Hollywood Liberalizes Washington at White House Correspondents' Dinner

Tom Brokaw is wrong. It's not time to "rethink" the White House Correspondents' Dinner. The WHCD is the one night of the year when staid, conservative D.C. is shaken up by Tinseltown progressives. Hollywood is full of unabashed liberals who want things like universal health care and world-class public education. And that's a good thing. And Washington conservatives need to hear from the artistic establishment on the Left Coast.

Even President Obama's reelection campaign is getting the message. There was a time when Obama tried to distance himself from politically active celebrities. Not anymore. Obama recently held a fundraiser at actor George Clooney's Studio City, California home and even played basketball with the Hollywood star and supporter of the president. Next Obama will be visiting the New York City home of actress Sarah Jessica Parker and husband actor Matthew Broderick for another fundraiser. 

Hollywood can play a powerful role in helping reelect President Obama and it is encouraging to see the campaign embrace the showbiz community. Obama has many allies in Los Angeles, and that is good for the country. Right-wing Republicans will predictably and cynically say the president is too close to Hollywood. Let them. Those socialists in Hollywood create jobs and contribute to the economy. The entertainment industry supports more than 2.4 million jobs nationwide and is one of the few American industries with a positive trade surplus of $11.7 billion, not to mention the billions of dollars generated to local and state governments in the form of income and sales taxes.

The entertainment industry and the hard working people in Hollywood are as American as truck drivers and apple pie. And the more influence Hollywood has on Washington the better the country will be.

Click here for Politico's feature report on last month's White House Correspondents' Dinner.

D.C.-Based 'Double' Shot in Michigan

Credit: Image Entertainment

Tonight on Netflix I watched the Washington, D.C.-based spy film "The Double," starring Richard Gere and Topher Grace. The 2011 Michael Brandt-directed movie, about a retired CIA operative (Gere) and a young FBI agent (Grace) on the hunt for a Russian assassin who murdered a U.S. senator, is awful and entertaining at the same time. "The Double" is 98 minutes of mindless entertainment, a vintage Hollywood cliche flick -- so bad it is good.

And it was shot in The Great Lakes State.

That's right. Those gritty urban chase scenes are straight out of Detroit, not D.C. While watching the film, I was sure it was shot in Baltimore, Maryland because that state usually steals film shoots from the nation's capital because of its generous film incentives and close proximity to Washington. That's why it was a surprise to see Detroit, Michigan as the film location in the closing credits.

But should it come as a surprise? While Washington, D.C. doesn't provide tax incentives to lure Hollywood filmmakers, lacks quality production facilities and makes location scouts navigate a difficult maze of federal and local agencies to get permission to shoot, the state of Michigan features a 40 percent refundable tax credit and an additional two percent tax rebate for filming in core cities like Detroit. 

"The Double" is the quintessential Washington, D.C. film. It's just a shame that the filmmakers chose to shoot in Michigan because of the better production incentives.

D.C. can do better.

'Game Change' Shoots in Baltimore, Premieres in D.C.

The new HBO political drama "Game Change," about the 2008 John McCain-Sarah Palin presidential ticket, exemplifies everything that is wrong about Washington, D.C. as Hollywood's favorite storytelling subject but least favorite filming location. This blog and other news sites have documented the stunning lack of film incentives and massive amounts of red tape that leave location scouts with a sour taste for shooting in The District.

"Game Change" was primarily shot in Baltimore, Maryland along with Wilmington, Delaware and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The only time the film's stars set foot in the Nation's Capital was for the premiere at the Newseum. It is bizarre that a political film had its red carpet premiere in Washington but decided not to shoot there.

But can you blame Playtone producers Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman for saving on production costs by shooting in Maryland, a state that offers generous tax credits and rebates?

It's just a shame that Charm City has to stand in for the Nation's Capital time and again because The District is so unfriendly to film shoots. It would have been a big economic boost having Julianne Moore, Ed Harris and Woody Harrelson here in Washington for the "Game Change" film shoot.

