CARL AZUZ, CNN ANCHOR: When people think
of movies, they think Hollywood. But more and more of these films are
being produced somewhere else, and the reason why is coming up in our
penultimate program of 2012.
Starting on the subject of Libya,
for months people have been asking questions about an attack on the U.S.
Government facility in Libya, how did it happen, could it have been
prevented. A review of that attack is offering some answers. On
September 11th of this year, the U.S. Consulate building in Benghazi,
Libya came under attack. Four Americans were killed including the U.S.
Ambassador to Libya. This report says part of the blame falls on the
U.S. State Department, which is in charge of U.S. Facilities in other
countries. The report says, failures at the State Department led to a
security plan "that was inadequate for Benghazi and grossly inadequate
to deal with the attack. Three State Department officials resigned,
they quit after this review came out, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
says she accepts the recommendations that were made by the board that
did this review. Those include strengthening security and improving
fire safety precautions in potentially dangerous areas.
From
Northern Africa, we are going to head east to South Korea, for a story
about that country`s next leader. South Koreans voted in their nation`s
presidential election yesterday. The winner won`t officially take
office until February. When that happens, it`ll come with a bit of
history. This is Park Geun-hye. She is said to be the next South
Korean president, she`ll be the first woman ever to hold that title.
Officials still have to confirm the election results, but Park was
leading with more than 94 percent of the vote counted. The economy was
the number one issue in South Korea`s election, just like it was for
many American voters, and in other countries that held elections this
year. Park described her win as "a victory for people who want to
overcome crisis and revive the economy."
Following last week`s
tragic shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, a lot of people are talking
about the issue of gun control. Yesterday, President Obama announced
that Vice President Joe Biden will lead a group with representatives
from different organizations. Their job is to come up with
recommendations to address wide-spread gun violence. The president said
he wants those recommendations no later than January. When something
like this school shooting happens, it`s natural to have concerns, to
have questions. You might have heard of Dr. Drew Pinsky, you`ve seen
him on TV. He hosts a show on HLN. He is a medical doctor, and he`s
got a lot of experience helping people work through sensitive subjects.
We asked Dr. Drew some questions recently about dealing with this kind
of tragedy.
DR. DREW PINSKY, HOST HLN`S "DR. DREW ON CALL":
Well, listen around this country many young people, particularly of high
school age, already were very concerned about random acts of violence.
So, their level of anxiety, I`m certain, has been heightened. But in
general, this is, of course, normal. People are going to feel anxious,
people are going to be looking over their shoulder. Remember, this is a
very rare event. It really is - though there can be copycats, it`s not
likely to happen again. And the fact, is, you can do something active
in your own community. You can form communal efforts, you can gather
together and discuss these things. As with everything else, taking
action now can make you feel empowered and reduce some of your anxiety.
Feeling safe at school, obviously, talk to your teachers, talk to your
administration, to make sure that they have safeguards in place, that
everyone agrees is sufficient for realistically people to feel safe, and
I`m sure your school has that, but again, I`m going to state something
that I said earlier, which is making a community effort, building a
community that feels safe to everyone. And if there are outliers, there
are people that make you feel uncomfortable, see something, report it.
And make sure that everybody carries that same understanding. And what
to look out for, if people are talking about violence, or hurting
themselves or somebody else or don`t seem properly attuned or connected
to reality, or you are just concerned about them, it feels
uncomfortable, you see something, you report it, and the entire
community agrees they`ll do the same.
Now, if you have a
younger sibling who is anxious and worried about something horrible
happening, remember depending on the age of the child how they process
these things could be very, very different than, say, high school age or
junior high school age individuals. So don`t insist that your sibling
talk about it the same way or the way you would understand it. The
advice to you is the same as I was giving you to help yourself, which is
be there, just be present. Help your younger siblings give words to
their sorrow, give words to their trauma, but don`t insist that those
words necessarily even make sense to you. And your job is not to fix
their feelings, but just to be there. Back to you, Carl.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today`s "Shoutout" goes out to Mr. Taylor`s
social studies classes at Red Jacket High School in Shortsville, New
York.
