Amityville, NY, the famed location of the Amityville murders and supposed haunting, is more than a perfectly horror-ific location—especially since neither of The Amityville Horror movies were actually filmed here. This small Long Island town first became famous after Ronald “Butch” DeFeo, Jr. shot and killed six members of his family on November 13, 1974 but with the bay nearby, picturesque Victorian homes and a refundable 35 percent tax credit from New York State, Amityville is not only a quaint town shrouded in mystery, but a great location for your next production.

In recent years, Iraq has been one of the film industry’s most sought-after backdrops. Since the United States’ 2003 invasion into the country, movies set in or around this war-torn battleground range from big-budget Hollywood features like Jarhead to revealing documentaries like Fahrenheit 9/11 to small local productions like Damn Gum, a movie made by Baghdad native Ammar Saad, referencing the current role of Iraqi journalists.

The San Francisco Film Society has announced the creation of the SFFS FilmHouse Residencies, a new program designed to support local independent moviemaking by providing 2,800 square feet of production office space available free of charge

“FilmHouse has all the makings of a new vibrant and dynamic hub for independent filmmaking in San Francisco," says Mayor Gavin Newsom.

With the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival kicking off September 4 and recent productions that include Blindness, The Rocker, Lars and the Real Girl and A History of Violence Toronto is fast becoming the apex of moviemaking: A great place to film and get your movie screened.

Scantily clad girls running around in pink miniskirts, ultra high heels and little white bunny ears: Does this image sound familiar? Probably not from firsthand experience—only a select few have breached those exclusive gates—but it's certainly a known piece of pop culture trivia. The notorious Playboy Mansion, home to the ultimate playboy, Hugh Hefner, and his buxom blonde girlfriends, is known around the world with help from its various film and TV appearances. This week's release, The House Bunny, takes the idea of the Playboy empire to another level.

While the beach’s natural beauty may seem like a cinematographer’s dream, the truth is, it’s one of the most difficult locations to film. Mother Nature unfortunately takes over as assistant director when it comes to scheduling shoots, as uncontrollable conditions—the burning sun, unrelenting wind and loose, unstable sand—often cause delays in production. Yet screenwriters can’t get enough of the beach as a backdrop for their stories and as a result, numerous moviemakers have braved the rough conditions in order to capture the shoreline’s effortless beauty. From here to eternity, MM counts down the best beach films of all-time.

If you’re searching for the world’s most diverse landscape to film your next production, set your sights on Israel. With four climate regions, from snow peaks to sand dunes and unique plant and animal life mixing and crossing over three continents, Israel has a climate and landscape to accommodate all kinds of moviemaking—from sand-and-sandals historical epics to snow-covered mountain disaster movies.

Greece: The birthplace of the Olympic Games, theater and western civilization. This historically rich country is also one of the most picturesque places in the world. When scouting in Greece, most moviemakers have veered toward the beautiful Greek Islands, which are scattered about the Aegean and Ionian Seas within the vast Mediterranean. In total, there are 6,000 of these islands, only 227 of which are inhabited. Popular destinations and filming locations include: Mykonos, a rocky island covered with blue and white buildings and signature windmills, and Santorini, which sits on a mountain 350 meters above sea level and is considered to be one of the best places in the world to watch the sunset.

Having handled the locations for such films as Flags of Our Fathers, Ali and this summer’s action thriller Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy, Mark Mamalakis has become one of the film industry’s leading contacts in the Windy City. As he tells it, managing locations is one of the most intricate and important parts of the moviemaking process.

After the disaster that was Lady in the Water, seems like M. Night Shyamalan's backers have got another marketing trick up their sleeve as they release his latest film, The Happening: Promote the hell out of the fact that it's the director's first R-rated movie. It's probably not enough of an incentive to outdo The Incredible Hulk as the summer season box office continues to heat up, but the reviews so far have been on Shyamalan's side. As the sci-fi auteur awaits the final tallies, MM takes a look at the roller coaster ride Shyamalan has his taken critics and audiences on since The Sixth Sense.

While no one can say that Hollywood isn’t a great place to be as a moviemaker, with its star power and extensive history, it’s not necessarily the only place to be. In fact, in the past few decades, the thriving film community of Wilmington, North Carolina has been giving Hollywood a run for its money. There may not be a Grauman’s Chinese Theater or Walk of Fame, yet what Wilmington lacks in legendry it makes up in its hunger for independent moviemaking.

