Chattanooga has hosted film productions since the silent movie era, and now the potential for growth has never been greater due to the influx of runaway film production into the South from Hollywood. Chattanooga has been a destination for shooting exteriors and less of a home base for studio productions, but the Chattanooga Film Society is setting out to make our area a prime film production location.
The CFS, a 501c3 non-profit, formed as the result of a public visioning process in 2009 involving over 140 people across the community, along with Eleanor Cooper, who was also a part of the reinvention of downtown beginning in the ’80s. Together, they came up with a plan for the future of film in Chattanooga. This future involves promoting professional film and television production across the region, supporting independent filmmaking locally, coordinating local film education efforts and working on the five-year plan of the launch of a major destination film festival in Chattanooga.
Their long-term initiatives are: marketing the region, launching a major film festival, facilitating the creation of professional film and television support services, creation and management of a center for independent filmmaking, supporting efforts to create local and state incentives to attract production to our region, and encouraging and enabling film education efforts throughout the region. Dave Porfiri, CFS president and co-founder, and owner of Mindflow Media, says, “We are focused on the art and the appreciation of film and the professional aspect of film as well and how it can be a driver for the economy when you have a healthy thriving film industry in your town.”
Brian Gilbert, a co-founder of CFS and owner of B. Gilbert Sound, says the benefits of having a strong film presence in a town like Chattanooga are huge, because the town gets such a trickle down effect from producing films. For example, a National Geographic project that filmed here over the summer had a hotel bill at the Read House for 45,000 pounds. With the $15 million Helen Hunt film about to start production in Chattanooga very soon, the CFS board says it is almost like their long-awaited coming out party.
Chris Holley, facilities director for the City of Chattanooga and secretary for CFS, says, “We have had pieces of films like “Water for Elephants,” but it is extremely rare that we would have an entire film, especially one with that kind of budget, to shoot here. One of the reasons we didn’t get a bigger piece of those films is because other states like Georgia have better incentives.”
Holley says that Georgia got 80 films this year based mainly on those incentives they provided. She says, “There is a give and take to get them here just like Volkswagen, and film is a sustainable industry just like them. It’s an industry as much as it is an art form.”
Gilbert says if CFS is able to launch a local film festival, Chattanooga would be one step closer to being known as a film friendly town. One way the CFS is moving closer toward their film festival is with the Southern Circuit Film Series. This series is a unique program that brings some of the best independent filmmakers and their films from around the world to communities in the South. Over the years, audiences have seen more than 200 films and have engaged filmmakers in post-screening discussions in more than 50 communities across the Southern U.S. In 25 years, this is the first time the series has come to Chattanooga.
Films in the Chattanooga series will be screened the second Monday of every month starting in September. The six films for Chattanooga screening are “Concrete Paint & Steel,” “The Wise Kids,” “Welcome to Shelbyville,” “A Good Man,” “The Toe Tactic” and “My Perestroika.” These films are a mix of dramas, comedies and documentaries. Three will be shown in the fall, and three in the spring at the Loose Cannon Gallery. With each of these films, the CFS is working to partner with local non-profits, artisans and locally based companies to enhance the experience. Each film will be followed by a question and answer series with the director and community partners.
Portifi calls the series CFS’s testing ground to get their feet in the water for the film festival plans. The panel right after the film and the pre-screening social networking opportunity are a great way to extend the impact of the film and make it a more interesting evening, he says. Local filmmaker Barry Schuch from Barry C. Schuch Productions and treasurer for CFS says, “For film enthusiasts, they will see a film that they won’t see in the theater, and will have the opportunity to speak with the director of the film and get a shared experience. It’s not just a night out at the movies, it’s an actual event people can participate in and get a much larger experience from attending.”
Other programs from the CFS include professional film and television classes at Chattanooga State and quarterly seminar events.
The building of Chattanooga as a film friendly town is not starting from zero, says Holley.
“We have a community of filmmakers and companies here, but we have to develop it. There are cities that are smaller than Chattanooga but have a much richer film tradition. Their political leadership are much more savvy about the benefits of film production in their communities. But when we are able to do what they are doing, we think we will exceed what those communities are doing and achieving because this community is so strategically positioned,” she says.
Porfiri says the CFS was established as and still remains a grassroots organization for everyone who has an interest in film to be welcomed to participate. “We feel that there’s been a serious omission from the cultural landscape of Chattanooga because [of the lack of a film festival.]… CFS is going to be the group that makes this film festival happen. We think the cultural fabric of the city will be complete or near complete when there is a quality film festival, and this organization has a solid place among the more established locations in town,” he says.