MADE IN mobile
Mobile on the
Big Screen Nicolas Cage plays Captain McVay during a WWII saga. Pictured aboard the USS ALABAMA and based on a true story, USS INDIANAPOLIS: Men of Courage was filmed entirely in the Mobile area. Scheduled for release later this year, it is one of 178 productions filmed in Mobile since 1976. Before it appears in theaters, the Mobile Film Office will assist Hannibal Pictures with a screening in Mobile.
We’ve almost grown accustomed to movie stars in our midst – Nicolas Cage in Bienville Square, Kate Bosworth on horseback in downtown Mobile, Bruce Willis at The Garage, Robert De Niro at NoJa and Ryan Reynolds at Greyhound Park. Producers and directors have recruited these and dozens of other actors to appear in productions filmed in full or in part in Mobile and Baldwin counties. The results are movies, television series, music videos, documentaries and commercials, titled October Baby, Yellow Day, The Prince, Heist, Under Siege, War & Remembrance and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
To date Close Encounters is the largest blockbuster ever filmed in Mobile, winning an Oscar for Best Cinematography and a Best Director award from the Academy of Science Fiction given to Stephen Spielberg. IMDB, a popular movie and television website, identified 27 filming locations for Spielberg’s movie. Eight of them in Mobile and Fairhope, with the most popular being Brookley Field. Beyond the prestige of rubbing elbows with some of Hollywood’s hottest actors the
industry has brought millions of dollars and jobs to area companies, hotels, caterers and more.
The Local Cast
Before any movie decision-makers arrive, they are wooed and assisted by the Mobile Film Office team of Director Eva Golson and Location Coordinator Diane Hall. The majority of requests for information come through the Alabama Film Office in Montgomery, and typically start with an email list of what the director needs with an attached script. “Mobile gets the most features and independent movies, and reality and television series in the state,” said Tommy Lee, location coordinator with the state film office. Birmingham is second with a number of commercials, documentaries and smaller cable series. Continued on page 12 the business view JULY 2016
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