Video: West Point Filmmaker Says Miss. Film Industry is Growing

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BY SHAUNTAY HINTON
WCBI News Reporter

WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) – The Mississippi film industry is picking up some steam. More movie productions are choosing to film here because of financial incentives.

Lights, camera, action.

It’s a phrase often heard in Hollywood, California, but filmmaker and Shendopen Productions Owner Michael Williams of West Point says a new trend in film making may have directors eying the Golden Triangle.

“L.A. is losing a lot film production to the south, the new Hollywood South, which is Atlanta, New Orleans, Mississippi,” Williams said. “They are all coming here to take advantage of our budding film industry; our new talent, our new crew, our film incentives, because L.A. doesn’t really have a film incentive.  So, Mississippi is really budding and there is no reason to go to L.A. right now when we such a great local independent film community and film industry that’s beginning to boom.”

Box office hits like “The Help” and the upcoming James Brown biopic “Get On Up” are helping to put the Mississippi film industry on the map, but Williams says there’s one catch.

“One of the big challenges is to get them to hire local cast and crew because we may not be as experienced as people from L.A., we’re still just as good,” Williams said. “It’s hard to get them to hire us because we are so spread out. Mississippi is a huge state, so sometimes it’s easier to bring someone from L.A. or bring someone from New Orleans than Mississippi because the state is so big and spread out.”

But the experienced director says the magnolia state is the perfect backdrop for films.

“Mississippi is the birth place of American music,” Williams said. “We have Elvis, we have the blues. And also it’s the birth place of a lot literature, you know, William Faulkner and things like that. And Mississippi is known for telling stories, whether it’s through literature or music. Now we tell stories through movies. Maybe Mississippi can have a film renaissance, much like music and literature did, so hopefully film can be a new medium for all of us.”

His most recent feature film, “Ozland,” is about faith, friendship and imagination in a post-apocalyptic world.

For more information about Michael and his upcoming film, visit www.shendopen.com.