Note to Masur: Don’t Fear Global Competition; Challenge It

Actor Richard Masur’s Counterpunch article (“Incentives Needed to Keep Film, TV Production,” Oct. 9) points out the problem within the U.S. entertainment industry concerning film and television productions being shot overseas, and that problem is denial. The global economy has finally caught up to Hollywood and many people fear the boogeyman.

There is no more Made in the USA; it’s Think Globally.

Many U.S. industries have been shut down or reduced because of overseas competition; many good, hard-working people have suffered because their jobs left the U.S. Military bases were shut down, wreaking temporary havoc upon communities. But people adapted and changed to the reality. The U.S. economy is not suffering; it’s prospering. The lesson is, no community, state or country should be dependent upon one powerful industry to fuel a local economy, and no individual should rely on being with the same employer for 40 years.

If Masur wants a change, he should go yell directly at Steven Spielberg for shooting “Saving Private Ryan” in Ireland and demand that future movies of his be shot in the U.S. only. He should go yell at Rupert Murdoch for having a handful of his Fox TV series shot in Canada and force him to bring them back to L.A. He should call up George Lucas in Australia, demanding he bring the production of the new “Star Wars” film back home. He should organize A-list actors and directors in refusing to work on a project unless it’s shot in the U.S. He should work on unifying the various municipal film offices in L.A. County to one set of reasonable standards for union and nonunion films, and change the structure of unions to prevent the massive shutdowns that are expected next year.

Masur should seek a market solution to the issue and change the system. Stop fearing the competition and become the competition.

FORREST SPENCER

Burbank

Globalization of producers (Time Warner, Disney, etc.) should be met with globalization of the unions (SAG, DGA, IATSE, etc.), for this reason: Mega-producers accept foreign incentives to make their product outside of the U.S. under the guise of dummy corporations. That results in the profits returning to the U.S. parent corporation while all the spending stays there.

I would argue that if a foreign country wants to make an American-style movie using American-style production techniques, it should pay American-style union wages. That would even the playing field and help to keep us from heading down the road to Niketown.

TODD WARING

Santa Monica

It should come as no surprise to anyone that film producers are looking elsewhere to manufacture their product, settling on geographic locales that will provide, as they say, more bang for their buck. Nike did it. Why shouldn’t filmmakers?

Masur’s solution, while sensible, is not necessarily realistic. Our government just doesn’t care that much about the arts, whether it be film, theater, music or dance. Rather than try to lure production back to the U.S., why aren’t we working toward better legislation that will allow our citizens to follow the work wherever it goes?

Moreover, if Masur is that unhappy, why doesn’t he initiate a boycott on all non-domestically made film products, including television programming? In a system of supply and demand, it seems this would be more successful than all the lobbying, whining and complaining going on in the film business now.

MICHELLE SOLOTAR

Santa Monica