Perhaps one day change will come to Washington in the form of more aggressive film incentives and a streamlined permitting process.

Here is the trailer for "Game Change."

Oscar-Nominated 'Transformers 3' Shot Scenes in D.C.

'Transformers 3' shooting a scene on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. Photo credit: Screen Junkies

Recently the press has been hounding the nation's capital for making it hard on Hollywood film shoots. First it was the Washington Post writing about the lack of tax incentives to lure big productions and too much red tape for location scouts to deal with, now it is Southern California public radio station 89.3 KPCC with a story about the few Oscar-nominated films that have been lensed in The District over the years.

But there is a ray of sunshine when it comes to filming in Washington, D.C. "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" filmed scenes in Washington in October 2010 and now has a chance at winning multiple Oscars tomorrow evening in the visual effects, sound editing and sound mixing categories. Even though there was an on-set accident between a yellow Chevy Camaro—known in the film as the character Bumblebee—and a D.C. police SUV, the production was still a positive for D.C. with great publicity and money spent in the city.

So at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony tomorrow evening at Hollywood and Highland Center (formerly Kodak Theatre), there is a chance that "Transformers 3" will win as many as three Oscars and thus connect Washington, D.C. to showbiz's biggest night. Perhaps that will motivate city leaders to more aggressively pursue Hollywood productions so filmmakers are not forced to shoot in Baltimore or a studio backlot instead of the most powerful city in the world.

Washington Post Examines Why Films Don't Shoot in D.C.

Today's Washington Post takes a look at why the Nation's Capital misses out on many Hollywood film and television productions. The two biggest reasons are the lack of aggressive tax incentives and the bureaucratic maze location scouts and filmmakers must navigate to get permission to shoot in the shadow of the Capitol dome or other monumental locations.

The most disturbing part in the decline of TV and film shoots in The District is that storylines involving political intrigue and scandal are in demand. But Baltimore—Washington's blue-collar neighbor to the north—is increasingly used as a stand-in for D.C. because Maryland's film incentives are so much more competitive.  The Old Line State offers a rebate of up to 25% in the form of a grant for productions spending a minimum of $500,000 in-state and shooting at least 50% in the state. And last year Maryland increased their film incentive budget from $1 million annually to $7.5 million.

The D.C. Film Office has recently lost out on two Washington-set HBO series because of a lack of film incentives. "All Talk" is a comedy pilot written by acclaimed novelist Jonathan Safran Foer and starring Ben Stiller, who will also direct and executive produce. "VEEP" is a political satire starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, whose local ties include a move to D.C. when she was eight-years-old and graduating from Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, Maryland.

Washington, D.C. is losing out big time on job creation and economic impact, and Baltimore and other areas of Maryland are happily reaping the rewards of offering better incentives. It really shouldn't be this way. You cannot replace the majestic Lincoln Memorial or Washington Monument on a sound stage in Burbank. But you can shoot almost every other scene somewhere else. By not offering more aggressive incentives and not streamlining the permitting process, the Nation's Capital is missing out on a monumental chance to lure Hollywood productions at a time when Tinseltown is more interested than ever in what is happening in Washington.

'J. Edgar' Will Occupy D.C. This Weekend

Photo by Courtesy of Warner Bros. – © 2011 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. - All Rights Reserved

Clint Eastwood's new biopic 'J. Edgar' opens wide this weekend. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as the controversial late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. 

A couple of local spots are featured in the film, including the Library of Congress' Thomas Jefferson Building and the Old Fauquier County Courthouse in Warrenton, Virginia.

And if you want to tap into your inner G-Man after seeing the pic, you can visit the "G-Men and Journalists" exhibit at the Newseum (on display through 2012), the International Spy Museum or the National Crime and Punishment Museum.

But what about a tour of the J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building you ask? The once-popular tour has been suspended indefinitely. And according to a report in The Washington Post, there could be major changes coming to the much criticized headquarters on Pennsylvania Avenue because the building is "aging" and "deteriorating." Whether the building is razed or renovated, hopefully the tours start up again soon.