commissioner, Film Music & Digital Entertainment, said she was looking forward to the training of the “next generation of storytellers,” and had some impressive statistics on the state of the film industry in Georgia... there are 28 movies now being filmed in-state, and 77,900 people are working in the industry in Georgia. Altogether, the film industry will generate $5.1 billion in revenue for the state in 2015, she added. It was with good reason that Thomas opened her remarks by stating, “This is great! We’re very excited!”
In addition to Hynes, Demmitt and Thomas, several notables from throughout the state spoke, including Georgia Commis- sioner of Labor Mark Butler. Also speaking were Film and Digital Media Center Director Barton Bond, and Film and Digital Media Center Community Relations Director Janet Winkler, the retired executive director of the Clayton State Continuing Education program.
Butler, who may be as big a movie aficionado as Thomas or Bond, noted that the 20 percent growth of employment in the movie industry in Georgia over the past eight years beats al- most every other sector.
“We’re very excited with what’s happening at Clayton State,” he noted, adding that the film industry wants to hire Georgians. “We want to be able to provide them with what they want. So, thank you, Clayton State.”
Among the other VIPs in attendance were Doug Hooker, ex- ecutive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission, (“We always appreciate partnering and continue to look forward to doing so,” he said), Asante Bradford, global project manager of Digital Entertainment, Georgia Department of Economic Development; Kathy Tonkin Vazquez, widow of Bob Vazquez, former president of IATSE Local 479, and special effects supervisor for East Coast Films Inc., and Ed Richard- son and Brian Livesay, founders and co-CEOs of Atlanta-
based 404 Studio Partners, and the creators and designers of the new Atlanta Metro Studios, to be located in Union City.
“There isn’t a better program than this program for below the line workers,” commented Livesay on the Film and Digi- tal Media Center’s efforts.
“This program is a success only as long as we impact the lives of young people,” added Richardson, referring to the pilot program that will fund tuition for as many as six 2015 Fulton County high school graduates and enroll them in the Film and Digital Media Center’s Digital Film Crew Training Program.
The 10,000 square foot film studio will be used to support the University’s non-credit Digital Film Technician Training Program, which in its first year placed 12 students in the local film union (IATSE 479) with another 20 students who are working in the film industry... most of whom were in at- tendance at the opening. The studio will also be used by At- lanta area independent film productions who the Film and Digital Media Center partners with (more than 20 since July of 2014) and will be available for rent to productions and production companies.
Still, as Bond noted, the opening was just a beginning. In presenting 20 of his former and current students, Bond said, “You are looking at the future workforce in the State of Georgia. The opportunity is wonderful, but we have to keep after it, because this is just a beginning. The end is way out in the future.”
“We are here to celebrate a dream come true,” said Winkler. “Dreams made real came true today.”
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