Behind the Scenes: Debbie Dorsey and Baltimore's Film Office
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Rob Lee
welcome to the truth in this art. I am your host, Rob Lee. And today I have the privilege of being in conversation with the director at the Baltimore Film Office. Please welcome Debbie Dorsey. Welcome to the podcast.
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Debbie Dorsey
Oh, hey, nice to be here. Thank you for having me.
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Rob Lee
Yes, we're doing this in person. Unfortunately, no one's going to see this interview, but we're doing this in person at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. We're in the Cinema Gallery, which is really cool, actually. It's like we're at the movies and we have no audience, you know? So this is one of those instances where I guess talking to the movies isn't frowned upon and talking through the movies is a frowned upon.
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Debbie Dorsey
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And I like this room. There's some really great old classic Baltimore movie posters on the walls. So if you're ever in here, please be sure to come in and check this room out. And I think they also do some trailers of some of these films, too. They run those while the museum's open.
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Rob Lee
Which is which is really.
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Debbie Dorsey
Cool. Yeah. Yeah. There's so many of us now because these are so old that there's a lot of young people that probably haven't seen some of these movies.
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Rob Lee
I mean, I was disturbed talking with someone that was, like, super young, like me. Seems like, what's the wire like now.
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Debbie Dorsey
In that crazy.
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Rob Lee
Right. So again, thank you for being on this podcast. And before we get too deep and entrenched into the cutting room floor of this podcast, could you share the Debbie Dorsey story and what was your first experience working with film?
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Debbie Dorsey
Sure, happy to do that. So my first experience, I started out working on commercials actually, really for a still photographer who did commercial photography. And then I went on to do some regular film commercials. This was in the early eighties. I graduated from Towson University in 1982. I was a I studied photography and public relations, which you'll hear in just a minute, how that fit perfectly with what I ended up doing as a career.
00;02;06;27 - 00;02;24;15
Debbie Dorsey
I traveled and backpacked around Europe for about four or five months and decided I did not want to ever have a job. Phone is ringing and I'm going to turn it off. I never wanted a job with that where I had to wear a suit or anything, you know, I just wanted to be in my hiking boots, in shorts.
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Debbie Dorsey
That's what I wanted to do after I travel. So I would started working for this still photographer working on commercials. And then my first break, working on a feature film was on a movie called Men Don't Leave. So I did. They did some reshoots here in Baltimore. And I was in my hiking boots and shorts and the crew from Avalon came over and Barry Levinson and his gang, they were looking for locals to work on their new movie.
00;02;46;16 - 00;03;09;28
Debbie Dorsey
And that was my first full on job as a location manager on a feature film. So that was Avalon in 1989, which I see the poster on the wall over there. So it was a big period film. It combined my love of of traveling because I really became a traveler in my own city. So there was constantly things to discover.
00;03;09;28 - 00;03;29;01
Debbie Dorsey
Every corner I turn was something new, some new cool architecture. And being a period movie, helping to try and help the director and the production designer envision what it would have looked like in 1919. And it was everything I loved to do. So I had a career for quite some time. I worked on Avalon. I'm looking around the room.
00;03;29;01 - 00;03;54;25
Debbie Dorsey
So I was in Seattle. I worked on for John Waters movie serial mom, Cecil B Demented Pecker and a dirty shame. So I Homicide Life on the Street, Washington Square. It was a great career. And then after I started to have a family, I decided I took a little time off several years and then came back and started my job as the film commissioner for Baltimore City.
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Debbie Dorsey
So that was 15 years ago. So I've had a long 30 year stretch. I start out brown hair. You can't see me now. It's gray.
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Rob Lee
I went into the bathroom earlier and I noticed one gray hair on my face. I was like, Come on. I was like, Come on, let's not do this. I was like, I'm turning into Reed Richards. This is not what I wanted.
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Debbie Dorsey
Right? It happens. It happens to a soul. So that's kind of in a nutshell. It's so even with my job as as the film office director, a lot of it is selling Baltimore, selling the locations and the different looks. We have such a great city for that. We have old new 1700 seaport to modern glass buildings. So there's so much that Baltimore has to offer visually.
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Rob Lee
Thank you. Thank you for walking us through it in a very abbreviated way because, you know, you say this, you know, 30 years. And so it's like, no, it's not a few minutes, you know.
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Debbie Dorsey
Not a few minutes at all. Yeah.
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Rob Lee
So if if, if there were was one and I think you touched on it because one of the things I get out of doing this podcast is sort of that kind of internal, almost like a local passport to check out things. And what I like to do is to share those, those things with happiness, what these conversations ultimately turn into.
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Rob Lee
So what would you say the main thing, if you would have put a really fine point on it about filmmaking, especially here locally, that resonated with you?
