City Considering Creating Film Office To Lure Film Makers To Sacramento
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Sacramento has been featured on the big screen before, but now there is a move to get more productions to shoot in the capital city.
There are new plans int he works to make sure Sacramento gets plenty of close-ups on the big and small screens.
Sacramento played a starring role in the film "Lady Bird", and now the goal is to get more productions, big and small, shot in our area.
"It runs the gamut. It's gonna be like big feature films ideally and commercials, reality television," said Tim Swanson the Sacramento Media & Communications Manager.
City leaders are talking about opening a new film office to help convince productions of all sizes to shoot in and around Sacramento.
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Film shoots are nothing new though. The silent film "Wagon Tracks" was shot in Sacramento in 1919, and in 1928 Buster Keaton filmed "Steamboat Bill, Jr." here.
Right now, to pay the bills, local production companies do a lot of their work outside of Sacramento. They'd love to help get this initiative up and running so they can stay home more often.
"If I could stay here locally in my hometown and spend more time with my family then, that means the world to me," said Rusty Prevatt, founder of Franklin Pictures.
And employees at Franklin agree there is already talent ready to create in Sacramento.
"There already is a lot of very talented crew here but I see them searching all the time for work," said Stefan Anderson, a senior producer at Franklin Pictures. "Young talented people want to come here, stay here, build a life here and create art here as well."
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That would pay off for more than just production crews. Think of the money those crews would spend.
"That's going to increase restaurant sales and hotel stays and laundromat service...you name it," Prevatt said.
Prevatt thinks if more films followed in the footsteps of "Lady Bird," it would be great for Sacramento.
"Look at what Lady Bird did for Sacramento," Prevatt said. "If we could have more Lady Birds going on and then when Lady Bird comes to town they're using local talent...That's a game-changer."
Plans for an official city of Sacramento film office are in the very early stages. They're still trying to figure out what incentives they would be able to offer.