Lawton: "We are after that Third Coast title" (w/video)
Submitted by Jesse Russell on Wed, 2008-01-23 09:45.
Arts | Film
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Lawton, who is also Chair of the Wisconsin Arts Board, returned from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah with news that at a panel discussing film incentives in various states, "Wisconsin was introduced as having one of the most competitive packages...they were very excited to bring us." Lawton explained that Wisconsin can also boast an incentive for attracting filmmakers that no other state can guarantee. Marcus Theaters sent a message to Film Wisconsin pledging that any movie that is filmed in the state of Wisconsin will receive a screening by Marcus. "Amazing," Lawton said. "No other state can guarantee that, and it makes a huge difference for those independent filmmakers who are looking for financing that they can guarantee that they will be on a screen." The new film incentives activated on January 1, 2008. Film production companies can receive a 25 percent tax credit on employee wages to produce a film, video, electronic game, broadcast advertisement, or television production in Wisconsin. Companies can also benefit from credits for sales tax, construction, wardrobes, clothing and visual effects. While media buzz has surrounded the possibility of Johnny Depp coming to the state as part of a Michael Mann project, Lawton revealed that two other films have already been green lit for Wisconsin: The Violinist: A $1 million film about Arab-Israeli immigrants that will be shot almost entirely in Green Bay. The film is being produced by Jay Schillinger of Pulse Communications, based in Green Bay; he also wrote and directed the 1997 Wausau-based film The Marksman. Blue World: A $2.5 million production set for filming in Milwaukee. The film is an adaption of the Robert R. McCammon novella of the same name and is being produced by Pewaukee native Michael Nehs-- it's been adapted to screenplay by Charley Rivkin, who's also slated to direct. Nehs and Rivkin previously collaborated on a film called Heavens Fall. Rivkin has summarized the plot of Blue World thusly:
In a city dark with passion, death and crime, a serial killer known as "The Stranger" is hunting and killing the cast of a well-known adult film. Fr. John Lancaster is the ideal priest. The backbone of morality his entire life, he learns a new kind of faith a faith he can feel coursing through his veins when Debbie Stoner, "the porn star," steps into his confessional to bare her soul. Fate mixes with unwelcome desire to push the unlikely pair together, and John saves Debbie from certain death. This small and completely unselfish act plunges the priest into a life that deeply contrasts his own. As Debbie and John grow closer, The Stranger moves in for his last kill. Torn between his church and a soul in need, the priest finds himself caught in a fight against temptation, struggling to deliver them all from evil.
Angela Little McKenzie is on board to star in the leading female role. She has recently been seen in Walk hard: The Dewey Cox Story, American Pie presents Band Camp, Busty Cops, Busty Cops II, and Alabama Jones and the Busty Crusade.
The press in attendance on Tuesday were primarily interested in whether or not Mann will, in fact, be filming his upcoming John Dillinger biopic in Wisconsin. Lawton told them, three times by my count, that an incentive proposal had been submitted to the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and she hoped a decision would be made soon. Lawton also used the opportunity to reveal a new logo and motto for the Wisconsin Arts Board. Below is video of the Lt. Governor giving her report:
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