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Debbie Dorsey
The one thing I think for me and as a location manager, so that's, you know, as you know, there's so many different kinds of jobs in the film industry. And for me as location manager, I think it was being given the opportunity to meet people I wouldn't normally meet, to be in all kinds of different neighborhoods, to meet the directors of museums, to the guy with with the hot dog stand on the corner.
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Debbie Dorsey
I mean, I met all sorts of people that I probably wouldn't wouldn't normally meet.
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Rob Lee
But, you know, Joe is well known.
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Debbie Dorsey
I know he's I do. On Avalon, for instance, a lot of it was Barry Levinson's. It was the story of his family was Avalon. And so we went to the places where some of his family had lived and one of the streets, Appleton Street, off in North Avenue, we did a big scene because in in I don't know when they stopped doing it, but the Ringling Brothers Circus used to have the elephants parade down to the Civic Center.
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Debbie Dorsey
And so we set up a parade of everything we had elephants and everything. But my job was to go door to door and talk to all the neighbors and get to know them all. And there was this really kind of older gentleman on the street who played the flugelhorn on Pennsylvania Avenue and some of the jazz clubs. But I would sit and listen to stories like for the longest time I'd meet people and they'd cook crab cakes for me or dinner, and I just would hear their stories.
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Debbie Dorsey
And it was an opportunity because I think they would say, Oh, movie people, and then they would want to tell their story. And I loved it. That was my that was my favorite, really. My it is still is my favorite part is just getting in to lots of different communities and getting to meet people that I wouldn't normally meet.
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Debbie Dorsey
So is that is that filmmaker thing? I don't know. But that's part of it is it's part of it and part of it is the relationships that you build. And for that, for the residents, a lot of it is, you know, they have a film on their street and it's cool and it's exciting even though it's a little disruptive and they have to move their car or whatever.
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Rob Lee
It's like this noise.
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Debbie Dorsey
I know, what's up? Light my window. All night long or whatever. But you know, it's something that doesn't normally happen every day and it adds a little bit of fun and excitement. And that's what I always tried to bring to a neighborhood, was I'd listen to people's stories and I'd get them excited and they'd all come out and talk and meet and that makes it fun.
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Debbie Dorsey
I always wanted to make it fun for people and not like it inconvenience, you know.
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Rob Lee
The fun piece and you know, I hear and it just it maybe is in part having so many of these sorts of conversations that it's like, you know, being able to connect with people and have them share their stories. One, there's a litany of skills that go into doing that. And I think to it's it's outreach. That's the PR thing a little bit there in terms of marketing and things that I saw it or even research, if one is like I want to write this next story and it's like, yeah, I was a location assistant or something on the set of this movie, but I have some good stories just by interfacing and connecting with
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Rob Lee
the community. Right. And you know, there's a lot of things and I find that, you know, with some of those kind of earlier steps, those things that are really important, that don't have that kind of impact of sort of bottom line component to it, those are the things that actually really matter.
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Debbie Dorsey
And it all evolves and it helps with, you know, when you work with with a group of filmmakers or directors who do take that into consideration, that they're not locked to the words on the script or the way it's written, like Jodie Foster on whom for the holidays. I worked with her in the script, called for, I think it was a friendlies that the characters went into a Friendly's for a cup of coffee and I was like, Jodie, nobody, you know.
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Debbie Dorsey
But with this particular one, everything goes to get friendlies. Let's go somewhere cool. Like the old white coffee pot junior, which had this much cooler atmosphere, was out off of Harford or Bel Air Road up at Moravia Road up in there. And she's like, Take me there. And she's like, I love it. This is great. But that's an example of when you're working together.
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Debbie Dorsey
On Avalon, I noticed there was an apartment building named Avalon and I showed the director or the DP and they captured an image of it, and that was in either the opening or closing credits, but it was just like something I noticed pointed out and you know, that kind of thing that, that, that naturally in evolves is, is, is the cool part of it.
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Rob Lee
I like those little quirky things because we have those things that are in Baltimore. That's part of just what the makeup is here and being able to insert that into something that is a production that may or may not have people who have a tie to the city here. It's just like, Oh, they're fingerprints of the city right in here.
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Rob Lee
These little things that when you know, you know, it's like, I'm from Baltimore. I know that place. Like when I was doing and I'm still doing the shot, the Baltimore series. And I almost wanted to do a drinking game for Meteor Man. It's like every time you see something you recognize, take a shot. And I was like, people have drunk a lot of the Volturi.
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Debbie Dorsey
That movie and then that the fun part when when you see something that's filmed in Baltimore just like you have to watch it five times because the first time you're watching all you're looking for are places that you know you're not paying attention to the dialog. Then you have to watch it again. I mean, that's what people love.
