To the editor:I enjoyed reading your article ("Lights, Camera, Inaction") in the March 14 issue of Fort Worth Weekly. I felt it was insightful and well balanced.

Back in the mid-1980s my brother and I produced our first three independent features in Fort Worth, made for a total of about $130,000. It was hard work, and we all wore many hats. My brother went on to produce many more movies and projects throughout the world. Our gaffer went on to become a director of tv commercials. I became a successful location manager and scout. It was a good training ground, and I look back on those days fondly.

In my current capacity as location scout, over the years, I have helped bring 50 or 60 projects to Fort Worth and Tarrant County, including 10 tv commercial projects in the last year. The soon-to-be-released feature, Slap Her, She's French also filmed scenes in Tarrant County. I was the location manager and scout on Pure Country and Hexed. These productions housed their entire crew in Fort Worth for what amounted to hundreds of hotel nights and millions of dollars in direct economic impact.

Portions of Problem Child were also filmed in your city. The historical and architecturally interesting Our Lady of Victory Church and School were used for the orphanage scenes. It was one of the key locations the Film Commission needed in order to convince the producers to come here. The Film Commission called me for leads, and I gave them this one. Interestingly enough, I got the lead from a film industry person, Angelo Suasnovar, who lives in Fort Worth and used to attend O.L.V. It's a small world. As scouts in the field, film commissions depend heavily on our eyes and ears.

Fort Worth is a great place to shoot. I have a vast archive of location photos from all over the state and present Fort Worth locations to clients whenever possible.

Since March 2, the date of "the letter," much has occurred. The North Texas Location Alliance was formed, with members including the majority of location scouts and managers in this area. We will stay together long after this matter is resolved to further address location and permitting issues that will make filmmaking in this region an even better experience.

This group has endorsed my position and is backing the petition drive fully. Members of the Screen Actors Guild, Women In Film, Teamsters Union, and vendors such as Panavision, Mobile Production Service, and IASTE have also joined in. As stated in your article, our own Texas State Film Commissioner has asked for change. More people are now stepping up and writing the Film Commission to describe specific incidents that verify my original e-mail.

I am just one scout. Most of the work I described above was brought to the door of Tarrant County directly through me and not through the Film Commission. Multiply that by the scouts in the North Texas Location Alliance alone, and it represents a significant impact.

However, the Film Commission has continued to marginalize our concerns about the Film Commission's structure and leadership. Many challenges involve issues beyond our control. Our market is changing, and so must we, if we are to stay competitive. We should work vigorously to address and solve matters that we, in fact, do have control over. While many industry folks are going on unemployment, it might be enlightening for people to know that Mr. Burke's salary is almost a third of the entire annual Film Commission budget.

People in our industry who live and pay taxes here should have a voice in how our area is marketed. The vast majority of petition signers are industry veterans who are smart and savvy business people. They are not a bunch of "yahoos" with pitchforks. They are not looking for a scapegoat. They see the "business sense" in change. They simply do not feel the Film Commission, as currently structured, is prepared to meet these new challenges and a changing market. There are very good reasons why the President of the United States has a term limit.

We never marginalized Mr. Burke, the Film Commission, or its board when their concerns needed to be addressed. The industry as a whole has always stepped in to donate time and resources when called upon. It is no wonder people are feeling frustrated.

The board continues to act like everything is fine. Many people do not realize that this movement for change started long before our economic climate changed from tropical to that of Afghanistan. Enough is enough!

Let the petition speak for itself. I just hope that Mr. Burke and the Film Commission board will not ignore these signatures and throw their voices for change into a paper shredder. We've made copies.

Kim Davis
Dallas

To the editor: To the editor: Thank you for the article titled "At Home in Gay Fort Worth" (March 21, 2002) By Jeff Prince. His well-written piece both informed and amused me.

As a heterosexual Christian I was especially glad to see the role of faith he illustrated and the involvement in the community of all the members of the Body of Christ whether gay or straight. I enjoy your publication and hope writing of this caliber continues. Thank you.

Harold L. Parkey
Azle

To the editor: Thanks for the story on a few of the hundred thousand or so gay and lesbian citizens of Tarrant County. If nothing else, it has prompted me to write you and rant about our (sic) local daily.

If the gay community has to wait on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for news and features, it will be a long wait indeed. I have read both the Startlegram and the Dallas Morning News every day for about 15 years, so I am in a great position to compare them.

I have lost track of how many times I've encountered a story of interest to the Tarrant County gay community in the Dallas paper with nary a hint in the Star-T. I have also lost count of the number of local and national stories, from politics to obituaries, where a notable gay connection has actually been edited out by the goobers at the Star-T. Belo may be no friend of the community, but it does seem to take seriously its journalistic calling to address all of its readership.

And did you know that the Star-T Arts & Entertainment staff actually switches around the Dear Abbys, the Ann Landers, and assorted comics when they have gay-related information or angles? (Particularly to avoid publishing them on Tuesdays, family values day. Gays and lesbians, of course, have no families to value.) Why? Oh, probably because the editors at the Star-T know that their real butter lives in HEB and Southlake, and the Republicans there are all... well, you know, Republican.

I suspect the gnomes at the Star-T are terrified that the local right-wingers will accuse them of being liberal or something. As if. And Fort Worth's gays are an easy sacrifice to keep the troglodytes at bay. Anyway, thanks for the coverage.

Roy Treadway
Fort Worth