Three years after playing the backdrop for Spielberg’s Lincoln, Virginia once again will be the main film location for another feature film and television series. This time, it’s for Ithaca, with Meg Ryan at the helm as director, and for Season Two of the AMC new drama series TURN.
Ithaca will begin production this month and filming will continue through the summer in Petersburg and Richmond, Virginia. Ryan has been visiting Old Towne Petersburg to scout locations and even dropped in for lunch at Wabi Sabi.
Oklahoma, “where the green mountains of the East dissolve into the golden prairies of the West,” is one the most favorite film locations for filmmakers over the years. As far back as the 1970’s, many feature films have been shot in Oklahoma, including The Outsiders (1983), Where The Red Fern Grows (1974), Twister (1996), Rain Man (1988), Phenomenon (1996), Far and Away (1992), Elizabethtown (2005), To The Wonder (2012), and August: Osage County (2013). Most recently, Oklahoma serves as the setting for Lone Man’s Land, a documentary film made by Ezra Gentle.
The location scout’s mission was to find a home with a driveway in a rural area of Maryland. It would even be better to have a few horses on the property if possible. The movie to film there was Philomena, starring the fabulous Dame Judi Dench. The location scout was Carol Flaisher. She patiently drove around Montgomery County until she spotted Bill and Diana Conway’s colonial farmhouse off River Road in Potomac.
From Gilmore Girls to Parenthood, Lauren Graham has won our hearts each time she graces the screen, big or small. Recently Ms. Graham has signed on to star in MGM’s family adventure film Max, to be directed by Boaz Yakin. Pre-production has already started earlier this month in Charlotte, North Carolina with plans for filming to continue through June 20.
Max, written by Boaz Yakin (Remember The Titans) and Sheldon Lettich, is based on a true story about a military Belgian Shepherd trying to adapt to his new family after losing his handler in Afghanistan. Max finds himself bonds with the 14-year-old brother of his handler, portrayed by Josh Wiggins. Graham plays Wiggins’ young mom.
In addition to shooting in Charlotte, Max will also be filming in Asheville, North Carolina.
Millions of Breaking Bad fans have been in a long withdrawal period ever since the phenomenal series (one of the very best to ever air on television) ended in September of last year. Nothing since seems to be able to fill the void left by Walter White and company. But perhaps we can all take a breather soon because the much-anticipated Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul is getting ready to start filming in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where the new series is set.
Last summer, the Michigan Film Office announced that the state approved a $35 million film incentive for DC Entertainment’s next Super Hero movie from Warner Bros. Pictures. Fast forward to today, there's finally news that principal photography for the Man of Steel’s sequel may begin this week on locations in Detroit, Michigan, and at Michigan Motion Picture Studios. Other filming locations include Illinois, Africa, and the South Pacific.
It has been 14 years since Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, one of the most beautifully-filmed movies in cinema’s history, mesmerized us all. The film made over $247 million worldwide and took home four Academy Awards including Best Foreign Language Film and Best Cinematography. Crouching Tiger fans then should be very happy to hear that the sequel, or more correctly prequel, to this epic love story is finally in the works.
Principal photography for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II — the Green Destiny is set to begin in July 2014. Most of the movie will be filmed in New Zealand and at the Auckland Film Studios with the rest of the movie to be shot in China.
Following the success of the TNT movie trilogy The Librarian, the network now gets ready to launch a new drama series The Librarians as a follow-up to its popular trilogy. The new series will be produced by Electric Entertainment, the same folks that previously made The Librarian trilogy. TNT will film the new series on location in Oregon, where other television shows such as Grimm, Portlandia and Leverage have been filming during the past few years.
The Librarians will star Rebecca Romijn and will no doubt remind us of the beloved Indiana Jones films as it follows an ancient organization of librarians on their endless adventures to recover historical artifacts.
With the Oscars just a few weeks away, there’s much buzz in the film world about the 2014 nominees. Among the “best picture” contenders is partially-made-in-Virginia Captain Phillips, nominated for six Academy Awards. To share the exciting news of having Captain Phillips filmed in the state, the Virginia Film Office issued a press release on the movie last fall.
