Movie News

From NewsLeader.com (01-05-10):

'Lincoln' flick might be filmed in Valley

Film pros hope Spielberg will shoot DreamWorks movie in Commonwealth

SHENANDOAH VALLEY — Virginia is no stranger to Hollywood. The historic cityscapes and famous battlefields have brought big-budget productions to the Commonwealth for years, including films such as "Gods and Generals" and "Evan Almighty."

Now, Steven Spielberg's production company DreamWorks is looking for a place to film "Lincoln," a biographical movie about President Abraham Lincoln's life. DreamWorks scouted Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley — among other sites around the country — as early as 2003. On-location filming means jobs and revenue throughout the state and has the Virginia Film Office, area actors and production professionals salivating. However, there are concerns DreamWorks will overlook the state because of the Commonwealth's limited incentives for filmmakers who might choose to shoot here.

Of the more than 40 states offering incentives — often tax credits or rebates — to production companies that shoot and spend money there, Virginia is close to the bottom of the list. Pennsylvania has put aside $75 million for film incentive spending. Virginia has $200,000 in the governor's Motion Picture Fund for its rebate program.

Rita McClenny of the Virginia Film Office said the Commonwealth's historic sites and battlefields make it an ideal place to shoot such an historical film.

"It's portraying authenticity of a certain time of history where Abraham Lincoln actually walked through Richmond, and it would portray some of Virginia's finest assets that have been preserved," she said. Still, "few people come simply because of the location."

With the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War looming — making 2011 a good time to release a Lincoln biopic, some film professionals say — and Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell expressing interest in increased spending for film incentives, Virginia's film community wants to strike while the iron's hot, lobbying the state legislature to pursue this film aggressively.

Lincoln and the "Breadbasket of the Confederacy"

For Phillip Stone, the president of Bridgewater College and founder of the Virginia Lincoln Society, Virginia is an obvious choice for shooting a movie about Lincoln's history.

President Lincoln's father, grandfather — who fought with the Augusta County militia in the Revolutionary War — and great-grandfather lived in Rockingham County, where his great-uncle built the Lincoln Homestead in 1800. As a congressman, Abraham Lincoln corresponded with some of his cousins to inquire about family history, but the Shenandoah Valley meant more to the president than family ties.

"It was the bane of his existence," said Stone, refering to one of the chief recruiting grounds for General Robert E. Lee's armies.

The feeling was mutual.

"During the Civil War, slave-owning Lincoln cousins lived in the Lincoln Homestead, and his cousins from that community fought in the confederacy," Stone said. "Not one of them went North to stay with their cousin Abe."

Stone said Lincoln family tradition holds that the president's cousin, John Lincoln, whose barn was burned down by Gen. Philip Sheridan, was once asked if he was related to the president.

"'Yes, I'm a cousin of Abe's. I'd like to meet my cousin. I'd like to shoot the blankety-blank,'" Stone said of John's response. "So he didn't cut him any slack. They weren't bragging that they were related to the president. He was just the enemy."

Stone said the conflict happening within the Valley — the president's army burning his cousins' land and liberating their slaves — is a vivid metaphor for the divisions of the entire country.

"It's such a wonderful image of what the country was suffering," he said.

Show them the money

More than bringing prestige to the state, Terry Stroud of the Virginia Production Alliance in Richmond said filming "Lincoln" locally could be a much-needed shot in the arm to Virginia's economy.

"It's an immediate economic stimulus to that area," Stroud said of the production companies that hire local cast and crew or patronize local business. "They come in and need supplies and people and all sorts of different things involved in making a film. On some of these films you can have as many as 75 to 100 people on it, eating food, spending money and going to restaurants."

David Foster, a Waynesboro-based actor, thinks the state should offer a generous rebate to DreamWorks up front in exchange for filming "Lincoln" in Virginia.

"I think this is something we should pursue like a junkyard dog goes after a criminal," said Foster, who has appeared in numerous films shot in Virginia, but more often than not, he has to travel to Philadelphia, Baltimore and Wilmington, N.C., for acting gigs.

"I'm tired of traveling," said Foster, who works full time as an electrician and has heard that other actors and production crew are packing it in. "People are moving out of the state ... to get work."

He's been writing to state legislature and the governor's office, asking they consider boosting spending for film incentives because some projects could boost local economies and create jobs.

When HBO expressed interest in filming its John Adams miniseries in Virginia, director Tom Hanks visited with Gov. Tim Kaine to discuss incentives. They struck agreements. According to Virginia Joint Senate Resolution No. 394, Virginia invested $1.25 million in the project, which had a total positive economic impact of $146 million on the Commonwealth and employed 4,000 Virginians.

McDonnell said he wants to improve Virginia's chances of being a profitable location for filming.

"In these tough economic times, we need to identify and implement public policy ideas that promote private sector job creation," McDonnell said in an e-mail. "Increasing the Governor's Motion Picture Opportunity Fund is one such example of a fiscally smart investment in Virginia's future."

Del. Steve Landes, R-Weyers Cave, said he is writing a letter to Steven Spielberg in support of bringing "Lincoln" to Virginia, but he wants to be sure the project will be lucrative for Virginians before they give away too much.

"If it looks like something that will be filmed in Virginia, I think the General Assembly would quickly look at finding that money," Landes said. "I think the government and the Film Office have a good reputation of working with the film industry."

The VFO's Rita McClenny said, "We're very hopeful that things will turn around here very soon and that (Gov.-elect) McDonnell's plan to be able to put people to work who work in this industry so they don't have to work out of state and to create revenue where we really need it. And the state really needs it."

Past news:

• Variety (09-14-09):

• Newsweek (09-19-07)

• ComingSoon (01-24-07)

• Chicago Sun-Times (12-08-06)

• BusinessWeek (04-07-06)

• Variety (01-11-05)