Creative Many 2014 Candidate Survey

Creative Many 2014 Candidate Survey DEB HAVENS Party: Democrat District: Senate District 28 CREATIVE ECONOMY Do you support new strategies to position the growth of Michigan s creative industries jobs and businesses as a strategic state economic development asset and priority? Response: Strongly Agree What strategies would you employ and why? New strategies I support to position the growth of Michigan s creative industries are built on my long term commitment to develop the film and gaming industries here through my leadership in cofounding the West Michigan Film Video Alliance. As we approach our 10th anniversary, much has changed in Michigan s film market. We now have a fairly secure film and gaming incentive program capped at $50 million dollars. More and more of our community are successful independent commercial and corporate producers. Many of our charter members and many new faces are designing games or producing films that are winning prizes in film festivals across the nation and the globe. And for every one of those success stories, hundreds of students who graduate annually in West Michigan want similar careers. My leadership in the Alliance is focused on those Indie filmmakers and game developers in our market who are our new target members, i.e., those people who need help figuring out how to make a business plan, find investors, distributors, and agents, etc. We need to encourage and support entrepreneurs and creatives who will grow studios and other facilities here. Developing the viability of this group is key to new economic trends of the 21st century. We want to achieve the following: Outside recognition that West Michigan talent and crew can handle the film projects that want to shoot here; plus, we need to support and grow our own indigenous talent to form West Michigan s flourishing film and game industry of the future. CREATIVE EDUCATION The Federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA or No Child Left Behind defines the arts as a core academic subject. Research demonstrates that an education in the arts can spark intelligence,

boost academic achievement, assist in the development of workplace skills, promote discipline and good citizenship and enhance one s self esteem and tolerance for others. Creative Many strongly believes that a quality arts education curriculum, combined with other core subject areas, will best prepare our children for the future. Would you support or oppose measures to strengthen Michigan s education code to ensure equitable access to high-quality, consistent, sequential, standards-based arts education for all students in grades pre-k through 12? Response: Strongly Support What strategies would you employ? Ensure that education, specifically our public schools, are funded to provide exposure to these programs. Right now, programs in the arts are the first to be cut because they do not have a place in the testing programs imposed on Michigan curricula. I hope that changes soon. Why or why not? Please describe why you hold this position. I hold this position for all the reasons cited in your question. Additionally, I believe the arts programs such as choir, band, dance, filmmaking, are an alternative way to build teamwork, aside from the constant emphasis on participation in sports programs that can injure kids or expose them to competitive forces that negate the positive sense of team. CREATIVE PLACEMAKING Municipalities across the country are utilizing creative placemaking to shape vibrant communities and solve issues of place through the arts, culture, and creativity, thereby furthering efforts to attract talent, spur economic development, revitalize neighborhoods, increase civic engagement, strengthen community connectedness, and reframe community narratives. What role do you feel creative placemaking can play in Michigan s economic growth and vitality? Michigan s economic growth and vitality has already been energized on the west side of Michigan by the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts, the spectacular ArtPrize, plus the new film festivals that have been introduced successfully over the last ten years, the most outstanding examples of which are the Traverse City Film Festival, Waterfront Film Festival, Thriller! Chiller! and others. The millions of dollars these events eject into their host communities through direct and indirect spending of tourists is already on record. TALENT ATTRACTION Describe your priorities for public investment. What do you believe is critical to creating and sustaining vibrant communities and a quality of life that would attract and retain talent, businesses and families in Michigan. Particularly those in the creative and design sector, entrepreneurs, start-ups and businesses who are revitalizing communities, creating jobs and energizing the workforce of tomorrow. 1) First priority PROMOTE the creative arts industry like any other: on the MEDC web-site and social media.

2) Recruit from national companies to open offices for talent representation here. We need agents, distributors, and managers as well as production and post-prod companies for the film industry. 3) Provide the economic impact tracking systems applied to the Pure Michigan tourist program to the arts industry. Stop guessing about the growth of local business as well as influx of new offices from outside the state that locate here thanks to the creative opportunities and the incentives. 4) Direct all economic development offices, particularly regional offices such as the Right Place on the west side of the state and Connection Point, a partnership between Pure Michigan and the Detroit Chamber of Commerce, to include the arts, film and related tech companies into local econ development plans. As long as the MEDC focus overlooks the creative arts, the other offices follow suit. 5) Provide training to communities to prepare to work effectively and smoothly with artistic events: a) Distribute guidelines and benefits b) Help communities ID and promote unique locations c) Promote welcoming policies, marketing and tailored website pages 6) Establish islands, corridors, alleys or peninsulas whatever you want to call them to help interested communities build economic drivers within the creative arts industries with as much foresight and recruitment as our current Medical Mile, Auto Alley, etc. 7) Encourage MI based clients and their ad agencies to employ local talent for commercial work. 8) Invite MI artists to workshops on how to apply for grants and incentives what needs to be in a grant application. 9) Help MI artists prepare for major film festivals provide introductions to industry people who make decisions showcase screenings and regional introductions to producers, agents, distributors, etc. 10) The MEDC already promotes a free technical education to high school grads under the Michigan Advanced Technician Training program (http://www.mitalent.org/mat2/) aimed at helping students get trained in a high tech in-demand field. The program includes computer programming but none of the high-end skill training advocated for the film industry core competencies for these skills are posted via a link on the MFO website under Jobs and Training. If just one college or university took on becoming a center for these highly skilled jobs, we would rapidly become known as an innovative center for this kind of training as is already the case with Kendall College for Art and Design. TRADE MISSIONS AND EXPORT OPPORTUNITIES Michigan has long been a national and global creative leader. The home of Motown, the birthplace of the automobile, the source of continued pioneering entrepreneurship arts, culture, and creativity are deeply rooted in Michigan s history and are a vital contributor to our state s financial system through job creation, tax revenue, business development, and tourism dollars. Nationally, there are 750,453

