Film recruiter's job: Selling Virginia

Rita McClenny's drive to get film companies to shoot their movies in Virginia is an outgrowth of the competitive spirit that's guided her life.

She was a star tennis player in college. She took up polo as an adult. And she lists clay-pigeon shooting — sometimes referred to as golf with a shotgun — as an outside interest.

That competitive streak helps drive her as head of the Virginia Film Office when she battles with more than 40 other states looking to land lucrative Hollywood projects.

"Rita has stayed on the front lines and fought," said Tim Reid, actor, producer, writer, director, studio owner — and friend.

He describes McClenny as tenacious.

"Even when she had no support, she stayed on it," he said.

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McClenny never intended to get into the film business.

Born and raised on a family farm in Southampton County, she graduated from Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., with a degree in economics.

She eventually went to Atlanta, where she worked in sales for Eastman Kodak and Lockheed Aeronautical Systems.

But after seven years in Georgia, it was time to come back to Virginia.

"I had some of the best times of my life in Atlanta, but I wanted to come home," she said.

She returned to the area in 1989 and took a job as an associate marketing manager with the Virginia Department of Economic Development.

The following year, she was approached about joining the film office by Laura Oaksmith, then the agency's head.

McClenny said she was unsure at first about making the move. She told Oaksmith that "you guys talk to a different group of people than we do."

Despite doubts, McClenny joined the film office in 1991 and took over the director's job from Oaksmith in 1992.

Duane Byrge, a critic and writer for the industry publication The Hollywood Reporter who teaches film and journalism at Virginia State University, said he was pleased but hardly surprised when the decision was made to move McClenny into the job.

"Immediately, she became one of the best among all of the North American film commissioners/directors," he said. "Very soon, she became the best: In my professional opinion, she is head and shoulders over her peers in the other states."

What makes her so good at the job is that she "bridges the gap between Hollywood and the Virginia statehouse," Byrge said.

"Rita is as much at ease with Hollywood stars as she is with Virginia state officials," he said. "She can talk the talk and walk the walk in both these very different worlds. No one is better at that."

Doro Bachrach, a New York-based producer, said McClenny's knowledge of the film business is what makes her good at her job.

"Rita thinks and works like a filmmaker, understanding the economic challenges of getting a film made and knowing how to deliver the specific elements of that film that will persuade the producer and financier to film on location in Virginia," said Bachrach, who filmed parts of "Dirty Dancing" in Virginia.

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While multimillion-dollar Hollywood blockbusters get most of the attention, McClenny's film office staff of six works to attract productions of all sizes, including reality television, independent films, industrial films and commercials.

The film office is in deep competition with about 40 states that aggressively try to lure film projects there.

The reason for the effort is the amount of money a production generates.

In 2009, the film industry in Virginia had an economic impact of $346 million representing 2,700 jobs, according to the film office.

"A film crew is 250 people, many who aren't local, who have to be fed and housed for a significant amount of time. That doesn't include location fees and equipment," said Brian Falk, producer on the 2011 Robert Redford film "The Conspirator."

"When we come in, we spend a lot of money," he said.

Falk, who has not worked on a project filmed in Virginia, said he looks at several factors when he shops for a location to shoot a movie, including the availability of crews, settings and tax credits.

But working with Virginia is different from working with many other states, he said.

Most other states give flat tax credits to production companies. Virginia hands out money on a project-by-project basis.

"Virginia takes a more nuanced approach," Falk said.

In Louisiana, for example, production companies get a 30 percent tax credit on money spent. An additional 5 percent incentive is available for hiring Louisiana residents.

"I would love to shoot here," he said while attending an event in Richmond this month. "But (Virginia) is a bit singular on how it handles tax credits."

McClenny said the way the state has handled incentives in the past has cost Virginia about $350 million worth of productions since 2006, including losing out on the feature film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Virginia was on the short list of locations and under serious consideration, but producers chose Louisiana.

Virginia was on the forefront in recruiting films in the mid-1990s.

But it has been a little more difficult in recent years for various reasons, including the state not providing incentives needed to attract productions to Virginia, said Terry Stroud, chairman of the industry group Virginia Production Alliance and chief operating officer of In Your Ear Music Studio in Richmond.

He has worked alongside McClenny on educating legislators and working with officials in the film business for about 15 years.

Byrge, the journalist and professor, said Virginia's policies are a competitive disadvantage.

"If Rita and her team would be on equal incentive footing with neighboring states, they would probably attract more filming than anywhere else," he said.

Earlier this year, the state attempted to become a bit more competitive with new incentives that are starting to show results.

The state announced in May that Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg would shoot the feature film "Lincoln" in the Richmond and Petersburg areas. Filming starts soon. Casting has been going on for the past couple of months.

The incentive package to bring the production here includes $1 million from the Governor's Motion Picture Opportunity Fund, $2.5 million from a tax-credit program and $1.1 million in other contributions.

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Reid, who has been an outspoken critic of how the state approaches the film industry, said he thinks Virginia is headed in the right direction and credits McClenny.

"When she had no support, she stayed on it. She stood there and fought," he said of her efforts to make Virginia a more attractive location for filmmakers. "I can't think of anyone who has put in the time to support the film industry (in Virginia) like she did."

McClenny acknowledges others have tried to lure her away, but she has stayed.

"I won't deny that I've been offered other opportunities, but this is where I want to be. This is my home. This is the place I love," McClenny said.

Reid credits her for keeping him in the state. There were many times in recent years when he wasn't getting the support he needed and considered packing up his New Millennium Studios in Petersburg and moving it elsewhere.

But McClenny helped keep him here by standing by him and telling him things would improve, he said.

"She was always there to support me."

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McClenny said much has changed about her perception of the film business since she joined the film office about two decades ago.

She spends the majority of her time working on relationships with people in the industry. She travels to film festivals all across the country to spread the word on Virginia, and she spends a fair amount of time in California, the capital of the film world.

"I have met many movie stars and celebrities during my long tenure with The Hollywood Reporter, but none is more charismatic than Rita McClenny," Byrge said.

But don't tell McClenny that what she does is glamorous.

"I wouldn't consider it glamorous," she said, scoffing at the description.

"I don't get invited to the Academy Awards. 'John Adams' won 13 Emmys. Did I go to the Emmys? No! That would have been glamorous," she said about the critically acclaimed HBO miniseries filmed in Virginia.

She laughs, then adds, "But when everyone who worked on 'John Adams' is at the Emmys, guess what we're doing? Getting the next 'John Adams.'"