Hollywood shoots in Cape could lead to economic boon

Wednesday is the chance for locals interested in attracting film and television production to Cape Girardeau to learn how to do just that.

Missouri film commissioner Jerry Jones will be at Academic Auditorium on the Southeast Missouri State University campus at 12:15 p.m. to present an hour-long program on how local people can get involved in location scouting for those productions.

Jones also visited Cape Girar-deau last fall, meeting with officials from the Convention and Visitors Bureau to look at potential places of interest to producers.

"A lot of these shoots are location based," said Jones. "We like to know what's available. We found that Cape Girardeau has some nice features -- it's on the river, it has a distinctive-looking downtown and a good population with a good infrastructure."

Wednesday's visit was made possible by the university's Department of Communication. Dr. Jim Dufek, professor of mass communication and TV operations manager in video production, has helped scout locations for the commission for several years, and hopes this visit can show some of his senior students how to do the same.

The Missouri Film Commission is a part of the Department of Economic Development that serves as a conduit between producers and the state, providing scouting and other services to bring in productions.

Chuck Martin, director of the tourism bureau, said Cape Girardeau has several features he hopes to market to producers. Southeast students could help in that process.

"Essentially we have a history that is rich," he said. "We have more than 200 years of history and heritage here, so we felt like we had some very unique sites that we could take him to."

The main goal: To bring in more money for the local economy.

"Certainly it's not going to be a bonanza ... but it's one more piece out of what for us is a very large puzzle," said Martin, "which is trying to draw different groups, different segments of business into the community.

"And certainly the film industry in Missouri is alive and vibrant and we're just out there promoting and trying to get a piece of that business."

That business can bring in some big money. The commission did an economic impact study in 1999 for shooting of the feature "Ride With the Devil," which was filmed in Pattonsburg, Mo., in 1998. Using a formula to calculate both direct expenditures from film production and spin-off economic effects, the study found the economic impact in that small town to be about $44.1 million.

The estimate, said the report, is a conservative one.

Jones said production has dropped in the United States due to incentives offered by several foreign countries, but there are still several shoots in the state every year.

The last two features made in the state were shot in rural areas, said Jones.

"If you're looking at commercials and documentaries and that kind of thing," he said, "I think Cape's got as good a shot as anybody else."

During his talk, Jones will explain what the commission does and give a brief overview of how to market a location to producers.

Dufek encourages members of the public to come and listen to the free program in the hopes they might also gain an interest in helping scout out locations and assist the commission in bringing productions to the region.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182