Now, where would you find a gaffer, key grip and best
boy? Here we go: are they on a rugby team, sailboat, movie set or
political campaign? You`ve got three seconds, go!
Key grip, gaffer and best boy are all jobs on a movie set, that`s your answer and that`s your "Shoutout."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Those sets are all over the country, "Catching Fire," the next
"Hunger Games" movie, part of that was filmed right here in Atlanta,
Georgia. "X-men First Class," "The Last Song", "Vampire Diaries," "Drop
Dead Diva," they are all produced around Georgia. George Howell looks
at why some productions are heading away from Hollywood and what that
can mean for California and the states where these productions end up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When it came to the filming of this
movie, starring John Travolta and Robert De Niro, producer John
Thompson had a choice to make, and Hollywood wasn`t the answer.
JOHN THOMPSON, FILM PRODUCER: We found that Atlanta offered a very
deep and experienced crew base, and we had to bring very, very few
people to the Atlanta area to build our crew.
HOWELL: Thompson
isn`t the first producer to pack up and head east. A recent study shows
that Los Angeles County lost more than 16,100 movie- related jobs
between 2004 and 2011. Jobs that were lured away by states like
Louisiana, New York, North Carolina and Georgia, where filmmakers get
big tax breaks. The tax incentive for filming in Georgia can be as much
as 30 percent. 40 years later, the state now boasts of generating some
$3.1 billion in film related revenues in 2012 alone. A booming
industry that attracted studios like EUE/Screen Gems to Atlanta, setting
the stage with infrastructure to support even more film production.
(on camera): How big is the stage?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, this stage is stage six, it`s 30,000 square
feet, it`s 40 feet tall and no columns, 150 by 200 feet, and that`s the
key, it`s the combination of the height and the fact that there is no
columns, so you can build entire houses in here. Now think about it:
you could build three 10,000 foot houses in here. Just on the floor
level.
HOWELL (voice over): As other states benefit from
California`s loss, legislators there recently voted to extend tax
incentives to filmmakers for two additional years, a move to stop the
flight of films elsewhere as industry leaders in L.A. look for
solutions. George Howell, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: It is the season of giving, and in that spirit we asked you to
send an "I-Reports" telling us how you are giving back. We`ve got some
great responses and we are going to share some of them right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARTER WILLIAMS, STUDENT: We are from Mr. Sam`s class in Charlotte, North Carolina.
STEPHANIE VAUGHN, STUDENT: What we are doing to celebrate the season of giving this year ...
WILLIAMS: Is by participating in Operation Christmas Child.
VAUGHN: Operation Christmas Child is an organization where you pack
boxes for boys and girls between ages of four and 14, and they are sent
out to different countries in the world.
LUKE ALLCOCK, STUDENT:
This year for Christmas, I`m actually taking pictures since I am a
photographer for a thing called Operation Christmas Child. And
basically, I am just going to take pictures of everything that`s going
on there, and at the very, very end, they are going to put it all
together in a slide show, and they`re going to show it to everyone, so
they can see how much of a great time we had.
KRISEN GOUGH,
STUDENT: And I help by donating clothing and new toys to an
organization called (inaudible), who gives it to people that can`t
afford things.
SARAH ELL, STUDENT: This year, I`m getting Christmas list from another family and buying their presents.
BEN LOWE, STUDENT: Every year for Christmas, I stay up a little late
on Christmas Eve baking and making brownies and cookies, and then on
Christmas morning I go down to the homeless shelter and I give them to
the homeless people.
HANNAH SCOTT, STUDENT: I donated money to Africa to help send a doctor, to give Bibles, and to help feed a baby.
KAYLA KESSEL, STUDENT: I am knitting a scarf and I`m donating it to Share the Warmth today.
CEDRIC KOMSA, STUDENT: What I do to give back during the holidays is donate toys to my local homeless shelter in Charlotte.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Excellent work, y`all. We are going to regift that segment,
present more of your "I-Reports" tomorrow. For today, though, that`s a
wrap. Have a great day.
END
