Name: Tony Becerra
City: Seattle
Describe your work: I’m an Assistant Director, in charge of scheduling, breaking down scripts and running set.
Why is Washington State a great place to film?
I’ve filmed hundreds of commercials in every kind of weather and terrain, all in our state. It’s doubled for New York, Utah, South Korea, and it only takes a short drive to either have desert, snow, mountains, or sea as your backdrop, and advertisers know this, and our state stays busy year round.
What do you enjoy most about the work that you do? About being on set?
My job is logistics and information, to help bring large crews together to create the best project we can, and working at home, with people I trust and enjoy working with, is one of the highlights.
How has the incentive played a role in your career growth?
With the incentive I’ve been able to raise a family, join my union, gain health insurance and work with amazing incoming productions that I wouldn’t normally, if I lived elsewhere.
What would you like legislators to know about the incentive renewal?
The incentive allows us to stay competitive, allows work to grow and new crews to be trained. It stops runaway productions to Canada and keeps our best and brightest crew working to build more infrastructure in state, to support larger jobs. Losing that means losing our edge.
What would happen with your film career and life if it were to go away?
Myself and other union workers couldn’t stay in state to support our families. We’d have to go out of state and look elsewhere for work. Businesses suffer, whether it’s felt now or down the road, the loss of incoming productions hurt everyone’s bottom line.