As part of his visit to Florida, Ambassador Kirk joined Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to tour the University of Central Florida (UCF) Center for Emerging Media today. The Center for Emerging Media brings together teachers, students and professionals in a creative environment focused on strengthening the existing industries in Orlando - digital media, film, military simulation and the emerging bio-medical cluster. USTR is working to protect intellectual property like that created at the Center for Emerging Media through enforcement of trade agreements and the promotion of intellectual property laws. According to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the U.S. motion picture industry has a $13.6 billion trade surplus and is responsible for 2.5 million American jobs (2007 data). MPAA reports that the motion picture and television industry comprises more than 115,000 businesses around the country; 81 percent of which employ fewer than 10 people.
UCF's Center for Emerging Media features one of the largest motion-capture studios on the East Coast. During Ambassador Kirk's tour a USTR staffer tried on a motion-capture suit as part of a filmmaking demonstration. The suit records actions of actors allowing filmmakers to capture the movement and create character models in two or three-dimension character animations.
See the picture of the suit and how the motion-capture process looks on camera below.
Ambassador Kirk is in Florida this week to meet with local business leaders and talk about how trade can help support well-paying jobs through the increase of exports. He gave a keynote address this morning at the Retail Industry Leaders Association Logistics Conference, and tomorrow he will tour the Port of Tampa. Check back at USTR.gov for more information on his trip.
