Delaware in the eastern US is to set up a Motion Picture and Television Development Commission. A small number of features have shot locally over the years, including the 1989 coming-of-age drama Dead Poets Society, starring the late Robin Williams.
The current commissioner of the Irish Film Board (IFB) is to join Pinewood Productions Ireland Limited as the company’s Head of Production. Naoise Barry has headed the Irish Film Board for the past 14 years, but will leave the organisation in mid-August.
Upcoming TV series Blood & Oil will be based at the recently-opened Park City Film Studios near Salt Lake City in northern Utah. The western state is not yet a production hub but in recent years has hosted films like the survival drama 127 Hours and the epic sci-fi movie John Carter.
As HBO’s fantasy drama Game of Thrones secures 24 Emmy nominations, Northern Ireland Screen has revealed the show has spent around GBP 110 million locally since 2010. Production is based at Titanic Studios in Belfast and has boosted film tourism to the region.
Marvel’s new superhero film Ant-Man shot mostly on location in Georgia, doubling the state for San Francisco and using Pinewood Atlanta Studios as a base. The movie follows a thief who uses a technologically-advanced suit to shrink himself to the size of an ant.
Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles, has continued to defy the overall California trend by again posting a year-on-year increase in location filming days. The city is popular for both film and TV, and has been boosted in the past year by the likes of American Sniper and crime drama NCIS.
American crime drama Banshee is counting the benefits of filming in Pennsylvania, with its first single-town base. The series previously shot in North Carolina where several different locations had to be used to create the show’s Pennsylvania setting.
Spike Lee’s new film Chi-Raq will be the first Amazon Original Movie. Shot in Chicago, the film explores the black-on-black violence endemic in parts of the city. Chicago is a popular filming location and currently hosts Chicago Fire and Chicago PD at Cinespace Chicago Film Studios.