To Whom it Should Concern
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Members of the State Senate and State
Assembly, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles City Council, and
the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors:
We are writing to you because we just lost our jobs. We are the 300
plus members of the crew of the television show Ugly Betty. We were
informed this Tuesday that the production of our show is moving to New
York primarily because of the 35% tax incentives being offered by the
state of New York. Instead of making good wages and paying our fair
share of California state income tax, we will all be collecting
Unemployment Benefits. In addition, we will certainly be cutting our
spending back to the bone, which will not only cut back our sales tax
contributions substantially, but it could end up costing the jobs of
the people who provide services and products to us. Not only are these
crew positions being lost; all of our local vendors are losing our
business.
Our production buys: lumber, paint, wallpaper, cabinets, other
building materials, office products, fabric, art supplies, computer
equipment, food, beverages, flowers, film, makeup & hair products,
wigs, insurance, jewelry, clothing, etc.
Our production rents: lighting equipment, sound equipment, video
playback equipment, heavy machinery, office equipment, backdrops,
costumes, furniture, scenery, props, soundstages, offices, parking
facilities, cars, trucks, storage facilities, computers, camera
equipment, grip equipment, editing equipment, drafting equipment, cell
phones, computers, toilets, dumpsters, live plants, production
trailers, tools, hardware, artwork, walkie talkies, etc.
Our production also uses the services of: dry cleaners, printers,
location companies, Special Effects companies, utilities, caterers,
payroll services, restaurants, security, Post Production Services,
Clearance Houses, etc.
When we shoot on locations around Los Angeles we pay for permits; we
pay homeowners & businesses for the use of their property, we hire
police and fire department personnel, we pay for facility engineers,
etc.
So, while the loss of our individual positions may be insignificant,
the loss of this production is staggering. Now multiply this by all the
other productions going to New York, New Mexico, Illinois, Louisiana,
North Carolina and other states with incentives, not to mention Canada,
New Zealand, Australia, Eastern Europe, etc. and the cost to the
California state economy is monumental. We implore you to do everything
in your power to level the playing field and bring our jobs back to
California by enacting meaningful incentives to keep film and
television production in our state.
Sincerely yours
The Crew of Ugly Betty
It seem The Gov. of California is back at it again, or should I say doing nothing about it again. It seems that he lets the Ugly better production slip right out of the hand of California and into the hands of NYC, and once NY gets its hands on something it does not let go until all of the juices are done with.
