thedrifter
03-05-09, 11:12 AM
Weekend festival recalls Beaufort's heyday as movie backdrop
Published Wed, Mar 4, 2009 12:00 AM
By MARTI COVINGTON
mcovington@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5502
Burton Sauls had gawked at Blythe Danner for days when the actress and star of "The Great Santini" casually motioned him toward an empty spot at her lunch table during a break in filming at historic Tidalholm mansion.
"She said, 'There's a chair over here.' That was the extent of it," said Sauls, then a crew-cut, 18-year-old student at the University of South Carolina Beaufort who'd landed a gig as an extra in the 1979 movie.
"I don't think I ate anything. I was too afraid she would speak to me and food would come flying out of my mouth."
The week Sauls spent on the set of the movie, based on a popular novel by Fripp Island resident Pat Conroy, gave him three decades' worth of stories and memories about a special time in Beaufort.
"The newness of all of it ... it was like everything had so much potential," said Sauls, now the owner of Beaufort media company CityTrex LLC. "Filming was going on around town and it was all anybody could talk about."
"The Great Santini" was the first of 13 movies shot in Beaufort between 1979 and 1999, including major hits like "The Big Chill," "The Prince of Tides" and "Forrest Gump."
This weekend's third annual Beaufort International Film Festival is a reminder, however, of both the city's past success as a movie backdrop and the fact that it's been a decade since a major film project was shot in Beaufort.
Filming pumped millions into Beaufort through the use of hotels and restaurants and in wages for residents hired as extras, crew members and suppliers. Revenue generated from the 1998film "Forces of Nature" -- only partially shot in Beaufort -- topped $3.4 million alone, according to estimates from the state film commission.
Films have also had the residual effect of drawing movie buffs and tourists who visit movie sites and boost the local economy.
"Coverage surrounding a movie-making event attracts people, before and after," said Elizabeth O'Brien, executive director of the Beaufort-Port Royal Convention and Visitors Bureau. "People are big into that kind of stuff, and it generates accommodation tax and hospitality tax dollars while they're doing it."
The success of the movies made in Beaufort has also helped local tourism.
"We've been fortunate to have some blockbuster movies filmed here," said Carlotta Ungaro, president and CEO of the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce. "Not every community has that advantage. There's definitely an economic impact."
A 10-YEAR DROUGHT
Yet for all the economic advantages of having movies filmed in Beaufort, it's been nearly 10 years since the city had a taste of Hollywood -- not a situation unique in the state, according to South Carolina Film Commissioner Jeff Monks.
The motion-picture industry has become more interested in cutting budget costs by filming in states rich with incentives for production companies.
That puts South Carolina in fierce competition with other states and countries like Canada, which gives back to filmmakers nearly 40 percent of their employees' wages.
In South Carolina, the cash rebate is 20 percent for actors and state residents, and 10 percent for non-residents up to $3,500, Monks said.
"Our last, best year was 1999, when we really started to feel the effects of the Canadian incentive program," he said. "There was a massive flight of films from America up to Canada. We saw our films dwindle."
Legislation increasing state film incentives was passed in 2006, but incentives were lowered less than a year later, Monks said. That might have alienated production companies that followed their bottom line to South Carolina in hopes of a big payoff.
"If the script is written for New York City and we can show them that we can put it in a different environment and the incentives are a better choice, they'll rewrite the script," Monks said.
Having a few local incentives could help Beaufort get picked again as a filming location, said Ungaro, who receives a handful of inquiries every month from interested companies.
"We haven't done anything super proactive on incentives. That's something we need to work on," she said.
VERSATILE LANDSCAPES
Despite the competition for movies and controversy over incentives, the natural assets in Beaufort still make it one of the more appealing locations in South Carolina.
One of the reasons "Forrest Gump" came to Beaufort was because of the area's versatile landscape, Monks said.
"They went from southeast Asia to small-town, southern 1940s within a few miles of each other," he said. "(Filmmakers) want to land in the airport, have a 5-star hotel, have all their crew, all their suppliers within a 30-mile radius. That's where we start."
Screenwriter Lanier Laney, who authored the movie "Shag" that was filmed in Myrtle Beach, said the scenery in Beaufort has transformative powers.
"The look of the Lowcountry .. also lends itself to a wide range of emotions from romantic to scary that other locations don't do," Laney said.
Ginnie Kozak, a local film expert and author of three editions of "Lights, Camera, Beaufort," frequently gives tours of downtown movie locations to visitors and residents. Like the filmmakers who chose to shoot in the city, her tour groups are smitten with the natural beauty, she said.
The art director and cinematographer for "The Great Santini" were particularly spellbound.
"It is just so beautiful, that even if you didn't know where it was you would be blown away," Kozak said. "You can tell that everybody fell in love with it here."
Ellie
"The Big Chill" (1983) was one of 13 motion pictures filmed in and around Beaufort from 1979 through 1999.