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Debbie Dorsey
It's the excitement of seeing their town on the screen no matter what it's about. On Homicide Life on the street The first season was kind of hard because people were like, Oh, I don't like that name, you know, I don't want to. And then the second set and I actually had a couple locations like, no, I don't think so.
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Debbie Dorsey
The next season they're like, We want to be a new show. We love it. It's great, you know, put a body on my sidewalk or whatever. I mean, I'm serious just to be in it is.
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Rob Lee
I think part of that series was filmed. Then I went to Highland Town and I was like, It's always like trucks over here. It's like, Well, what's filming over here? You know? I'm always, always been a big person. So I was a big kid. I was I could be an adult. Can I be a dead body or something like that?
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Debbie Dorsey
And people were and they were happy. They were excited to be that, you know, I'm going to be in it. Yeah. We filmed in Fells Point. That was mean and boy has, you know, some of the areas changed like on Avalon we put a big cross from the wreck pier at the ship where the where the ancestor came down.
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Debbie Dorsey
The immigrant came down the step, they built it, it was a flat and they built that right on same street where you can never do that anymore. It's so busy. But back then there wasn't. There were a few businesses, but not like it was today. And then homicide use the rec pier that was the place headquarters.
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Rob Lee
And that's the Pendry now.
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Debbie Dorsey
It's the Pendry. Yeah. We step up the movie step up and step up to that was the School for the Arts that was used for that. And so the rec pier has a big history in being and playing a part of it in movies, you know, you just move on and you find other places to use, but we've captured a lot, I think on one of the John Waters movies, we used the old Hammer Jacks when it was under Not the one, not the time when it was down on Light Cross Street, but over where the stadiums are now.
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Debbie Dorsey
So in that school and now so sometimes, you know, you can capture a bit of what Baltimore used to look like. I mean, go back and look at Tin Man or Diner. I mean, the older films and Justice for All. There was a walk and talk up on Federal Hill and you look over and you can see the port cranes right there where the Ritz-Carlton residences are.
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Debbie Dorsey
So that's kind of a cool thing to do, too, is to go back and look at some of the older the older films for locations that don't exist any longer.
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Rob Lee
And that's why I thought it was very apt to do it here in the BMI, because there are so many like going through like the history of what different industries were here and kind of getting the history and seeing that, Oh, that's not here anymore. That's changed. We do things in a different way. It's very much timed. Capsule like film is a time capsule, obviously, but being here and showing like the the industry and how things were done, definitely a time capsule being in here.
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Debbie Dorsey
It is, yeah. Looking around, like I said, a lot of these are older film posters, which is which is great. I mean, broadcast news, that was that was a long time ago.
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Rob Lee
I mean, I'm hoping to see the Rob Lee's story. You know, the truth is our film is one of these. And it's like, I would never drink coffee there, you know, fun in different locations.
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Debbie Dorsey
That's right.
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Rob Lee
So I want to talk about the film office a little bit. What is your office responsible for and what sorts of services do the this the film office provide?
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Debbie Dorsey
Sure. So. Well, the film there's been a film office in Baltimore since 1979 to see you know, it's it's we've been around a long time. Our main goal is to do is to cut through bureaucratic red tape. I mean, that's the main thing. So we provide to productions easy and quick access to city services, permits for use on public property, like filming at parks or schools or city streets.
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Debbie Dorsey
I mean, then access for city to city agencies for whatever support a production might need. Sure. So if you want to close the street, we can really streamline that process for you because production is always last minute needs to be done. Yesterday, there's no they can be in pre-production on a movie for three months, but yet when the time when it starts shooting, something always happens, especially lately with with COVID or illness, you know, somebody is sick.
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Debbie Dorsey
So we have to switch our schedule or there's a storm and we can't film the exterior scene because it's pouring down rain. So things constantly are juggling around. So we work very closely with with productions and these are of all sizes. So and I mentioned that I started out working on commercials. This area has a huge commercial production.
00;15;05;08 - 00;15;37;00
Debbie Dorsey
So there's always all sorts of national and regional commercials being films we work with, with those productions as well to get their permits for them and then students, yeah, we have a great community of students these days. I mean, with from, from Morgan to Townsend Stevenson and then Hopkins, Micah just some great programs. So I do that's one of my favorite things to do is to work with the students and then just help them make sure that they can have their dream realized and get what they need.
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Debbie Dorsey
Social sciences and other great program through Hopkins. So I've had a great experience with the latest fellows, helping them get their permits and things. And then just a lot of it is and you're talking to me with somebody with 30 years experience is just they pick my brain a lot, which I still have some left under the gray here.
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Debbie Dorsey
But, you know, I help just mentor and give, give advice and maybe point them at them to locations. Again, you know, I market the city every year and we have in the last couple of years, but we along with the state home office, we go out to Los Angeles. There's a big association of film commissioners event and producers and location managers come and we sell our areas.
