It’s been an issue years in the making. Tax incentive programs have been implemented in cities and states around the country, rolling out the red (or should we say green) carpet to attract film and tv productions.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Forget Hollywood: These 7 cities are becoming film hotspots
It’s been an issue years in the making. Tax incentive programs have been implemented in cities and states around the country, rolling out the red (or should we say green) carpet to attract film and tv productions.
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7 comments:
As someone who is interested in working on movies but not interested in living in California, this is excellent news! As we've been told again and again in class, "Whenever possible, use the real thing." For us, that has been applying to sets and props, but why shouldn't it apply to location? If you want a stormy city, why wouldn't you go to Pittsburgh instead of faking it in LA? Since so many films are based on atmosphere instead of actual locations, being based in a "city" no longer has to be the iconic cities that are no longer affordable to shoot in. Pittsburgh, Atalanta, Austin and all the rest have fascinating textured looks that provide much more character than a sound stage or a ground where untold numbers of movies have been made before. The dispersion of movie locations give a real feel of authenticity, something we always strive for, and only sometimes achieve.
I love this news! As most performing artists go forward, their focus becomes LA or NYC. With the industry opening up as it is, actors can create in environments more true to the play. The only reason I would currently want to move to LA is for movies, so now that I know how expansively the industry has grown, I definitely want to go to New York. <54-102> 54102 54-102
Like Olivia, I am very interested in the prospect of working on movies, but living in California (while nice and balmy) doesn't seem very appetizing to me. It is, however, really exciting to see Pittsburgh as the first on the list for up and coming movie-making cities. In my screenwriting class we've actually been talking about "Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl", as well as the newly renowned new short film competition, Steeltown. I think it's wonderful that films are spreading out and using other locations -- real locations instead of constructed sets in large lots sequestered in Hollywood. There's a lot more of America that needs to be shown in the movies, and with the taxes coming down for movies this also means that more lower budget movies can squeeze their way into the industry. Another location that the article failed to mention (perhaps because it is out of this country) would be Vancouver. It's a great opportunity for Canadian actors and actresses to have their chance to be in Hollywood movies.
I have long been interested in working on movies, but the appeal of California has never been that strong. I always thought that I would move there if I had to, but sunny all day all year is just too much for me. But this article gives me hope that there are a lot of other places that I can go to work on movies, and number one is Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh with its spastic crazy weather. It’s great. I agree with Olivia and Nix, it’s really good to see movies using real locations for their sets instead of fabricating something in a studio. Using real locations just makes the whole movie more… well, real. While using CGI for location is impressive, you can pretty much always tell when they use it and it takes you out of the world of the movie. That the movie industry is perhaps moving toward the realism of locations around the world is great.
I also agree that this can only be a good thing, but perhaps for different reasons than Nikki and Olivia. I think that this is a good thing because it makes it easier for the film industry to get some wonderful cities in wonderful films. From an artistic standpoint, there are so many amazing aspects about each city I’ve been to that can be described as almost unique to that city. There are amazing views, amazing scenes, and at the root of it just amazing environments that actually exist in this world that don’t need to be created through the magic of hollywood, and they deserve to be shown to anyone who wants to watch them. The impact of this is that the city gets recognition in the film, the film gets produced more easily and with less money, and the people living in the city in which the movie was shot get to show their pride in their home.
For example, I know that before I moved here to go to CMU, I wasn’t a person who thought about Pittsburgh very often. Being from southwest Connecticut, when I thought of city, I thought of New York, and that is absolutely a wonderful place, but as I’ve grown up I’ve had the amazing opportunity to travel to a multitude of places both in the U.S. and overseas. From those experiences I’ve realized how amazing so much of the world can be, and I have begun to feel that way about Pittsburgh now too. Something that has connected me to my family since I have moved has been the fact that about 4 or 5 times since I’ve been here they’ve called me and told me about how the movie they watched last night was set in Pittsburgh or was filmed in Pittsburgh, and that excited even us, people who have had no connection to this city until I decided to go to school here. I guess all I’m saying is that I’m glad that the trend is moving towards shooting in cities across the country on the principle that they deserve to be seen as much as LA does.
There's an interesting irony to this phenomenon. The city and localized industry film helped build has grown beyond the financial reaches of many films now. A place built for film is now somewhat of an impediment. I do worry, however, about this exodus. Several significant figures were cited in the article about how much films shooting in certain cities can impact the economic layout of a particular locale. The potential for film productions to become a staple of the economy in many of these locations is great, and yet the film industry is nothing if not fickle. Just as films are looking beyond Hollywood, so too could these cities be left in the dust with highly specialized crews left jobless, and the economy left without at least part of a leg to stand on. I think it's important to keep an eye toward the future, and for these cities to proceed - just with caution.
While I have never really thought about working on TV/Movies, this is certainly an exciting read. I think it's great that filmmakers are choosing their sites without the restriction of "What can we build in L.A.?" There is such a more genuine feeling to a movie that is made in the place it's set, I feel. As Kevin Hines often says, "If you can, use the real thing, don't make it." I think a lot of positive things come from shooting movies in other places; genuity is one for sure, but there is also the pride of the people who live in that city, and what this film or TV show will do for them, as well as more opportunity for actors and crew in that area to get work, and for those seeing this film or movie to get to see more than a backdrop. There are so many cool places on this list that I feel would add a great deal to many films or TV shows; the personality of a city will always shine through the content of a production, usually in a way that enhances it. I think this is definitely a step in the right direction for the film/TV industry!
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