New AFCI President Sets Long-Term Goals for Film Commission Org Ahead of Annual Event That Features ‘Last of Us’ Location Panel

variety.com:

Carole Horst The new head of the AFCI has big goals for the organization, and looks to promote stability within the leadership, which has seen a few presidents come and go in the past handful of years. “I really want to reassure people that I’m in this for the long haul and I feel like I have the right skill set to take the organization through and develop a really good strategy for it for the next 10 years,” says Jaclyn Philpott, the recently installed AFCI exec director. “I’ll be ready and willing to answer any questions that they may have.

You know, I’ve had a very good look under the hood at the organization, from the financials through the previous strategies to what’s happening in the market right now, and I feel like I have a good idea of what they want based on what they’ve told me and in my own research.” While the thirst for content from streamers has boosted production all over the world — even as that thirst has been slaked somewhat recently — and regions are seeing that TV and film production can help diversify local economies — as Saudi Arabia has done — Philpott says she sees significant opportunities for growth and collaboration between the AFCI, its members, government and the production industry. “There are so many emerging regions. … But what I love about these new smaller regions is they really understand the power of film tourism and tourism in general, and I think that’s also something that ACFI needs to consider:  what is our role in growing regions?

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