LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Film production is gaining steam in the Louisville area.
Louisville-based 502 Film is working on a romantic comedy and said more production companies are choosing to film in the commonwealth. About 45 people are working on its next film.
“It really speaks to the fact that these films come to town, they bring their dollars to our community, they hire our local crew [and] they utilize our local fantastic locations and vendors ... we’re just really thrilled to see the uptick of productions across the entire city,” said Soozie Eastman, president of 502 Films.
Downtown Louisville and Spaghetti Junction are seen in a movie trailer recently released by Lionsgate Movies. The film, “Amber Alert,” is headed to both theaters and on-demand services.
“All of us can take pride in what it’s putting forth, which is the beauty of our community,” Eastman said. “For those people that have seen the ‘Amber Alert’ trailer that has just come out, it’s one of dozens of films that we will all be able to celebrate together and say, ‘That was shot here.’”
Eastman said Louisville has an easy permit process for production, adding Kentucky “has [an] incredibly lucrative tax incentive,” which has helped attract more productions.
“What that means, basically, is when a production comes here, they get a percentage of their spend back,” Eastman said. “That is really the carrot that brings them here. But once they get here and they meet our crew and they stay in our hotels, then they start seeing the vasty variety of locations that we have available to them, especially within the 30-mile zone of Louisville, Kentucky.”
“That’s really why we’re seeing so many of those productions come here.”
Eastman said in July alone, the Kentucky Economic Development Board approved 13 new projects with total budgets of $40 million and 1,300 local crew hires.
“This is a burgeoning economy that is impacting our city and our state at all levels,” Eastman said.
Yolanda “Pebbles” Bailey, who estimated she has seen more than 5,000 movies so far in her lifetime, said she’d be excited to have more productions filmed in Kentucky.
“I think it would be good; I really do,” Bailey said. “It would be a lot of people that would want to see it.”
Eastman said being a background actor is a great way for locals to get involved. 502 Film also hosts production assistant boot camps for those who’d like to do it full-time.