Written by on Oct 30, 2014. Posted in On Location

Savannah in Georgia appoints veteran filmmaker to promote city as movie location

Authorities in Savannah, Georgia, have appointed a veteran filmmaker to promote the city as a key US movie location. Savannah recently hosted Channing Tatum’s male-stripper drama Magic Mike XXL and Ralph Singleton will work to continue boosting the city’s filmmaking profile.

Singleton has spent more than 30 years as a producer, production manager and assistant director, and will have a regular presence in Atlanta and Los Angeles when he assumes his new role in January, the Savannah Morning News reports.

“Ralph Singleton has many years of experience as a producer, studio head and director in the film industry,” said Trip Tollison, President and CEO of the Savannah Economic Development Authority, in comments to the outlet: “His in-depth knowledge and high-level connections will be vital in helping bring productions to the Savannah region.”

Added Singleton: “The existing infrastructure, state incentives, community support and, above all, the vast and beautiful locations make Savannah ideal for a number of productions.

“There was a time when scouting a location meant simply scouting the physical location. When we scout locations now, we’re also looking at incentives and the availability of a trained crew base. Labour costs comprise the majority of the cost of making films.”

Magic Mike XXL is the highest-profile film to shoot in Savannah for several years. Georgia’s production industry is focussed on Atlanta, which is the long-term host of massive cable TV hit The Walking Dead and also recently welcomed Marvel for the first time with the superhero movie Ant-Man.

Crew availability is one of the bigger long-term challenges Savannah faces, but this affects Atlanta too and further investment will be needed from state authorities to tackle the issue.

(Images: Warner Bros. Pictures / Claudette Barius)