Published Wed, Mar 4, 2009 12:00 AM
By MARTI COVINGTON
mcovington@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5502
Burton Sauls had gawked at Blythe Danner for days when the actress and star of "The Great Santini" casually motioned him toward an empty spot at her lunch table during a break in filming at historic Tidalholm mansion.
"She said, 'There's a chair over here.' That was the extent of it," said Sauls, then a crew-cut, 18-year-old student at the University of South Carolina Beaufort who'd landed a gig as an extra in the 1979 movie.
"I don't think I ate anything. I was too afraid she would speak to me and food would come flying out of my mouth."
The week Sauls spent on the set of the movie, based on a popular novel by Fripp Island resident Pat Conroy, gave him three decades' worth of stories and memories about a special time in Beaufort.
"The newness of all of it ... it was like everything had so much potential," said Sauls, now the owner of Beaufort media company CityTrex LLC. "Filming was going on around town and it was all anybody could talk about."
"The Great Santini" was the first of 13 movies shot in Beaufort between 1979 and 1999, including major hits like "The Big Chill," "The Prince of Tides" and "Forrest Gump."
This weekend's third annual Beaufort International Film Festival is a reminder, however, of both the city's past success as a movie backdrop and the fact that it's been a decade since a major film project was shot in Beaufort.
Filming pumped millions into Beaufort through the use of hotels and restaurants and in wages for residents hired as extras, crew members and suppliers. Revenue generated from the 1998film "Forces of Nature" -- only partially shot in Beaufort -- topped $3.4 million alone, according to estimates from the state film commission.
Films have also had the residual effect of drawing movie buffs and tourists who visit movie sites and boost the local economy.
"Coverage surrounding a movie-making event attracts people, before and after," said Elizabeth O'Brien, executive director of the Beaufort-Port Royal Convention and Visitors Bureau. "People are big into that kind of stuff, and it generates accommodation tax and hospitality tax dollars while they're doing it."
The success of the movies made in Beaufort has also helped local tourism.
"We've been fortunate to have some blockbuster movies filmed here," said Carlotta Ungaro, president and CEO of the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce. "Not every community has that advantage. There's definitely an economic impact."
A 10-YEAR DROUGHT
Yet for all the economic advantages of having movies filmed in Beaufort, it's been nearly 10 years since the city had a taste of Hollywood -- not a situation unique in the state, according to South Carolina Film Commissioner Jeff Monks.
The motion-picture industry has become more interested in cutting budget costs by filming in states rich with incentives for production companies.
That puts South Carolina in fierce competition with other states and countries like Canada, which gives back to filmmakers nearly 40 percent of their employees' wages.
In South Carolina, the cash rebate is 20 percent for actors and state residents, and 10 percent for non-residents up to $3,500, Monks said.
"Our last, best year was 1999, when we really started to feel the effects of the Canadian incentive program," he said. "There was a massive flight of films from America up to Canada. We saw our films dwindle."
Legislation increasing state film incentives was passed in 2006, but incentives were lowered less than a year later, Monks said. That might have alienated production companies that followed their bottom line to South Carolina in hopes of a big payoff.
"If the script is written for New York City and we can show them that we can put it in a different environment and the incentives are a better choice, they'll rewrite the script," Monks said.
Having a few local incentives could help Beaufort get picked again as a filming location, said Ungaro, who receives a handful of inquiries every month from interested companies.
"We haven't done anything super proactive on incentives. That's something we need to work on," she said.
VERSATILE LANDSCAPES
Despite the competition for movies and controversy over incentives, the natural assets in Beaufort still make it one of the more appealing locations in South Carolina.
One of the reasons "Forrest Gump" came to Beaufort was because of the area's versatile landscape, Monks said.
"They went from southeast Asia to small-town, southern 1940s within a few miles of each other," he said. "(Filmmakers) want to land in the airport, have a 5-star hotel, have all their crew, all their suppliers within a 30-mile radius. That's where we start."
Screenwriter Lanier Laney, who authored the movie "Shag" that was filmed in Myrtle Beach, said the scenery in Beaufort has transformative powers.
"The look of the Lowcountry .. also lends itself to a wide range of emotions from romantic to scary that other locations don't do," Laney said.
Ginnie Kozak, a local film expert and author of three editions of "Lights, Camera, Beaufort," frequently gives tours of downtown movie locations to visitors and residents. Like the filmmakers who chose to shoot in the city, her tour groups are smitten with the natural beauty, she said.
The art director and cinematographer for "The Great Santini" were particularly spellbound.
"It is just so beautiful, that even if you didn't know where it was you would be blown away," Kozak said. "You can tell that everybody fell in love with it here."
Ellie
"The Big Chill" (1983) was one of 13 motion pictures filmed in and around Beaufort from 1979 through 1999.