MOVIEMAKER.COM WINTER 2019 75
David Dastmalchian (The Dark Knight,
Blade Runner 2049) wrote and plays the lead
in All Creatures Here Below and the film was
the first to receive a rebate from the Kansas
City Film Development Program. Ninety-five
percent of All Creatures Here Below was shot
in Kansas City so the production received a
$60,000 rebate. Kansas City offers a local pro-
duction incentive despite a lack of one at the
state level, offering rebates of up to 10 percent
on qualified expenditures, with a minimum
spend of $100,000-$300,000 per film. The
annual cap for the incentive is $75,000 and
selection is not first-come, first-serve.
“Kansas City isn’t just where I’m from, it’s
the most vibrant cross-section of the Midwest
that I’ve found in 2018, both visually and
socially,” Dastmalchian says. “To tell the
story at the heart of All Creatures Here Below
I needed a location that had specific urban,
suburban, and rural landscapes and
Kansas City is a fresh collection of locations
and landscapes; there is so much space,
architecture and pastoral settings whichhaven’t been lensed by moviemakers, so it
feels undiscovered. We used mostly local
artists for our team and found an abundance
of highly-proficient crew.” He adds that he’s ex-
cited about his next KC project, supernatural
thriller Hide Your Eyes: “We have a very small,
but talented team on board for that one, and
they’ve already fallen in love with the city.”9
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
Rhode Island, known as The Ocean
State for its scenic bays and inlets, as
well as attractions such as the Castle Hill
Lighthouse and the historic Newport Tower,
is dipping its toe into prestige TV, serving as
the locale for a 10-episode AMC series based
on Joe Hill’s 2013 supernatural horror novel
NOS4A2. Starring Zachary Quinto, it began
filming in the fall with an eye toward broad-
cast in 2019. As for cinema, this year saw the
Chazz Palminteri-starring heist film Vault take
up production in Providence; cast and crew
were spotted filming in the downtown area’s
Industrial Trust Building in April. The last few
years also saw Providence as production base
for films such as November Criminals, a crime
drama starring Chloë Grace Moretz.
“The State of Rhode Island is the
smallest state with the greatest backlot,” says
Steven Feinberg, Executive Director of the
Rhode Island Film and TV Office. “Our com-
petitive tax incentive is a transferable credit
which has increased from 25 to 30 percent on
qualified expenditures and that’s wonderful
news for moviemakers and our talented local
workforce in front of the camera and behind.”
There’s a minimum spend of $100,000 and no
project caps or restrictions on below-the-line
workers.10
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA
Richmond, Virginia is older than
the country that sprung up around
it, with a swirl of architectural styles rang-
ing from Tudor to Colonial to Georgian to
Spanish, as well as a living history museum,
featuring attractions such as Henricus Histori-
cal Park, which offers a daily recreation of
17th century colonial life in Richmond. There
are also Civil War battlefields and surviving
structures of the era, all of which no doubt
contributed to Richmond being chosen as
the location for Harriet, moviemaker
Kasi Lemmons’ biopic of Harriet Tubman.
Period backlots in Richmond used for
John Adams, TURN: Washington’s Spies, and
Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln may be repurposed
for Harriet; scouting for the film was done
over the summer in conjunction with the
Virginia Film Office. The office has its hands
full lately, with Netflix reportedly knocking at
Virginia’s door and asking for changes to the
state’s incentive program. Qualified produc-
tions are currently eligible for 15 percent
reimbursement with a minimum budget of
$250,000, and if the production is shot in
an underdeveloped area there’s a 5 percent
increase available; the incentive program is
capped at $6.5 million annually.
Having reportedly sent a letter to
Virginia’s governor in recent months in
which it noted having 700 projects in produc-
tion in more than 100 countries, Netflix
is lobbying Virginia to take on a Georgia-
level incentive program that will entice the
streaming giant to put down roots in the
Commonwealth. Although details about the
discussions between Virginia and Netflix
are scarce, Andy Edmunds, director of the
Virginia Film Office, recently visited Netflix
headquarters in California, a move reminis-
cent of a royal emissary being sent to pay
respects to a newly powerful king. MM« DIRECTOR MARK AMIN, (L) DP JEREMY ROUSE, (C)
AND STAR DAYO OKENIYI SPENT THE SUMMER OF
2018 SHOOTING THEIR CIVIL WAR DRAMA EMPEROR
IN SAVANNAH, GA