Top 10 Cities to Make Movies 2007

MM's seventh annual countdown of the 10 best cities to live, work and make movies in 2007

by Lily Percy | Published January 26, 2007

In a 1982 interview with American Heritage magazine, “legendary moviemaker"John Huston was asked to explain what he meant when he referred to “the basic grammar of filmmaking.” His reply: “Once you’ve found the right shot to introduce the scene—written your first declarative sentence—then the rest flows.”

What Huston didn’t say explicitly, maybe because he thought it went without saying, is that a moviemaker needs to find the right place for that shot to happen, and he was one Academy Award-winning director who understood the art of choosing a location. From Mexico to Morocco and most places in between, Huston insisted on going wherever he needed to go in order to be sure he had the right shot in the right place. His greatness as a moviemaker came in part from never underestimating the importance of setting in a scene—of building a distinct mood in a time and place captivating enough to win over an audience.

So much of a film’s success lies in whether or not we as viewers believe what unfolds before us, and the wrong location can destroy any credibility within a film’s first frames. Would Woody Allen’s Annie Hall be as iconic without New York City as its backdrop? Would Cameron Crowe’s Singles have been as compelling had it been set, say, in Orlando instead of Seattle?

A lot of factors go into choosing where you will ultimately shoot your film, including such intangibles as a sense of loyalty to your hometown, the locations dictated by a script or simply a desire to spend weeks or months of your life in a particular area. Then there are the much more tangible reasons, such as incentives to shoot in a certain city, a desire to be in said city and the cold, hard cash that it will cost to film there.

The latter will often be the most important aspect of an independent moviemaker’s decision, as many of the cities included on this year’s list, such as Albuquerque, NM, with its one-of-a-kind film investment loan program, and Las Vegas, NV, where free is a state of mind, undoubtedly prove. The term “moviemaker-friendly” has taken on a whole new level of meaning with this year’s new inductees of Shreveport-Bossier City, LA and Salt Lake City, UT, and Memphis, TN is climbing up the list, thanks to its tireless film office and commissioner.

Some of the cities recognized this year will come as no surprise, as New York, Austin, Philadelphia, Portland, OR and Miami all make triumphant returns; some exclusions will, however, be conspicuous in their absence. (Nope, you didn’t blink and miss it—Los Angeles is not on the list this year). After months of late-night research, countless interviews and more than our fair share of film office harassment, this year’s list reassures us once again that the best locations in the U.S. aren’t exclusively red or blue, but red, white and blue, because moviemaking is thriving in cities all across the country.

1. New York, NY
Last year: #1
“The Film Community That Never Sleeps”
Ridley Scott’s American Gangster. Martin Scorsese’s The Departed. Robert De Niro’s The Good Shepherd. Dito Montiel’s A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. Richard LaGravenese’s P.S., I Love You. Francis Lawrence’s I Am Legend. Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s The Nanny Diaries. These are just a small sampling of the most recent films to bear the “Made In NY” stamp of approval, helping to make “the city that never sleeps” the top moviemaking location in the United States for the third year in a row. In fact, the city seems to be firing on all cylinders and at this writing it’s difficult to see which city will eventually step up to knock it off its perch.

“I grew up in Queens and in a strange way Astoria, the part I’m from, is like a bit of Mayberry,” explains Dito Montiel, writer-director of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. “I know the councilman and my friends are cops and firemen, so I did have an advantage. But Alberteen Anderson, [deputy director of community relations and special events for the MTA New York City Transit] couldn’t have been more helpful.”

From Washington Square Park, featured prominently in Francis Lawrence’s I Am Legend, to Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where many scenes of the Boston-set The Departed were filmed, shooting in any of New York’s five boroughs has never been easier, thanks to the city’s “Made In NY” incentive program. The program consists of a combination of tax and marketing credits: For films and TV shows filming at least 75 percent of a project in New York City, a 10 percent refundable state tax credit and a five percent city tax are offered. In addition, the city does not charge any fees for the use of public property.

“One of the great secrets of New York is that it is a relatively inexpensive place to shoot, because you’re shooting exteriors on the street—all of the stuff that is just a part of the natural environment here,” says producer Andrew Fierberg (Secretary, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus).

It seems that the secret is out, however, as the numerous movie billboards, posters and advertisements in subway and bus stations across the city clearly demonstrate. “In New York City, we support film productions from script to screen, and we are the only municipality in the world to support the releases of films which shoot here with free advertising,” says film commissioner Katherine Oliver. “Productions which do at least 75 percent of their work in the city receive media exposure at the value of one percent of their production costs, with a special bonus for projects with budgets under $1 million. The advertisements run on city-owned bus shelters and phone kiosks, as well as on NYC TV, providing valuable exposure throughout the country’s largest market.” Free press, advertising and instant street cred? It would seem to remain true that there’s never been a better time to film in New York.

Recent Films: American Gangster, The Departed, The Good Shepherd, I Am Legend, The Namesake, The Nanny Diaries
NY On Film: Annie Hall, Taxi Driver, Rosemary’s Baby, When Harry Met Sally, Kramer vs. Kramer, Ghostbusters
Film Festivals: Tribeca Film Festival, New York Film Festival, New York Underground Film Festival, CMJ Film Festival, IFP Market, GenArt Film Festival, Big Apple Film Festival Film Education: DGA Training Program, Columbia University, New York University, New York Film Academy, The School of Visual Arts, The Edit Center, Manhattan Edit Workshop
Film Organizations: The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Tribeca Film Institute, BAM Cinema Club, IFP, New York Film/Video Council

Contact: New York City Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting
1697 Broadway, Suite 602
New York, NY 10019
212/489-6710
www.nyc.gov/film

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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Comment by scott casey on 2/18/08 at 3:50 pm

were does phoenix az come rate at

Comment by Movie on 3/05/08 at 8:45 pm

What about Los Angeles, CA or any where outside of the U.S.?

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