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Debbie Dorsey
So I sell Baltimore with all the things that we talk about. What makes Baltimore so great? Just the the old the old architecture that sells point to Mt. Vernon and some of that European beauty so we can double as other places we have in other before. One of the things we double for a lot is D.C. and House of Cards B, because it's you know, it's very streamlined here.
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Debbie Dorsey
As far as the filming process, it's not quite as easy in Washington because of just being D.C. and and the different events that go on politically down there. So it's just it's much easier to film here. So they'll run down, get their shots of the White House or whatnot, and then come back up here. And then we pretend to be everything.
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Debbie Dorsey
And I think that's.
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Rob Lee
The thing that people don't get it. Like when I was doing, when I first started the series shot in Baltimore, I was just thinking like, we're always D.C., we're always going to see why is it is there Baltimore? But I think it understanding it that it's a bit more relaxed here due to some of the work that you and your folks are doing to kind of get rid of some of the bureaucracy and kind of like, yeah, let's you're here and I see more and more productions, especially recently, make it an effort to to hire within this this community here so people are exposed to it.
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Rob Lee
So this is almost like normal lives that movies are being made here and opportunities are here for people in a super accessible way of, yeah, we would love to hire someone here because we want this authenticity. We want these like real makers and creators to pop up on a production. It's like, Oh, wow, this is shot in Baltimore with Baltimore and not everyone is European or what have you.
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Rob Lee
I'm looking at the wire for some reason.
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Debbie Dorsey
Well, and that's that's it. I mean, Baltimore suffered a little bit and this is probably it going into another topic. But, you know, after the wire, a lot had happened in the industry as far as tax credits and attracting, but the ability to attract these studio projects or just bigger projects. It used to be location and crew base and we always had a two or three deep crew base so we could handle two two movies or two series at the same time or three.
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Debbie Dorsey
But After The Wire, Maryland didn't stay competitive with what other states were doing to attract to the industry through through incentives. So a lot of crew went on and moved to other areas. At that time it was Louisiana had a really great incentive program. And then Atlanta, of course, in Georgia has been busting out because they have an unlimited amount of tax credits available every year.
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Debbie Dorsey
So a lot of crew went there. So we're bringing people back through the students. I was just talking to Professor Mellinger at Morgan yesterday. You know, one of the things we want to do because we have all these great film schools is with the pipeline. We want to keep the students here. So we need to work more on workforce development and getting, you know, the foot in the door is always in the film industry is starting out as a production assistant.
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Debbie Dorsey
I mean, everybody did it. Why did they pay? You know, that's what I did it. I did it on commercials. I moved into craft service and had a really good spread of food. And then I went on and just did other things. But we all start out that there. So, you know, we want to we want a local crew base.
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Debbie Dorsey
We want to strengthen the crew base. We have. So it is it's important. And when productions come in, they want to hire local crew. So we need to keep working on that.
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Rob Lee
So thank you and thank you. I think that actually, I think you're you're doing really well here because if you've got the questions already because you're answering my questions, this is I don't like this, Debbie. All right. So so geographically, right? There's nothing really dull about Baltimore. It's always something happening, whether it's like we got to frame the shuttle or difference a dirt bike going through quick, whether you're looking to shoot there or not, there's always something going on.
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Rob Lee
What the what do you filmmakers typically like about filming in Baltimore? And I think, you know, part of you've touched on with, you know, how you sell it. You know that there are you know, you could be in different places in a zip code, you know, physically, visually, you could be a different places within a zip code. But what are some of the things that you're hearing that that filmmakers really like, like about Baltimore, like about filming here?
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Debbie Dorsey
Well, I think one thing is, is the friendliness of the neighborhoods and the people that they meet, the willingness to work together in the and and also not to be starstruck. Oh, they're so and so. Yeah. Let me you know, we we're we're still a very welcoming city. I think they again, the various styles and the various diversity of of the locations is is a huge thing.
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Debbie Dorsey
They can get a lot of looks and move around the city in a short period of time. So it's not you know, it's not a sprawling kind of place, but it's so it's dense with like cool things, like you said. I mean, you can just turn the corner. One of the things we learned on like shows for television series like Homicide was you could find three locations within a one block saying we don't need to move the trucks.
00;21;41;00 - 00;21;57;29
Debbie Dorsey
You know, I'm not moving the trucks. And some of the producers taught us and they were New York producers that had come down and worked with us. But because they could do it in New York, we could do it here, too. I mean, it was just like, okay, I need a road house and I need a corner store and I need you know, some other kind of business or a school.
