Film Industry

Whether he is handing out hard hits on the football field or delivering one-liners during interviews, Terrell Suggs is used to making plenty of noise at his day job (just ask NFL quarterbacks like Tom Brady). But the outspoken Ravens linebacker, a Pro Bowler in 2010, is quietly making a name for himself in the film industry. His production company, Team Sizzle Worldwide, just wrapped principal photography for his latest film project, “The Coalition,” and the trailer was released to the Internet last week . Suggs co-wrote the film -- which stars "227" actress Jackee Harry and Denyce Lawton from Tyler Perry's "House of Payne” -- along with director Monica Mingo.

Lawmakers approved $25 million in tax credits for the film industry Tuesday, expanding and extending a program that was set to expire in 2014. Tuesday's vote sends to Gov. Martin O'Malley a bill that increases subsidies to film companies by $17.5 million over this year. O'Malley proposed the increased tax credit, along with credits for biotechnology and cyber security industries. Since the credits were first approved in 2011, they have gone to several projects including the popular Netflix series "House of Cards" that stars Kevin Spacey and was filmed in Baltimore.

Say "Film Wage Rebate Grant Program" and your eyes might film over. But for businesses relying on Maryland's TV and film industry, wage rebates can mean employee health care and retirement plans. The program means jobs, its beneficiaries also would testify. Now, say Annapolis - that's the recently released film about the U.S. Naval Academy that was filmed not in Baltimore but in Philadelphia. It has become the poster movie for Maryland's struggling entertainment industry. "That's embarrassing to us," said Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. on the corner of Guilford Avenue and Federal Street.

Look out for Paul Shields in the background of a Central Park scene in the forthcoming Netflix series "House of Cards. " Dagmar Wittmer, owner of the Washington-based talent company Central Casting, said Saturday she can picture the 25-year-old Laurel man as an extra, maybe with a bike, a dog or a Frisbee at a look-alike version of the New York City landmark. Filming for the first season of the series starring Kevin Spacey is being held in the Baltimore region, including Harford County.

Gloom is everywhere. But sunshine may be just around the corner.That's film-industry talk. Hollywood loves to speak in cliches -- and in contradictions. Depending upon whom you listen to -- or whom you read -- the movie business either is or isn't in trouble.That it was a disappointing summer is undeniable -- Bruce Willis' "Hudson Hawk," Julia Roberts' "Dying Young" and Kathleen Turner's "V.I. Warshawski" didn't begin to meet critical or financial expectations. In fact, "Hudson Hawk," the season's biggest loser, so far has earned a paltry $16 million, compared to TC a budget estimated at between $48-$58 million.

HOLLYWOOD -- In an unusual pastoral letter, Cardinal Roger Mahony, the archbishop of Los Angeles, has challenged the entertainment industry to adopt general guidelines for the depiction of violence, sex, family life and the treatment of women.Implicitly criticizing the movie industry for an avalanche of films that "pander to baser instincts," Cardinal Mahony, who leads the largest archdiocese in the nation, went out of his way to insist that he rejects censorship or a return to the kind of production code, specifically governing how film makers deal with sex and other issues, that dominated the movie industry for decades.

BEIJING -- This capital's Hua Shi Theater was scheduled to play a sure-fire hit last month: "Rush Hour," a Hollywood blockbuster starring Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan.But at the last moment, the government ordered the theater to show old propaganda movies in preparation for this year's 50th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.Instead of the Hollywood action comedy that would have drawn huge audiences, theater manager Li Lihua had to screen such fare as "Dragon Year's Policeman," a state-made tribute to hard-working Chinese police officers.

During Saturday's Preakness Stakes, Michael Styer, head of the Maryland Film Office, was at another race track on the other side of the country, playing host to 200 television and movie executives.To say the least, the timing of this long-planned "Preakness in Hollywood" party was awkward. The event was intended to help lure film production to Maryland, but it came just two days after filmmaking here received its worst ever setback. On Thursday, NBC canceled "Homicide: Life on the Street," the critically acclaimed television series that had greatly enhanced Baltimore's credentials with Hollywood studios and established its credibility in television production.

BOMBAY, India -- Fans of the world's largest film industry were unlikely to tune in for the Academy Awards. After all, their favorite stars carried off their trophies more than a week ago right here in Bollywood.Bollywood, as Bombay is known to fans of Indian cinema, is the capital of an industry that produces some 800 feature films a year in several Indian languages. That's well over double the number made in Hollywood, and almost one-fifth of the world's total. Revenue from India's colorful song-and-dance extravaganzas and melodramas surpasses $1 billion a year.

When a set decorator needed a rusty mop bucket as a prop in the feature film "Liberty Heights" last month, the operator of a local antiques mall went to her utility closet and pulled out the perfect model.Elaine Ezell, president of AAA Antiques Mall Inc. in Hanover, has been doing business with the film industry for several years, working from lists to provide items quickly.Each film that comes in represents $15,000 or $20,000 in revenue to the 450 antiques dealers at her mall, she said. This year, she estimates, the film industry has brought in at least $50,000.

