Universal Studios VP Meena on Legislative Alert
(released
4/1/2005)
By Kim Burke
On Monday, March 28, 2005, the United Film and Television Artists (UFTA-Orlando) held its ongoing fourth Monday of the month meeting. UFTA is a member driven networking organization providing "hands on" mentoring to inform, assist, advocate and educate. Guest speakers are regular happenings in the organizations events. This months guest was Paul Meena, Vice President and General Manager of Universal Studios Florida Production Group. Meena's resume is solid and his contributions to the Florida Industry are ever evolving. He is Co-Chairman for the Film Advisory Board for the Office of the Governer of the State of Florida. His experience enabled attendies a first hand recount of the current legislative process in Tallahassee. He encouraged the engagement one must have in order to be successful in the future of our state's Film, Television, and Digital Media Industries. He spoke of the funds we as an industry must request from our legislators to secure future productions "queued" to shoot on the peninsula.
"We have the infrastructure," he states.
"Those who want to be engaged," he says, "write it down - www.filminflorida.com."
There you will find legislative updates, one page applications for the incentives, production guides, and resources for the state.
He gave us all a vision for Florida including works in progress like Haxan's lastest production Probed, NBC's Fear Factor returning for another taping, the infrastructure we have in place, the future graduates of our in-state film schools, and independents existing alongside unionized workers for the good of all in this creative industry.
In addition to filling us in on the backlot evolution at Universal, Meena punctuated the need to get engaged, educate your clients about our state industry incentives, and contact your legislators to ask for the $10 million our industry needs to be a vibrant production entity.
UFTA hopes to bring more guest speakers to the thriving community. They are currently holding a membership drive. Contact them direct for more details at http://www.FilmTVArtists.org.
To find out more about Meena and the Universal Production facilities, go to http://studio.florida.universalstudios.com.
Pics from the meeting to be posted late Saturday, April 2, 2005 to the Photo Seen.
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