Looks like the TN Film Incentives are starting to show some results–at least for Nashville and Memphis. According to John Beifuss of commercialappeal.com, a new feature starring Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda, Matt Dillon, and David Schwimmer will begin filming in Memphis in October and will continue all principle photography for seven weeks.
This is great news for Tennessee, but is it great news for Knoxville? So far, we have not seen any major features in Knoxville (as a result of the incentives, we are appreciative of Mr. Benjamin and Mr. Harril but I’m pretty sure they would have shot here with or without the incentives, how’s that for a testimonial about Knoxville crews!?) and the only movie on the radar is “Amatures” which we are thrilled to have in town but it’s hardly a blockbuster starring the lovely Kate Beckinsale (side note: saw her while working on Van Helsing and she is every bit as gorgeous in person as on film, maybe more so!).
To be fair, Nashville and Memphis do have much better infrastructure for big budget films, including a larger crew base, bigger rental houses and more post options. However, Knoxville has much more to offer in terms of geographical diversity, from the Tennessee River to the Smokey mountains with lots of great locations in between. More to the point, TV production has dropped off in a big way so right now there’s more talented crew available than ever. These are the same crews that have blown away every feature that’s ever come to town because we’re hard working, talented, and fun to work with. That’s not something you see everyday in LA, that’s for sure.
So, for all of the big budget Hollywood movies looking to enjoy some of the $10 Million we put aside for you–I say, what are you waiting for!
The full article is available at http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/aug/30/30movie/
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