Last week, the New Mexico Film Office announced The Magnificent Seven, a modern day remake of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, will soon be filming throughout the state. To be directed by Antoine Fuqua (South Paw, The Equalizer), the movie will star Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee, and Peter Sarsgaard. It's also the first reunion for Fuqua, Washington and Hawke who teamed together 10 years ago in Training Day.
Earlier this month, I was in Martinsville, Virginia for our PR3D scan of the New College Institute's Building on Baldwin. Having heard amazing things about the building, I was still blown away when I saw it in person. Building on Baldwin, I thought, would make such a fabulous film location. Note to self: must feature it in our next blog. This well-kept gem of a location will no longer be a well-kept secret much longer.
From the outside, the three-level red-brick building looks like a typical handsome college campus building. There are well-planned seating areas in the front plaza for student gatherings, large enough to easily accommodate 1,000 people.
There are also three collaborative amphitheater spaces on the plaza, fully wired for electricity, an added feature all productions love and appreciate. The spacious parking lot is more than big enough to house production trailers, equipment trucks and any other vehicles the cast and crew may need.
Seven miles from the east entrance of Joshua Tree National Park is the whimsical, one-of-a-kind Tile House. A fabulously eclectic location adored by filmmakers and photographers worldwide, The Tile House is - inside and out - a stunning mosaic made of Mexican and desert tiles, smelt, handmade Perry Hoffman ceramics, stained glass and ceramic bric-brac. As is, Tile House is already a film-ready set and yet it looks as if your production designer has spent months designing every inch of the space.
This past May, Governor Steve Beshear signed a bill that enables Kentucky to be more competitive as a filming destination. This in turn helps attract the film industry to Kentucky, promoting job growth and tourism for the state.
“House Bill 340 gives Kentucky a strong advantage when competing with other states for outside film projects,” said Governor Beshear. “Increased film production in Kentucky means a boost to local economies and an opportunity to highlight the Bluegrass state on both big and small screens across the world.”
Movies such as Days of Heaven, Field of Dreams, Signs, Witness, Places in the Heart, The Magnificent Seven, and Grapes of Wrath ... what do they have in common? You guessed it. They are set on a gorgeous farm or countryside location. The pastoral sceneries from these films are breathtakingly beautiful and memorable, and all prove one thing. Filmmakers are always in search of cinematic countryside settings to use as film locations for their productions.
Looking for a cool hotel or inn to stay in for your next vacation? If you're a movie buff like me, you'll love staying where your favorite movies were filmed. Years ago, I had a chance to visit a beautiful, historic hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan, where Somewhere In Time was filmed. It was a magical and surreal experience to stand in the same spot where Richard Collier and Elise McKenna first met.
The Utah Film Commission recently announced in a press release that they have awarded film incentives to six more productions to shoot in the state this summer. Leading that list is the new ABC television series Blood & Oil, the first network TV series to film in Utah since 2006. With an approved tax credit of over $8 million, Blood & Oil plans to hire approximately 3,000 local cast and crew and expects to bring in at least $33 million for Utah. The remaining productions to film in the state include two reality shows (Diesel Dave, Utah ProStart Teen Chef Masters) and three feature films (Mythica, Monolith, Stepsisters) adding another $3 million of in-state spending.
Last week, the Oklahoma Film Office announced the newest addition to their production board. The feature film Heartland is currently filming in Oklahoma by first-time director Maura Anderson (producer of Winter's Bone, Would You Rather). Ms. Anderson will also serve as producer for the movie along with Oklahoma native Velinda Godfrey (Heartland screenwriter).
Released just before the Christmas Holidays last year on December 3, Wild is a biographical drama film directed by Jean-Marc Vallee based on the 2012 bestselling memoir of Cheryl Strayed, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail. The film has received rave reviews from both critics and audiences, including a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film main stars Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern both earned Academy Award nominations for their heartfelt performances. The movie’s location manager Nancy Haecker (The Judge, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and 2, 8 Mile, The Mexican, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Lucky You, Into The Wild) also won the Managers Guild of America Award for best locations in a contemporary film earlier this year in March.
