68 WINTER 2019 MOVIEMAKER.COM
patina of fake snow for an upcoming scene.
Around the same time, across town, another
crew was putting down a layer of dirt to make
that section of Boston look like it did in 1868
for the Greta Gerwig-directed adaptation of
Little Women, starring Emma Watson. Local
photographers captured horse-drawn buggies
clomping down blocked-off streets while film
cameras rolled. The Jessica Chastain-starring
action film Eve also kicked off filming in
Beantown during the fall, with cast and crew
being spotted in the city’s Wayland suburb.
Below the radar of movie studio bigwigs
is Boston’s humming festival scene, with the
Boston Underground Film Festival prepping
for its 21st annual run in 2019. Over the years
the festival has attracted guest directors such
as Don Coscarelli and Jason Eisener and in
2018 it was named one of MovieMaker’s
30 Bloody Best Genre Fests in the World. In
2019 the festival is promising a renewed focus
on New England-based talent as well as more
sci-fi and transgressive moviemaking.
12
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
“When it came time to
direct my first feature,
The Honeymoon Phase, there wasn’t any-
where else I could imagine shooting it,” says
Philadelphia-based director Phillip G. Carroll
Jr. about his indie psychological thriller that
wrapped in early 2018. “One reason why I
love shooting in and around Philly is local ex-
citement for film—people hear you’re making
a movie, they want to get involved,” he said,
while offering kind words for the Film Office.
“The local office is another asset; they’re
excited for every project that comes
through the city, no matter the budget.
Sharon Pinkenson, Executive Director,
worked very closely with us and helped us to
attain a Film Tax Credit worth 25 percent of
our PA-based expenses. You can push that to
30 percent if you fulfill additional [produc-
tion facility and stage] requirements.”
Tax credits in the home of the Liberty Bell
are capped at $65 million, seen as insufficient
by some who’d prefer it be expanded to
$100 million to attract marquee films like
2018’s hit Creed II, which wasn’t considered
a lock to shoot in Philly despite the city’s
connection to the Rocky brand. The film
ultimately received $16.7 million in credits in
exchange for incurring a minimum produc-
tion spend of 60 percent in Pennsylvania.
Another recent studio film to shoot in Philly
was M. Night Shyamalan’s superhero trilogy-
capper Glass, which gained approval for just
under $7 million in credits.
For The Honeymoon Phase Carroll recalled
that the Film Office helped the shoot secure
a drone for skyline footage as well as a police
escort and permits for a crucial scene inside
the One Liberty Place skyscraper. He notes
that “as long as you’re not shooting on gov-
ernment property or blocking roads you don’t
need a permit, which is huge for low-budget
productions” and that indie projects can take
advantage of sound stages within city limits,
as well as engage with colleges like Temple
and Drexel. Also, he adds that Philly is driving
distance to picturesque locations: “Within twohours you can be in the Pocono Mountains
or on the beaches of the Jersey Shore, and we
have all four seasons beautifully represented.”13
OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA
“Oklahoma’s the most film-friendly
place I’ve ever worked,” says
indie moviemaker Lance McDaniel
(Light From the Darkroom) who also serves
as executive director of Oklahoma City’s dead-
Center Film Festival. “Oklahoma offers diverse
locations, experienced crews, a 37 percent cash
rebate and the most welcoming communities,”
he says, noting that while recently shooting
a short film trilogy set in small-town Alva,
Oklahoma, the chamber of commerce pro-
vided meals from local restaurants to thank
the production for filming. “I did the films as
a community-building art project, partially
funded by the NEA,” he says.
The rebate has a $4 million annual cap
per fiscal year and has been renewed through
2024; productions must have a minimum
budget of $50,000 to qualify. One production
to take advantage of the incentive is
The Adventures of Jurassic Pet: Chapter 1,
a family adventure film from director Ryan
Bellgardt about a teen who rescues a dinosaur
from a mad scientist. Bellgardt’s preceding
film, The Jurassic Games, is set to have its
Oklahoma premiere at this year’s deadCenter
festival at OKC’s renovated Tower Theatre.
“There’s lots of things that make this com-
munity special for making movies,” Bellgardt
says. “You can find great crews here that’ve
worked on every size production. There’s also» R TO L: DIRECTOR PHILLIP G. CARROLL JR., DP JOE STAEHLY, CO-PRODUCER YANNI ROZES, AND ACTORS CHLOE CARROLL, JIM SCHUBIN, AND BRENDA CRAWLEY SHOOT
A SCENE FROM THE HONEYMOON PHASE ATOP PHILLY’S ONE LIBERTY PLACE TOWER
TOP LEFT: PHOTOGRAPH BY BEN SAMUELS / BOTTOM RIGHT: PHOTOGRAPH BY ALLYSON RIGGS