President Wojahn swore in the newest members of Local 490 at the June members meeting. They are (from L to R) Sound mixer Jim Morgan, Electrician David Underhill, Grip Nathan Lee and Art Dept Coordinator Cate Honzl. Welcome to 490!
The popular tv talent show American Idol visited Minneapolis in the fall of 2014, did auditions and shot a show. The show hired off the Local 490 and 13 rosters. It was an honor for our union members to work with one of Television's top shows.
In September of 2014, Health Partners shot a series of commercials with a MN union crew. The set involved some very special gradient scenic painting with union painter Ben Bayne and Brian Markley. The art dept was led by out of town production designer Adi Goodrich, lead man Ryan Tallant with set dressers Brian Simpson and Gary Surber. The show was gaffed by Chris Hultgren. The shoot was at at Studio 1414 . Here are the video clips and some behind the scene pics of the production.
Good things don't just happen. You make them happen. And when you need help, HealthPartners is there with 24/7 access to support and care. It's never been easier to make good happen.
Union Set Dresser gary Surber (on ladder) works on a set piece for Health Partners with art assist tom kristjanson.
So one day, your boys decide to build a catapult. Which for some reason makes you wonder when they had their last tetanus shot. So what do you do? You could log on to your HealthPartners account, take a quick look at the dashboard, and with a few taps search their immunization records.
Local 490 would like to thank the production for shooting in MN and hiring a union crew.
Celebrating Labor day 2014 the Thursday before, members of IATSE 490 grilled special "Gerhard Brats" at the last Saint Paul Saints game of the year. These custom sausages are from union grip/electric Gerhard Riautschnig's commerical line of food he is marketing.
Secretary Treasurer Cohen with Assistant Secretary Carvahlo tailgate Midway stadium. Photo by Jill Carvalho
After the tailgate the picnic moved indoors to the Baseball Game.
490 celebrates inside at Midway stadium. Photo by Jill Carvalho
The local enjoyed a celebrity moment when co-owner of the baseball team actor Bill Murray made an appearance.
Photo by Jill Carvalho
The Local would like to thank Walsh Carvahlo for organizing this event. We hope this picnic becomes an annual tradition.
A 490 crewed film “Dear White People” screened at the Walker Art Center Cinema on Friday May 2nd to a sold out crowd. Prior to the screening, Producer Effie Brown recognized cast, and crew members, saying we were a great group to work with.
Cast of "Dear White People" speak at the Minnesota Premiere. Photo by Melissa Pritchett.
The film was shot in and around Minneapolis in August and September of 2013 utilizing locations that included the University of Minnesota, and the Minneapolis Women’s Club.
The film has been successful. The first rung of success was acceptance to the Sundance Film Festival where it was awarded the U. S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Talent. The next success was a distribution deal with Lionsgate. There are interviews, a little behind the scenes footage, and links to articles about the film (in the Washington Post, Huffington Post, Variety, and many more) at the films official site http://www.dearwhitepeoplemovie.com
There is also coverage at http://filmguide.sundance.org/film/13914/dear_white_people
Upcoming festival screenings include Seattle and LA Film Festivals.
The cast listening to questions, photo by Melissa Pritchett.
I found the movie to be heartfelt and honest. The struggle of Lionel played by Tyler James Williams was touching. Justin used humor to keep very difficult subjects from being overwhelming. All departments work shined through in the final cut with great lighting and camera work capturing the work of the actors, the art department, and our fabulous locations. The edit was tight and kept my interest throughout.
The audience listening during the Q&A, photo by Melissa Pritchett.
After the screening Director Justin Simien and cast members provided thoughtful answers to questions about movie making, Hollywood vs. independent film, race issues, and more. One highlight for me was something he had also touched on while the movie was being shot: This is really a film about identity, and finding your place in the world. While it is written from his perspective as a Black, gay man, he hopes people can relate to it from times when they have felt the outsider.
It is expected open in theaters in October of 2014.
Reporting by Iatse 490 member Cheri Anderson.
Minnesota Senator Al Franken shot new campaign ads in Minnesota last month. It was a union shoot supported by members of Local 490. The campaign launched the first of their ads today.
