The Dumb Are Mostly Intrigued By The Drum

So this morning saw me once again downtown at our beautiful city hall to support the approval of a new city ordnance, of which you can read about on my previous post, that could possibly change the way local filmmakers create here in town. Never one to adept at public speaking, I went up in front of the council to voice my support. After some questions back and forth, including some additional questions for me from Blong Xiong and Henry Perea, the council decided to look into some very valid questions raised (including the wording on the fact that people shooting without permission would be charged with a felony and also the changing of the phrase "nudity" to "public nudity") and speak to some other local filmmakers to see where the community here in town stood on the issue. As long as this issue isn't totally drawn out and the council is quick to do the research on the matter, it's cool with me. Surprisingly, Jerry Duncan moved to approve the ordinance right then and there but no one stood up to second it. Sucks but I guess it might be for the best that everyone is on the same page and those few issues get corrected (it's like wanting to buy that car right now rather than waiting for a better deal next week). The fact that this is even happening here in town excites me to no end and I hope, if this thing does go through, that people here in town take the initiative to go out, create and help put Fresno on the map. Something tells me we will.

This was the email sent out by Ray Arthur earlier today (I apologize for it's lateness): 

Dear Friends,

It's been a long journey but the City of Fresno Film Ordinance will be brought to the Fresno City Council on Tuesday, July 29th. It is scheduled as a timed item for 9:30 AM. That means it will be heard at or after 9:30 AM.

The Film Ordinance and Staff Report can be viewed on the City of Fresno website here.

Following is a portion from the Staff Report that notes the changes in the Film Ordinance from its previous version presented in February:

On February 26, 2008, the Fresno Film & Entertainment Commission (FFEC) presented the Fresno City Council with a previous version of this Film Ordinance. Council, at that time, expressed concerns in the areas of required insurance for student and small independent film productions.

With the assistance of the City Attorneys Office, this revised version of the Film Ordinance responds to Council's concerns by incorporating the following changes:

Student Filmmaking will be exempt from both the film permitting process and insurance requirements.

The "Rule of Three" has been expanded to the "Rule of 15." This revision greatly broadens the previous "Rule of Three" to include all productions of 15 people or fewer, providing they use handheld equipment and do not interfere with the general flow of the citizenry.

Two additional definitions, for "hand held devices" and "obstruction," have been added to the definition section of the ordinance to clarify elements of the "Rule of 15."

With the inclusion of these additional revisions the FFEC feels these steps meet the interests expressed by all parties.

Sincerely,

Ray

I was surfing Yahoo! news when I came across this little news story about how a new law going into effect this Thursday in Los Angeles is trying to make it illegal for Taco Trucks to stay in one place for more than 1 hour. Apparently, this law has existed for quite sometime now but previously, the fine was only $60 if they stayed for a half hour. The new law will jack that fine up to $1,000 for 1 hour of non-movement and possibly even jail. So what happens now? That's where the organization Save Our Taco Trucks comes into play. They have hired a lawyer and vow to keep doing what they've been doing. So what do you think? Will we ever see such an ordinance come into effect here in Fresno? Or is there even something already in place? All I know is that I love those Tacos Trucks and I'll be buying one of these shirts to help support our Trocas! Be sure to head on over to the saveourtacotrucks.org site here and sign the petition to help stop the insanity from spreading up here. Also, check out the Facebook page here for more info. For those of you affected by this dumb law, enjoy your last legal taco tonight and just know that we'll scarf down a couple of tacos for you tonight when I visit my local Taco Truck. Those shirts are just too bad ass.....