A major motion picture featuring stars as recognizable as those in Academy Award winner “Forrest Gump” is close to choosing Savannah as a film location, the director of the city of Savannah Film Office said Wednesday.
The deal is “99 percent done” and an announcement could come soon, Jay Self told the Savannah Downtown Business Association. The film would be shot downtown and would generate approximately $250,000 a day in spending, he said.
“If this comes through, businesses are going to be whole and happy and will make a lot of money,” Self told approximately 125 attendees at the SDBA’s monthly luncheon in the Charles Morris Center.
Click here to view Spotted® photos from the luncheon
Self took advantage of his appearance to stress collaboration between downtown businesses, residents and the film office. Self strives to make every permitted shoot within the city limits a “positive experience” for all involved, he said, and refers to local movie shoots as “partnerships.”
He assured the SDBA members he would have a long conversation with every business that would be even remotely affected by the coming blockbuster.
“There will be a lot of rumors,” Self said. “Don’t believe anything you hear until you hear it directly from me.”
The quasi-announcement highlighted Self’s presentation to the SDBA. He outlined the history and role of the film office, dating to its 1995 creation following the release of “Forrest Gump.”
The Tom Hanks movie was in many ways the impetus for the film office’s formation. The city allowed the filmmaker to take over Chippewa Square and told them “they could do whatever they wanted to do.”
The impact on the businesses and residents was profound and led Savannah City Council to push for a film office.
Self remembers finding the telephone on the floor and a file several inches thick with complaints on his first day on the job.
“Had ‘Forrest Gump’ not been a big hit, we might have gone the way of some other cities and forbid any future filming in town,” Self said. “But this was a successful film, the community made a lot of money and council recognized almost every issue that came out of filming the movie here could be mitigated.”
Dozens of movies have been shot downtown since, most notably “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” “The Legend of Bagger Vance” and “The Conspirator.” The film office’s role is to coordinate those projects with an eye toward maintaining the quality of life for residents, public safety, liability and insurance, coordination with other events and entities, maintaining control and avoiding and resolving conflicts.
“There has to be a sense of sustainability,” Self said. “We have been successful because we have such good partners.”
Self touched briefly on the potential impact of the Medient Studios complex planned for Effingham County. Medient would be beneficial to the Savannah community, Self said, but it is a private venture still in its infancy.
“We’re very hopeful these guys will put their deal together,” Self said. “Like any major development, my crystal ball sees only about four minutes into the future.”
As for the existing production company in Savannah, Meddin Studios, Self declined comment specifically on the impact the company’s financial situation could have on the local film industry. Meddin filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week.
“In a broad sense, the film business is resource driven, so the more resources we have in town, the less the filmmakers have to bring in, the better it is for us,” Self said.
Self did note the Film Office had an “extremely positive” relationship with the two filmmakers Meddin is suing for unpaid bills and who Meddin’s leader, Nick Gant, blames for forcing the studio into bankruptcy.
“Our most important marketing tool is our last project,” Self said. “Our goal is to send projects home with happy producers and happy directors, and we have consistently done that.”