IATSE 490 is happy that Senator Franken is a friend of Labor. We thank him for supporting union film jobs that offer good wages, health care, benefits and workers compensation. If you would like to see more about the Senator's efforts and support his campaign please go to:
There will be a premiere screening of 'Dear White People' at the Walker Art Center Cinema on May 2nd at 7:30pm. The film had its' world premiere earlier this year at Sundance.
Tickets are to go on sale on April 15th and are expected to sell out quickly. You can go to this link to purchase. If you are crew, please contact production for tickets.
The film was shot in MN in 2013 and was a union production. The production worked under the Ultra Low Budget IATSE contract. It was negotiated by 490 BA Brian Simpson. This job paid an hourly wage plus health benefits, workers comp, and retirement benefits to each eligible crew member.
Local 490 is proud of the hard work of this Union crew. Two new members of 490, Cheri Anderson and Melissa Prichett, have joined the local after getting their 30 days of experience on this union shoot. If you work in Film & TV in MN and are interested in joining the local please contact our Business agent with a filled out application form. Here is a link to join.
Here is a peak behind the scenes of at the making of the film,
On March 3rd, 2014 President Wojahn took a moment to swear in new member Brenda Torre. Welcome to the IA Brenda! Please call Brenda when you need another hair and make-up position. You can find her info on the roster.
Brenda Torre reciting the IA pledge, photo by Deanna Johnson.
Two of our members, Vice President Peter Clemence (Grip) and Tom Franchett (Electric) are working the Winter Olympics in the mountains above Sochi, Russia.
"Pete rigs on the edge of the abyss" Photo by Tom Franchett
Tom Franchett at the top of the Men's downhill says," I wouldn't want to go down it". Photo by Tom Franchett.
They are working for London based Camera Corps who are contracted by OBS the Olympic broadcaster. Camera Corps does specialty cameras for athletic events and other unique applications. The owner of the company, Laurie Frost, invented a remote camera head and was legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubick's camera assistant. 490 is thrilled some of it members are working internationally with elite talent and gear.
Also on the team is fellow Minnesotan Director of Photography, Mike Hartzell.
DP Mike Hartzell, Steve Holm, Tom Franchett and Peter Clemence in Sochi, Ru. photo by Peter Clemence.
Two Union commercials shot in Minnesota in January 2014. Local 490 is proud to have provided a quality crew to these important clients.
Chobani with Zach Parise
Taco Bell with Kevin Love
New members from Left, Beez McKeever, Cheri Anderson, Melissa Prichett and President Mark Wojahn.
Read MoreFrom the MN FILM BOARD Press Release
May 23. 2013
Snowbate Incentive Funded at $10 Million
The Omnibus Jobs bill, which includes funding for Snowbate at $10M, was signed into law today by Governor Mark Dayton.
Bill language also increases the maximum reimbursement percentage to 25% and moves Minnesota Film and TV operations and Snowbate program oversight to DEED, the Department of Employment and Economic Development.
So many of you were part of the effort to get Snowbate funded at a competitive level -- thanks to everyone in the Minnesota production community, including members of Local IATSE 490, the Teamsters, SAG-AFTRA, AICP, AICE, our board of directors and people from the community at large -- success, as they say, has many mothers.
Our office would also like to thank the legislators who were instrumental in driving the legislation through the House and Senate: Senators bill authors Bonoff, Cohen, Tomassoni, Dziedzic and Miller and House authors Representatives Lesch, Davids, Lillie, Hausman and Melin. We also received a lot of support from Representative Tim Mahoney, who chaired the House Jobs Committee and the Jobs Conference Committee, and again Senator Dave Tomassoni, the Senate Jobs Conference Committee Chair, who fought hard to maintain the Senate position on our funding.
And a very large thank you to Senator Richard Cohen for his unflagging support of the film industry in our state. This year's level of funding is in large part due to his dogged determination that this was the year we were going to get it done. We also want very much to thank Governor Mark Dayton and his staff for their staunch support of Snowbate and other job creation initiatives.
The Snowbate Task Force meets next week to forge revisions and updates to the current Snowbate Guidelines that reflect the new statute provisions. Those guidelines will be posted once our grant contract with DEED is signed early in July.
IATSE 490 is the website for Minnesota theatrical and studio mechanics. We serve the film and TV industry with the best in technicians and craftsman. This site contains our roster and information on our activities.
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