00;21;57;29 - 00;22;14;04
Debbie Dorsey
And you can look around and find it like this. Turn around and there it is right there. I mean, I think someone else I talked to years ago, he was talking about Chicago. And when he was in Baltimore, he's like, oh, my gosh, there's so it's hilly here and Chicago. It's so flat. So you can get some really cool vistas.
00;22;14;04 - 00;22;34;18
Debbie Dorsey
I think here just with the topography, we've got a lot of beautiful trees and gardens. I mean, it's just it's gorgeous. The light in the fall is you can't beat it right? It's beautiful, beautiful light here. We have seasons. You know, we have we can do winter, although they don't you know, sometimes they'll come in and it's summer and they want to shoot winter.
00;22;34;23 - 00;22;58;25
Debbie Dorsey
Well, I'm sorry about that. We have more trees now that I think ever before. We look at people, look at old like we have a show here now that's supposed to be in 1966. So they're going through and looking at old photos and they're like, there's no trees in 1966. So the city did a great job building the the, the trees situation up here and just providing green space over all these years.
00;22;58;25 - 00;23;17;19
Debbie Dorsey
So that's a cool thing. But I think everybody in the end has a very good experience. Great restaurants. So when you're off, you have a little time off, you can just go somewhere and, you know, get in and have some have some good food. We have so many, so many good places to eat for for you.
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Rob Lee
What would you say has been like those like, let's say 2 to 3 truths, if you will, and I said to like a Baltimore in 2 to 3 truths, if you will, that have like served you really well in your career, that have guided your career. You know, some people might say, be nice to everyone, be kind to everyone, you know, hard work, whatever.
00;23;38;01 - 00;23;48;13
Rob Lee
But what are the things for you that, you know, have really guided you in your career with this like longevity and kind of having so many different roles and and different experiences in this career?
00;23;49;28 - 00;24;16;08
Debbie Dorsey
Well, truth is the word, right? I mean, that's it. You don't you do have to tell people what is really going to happen. Hi. We want to we want to film in your house. It's just going to be three people. Meanwhile, 200 people show up the next day, right? Because that's what is. So you always really just tell them to the best of your ability, exactly what to expect and then be ready to apologize when things change because they always change.
00;24;16;08 - 00;24;58;14
Debbie Dorsey
It's just we're only going to be on this block from this time frame to this, and then suddenly you're two or three blocks and you know, you have to go around and scramble, but always just be ready to be honest and truthful. Always. I mean, that's my big thing that I always go by. If something if you foresee something in I'll have explains but as always look forward and try to anticipate because it's putting out fires a lot of this business so anticipate what the problem is going to be ahead of time and just just try and work it out so in the film office as well as being a location manager, it was always
00;24;58;14 - 00;25;26;13
Debbie Dorsey
providing the playground for the for the filmmaker, for the director and the actors. Right. So so I'm always we're always providing that perimeter, making sure that they have permits. I make sure now, as the film commissioner, that the location team has gone door to door not to notified everybody. And you're telling them everything. Right. And so in mentoring those people to make sure that they're they're doing all that, if something does go wrong, tell tell somebody right away, you know.
00;25;26;20 - 00;25;46;25
Debbie Dorsey
So that's I mean, and these are basic things, but you'd be surprised how sometimes people either forget that or not and take the time to really talk to people, don't just and explain things in layman's terms, not like we've got a a shot with it with the hero vehicle. Well, what does that mean?
00;25;46;28 - 00;25;48;19
Rob Lee
I don't know what that nor do I care.
00;25;49;01 - 00;25;57;24
Debbie Dorsey
But I had somebody recently do that and I'm like, look, I think this gentleman that lives these people that live on the street, they don't know what a here a vehicle means. It could be Batman driving.
00;25;58;12 - 00;26;02;21
Rob Lee
Oh, I should put my put my drums away.
00;26;02;21 - 00;26;19;02
Debbie Dorsey
So it's a car with a camera in it or whatever. And just, you know, again, it goes back to just my philosophy is this this is a cool business. I mean, and so make other people feel like they're part of it, too, and explain things in ways that they can understand.
00;26;19;02 - 00;26;19;25
Rob Lee
So yeah.
00;26;20;10 - 00;26;22;17
Debbie Dorsey
I mean, I think those are my truths.
00;26;23;16 - 00;26;43;00
Rob Lee
I think those are I think those are important. I mean, I think that if more people apply that to how they go about their work, things would be a bit smoother. They're like, I always think about the bureaucratic thing. That's the thing that's they always think about the jargon, you know? And it's like, I just remember and it's, it can hit every industry.
00;26;43;10 - 00;27;08;07
Rob Lee
We know what we do. Yeah, you know, and I might know. Oh, I'm going to check these levels or something. What is that? What do you mean? It's like, I want to see how you sound like. Like, you know, and trying to overcommunicate, overdeliver. So the guest or the. Well, the person that's like benefiting from that, the actions that one is taking is in the best place that they're able to do what they do, make it as comfortable.