businesses in the United States involved in the creation or distribution of the arts that employ 3.1 million people (representing 4.2% of all businesses and 2.1% of all employees). Additionally, the arts and cultural export industry in the United States grew to $72 billion in 2011 for the export of goods such as movies, painting, and jewelry (Americans for the Arts: Creative Industries Report). Do you support the opportunity to engage the creative industries in trade missions to cultivate economic investment in Michigan communities and position Michigan s creative and design industries with the skills, resources, and networks to maximize growth in creative export opportunities? Response: Strongly Support Why or why not? Please describe why you hold this position. Get Michigan artists on the next MEDC junket to Dubai, China, India, and S. Korea, and please invite investment in studios here. Those countries have thriving artist communities and film industries that could perform, create, and shoot films here in our currently empty studios. My focus has been on the film industry. We have considered creating our own trade mission locally. We plan to pull together a team of film vendors who can offer the necessary equipment to foreign filmmakers, and pair them with local filmmakers and union reps with necessary skills to attract film projects here. Add someone to rep the studio space, and off you go to promote our incentives and locations to the rest of the world. Let s fill those empty studio spaces! INVESTMENT IN THE STATE S ARTS, CLUTURE & CREATIVE ASSETS This year the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) received an appropriation of $10.15 million to administer and distribute operational, capital, and programming grants to Michigan s nonprofit arts, culture, and arts education organizations in Fiscal Year 2015. Representing an important commitment to the role of creativity in Michigan s reinvention, this increase is an important step in rebuilding the state s investment in the arts, culture, and creative assets for the future. Do you agree or disagree that an increased state investment in funding and policies for the arts, culture, arts education and the creative industries should be a part of Michigan s economic strategies for the future? Response: Strongly Agree Why or why not? Please describe why you hold this position. See Talent Attraction. MICHIGAN LEGISLATIVE CREATIVE CAUCUS Launching in 2014, the Michigan Legislative Creative Caucus is a bipartisan group of legislators focused on building awareness and growing support for policies and investments that impact the creative sector. The Creative Caucus will work to advance a six-part Creative Policy Agenda that will help facilitate valuable discussions on the crucial role of creativity and innovation play in Michigan s future.

If elected to serve, would you be interested in becoming a member of the Michigan Legislative Creative Caucus? Response: Yes. YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE ARTS, CULTURE, ARTS EDUCAITON AND THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES What arts and cultural activities have you and your family members attended, participated in, or supported in the past year? (Select all that apply). Music, Theater, Visual Arts, Dance, Literary Arts, Film/Media Additional Comments: Thank you for allowing me to express my beliefs about the importance of creativity in Michigan's future. Thinking back to your own background and education, what arts or cultural classes, programs, or activities did you participate in? (Select all that apply). Instrumental, Vocal, Visual, Film/Media, Dance, Theater, Literary What impact did this have on your education? Your career path and opportunities? Your interest in public service? I consider my leadership in the West Michigan Film Video Alliance as one of the key components of growing the appreciation for art in general, and film in particular a huge cultural advance for West Michigan. We have presented panel discussions and film festivals in partnership with the Grand Rapids Art Museum and the UICA; we have provided financial support for the Grand Rapids Film Festival, the Waterfront Film Festival, and Thriller!Chiller! Film Festival, helping these events launch or advance with the assurance that they would be staffed with volunteers, receive funding for promotion, and have an audience. We also foresaw the need for a West Michigan Film Office (WMFO) early on. We researched the organization of the office, wrote the first business plan for its operation, appointed the first board of directors, and financially contributed to certify the training for WMFO Film Commissioner Rick Hert through the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI). Rick is the only certified Film Commissioner in West Michigan and most of the state. We now see the art of film included in Art Prize venues, and special screenings at the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts. The Kent District Library hosts a student film competition annually. Five universities and colleges offer film and game production programs, including Kendall/Ferris State University, Grand Valley State University, Compass College of Cinematic Arts, Calvin College, and Cornerstone University. Kendall College of Art and Design also recently received a grant from Pamella DeVos to teach fashion design that will include a film costuming component. Many of our WMFVA members have taught classes at local universities in highly skilled areas of their fields, including lighting, sound, writing, directing, etc., which have attracted and retained student residents here.

I believe my mother s beautiful singing voice, her encouragement of my participation in vocal, band and other musical performance certainly enhanced my appreciation for the those forms of art. I ve always loved to read and began to write my own poetry as a child. English was my favorite class in high school, I wrote for my high school and college newspapers, and found an easy transition from teaching into a career in broadcast entertainment. I ve written a number of screenplays and was in the process of finding an agent for myself when the opportunity for office presented a chapter in my life story I couldn t close the book on without participating. So far, it has been a fascinating and rewarding narrative!