The more film and television projects come to the Washington area, the easier it will be to attract others, officials and Hollywood insiders said. That’s because frequent and steady shoots help develop a stable corps of local crew members whose presence can help cut costs for production companies because they won’t have to drag crews from Los Angeles.
“If Washington had a huge sound stage and working productions, then it could develop the type of crews that attract more productions,” said Joe Martin, a D.C. resident and location scout who worked on “The West Wing,” among other productions. During the mid-2000s, D.C. and Maryland built up those crews with “The West Wing” filming in the District and HBO’s “The Wire” shooting in Baltimore, he said. Since those shows wrapped, though, some of the crews have left, many heading to Louisiana to work on HBO’s “Treme,” Martin said.
In Virginia, state officials work with universities and independent and documentary filmmakers to maintain a strong crew presence, said Rita McClenny, director of the Virginia Film Office.
Virginia is “very aggressive” in bringing projects to the state, McClenny said.
As a result, she said, “we have the most experienced crews.” Richmond is one of the top 10 cities in the country for film projects in large part because the state has never paused in its efforts to attract producers, McClenny said.
But when “The West Wing” wrapped in 2006, D.C. leaders stopped “hustling” for work, Martin said.
“I don’t think Mayor [Adrian] Fenty did that and I don’t think D.C. got as much work here as it had in the past as a result,” Martin said.
Mayor Vincent Gray, however, traveled to Hollywood just last month.
“Each mayor has his own priorities,” said D.C. Film Office spokeswoman Leslie Green. “Mayor Gray has made economic development a priority and the film office is part of that.”
– Freeman Klopott