00;27;08;07 - 00;27;29;11
Rob Lee
Here's a water, here's an environment. All you have to do is just show up and talk. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think that's what it is for me. What I try to do this from my MySpace and also reconciling with this idea of this is the business one is in. You know, a lot of times I remember early on, oh, man, I'm just really just talking and having conversations was like, no, this is a performative thing.
00;27;29;11 - 00;27;46;02
Rob Lee
This is a it's a communications thing. And you've got to do all of these different points. And when people see that this is what you do and this is how you go about it, this is how you build a reputation. You have these guests, so you have these locations with these films. And these different folks come in and it's that reputation.
00;27;46;11 - 00;27;52;08
Rob Lee
It's you can't really fix a reputation sometimes, so it's best to build a good one and maintain a good.
00;27;52;08 - 00;28;12;21
Debbie Dorsey
One, and that's it. It's about relationships really, in all of this. And you know what? I'm sitting here and I'm realizing, you know, we're I'm talking a lot about just making sure it's fun and in the coolness of seeing your neighborhood or your city on the screen. But one of the main reasons that states and cities do what we do to attract this is because it's a business.
00;28;12;21 - 00;28;33;28
Debbie Dorsey
It's commerce. Yeah, that's the big thing. For instance, last fiscal year, fiscal year, July to June in Baltimore, $183 million of economic impact from film production. Yeah, that's a lot of money. And it's the jobs we were talking about. Crew. I mean, these are great jobs. Most of them are Union Joe, a lot of them are union jobs.
00;28;33;28 - 00;28;53;21
Debbie Dorsey
So they have health and and benefits like that. So I mean, this is an industry and we're sitting in the Museum of Industry. It's an industry, right? It's it's not just here because sometimes people in it, it is it can be a disruption on a street. We talked about that earlier, you know, light shining in your window or you have to move your car or whatever.
00;28;53;21 - 00;29;18;00
Debbie Dorsey
But it's the bigger picture. We have this industry where the Motion Picture Association of America estimates $250,000 every day goes into the communities where you're filming. So that's for rentals and food and props and salaries. And so it is a big, big impact on a city in a state.
00;29;18;16 - 00;29;37;15
Rob Lee
That needs other kind of like smaller. But I think as important sort of like collateral sort of benefits of and it's not the notion of being star struck, but I think when people go to a place like an actor or crew or something like, Oh, maybe I should put down roots here, or maybe I should share this. And it's a reputation thing yet again.
00;29;37;29 - 00;29;54;28
Rob Lee
And there are cities that, you know, I love Baltimore. Baltimore is my my home and there are cities there because I had a great time filming or recording or what have you there. I'm like, I could come back here, I could relocate here. I could tell people definitely go here and and be an evangelist and that sort of way for us.
00;29;55;07 - 00;30;19;17
Debbie Dorsey
Yes. And I've I have I know people who relocated here after working years ago or they were from New York and they came down and they worked on a show or movie and they ended up getting married and buying a house and raising their children. We see it all the time. We do see that. I mean, and so that is that's a big part of it is a really good point, because people do relocate here because they do.
00;30;19;17 - 00;30;23;13
Debbie Dorsey
They love it. What's not to love? Right. About Baltimore, time to love.
00;30;23;27 - 00;30;46;01
Rob Lee
So so this is the last real question that that I have now. This is obviously a little bit more forecasting oriented. And I do have those Rapidfire questions for you. So from from what I hear, more and more projects are being filmed in Baltimore recently. You know we own the city you know came out or have yet my scenes were cut and fortunately so I definitely relate to the filming in the summer for fall scenes and it's very small yet.
00;30;46;01 - 00;30;46;28
Debbie Dorsey
Oh my gosh. Yes.
00;30;47;25 - 00;31;08;29
Rob Lee
It was filmed a few where I was. It was a few blocks from my actual house and it's like, why don't I go to set? I could just walk over, Oh, are there any plans afoot to make Baltimore a bigger player? And I know that you touched on this, but this is, I think, a good way to kind of wrap this wrap this up now in terms of some of those changes that are happening, you talk about the more green space that we have here and so on.
00;31;09;09 - 00;31;15;24
Rob Lee
What does a pitch now look like for, hey, check out Baltimore versus what it may have looked like 2 to 3 years ago.
00;31;16;29 - 00;31;41;27
Debbie Dorsey
Well, pitching Baltimore is always I don't want to say easy, but it is we do. Again, pitching the locations is always been easy. We can double for Europe. We get it from European cities, DC and ourselves, right? So that's always been an easy pitch. The harder pitch and the bigger pitches find it. There's what financial or what kind of incentives.