Idaho, the 14th largest and the 39th most populous state in the U.S., is also home to some of the most breathtaking landscapes. Being a mountainous state larger than all of New England, Idaho is famous for its craggy mountains, lava flows, whitewater, farms and quaint towns, and dusty back roads, some of the best backgrounds for any film production.
In addition to the stunning, unique locations, Idaho's moderate climate and long summer days (with daylight lasting until 10pm) offer huge benefits to productions. Filming in Idaho can be more economical than in other areas since most of the cities in the state don't require film permits, saving filmmakers time and money. The state also has a deep base of local crews with a broad range of production skills.
Last week on April 21, 2015, the New Mexico Film Office announced in a press release that the highly-anticipated Independence Day sequel will start principal photography in New Mexico on May 4. Leading the large cast are Liam Hemsworth, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Pullman. The sequel will be directed by Roland Emmerich who also directed the original movie.
Need some ideas where to visit on your next getaway with your loved ones? After you watch Netflix’s latest series Bloodline (the entire Season One with 13 episodes has been on Netflix since March 20, 2015), you may want to book your vacation in the Florida Keys.
Last fall for ABC’s In An Instant: Grizzly Bear Attack episode, Minnesota’s Silver Bay Marina became Glacier National Park, the setting of the true story about a father and daughter who came face to face with a grizzly bear during a celebratory hike.
Earlier this week, the New Mexico Film Office announced in a press release that the fourth season of Longmire will be filming in New Mexico. Longmire’s first three seasons were aired on A&E, and its fourth season has been renewed by Netflix on November 19, 2014. Produced by Warner Horizon Television and the Shephard/Robin Company, the series is based on the Longmire mystery novels by Craig Johnson.
Joining a long list of movies such as Unbreakable, The Italian Job, National Treasure, Unstoppable, The Dark Knight Rises, Jack Reacher, and Silver Linings Playbook is Kevin Smith’s Clerks III, soon to set up production in Philadelphia in a few months. Through the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, Clerks III has already issued a crew call for the production. If all goes according to plan, Clerks III will be shooting in Philly for five weeks beginning in early June.
The Location Managers Guild of America (LMGA) held their second annual LMGA Awards last Saturday, March 7, 2015, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills. The prestigious LMGA Awards honor the outstanding and creative contributions of location professionals in feature films, television and commercials. This year’s winners didn’t surprise us because their work speak volume for their excellence.
Having heard so many good things about Nightcrawler, I finally had a chance to watch the neo-noir thriller recently. With a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Nightcrawler delivers a riveting, intense, and unforgettable performance by Jake Gyllenhaal. Top-notch acting from Gyllenhaal aside, the movie also features prominently another main character … the City of Los Angeles. Nightcrawler is the first movie since Drive to take us on a memorable rollercoaster ride around Los Angeles.
"Rather than building that from scratch—because we couldn’t afford that—and rather than finding a hotel, because that didn’t exist, we had to kind of go into the middle and the middle ground happened to be this incredible Art Nouveau defunct department store in this tiny little town called Gorlitz in eastern Germany. The shell of what you see in the movie was there—it was a lot of linoleum that got turned into those carpets. We built in the lobby, and the coat check, and the concierge area—all that stuff." ~ Adam Stockhausen, Production Designer - The Grand Budapest Hotel
As announced in a press release launched earlier today, LocationsHub's Production-Ready 3D Gallery (PR3D) is now online featuring 3D models of selected locations available for filming. Using Matterport's latest 3D technology, PR3D models are 2D photo overlays blended with a 3D mesh creating an interactive, immersive 3D model for viewers.
Dallas (the television series), Prison Break, and The Tree of Life are among the many productions recently filmed in Dallas, Texas. This year, adding to the list are two additional television pilots soon to call Dallas home, FOX's Frankenstein and HBO's Mamma Dallas.