Talitha Simeona-Stewart flicked her pen across a student's paper as she stood in the line of people in dark suits. She didn't look it, but the eighth-grade English teacher from Millersville was nervous because she had never even tried out for a play, much less a TV series starring Kevin Spacey. She was just a Shakespeare lover hoping to show her students the value of reaching for new experiences. A few feet away, Dude Walker (yes, that's his professional name) cracked jokes about the actor's life.

Whether he is handing out hard hits on the football field or delivering one-liners during interviews, Terrell Suggs is used to making plenty of noise at his day job (just ask NFL quarterbacks like Tom Brady). But the outspoken Ravens linebacker, a Pro Bowler in 2010, is quietly making a name for himself in the film industry. His production company, Team Sizzle Worldwide, just wrapped principal photography for his latest film project, “The Coalition,” and the trailer was released to the Internet last week . Suggs co-wrote the film -- which stars "227" actress Jackee Harry and Denyce Lawton from Tyler Perry's "House of Payne” -- along with director Monica Mingo.

The issue may have been serious: raising awareness of problems facing Maryland's film industry. But, that didn't mean that an event for that cause couldn't be fun. All you needed to see were the smiles on the faces of folks like: Betsy Jiranek, American Land Title Corp. president, and her husband, Drew Jiranek, Jiranek Co. principal; Lorraine Whittlesey, Private Sector Productions artistic director; Ann Stief, Bryn Mawr teacher, and her husband, Charlie Stief, Wells Fargo senior vice president; and Judy Turner, retired Verizon analyst.

Baltimore filmmaker Barry Levinson urged lawmakers yesterday to authorize a rebate for the state's film industry, and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller expressed support for the measure. Levinson said he has opted to shoot movies in Canada over his native Maryland because of tax incentives. Several Maryland-themed movies, such as Hairspray and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, have also been filmed elsewhere. "It's a shame these Maryland movies move out of state," Miller said.

City prosecutors, police create cases Although a series of Baltimore search warrants and arrests last week resulted in federal charges for drug dealing and firearms violations ("Raids yield arrests, heroin," Sept. 12), the investigations that led to those cases were conducted in large part by local prosecutors and police. In many proactive investigations that result in federal drug and gun charges, Baltimore State's Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy and her assistant state's attorneys work with Baltimore Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III and his police officers to obtain evidence through wiretaps and search warrants and pursue other investigative leads.

Tax credits now critical to region's film industry I would like to set the record straight on a number of inaccurate statements made by Sheldon H. Laskin in his column "Leave film tax credits on the cutting-room floor" (Commentary, July 14). Mr. Laskin wrongly suggests that state and local governments provide police, fire personnel and other public services "at taxpayer expense." To the contrary, these services are paid for by the production company and are not charged to Maryland's taxpayers.

DUBLIN, Ireland - Cigarette tax, up 30 cents starting today, pushing the price above $6 a pack. Ireland's wealthiest people will pay about $2,000 more a year for welfare programs for the country's worst-off. Gasoline tax? That's increasing 7 cents per liter immediately. And to save the government money, no more retiring for public workers until they turn 65. Ireland's finance minister, Charlie McGreevy, ticked off the tax increases and spending cuts one by one yesterday as he stood before lawmakers to outline the country's 2004 budget.

From his Los Angeles office, Ken Haber plans to tip the Maryland Film Office to new work in films and television before the competition hears about it, hoping to boost the economic impact of the film industry on the state by millions of dollars in the next few years. Haber, 44, a location manager with 24 years' experience, will have a one-person office in Benedict Canyon, Calif., north of Beverly Hills. That office will operate on a budget of $100,000. "I will be able to find out about jobs that the office here would not normally be able to find out about until days or weeks later," he said.

HOLLYWOOD -- On paper, Evan Almighty looked like a sure thing. A spinoff of Jim Carrey's smash hit Bruce Almighty, the film starred Morgan Freeman, reprising his role as God, and Steve Carrell, one of Hollywood's hottest comedians. But Evan Almighty turned out to be a dud, with an estimated $250 million in production and marketing costs and $173 million in box office revenue. The film's distributor, Universal Studios, is not the only one feeling the pain. So are a hedge fund in Milwaukee that put up millions of dollars to help bankroll the movie and more than a dozen others, investment bankers say. Hedge funds have been a major source of capital for Hollywood studios over the past three years.

Melissa Lynn "Stanley" Cohen, a Baltimore film production coordinator who worked on movies including Failure to Launch and Ladder 49, died of breast cancer Wednesday at Mercy Medical Center. She was 36. Cohen, who grew up in Ellicott City, graduated from Mount Hebron High School in 1989. She attended classes at Catonsville Community College but quit to follow her mother, a hair and makeup artist, into the film industry. She moved to Los Angles when she was 18. After finding she wasn't getting her calls returned in the male-dominated film world, she borrowed her dad's name and began sending out resumes as "Stanley Cohen."