From Friday, June 27th through Sunday, June 29th, the moviemakers of Wilmington will be satiated when the inaugural Wilmington Inside the Film Industry Film Conference brings a chunk of Hollywood to the east coast.

Seems like all those promos must have paid off—first at Cannes, then the TV commercial onslaught—as Kung Fu Panda kicked some serious butt at the box office over the weekend, out-grossing Adam Sandler's new film, You Don't Mess With the Zohan, by 50 percent. The animated action flick, featuring the voices of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman and Jackie Chan, took in $60 million over the weekend—while Zohan earned $40 million.

Harrison Ford and Shia LaBeouf's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull held strong in the number three position with $22.8 million, while last year's surprise topper, Michael Patrick King's Sex and the City, saw a more than 62 percent decline in ticket sales, with a weekend total of $21.3 million.

Indiana Jones proved he's still got what it takes—at least in box office clout—as the latest film in the George Lucas-Steven Spielberg franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, whipped the competition, with a box office total on track to be the second biggest Memorial Day movie opening ever. The film, which brings Harrison Ford back in the titular role alongside Cate Blanchett and Shia LaBeouf, brought in just over $125 million for the holiday weekend, putting it just behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, which had a Friday-through-Monday total of $139.8 million in 2007.

In the 1980s Indiana Jones was spunky and adventurous—traversing Egypt, Asia and Germany in search of fantastical treasures. He fought off Nazis and a Shankara cult with the crack of his infamous whip. His journeys, like Indy himself, represented all that was exotic, forbidden and beyond the reach of his fellow Americans. Now, as he returns to the big screen, Dr. Jones isn’t taking audiences outside of the States… technically.

Today’s stars keep themselves in better shape than ever before, and audiences seem to like that. In fact, box office receipts for recent flicks featuring some of our favorite aging action heroes are so encouraging that studio execs are practically rubbing their hands together in anticipation of the new Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and Sylvester Stallone (Rambo) vehicles. Stallone certainly didn’t hurt himself when his more famous screen persona—Rocky Balboa—earned critical acclaim and a respectable $70 million in last year’s titular blockbuster, chasing doubts that the actor-director was simply giving himself a starring role in order to slow a career slide.

When The Lord of the Rings trilogy became a cultural phenomenon, people no longer had to imagine J.R.R. Tolkien’s mystical, supernatural universe; Peter Jackson had found it in New Zealand. The country’s rich variety of landscapes, from the rolling pastures of the North Island to staggering mountains on the South Island, helped bring to life what was previously only a fiction.

Film geeks like to show off; it's in their job description. Whether it's debating the merits of Lars von Trier or discussing which Evil Dead film is the true masterpiece, it's just what they do. Well, thanks to entrepreneur Mike Ford, what they do has just gotten a bit easier to show off. Ford's UK-based company, Last Exit to Nowhere, sells T-shirts based on fictional companies and locations from films. And although the movies represented tend to skew a bit toward cult favorites (designs include the Winchester Tavern from Shaun of the Dead, the Urban Achievers from The Big Lebowski and Jaws' Amity Island), Ford says this was not deliberate.

Twenty-one has always been a lucky number in gambling. This year it's proving to be a good number for moviemakers, too, first as the title of one of the season's biggest box office draws and now as the Nevada Film Office launches its 21st annual Screenwriting Competition. As the film office's call for scripts opened, MM spoke with Sarah Bontrager, the public relations coordinator for the Nevada Film Office, about this year's crop of submissions, how Nevada is more than just casinos and what it takes to make it in this land of opportunity.

It’s really impossible to hear something like “sorting hat” or “invisibility cloak” and not feel at least a little of the allure of Harry Potter's universe. When the films brought the J.K. Rowling books to life, it was through the costuming, set design and props. In 2009, “Harry Potter: The Exhibition” will bring 10,000 square feet of artifacts from the enchanting films to 10 or more cities around the world over a five-year period.

As U.S. audiences start counting down the days until Iron Man, one of this spring's most anticipated movies, is released in theaters on May 2nd, film fans across the pond got a sneak peek at hero in action when the film premiered yesterday at the Odean in London's Leicester Square.

