What’s it really like to make a go of it in Boston for everyone not named Damon, Affleck or Wahlberg? The Washington Post national arts reporter, writer-producer of Boston-made docs Do It Again and “5 Runners,” and all-round good guy Geoff Edgers lists three major benefits about the city:
“1. Students who know the fast keys. Robert Patton-Spruill, who directed Do It Again, teaches at Emerson College. Our editor, Brad Allen Wilde, was an undergraduate mentored by Rob. Many of the crew members were Emerson kids. On “5 Runners,” about the Boston Marathon bombing, Boston University senior Michela Smith started as an intern before becoming an associate producer and assistant editor. We simply couldn’t have made either of our films without these students. I just hope that one day they’ll take my call.
2. Low profile. Pull out your sticks in Los Angeles and it’ll take about 29 seconds before a friendly law enforcement officer asks to see your permit. In Boston, we could stage a bank robbery in a mall without much trouble. It was easy to get permission to shoot on locations without fees, and arrange a shoot on a moving bus. In addition, bartering for equipment was possible. David O. Russell may be in town, but you don’t have 13 other projects running at the same time. The last thing a rental house wants to have is a light package gathering dust.
3. Film festival culture. The Independent Film Festival of Boston is wonderful, but so are a slew of festivals throughout New England. I grew to love the small festivals that couldn’t afford screening fees but might be able to offer you a small cabin by a lake for a couple of days during the festival run. (I mean you, Maine Film Festival.) Local universities were eager to screen our film and hold Q&A sessions afterward, too.”
There you have it—reasons why Boston continues to have its time in the Spotlight (get it?).
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Did Ant Man really employ that many "Georgians" or were many of them Californians who have moved here to work in the movies. I would be curious to know how many were actually Georgians.
Most of the crew was LA-based. And many also moved on to Captain America and likely to Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Ditto Furious 7, which spent $15 million just on hotels for the nonresident workers.
On another note, X-Men Apocolypse filmed in Quebec, Canada...not Georgia. And Quantico only shot the pilot in Atlanta. The series moved to Montreal.
I don't know where you're getting your information from but it would be nice if you'd stop trying to sabotage our industry. As an atlanta local I can tell you that there are hundreds of locals working on these films and our union has grown by the hundreds each year that these films shoot here. Every single department has local workers in it, and we depend on these jobs to feed our families. Please stop the negative propaganda, it does nothing to help the locals that you pretend to care about.
I am sorry if you think facts are sabotaging "your" industry. My facts about the Marvel films come from the set. The Furious 7 spending info comes from the MPAA in a press release.
Sure, some projects have tons of locals. Some have almost 100% locals. And others have very few. It's not good or bad, it's just a fact.
So that is just my point. I object to articles like this that make it look like the movie industry employed 3500 Georgia residents. I am not impressed that millions were spent on major hotel corporations. That does not put meals on Georgia resident's tables or pay their bills. The industry needs to be employing residents. We have a lot of talented Georgia residents who belong to the local union who are being passed over for LA crews that the production brings in. They need to hire Georgian's first then bring out of state workers in to cover the gap.
I filmed this about 50 miles south of Albuquerque back in June of 1980. Crew based itself in Albuquerque. Hired a makeup person locally...His first name was Chip.. Casted Uncle Same in Georgia..rented film gear and Uncle Sam wardrobe in Atlanta and flew from there to Albuquerque. (Got caught in a major sand storm out in the desert..got no warning about such from NM Film Commission) Guess I was ahead of the curve eh...
(Remember, at one time, it was truly thought that we were running out of oil..Oil Topping Point they called it)
(Note: This was a reedit of the original film with a new temp track used to convey the public service message..project was not funded...Temp Track appplied was the incredible music of the incredible composer John Barry's "Dances With Wolves" Wolf Theme..
https://vimeo.com/14162036
Done.....
Meant to write "Uncle Sam"
Man... Shreveport snubbed again. Louisiana snubbed again. Chicago? Really? Dallas? Hardly. I'd love to see some real love for one of the nation's biggest states for production where resources, talent, and infrastructure flourish: Louisiana. All that without mentioning the huge indigenous filmmaker incentives from the state, the world's largest cash prize short film contest. Hundreds of short films shot here a year from all over the country. Low cost of living, downtown currently being revitalized, home of louisiana's #1 ranked beers, right at the intersection of I-20 (connecting Dallas and Atlanta) with I-49, which will eventually be a straight shot to New Orleans. Take a look. Shreveport deserves to be on this list more than about half the places.