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l IN THE NEWS NORTH COUNTY BUSINESS JOURNAL x SUMMER 2017 x sdnedc.org N orth San Diego County may soon be the backdrop to movies and television shows thanks to the new San Diego Regional Film Commission, which launched about six months ago with the goal of bringing film production to the area. Film Commissioner Jeff Dev- erett has taken the reins, using his expertise as an independent television movie producer and distributor to foster the commis- sion's growth. The catalyst be- hind the commission is to utilize talent who already live in the re- gion to work on films that come to the area and create a new in- dustry cluster. "The goal is to cre- ate long-term, good jobs for San Diego filmmakers," Deverett said. "The goal is to bring productions from outside of the region that utilize San Diego-based crews as op- posed to productions that bring their own crews. "I think we're on the right track. I do this for living as a producer. Having produced sev- eral movies, I know what it will take to attract independent film producers like myself and that's how we built the program." Deverett said the things that would appeal to him are a finan- cial incentive, which is coming from the private sector, and co- operation from the region, which the commission would help fa- cilitate. The potential of having ready-made teams to work on films is also an attractive facet. "The impact that [Deverett] could have on this industry po- tentially as this rolls out and builds up through the years could be hundreds of millions of dollars to the economy," said Mike Cully, CEO of the San Diego North Economic Devel- opment Council. "I don't think that's a stretch consider- ing how big the industry itself is. I'm not just talking about the direct impact; it's the trickle-down. It's the hotels and all the labor and the edu- cation components to this." Deverett is focusing on smaller-budget independent projects for now, and is proac- tively reaching out to produc- ers. He believes the comm- ission can handle 10 to 12 films next year through its limited program, which subsi- dizes on San Diego-based expen- ditures, and grow from there. "The primary reason that we started this is not to wait for business to come, but to go out and get the business," he said. "This is a gigantic industry sec- tor with a ton of potential to cre- ate jobs and economic spending. It takes a while to build it." Deverett, who lives in the area, said San Diego is attractive to producers for several reasons. "It has all the resources that anywhere else would have in terms of buildings and locations and hotels and restaurants," he said. "And it's friendly and wel- coming. Everyone in San Diego wants the business and they're prepared to accommodate it." Deverett hopes the commis- sion can eventually grow the SD film industry sector to be compa- rable with regions like Vancou- ver, B.C. ("Hollywood North"), which annually boasts billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs in the film industry. "I think right now the indus- try is taking a look at what Jeff is doing and how this evolves," Cully said. "I believe that the sky's the limit for what he wants to do here. I would not be sur- prised if we saw some larger- scale, larger-budget movies coming in the next year or two because of what he's doing." ........................................................ ›› CLICK HERE to learn more. BLOCKBUSTER IDEA n COMMISSION HOPES TO BRING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO THE ECONOMY WITH FILM PRODUCTION BY lindseY Ball Jeff Deverett " This is a gigantic industry sector with a ton of potential to create jobs and economic spending. " – JEFF DEVERETT, Deverett Media Group