It’s worth recounting the central premise of Tom McCarthy’s The Visitor to emphasize that what sounds potentially cloying or cringe-worthy on the page, and would probably sound like fingernails on a chalkboard to studio executives in a pitch meeting, can become something graceful, intimate and incredibly moving in the right hands.

What do Spider-man 3, Traffic and The Shawshank Redemption all have in common? All three films shot segments in Ohio. With the opening of the new Ohio Film Office, state officials hope to lure even more top moviemakers to the Buckeye State. Christina Grozik, a veteran producer and marketing consultant, will lead the charge as director of the new office.

The Commonwealth State has long held a distinctive position in the film industry. Its participation in such movies as D.W. Griffith’s America, Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie and the Oscar-winning Giant, starring Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor, has been part of the draw that continually brings new and veteran moviemakers alike to join in the brotherhood that is Virginia’s moviemaking community.

It took many years and several college degrees before Arthur Max began his work in film. Fortunately, audiences didn’t know what they were missing. Originally a lighting designer for the stage, Max turned his sights to the screen after experimenting with varied forms of theater production. Commercial work shortly led to his first feature film, Se7en, directed by David Fincher. The gritty city streets and the gruesome crimes of the biblically-inspired killer were the bones of this thriller—a genre Max has since become family with, subsequently working on Panic Room and American Gangster. It is this latest movie which brought the art director his second Academy Award nomination.

Before 2007 Marfa, Texas was a little-known cultural haven in Southwestern Texas. Now the town that hosted the productions of two Best Picture Oscar nominees (No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood) is gaining momentum as a prime moviemaking location.

From Austin to Albuquerque and plenty of places in between, MovieMaker's eighth annual countdown of the 10 best places to live, work and make movies in the U.S.

With New York and Boston getting most of the ink and accolades in mainstream and independent film, it's easy to watch hidden treasures slip by the wayside. But for many moviemakers, New Hampshire offers a range of cultural and geographic possibilities. The state understands that its attraction lies in its New England vistas—wide lakes, stretches of farmland, seacoasts—and doesn't go overboard in promotions. New Hampshire Film and Television Office film specialist Matthew Newton loves his state the way it is, and talks to MM about the possibilities for the future.

Park City, Utah may be the place to be—but New York City is the place to beat at this year's Sundance Film Festival. The fest seems to be in a New York state of mind, with 45 projects at this year's fest either shot in New York or made by New York moviemakers.

"We love shooting films in New York," says producer Celine Rattray of Plum Pictures. "It really is a great place to make films. For a start, the city is stunning, and has such varied and interesting locations. The crews are great. And so many fantastic actors and filmmakers live here, and want to work here. I think that the state is a haven for creative types because of the buzz and energy in this city. There is never a quiet moment. There is such a variety of people, or ideas. This city makes you want to get things done."

Following the record-breaking success of his Spartan epic, 300, Zack Snyder has set out to adapt yet another graphic novel. This time, he is directing the adaptation of Watchmen, the Hugo Award-winning series with a developmental history almost as drawn out and damned as the War in Iraq.

Doubling as almost any location in the world, Georgia has become a one-stop-shop for major and independent moviemakers alike. Bill Thompson, division director of the Georgia Film, Video & Music Office, talks about state incentives, beginning production in the state and why moviemaking is just as important as fruit.

It’s the Windy City—home to Oprah and presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama. But to moviemakers big and small, the city of Chicago is so much more says resident Ruth L. Ratny. Ratny also happens to be the editor and publisher of ReelChicago.com, an online magazine dedicated to uncovering the city’s hidden movie world.

Whether you’re aiming to make the next Revolutionary War epic or just need a film-friendly rural locale for your low-budget indie, Virginia will welcome you with open arms. Here, a few members of VA’s independent movie community weigh in on why the commonwealth is a great place to shoot.

E. Annie Proulx's Brokeback Mountain may have been set in Wyoming, but Ang Lee's runaway Academy Award-nominated epic of the same name was actually filmed in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. MM spoke to Beth Thompson, Calgary's film commissioner, about the steady rise of Calgary's moviemaking industry.

Ever since he first came onto the scene in 1998, Ramzi Abed has been pushing the boundaries of moviemaking to their utmost. In his latest film, Black Dahlia, Abed leaps forward technologically, using the digital format to present his take on the gruesome Hollywood murder mystery. Abed speaks with MM about the pros and cons of digital moviemaking.