00;31;41;27 - 00;32;10;17
Debbie Dorsey
We have to be a bigger player. So we go every year. As part of the Maryland Film Industry Coalition is every year in Annapolis. We're trying to get a bigger package of incentive money. Right now, Maryland has $12 million annually. That's it for tax credits. So one show, we'll take that. And then now one of the great things that's happened over the last few years is 10% of that 12 million is a carve out for Maryland independent film projects.
00;32;10;17 - 00;32;40;10
Debbie Dorsey
So 1.2 million is set aside for budgets, is from 25000 to 250000. So you can get that 25% tax credit when you're working. So that's great. We want to and that's part of building building the industry from within in helping local filmmakers and then the remainder goes to for larger projects. So for instance, right now we have an Apple TV, the project leading the lake, filming.
00;32;40;10 - 00;33;05;16
Debbie Dorsey
So they had that they got the 10 million from the last fiscal year. Right. And then we also have Lioness, which is a paramount plus series, Taylor Sheridan from Yellowstone is doing. So they just started filming last week. So they have this fiscal year wiped out. So we have nothing left. So we can only really attract several small Maryland independents, which is great.
00;33;05;25 - 00;33;34;02
Debbie Dorsey
And then one series and that's it. So we'd like to be able to have more, more in Baltimore and more around the state. So we're looking, again, to put in legislation this next year, General Assembly, and try and raise that because Atlanta, Georgia has unlimited Illinois and Chicago unlimited. Pennsylvania, I think is 100 million now. So we're just.
00;33;34;11 - 00;33;55;25
Debbie Dorsey
Yeah, just think I mean, imagine Pennsylvania. Yeah. I mean, we could really be busting out here if we had that because that's that's just the way it is now. It's that the decision makers, they take a look who's got the incentives, where can we go? I mean, those are the calls we get. It's it's not like do you have a street that could look like this or whatever?
00;33;55;25 - 00;34;16;05
Debbie Dorsey
It's what you what are the incentives like? I mean, and that's the reality of it right now. So we need to we're going to work and we continue to work on that piece of it. But we also are continuing just to make sure that we are doing the best we can here in Baltimore to make sure everybody has a good experience while they're here to help them find those locations that they need.
00;34;16;29 - 00;34;31;08
Debbie Dorsey
You know, every day ahead. Oh, we're looking for this. I get calls from both of the shows filming. I need this. Right. It looks like we're where can we go? And a lot of it is, you know, is I'm a liaison for all sorts of things. So like, do you have a contact for this place or do you have the contact for that?
00;34;31;08 - 00;34;58;17
Debbie Dorsey
So yeah, remember Rolodex is yeah. With so I just have to make make sure of that. But you know, so looking forward it that's a big part. Get those incentives up. It'd be great once we got that going if we could somehow figure out a stage space, a big 100,000 square feet, something like that, because all shows the big ones again, they need a place to build their their sets.
00;34;58;17 - 00;35;26;23
Debbie Dorsey
And, you know, we we've this last year was it's been challenging because with the pandemic and all the E commerce a lot of the warehouses that we used to use are being used by the Wayfair is at Amazon. So we really that's a next piece and also again is working with the students and helping them build the skills they need and to to take on these trades and to to work as a group in an electric or whatever.
00;35;26;23 - 00;35;37;12
Debbie Dorsey
Because again, there's so many different jobs. I hear the industry right now is really needing accountants. So if anybody's an accountant out there, if you golden right now.
00;35;39;02 - 00;35;58;21
Rob Lee
All right. Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all of that. I just put in a ridiculous question, but I'm definitely going to ask you, in this Rapid Fire Park. So, you know, as we wrap up in these final few minutes here, I got some some questions and they're all over the place. But they're fun. Okay. All right.
00;35;59;20 - 00;36;00;21
Debbie Dorsey
I'll do my best.
00;36;01;00 - 00;36;08;05
Rob Lee
Yeah. Brevity is key. Don't overthink them. Don't overthink it. All right, first one, salty or sweet?
00;36;08;05 - 00;36;08;21
Debbie Dorsey
Salty.
00;36;09;05 - 00;36;21;15
Rob Lee
Okay. What is an objectively terrible movie that you love, that you absolutely love you like? I know this movie's bad, but I love this movie. I have several, but you're on a hot seat.
00;36;21;15 - 00;36;24;16
Debbie Dorsey
Oh, my gosh. It doesn't have to be filmed here.
00;36;24;20 - 00;36;25;21
Rob Lee
No, that's doesn't got here.
00;36;26;00 - 00;36;35;17
Debbie Dorsey
Well, I don't know if it's bad, but can I just tell you a movie that I watch over and over again and people are going to it's not a highbrow movie or it's not like it's but I love Talladega Nights.
