A Letter from Your NY Local President Ezra Knight

I am pleased to bring you some updates on the exciting activity going on within our city. Earlier this year I told you about Mayor Eric Adams’ Rebuild, Renew, Reinvent economic recovery blueprint. He promised that the blueprint would include investment in the city’s creative economy. We’re seeing that play out with three new announcements where our industry and legislative policy meet. 

First, our New York Local Executive Director Rebecca Damon and I have been selected to serve on the first-ever Film and Television Production Industry Council. We’re proud and deeply honored to serve on this new initiative. The council was created to advise on the city’s production policies and programs. We’re excited to work with our fellow industry representatives to ensure that any new policies serve SAG-AFTRA members and the industry as a whole.

Second, Kwame Amoaku has been appointed deputy commissioner to the Film Office of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME). Amoaku, the former director of the Chicago film office, is no stranger to supporting the creative industry in a big city and in his new role he will serve as the principal advisor on production policy for New York City. We look forward to working with him.

Finally, the Adams administration has issued Executive Order 21- which requires every city agency to have a liaison to the film office. This commitment to citywide coordination will support the creative industry’s $82 billion economic impact and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that come with it. It puts us on great footing for a productive future in which we continue to make  New York City one of the most production-friendly cities in the world.

Forward together,

Ezra Knight
New York Local President