One of my favorite films from this past year is The Perks of Being a Wallflower, written (novel and screenplay) and directed by the ultra-talented Stephen Chbosky. The movie was filmed in Pittsburgh, with a few scenes shot in Upper St. Clair, a prestigious neighborhood where Mr. Chbosky used to live with his parents.
I love everything about this film, from its story, its perfect cast, to its memorable Pittsburgh settings. The Steel City stands firmly on its own as one of the unforgettable characters of the movie. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is set in Pittsburgh during the early 1990’s, a nostalgic time period in which mixtapes and VCRs had a huge impact in a teenager’s life (the equivalence of our current days’ iPods, DVRs, Twitter and Facebook).
Grant Wainscott, director of the Clayton County Film, Sports & Entertainment Office said that even though 2012 was the busiest year yet for film production in Clayton County with four major movies filmed here, “you haven’t seen anything yet.”
“We are looking at an even busier year in 2013,” Wainscott said. “Although I am not authorized yet to reveal the names of the films, we already have three now in production in Clayton and four to start shooting this summer.”
2012 was a busy year for Alabama’s film industry. 31 productions were filmed in the state. The impressive list includes feature films, documentaries, reality TV shows and commercials. Together, they created over 3,000 jobs for Alabama and spent a total of $33.5 million, an increase of $11.5 million since 2011.
This influx of filming activities has been spurred by the $10 million incentives approved by Alabama Legislature in 2009 when the state adopted the Entertainment Industry Incentive Act.
If you’re a fan of Top Chef: Seattle, then you probably are familiar with the beautiful modern condo where the talented “cheftestants” are staying in Season 10 of this popular reality TV show.
The chefs’ home-away-from-home is the penthouse suite of Olive 8, a condo tower in downtown Seattle. Its size (it could house up to 18 people), location (downtown Seattle), and tight security made the Olive 8 penthouse the perfect choice for Top Chef.
In February 2009, ten remote organic dairy farms in Maine lost their main dairy processor when H.P. Hood decided not to renew their contracts. Located in the rural areas of northern and eastern Maine, these farmers didn’t have much luck finding any other dairy companies willing to drive the extra miles to work with them.
The farmers had two choices: shut down their businesses and do something else with their time, or invent a new way to continue doing what they know and love best.
I can’t think of a better movie for us to ring in the New Year with than Nancy Meyers’ The Holiday (2006), one of my personal favorite romantic comedies.
Filmed on location in both California and the English countryside of the U.K., The Holiday is a charming, intelligent romantic comedy about two women who are living very different lives but yet have the same relationship problems. To temporarily escape from their troubles-of-the-heart, they house swap over the internet and end up living each other’s life for a few days ... or so to speak. In doing that, each woman finds something that was missing in her life before.
It has been a busy year for Memphis. For the fiscal year 2011-2012, over twenty productions have used Memphis as a film location or base while shooting in nearby regions. Among these are TLC’s What Not to Wear, the Food Network’sRestaurant: Impossible, Fox’s America’s Most Wanted and Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report.
This fall, probably for the first time ever, an independent featured film was shot entirely in Ocean City, Maryland.
Ping Pong Summer, starring (among many others) Susan Sarandon, Lea Thompson, John Hannah, is the brainchild of Director Michael Tully (Septien, Cocaine Angel).
As Nancy Meyers is preparing to direct her next film The Chelsea, from a script written by her daughter Hallie Meyers-Shyer, let’s visit the filming locations of one her most beloved movies of all time. Chances are you’ve already seen Something’s Gotta Give. And if you’re a diehard fan like me, you’ve probably seen it at least half a dozen times.
The Michigan Film Office announced recently that they have approved film incentives for Rumors of Wars, a futuristic war drama thriller that reminds us of movies like 2012,Armaggedon and Day After Tomorrow.
Antarctica has always been a mysterious place to all of us. Thoughts of Antarctica bring forth images of snowy, icy landscapes, magnificent glaciers, frozen tundra, and mystical northern lights. Antarctica is a place I’m forever curious about, but probably may never get to see in person.
We wrote an article on this a while back, but have a quick update for you today.
Everybody Loves Whales, directed by Ken Kwapis, starring Drew Barrymore, Kristen Bell, and John Krasinski, is filming on location in Barrow, Alaska this weekend, October 29, 30 and 31.
The Casting Department for Everybody Loves Whales is looking for some of the local folks to “portray the many rescuers and reporters who went out to the ice to help free the whales or report on the story.”
In the spirit of Halloween which is just about a week away, the SyFy Channel will air tonight, Wednesday, October 24, a special Ghost Hunters episode called Fear Factory.
The Hunger Games, filmed entirely in North Carolina, was a big hit when it came out earlier this year. Since then, there has been much speculation as to where its sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will be filmed. Recently, Lionsgate has announced in a press release its plans to filmCatching Fire this fall on location in Hawaii, and in and near Atlanta, Georgia, including Clayton County.
As a nation, we are obsessed with heroes. That’s one of the reasons why movies starring Superman, Iron Man, The Hulk, Spiderman, Thor, etc. (to name a few) always end up being huge box office hits.
With major filming projects such as NBC’s Grimm (Seasons 1 and 2), IFC’sPortlandia (photo on left), and TNT’s Leverage shooting in Oregon all at the same time, it’s no wonder 2011 was one of the most lucrative years in Oregon’s film industry.
The DC Office of Motion Picture and Television Development (DC Film Office) launched its first podcast series, “Reel Talk with Film DC,” last week on August 27, 2012.
Earlier this month, The Oklahoma Film & Music Office announced in a press release that pre-production for the film adaptation of the play AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY has begun in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
The Michigan Film Office recently announced in their press release that Michigan has approved the new television series Low Winter Sun for filming in the state.
Earlier this year, we were over the moon to find out that nine out of the top 10 U.S. cities for independent filmmakers are in states whose state film office uses Reel-Scout™.