00;36;35;20 - 00;36;35;28
Rob Lee
I love.
00;36;35;28 - 00;36;42;21
Debbie Dorsey
That. You know why? It's just funny. And it will still feel that I can just sit and laugh nonstop.
00;36;42;24 - 00;36;44;09
Rob Lee
But the second place is the first loser.
00;36;46;01 - 00;36;49;23
Debbie Dorsey
Shake and bake. You know, I don't know. There's just something silly about that movie.
00;36;50;05 - 00;36;50;29
Rob Lee
That's that's a good one.
00;36;52;20 - 00;36;58;20
Debbie Dorsey
And I'm not a NASCAR fan, so that makes it even funnier. It's just something about the writing and that it just cracks me up.
00;36;58;25 - 00;37;12;22
Rob Lee
It was a formula that worked, and I think they kind of tapped into like, I don't know enough about NASCAR, nor do I care about it, but it's like these, this sort of thing. Yes, this works for me. Like, oh, you guys all just hicks. Oh, this is this is great.
00;37;12;22 - 00;37;15;16
Debbie Dorsey
It's just funny.
00;37;15;16 - 00;37;27;06
Rob Lee
Okay, this is a question I've had for probably I'm going to say, hi, I'm 37, so I've had this question for probably 37 years. Okay. What is a best boy basketball.
00;37;27;06 - 00;37;47;20
Debbie Dorsey
So it's not like the best man at a wedding. You're right. I guess it's so the best boy is the SEC. So in the film industry, there's a definite hierarchy. So the best boy is the second in charge. He reports to the gaffer, which the gaffer is the key electrician. So they're in charge of the lighting on a set.
00;37;47;20 - 00;38;03;03
Debbie Dorsey
So the best boy is the next guy down. So the look in the chain and then there's electrics. So Gaffer best boy and then electrics. And then there's sometimes there's a rigging gaffer and they go in ahead of time and help and lay the cable and get everything ready.
00;38;03;24 - 00;38;07;04
Rob Lee
So. So a gaffer is a person that's not making faux pas which is.
00;38;07;04 - 00;38;09;08
Debbie Dorsey
Yeah. Oh they better not be riding cars.
00;38;10;12 - 00;38;11;18
Rob Lee
It's nothing about.
00;38;11;18 - 00;38;13;29
Debbie Dorsey
So like I think I've never thought of that.
00;38;14;06 - 00;38;21;00
Rob Lee
The other little, little movie game for you. What is your your favorite movie that was set in Baltimore?
00;38;21;00 - 00;38;42;26
Debbie Dorsey
My favorite movies, Avalon. And it was probably because it's such a love story to Baltimore and it just shows all the the beauty. And it's it was my first movie I worked on full on. But it was it's just it was just beautiful. That's my favorite one. Where there's a lot of others that I love it just as well.
00;38;42;26 - 00;38;57;26
Debbie Dorsey
But it was just there. So there was something about that, about Avalon. Maybe it's like something about your first love. I don't know. Maybe that's what was, but that's the one that drew me in. And then I was hooked on working in this in this industry and lastly.
00;38;58;23 - 00;39;13;20
Rob Lee
Mentioning a hooked so funny to ask this question. I don't know if you're coffee person, but I got to ask this. If coffee were illegal, what would its street name be? You know, it's a ridiculous question.
00;39;14;08 - 00;39;27;21
Debbie Dorsey
What would the street name be? Coffee. Oh, God, I got the shits. I was going to say jittery because that's what happens to me when I have too much coffee. We have the same.
00;39;27;21 - 00;39;28;16
Rob Lee
But, man, I've.
00;39;28;27 - 00;39;33;27
Debbie Dorsey
Heard the gits. But I think that's something I was going to go automatic. Like with jittery.
00;39;34;07 - 00;39;53;01
Rob Lee
We'll just wait for my official coffee. The Jetsons coming out soon. That's going to be great. So there you have it. Oh, that's that's kind of the end of this interview here. But I want to thank you for coming on to this podcast, and I want to invite and encourage you to tell the fine folks where to check out the Baltimore Film Office and all of that good stuff.
00;39;53;01 - 00;39;55;12
Rob Lee
All the latest and greatest news there. The floor is yours.
00;39;55;18 - 00;40;13;11
Debbie Dorsey
Oh, well, thank you very much. So we have a website Baltimore film dot com but mostly keep up to date information on our Facebook page which is Baltimore film office. So my contact information is on both. If anyone has questions, they're always welcome to email me and I'm here to help.
00;40;14;04 - 00;40;32;15
Rob Lee
But they have it. Folks, I want to again thank Debbie Dorsey for coming on to the podcast. And I'm broadly saying that there is film and culture in that industry in and around Baltimore. You've got to look for it.
