After a six-year absence, Arizona again has a film commission. Studio 48, the Arizona Office of Film and Media, is up and running, looking to showcase the state as a premium destination and location for the lensing of entertainment and advertising content.
The revival of the state film office was made possible in part through a sponsorship that includes more than $250,000 in financial contributions from Scottsdale, Arizona corporation, YAM Worldwide, Inc., owned by GoDaddy founder Bob Parsons, an entrepreneur and philanthropist.
“Supporting the establishment of a state film and digital media office [under the state’s economic development organization The Arizona Commerce Authority] will bring movie-making back to the great state of Arizona, and that’s good for the economy,” said Parsons.
With the state’s rich surplus of talent, resources, unique architecture and scenery—ranging from desert to forest landscapes—Studio 48 will offer location scouting, traffic assistance, talent sourcing and coordination with local and state agencies as needed.
The Arizona Commerce Authority has appointed Matthew Earl Jones as director of Studio 48. He brings 30-plus years of experience on both sides of the camera in film and television, as well as the music industry.
Ballers Lured By Calif. Incentives
Fittingly, the HBO series Ballers—which stars Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as a former pro football player looking to make his mark as a financial manager—has scored an economic touchdown with a move from Florida to California. After shooting its first two seasons in Miami, Ballers will settle into Greater L.A. for its upcoming season, a prime lure being a reported $8 million-plus worth of tax credits covering 10 episodes. The credits are provided by California’s ongoing filming incentives program covering TV and features.
Ballers becomes the seventh television series to relocate to California to take advantage of the Golden State initiative that’s designed to retain and attract high-impact lensing business. Prior series that have moved to California for the tax credits include FX’s American Horror Story which came over from Louisiana, and HBO’s Veep, a transplant from Maryland. Ballers departs Florida after one of that state’s key incentive programs ended this past summer. According to the California Film Commission, the third season of Ballers will hire 135 cast members, 209 base crew members and 5,700 extras.
Fuglsig’s Horse Soldiers Begins Filming in New Mexico
The feature Horse Soldiers, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Black Label Media, is filming in early December through mid-February in and around Albuquerque, Socorro and Alamogordo. Announcement was made by Nick Maniatis, director of the New Mexico Film Office. The production will employ over 250 New Mexico crew members, 50 New Mexico principal actors and approximately 2,000 New Mexico background talent.
Directed by Nicolai Fuglsig (two-time DGA Award winner for commercials via MJZ), Horse Soldiers is based on the book by Doug Stanton, with a screenplay by Ted Tally and Peter Craig, and tells a powerful true story of events which occurred in the aftermath of 9/11. When a U.S. Special Forces team and their untested captain are sent to a rugged, mountainous region of Afghanistan, they must join forces with a Northern Alliance warlord to fight against overwhelming odds to drive out the Taliban.
Latest Crop of VES Fellows Unveiled
The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced the Society’s newest VES Fellows, who will be celebrated with the other honorees at a special VES Honors event later this month. This year’s venerated VES Fellows who will be bestowed with the post-nominal letters “VES” are: Matt Aitken, Girish Balakrishnan, Randall Balsmeyer, Michael Conte, Lisa Cooke, Bryan Grill, Thomas Knop, Arnon Manor and Susan Rowe.
VES 2024 Fellows
VES Fellow Matt Aitken, VES. Aitken has been an integral part of Weta FX since it first opened its doors. With two Oscar nominations and five VES Award wins, including the top award of Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature for Avengers: Infinity War, Aitken’s versatility and creative talent are foundational to the studio’s success. As head of visual effects, Aitken leads Weta FX’s artists across three countries, and is responsible for filmmaker and studio relationships. Prior to assuming this executive role, Aitken was one of Weta FX’s most experienced visual effects supervisors on projects including Avengers: Endgame, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Marvel’s Eternals. Aitken has been an active VES member for 20 years. He was instrumental in establishing the New Zealand VES Section in 2011, the 5th VES Section to be created, and was New Zealand Section chair for its first five years of operation.
VES Fellow Girish Balakrishnan, VES. Balakrishnan has more than a decade of experience driving business studio strategies, business development and production innovation across live action, animation and games. As director of creative innovation at Netflix, Balakrishnan leads the content & production studio investment strategy on the application of... Read More