Tough economic times have taken their toll,

and after months of searching, the funding for the Hampton Roads Film Office (HRFO) finally ran out on June 30th.

Can we keep the Hampton Roads Film office rolling?

This is worse than just bad timing considering the legislation passed in this year’s General Assembly, mentioned later in the article, which gives incentives in the form of grants and tax credits to production companies to bring their projects to Virginia. This will provide Hampton Roads the best chance in many years of landing major productions, which brings in additional jobs and creates even more economic impact.

However, without local financial support, there will no longer be a proactive single point of contact to bring those dollars to the region. What will Hampton Roads lose?

The HRFO opened its doors July 1, 2006 in partnership with the Virginia Film Office (VFO) as a division of the Hampton Roads Partnership (HRP). During those four years, according to the VFO, production in the Hampton Roads region has annually accounted for an average of $124 million in economic impact and $9 million in direct state tax revenue.  Most importantly, it has created over 750 jobs annually to tax-paying citizens in Hampton Roads.

In these four years the HRFO has:

·     Helped bring in production companies from out of Virginia to produce their films, television shows, commercials, print ads, and other forms of media;
·     Provided a single point of contact for coordination between production companies and the municipalities and venues of Hampton Roads;
·     Worked with local production companies to help make their business more viable;
·     Worked with colleges, universities, private, and public schools on their film programs and education of their students;
·     Provided pro-bono work to local charities and non-profit organizations in Hampton Roads;
·     Provided much needed jobs to the Hampton Roads community; and
·     Helped elevate the Hampton Roads region’s profile on a national and international scale through the power of media.

"Atlantis Down" was recently produced in Hampton Roads.

I feel so strongly about this community and the economic impact of the film industry that I have decided to keep the HRFO open and continue to perform the duties of Commissioner on a limited, volunteer basis while trying to find a sustainable source of funding. If you have questions or, better yet, solutions to our funding problems, please feel free to write or call me.

Your input and support would be greatly appreciated, and will help keep the cameras rolling.

Contact W. Jeffrey Frizzell at the Hampton Roads Film Office for more information on how you can get involved.