Directed by Paul Greengrass, the movie stars two-time Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks in the titled role and Barkhad Abdi (a first-time actor from Minneapolis) in the role of Muse, the leader of the Somali pirates. For his powerful portrayal of Muse, Abdi recently won the British Academy Award.
MovieMaker Magazine recently named New Orleans, Louisiana as the #1 small city for filmmakers to live and work in 2014. As if on cue, Jurassic World (Jurassic Park 4) and Terminator 5, both sequels to two very successful movie franchises, have chosen Louisiana as one of their filming locations.
What do Nightmare on Elm Street, American Horror Story, Home Alone, The Descendants, Scarface, Driving Miss Daisy, The Godfather, Charlie’s Angels, 500 Days of Summer, 13 Going On 30, Dan In Real Life, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Something’s Gotta Give, Before Midnight and Argo (the list goes on) ... all have in common?
Out of the many movies released in 2013, only nine have been nominated for Best Picture for the Oscars race in 2014. Among the few chosen is an indie film calledNebraska, shot on location partially in Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming.
On January 16, 2014, the The Montana Film Office announced that Nebraska, a drama/comedy directed by previous Academy Award-winner Alexander Payne (The Descendants), was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (Alexander Payne), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Bruce Dern), Best Supporting Actress (June Squibb), Best Original Screenplay (Bob Nelson) and Best Cinematography (Phedon Papamichael).
Last fall, Beneath The Harvest Sky, an indie movie shot entirely in Van Buren, Maine (a small town with a population of approximately 2200), had its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
The reviews were unanimous among audiences and critics alike. Beneath The Harvest Sky was “heartbreakingly authentic” (Variety), “gripping and realistic” (Pretty Clever Films). It’s “an impressively mounted indie” that “offers a solid sense of place” (The Hollywood Reporter) palpably complementing the small, soulful Maine town where the movie was filmed.
Last year, we wrote an article about the making of the indie film Ping Pong Summer in Ocean City, Maryland, the beautiful, nostalgic beach town of my childhood.
Recently, Ping Pong Summer shared on Facebook that the moviewill have its world premier at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival to be held in January 2014 in Park City, Utah.
Filmed on location in Arkansas for 39 days starting on September 26, 2011, Mud was the largest film production to set up camp in “The Natural State.” When it opened at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, the film received an 18-minute standing ovation.
Directed and written by Jeff Nichols, who grew up in Arkansas and was recently nominated for Best Director for the 2014 Indie Spirit Awards, Mud stars Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Tye Sheridan (The Tree of Life), and Jacob Lofland (a young actor also from Arkansas).
If you haven’t seen the Volvo Trucks commercial featuring actor Jean-Claude Van Damme this past week yet, you’re among the few who has missed it. As of today, the YouTube commercial has already wowed over 36 million viewers (posted online on November 13).
The clip leaves me breathless and in awe, as well as converting me into a bona fide Van Damme fan. Most importantly, should I ever need a commercial truck, there’s no question which one to buy.
Imagine you own a little motel in the country. Business is steady, and you make a decent living. Not bad at all for a small business owner.
Then almost overnight, your motel becomes the talk of the town. More guests appear on the reservation list. People find excuses to drop by for impromptu visits, snapping photographs of your lobby, rooms, hotel sign, and parking lot. Dotting the internet are articles (such as this one) written about you - and your motel. What could possibly bring on such changes?
This past weekend, I discovered another one of my favorite movies so far this summer ... The Spectacular Now, filmed in the charming locations of Athens, Georgia.
Based on Tim Tharp’s novel and directed by Athens native James Ponsoldt, The Spectacular Nowfeatures two young, talented stars Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley.
After just one season, House of Cards was already nominated for nine Emmys. Even though the show is based and set in Washington, DC, only a few setting shots were filmed in DC. The rest of the production was filmed on a soundstage in Harford County as well as at locations in and around Baltimore City and surrounding counties.
Earlier this week, New Mexico Film Office Director Nick Maniatis announced that NBC's new TV series The Night Shift will begin filming in Albuquerque at the end of August. The Night Shift will employ over 100 local crew members and at least 300 New Mexico actors and extras per episode. Production is expected to continue through mid-November.
