top-list Moveimaker 2012 Top 10 Cities for Filmmakers to live.

Jsthompson79

Jsthompson79

#1 is New Orleans, Lousiana. Thoughts? My fiancee and I are looking at moving to Lousiana possibly to Shreveport which was ranked #4 in 2009 but not in the top #10 this year.

Those curious to see the rest can find them listed here.
 
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To give you a more serious response -- I think it's worth looking into the reasons why Shreveport was voted #4 in 2009. Unless it was solely based on tax-cuts, I can't imagine those reasons would just instantly disappear.

My honest opinion -- there are artists everywhere. If you want to work your way up the industry ladder, then I guess it's kinda gotta be LA. Otherwise, choose the city of your liking, and you will find the people you need to find.

By the way, for the record -- Richmond and DC are not even slightly similar.
 
Cracker Funk said:
To give you a more serious response -- I think it's worth looking into the reasons why Shreveport was voted #4 in 2009. Unless it was solely based on tax-cuts, I can't imagine those reasons would just instantly disappear.

My honest opinion -- there are artists everywhere. If you want to work your way up the industry ladder, then I guess it's kinda gotta be LA. Otherwise, choose the city of your liking, and you will find the people you need to find.

By the way, for the record -- Richmond and DC are not even slightly similar.
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Yeah I know they're not remotely similar. D.C. is nothing but politics and BS. Richmond is Southern just like Texas. Where I live :D The tax cuts are the same. I am not sure why Shreveport fell. I know they have an annual film festival and they have way for continuing education and of course the community of filmmakers. I think it will all still be there but am going to research it more. The cost of living is important and it is cheaper then Nawlins.
 
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Jsthompson79 said:
I am not sure why Shreveport fell...The cost of living is important and it is cheaper then Nawlins.
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Because it's Shreveport. Sorry, but there is not much to do there, hence the cheaper cost of living. not many major employers there and you are stuck with living in Shreveport.

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system.

:D
 
arrodiii said:
Because it's Shreveport. Sorry, but there is not much to do there, hence the cheaper cost of living. not many major employers there and you are stuck with living in Shreveport.

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system.

:D
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There is plenty to do there especially for a family with kids and the crime levels are well below that of New Orleans or Houston. Oh and the traffic is much less so lower stress and no road rage. :lol:
 
This is very flawed. I live in Monroe and am seeing very few people make movies from Louisiana period.
Shreveport fell because it was only on their bc of tax cuts.

I suggest you go to Texas. Louisiana is not having filmmakers from here. Hollywood flys over here. Shoots then leaves. I believe theirs only two schools with film degrees in Louisiana. Could be wrong but it is terrible.

And Shreveport has pretty good Crime levels for what it's worth.
 
cjnixon said:
This is very flawed. I live in Monroe and am seeing very few people make movies from Louisiana period.
Shreveport fell because it was only on their bc of tax cuts.

I suggest you go to Texas. Louisiana is not having filmmakers from here. Hollywood flys over here. Shoots then leaves. I believe theirs only two schools with film degrees in Louisiana. Could be wrong but it is terrible.

And Shreveport has pretty good Crime levels for what it's worth.
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I live in Texas already but no where near Austin so the scene here isnt that great for me. And as for the school I am not too worried about it, I am going through Full Sail and will get my masters from them after my BA. But high crime does worry me.
 
Jsthompson79 said:
There is plenty to do there especially for a family with kids and the crime levels are well below that of New Orleans or Houston. Oh and the traffic is much less so lower stress and no road rage. :lol:
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You might be right about the family thing, but I wouldn't know about that. I also live in a neighborhood that I really don't have to worry about high crime or traffic, unless I'm leaving the comfort of my neighborhood during rush hour. But as someone else mentioned, Shreveport is not full of angles - while the crime is lower than a major city, such as NOLA or Houston, it still has a pretty decent criime rate for the size of its population.
 
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Now I'm not trying to sway you from Louisiana but this state sucks. Period.

The media and Hollywood is making this place look better than it is for films.

The tax incentives are the only thing. Hollywood is flying over making a movie for cheaper and using our nice landscapes and then leaving.

I'd move to New Orleans over Shreveport. Their are some people from Louisiana down there trying to make movies. But I doubt you'd get to much help in Shreveport. Not much collaboration going on unless it's down south.

It really all depends on where you live in a city.

But also keep in mind, NOLA will be getting destroyed or partially destoryed in five to ten years. It's a cycle.

BUT if you like basketball, The Hornets have a good shot at a title in about three years.
Totally off the subject.

Now I'm thinking you could move to Baton Rouge. There is a few people their and it is only about an hour away from Nola but you won't get attacked by hurricanes just a little rain.
 
I'm surprised to see Seattle up there - I didn't know it had a film industry to speak of.

I'd also like to see how Canadian cities compare to American ones, as in the top 10 cities in North America for making a film.
 
No love for Pittsburgh! We just had Batman here!

Seriously though, this isn't a bad town for film at all. A pretty decent film school that runs three indie theaters around town, a pretty good annual film fest and a decent, but not centralized community. Lots of colleges and art schools. Cost of living is pretty low (we're usually ranked in "best places to live" lists) and if I recall, pretty decent tax credits.

Also: home of H.G. Lewis and George Romero! Due to the latter, it's pretty easy to get sick of zombies in this town, but you'll have that.
 
Aspiring Mogul said:
I'm surprised to see Seattle up there - I didn't know it had a film industry to speak of.

I'd also like to see how Canadian cities compare to American ones, as in the top 10 cities in North America for making a film.
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Seattle surprised me to. I live in Jacksonville Florida, flat and not very interesting to me artistically. I have been to Seattle a couple times because I have family there and I am thinking about moving there after I finish college. Seattle supports the arts and is a fun town. It's huge difference in weather compared to here in Florida tho.
 
You should move to Seattle - it's on the West coast, opposite booming Asia, while Florida is in the dumps, opposite declining Europe. But everyone has different tastes.

That said, Seattle cannot compare to the LA or San Francisco, both of which house entertainment and high-tech companies that cannot be beat. In fact, I understand Hollywood still produces more film, in terms of revenue, than New York (second place) and Toronto (third) put together. That's the scale of California.
 
If California were an independent nation, it's GDP would be top-10 in the world.

Enron creates a false low-supply of energy, by selling Californian energy to other states. Cost of energy sky-rockets. Californian economy drastically slows down. American economy follows suit. Coincidence?
 
JoshL said:
No love for Pittsburgh! We just had Batman here!

Seriously though, this isn't a bad town for film at all. A pretty decent film school that runs three indie theaters around town, a pretty good annual film fest and a decent, but not centralized community. Lots of colleges and art schools. Cost of living is pretty low (we're usually ranked in "best places to live" lists) and if I recall, pretty decent tax credits.

Also: home of H.G. Lewis and George Romero! Due to the latter, it's pretty easy to get sick of zombies in this town, but you'll have that.
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I'm always surprised Pittsburgh never makes these lists. I've heard a lot of people say these lists are crap and I can see it. Pittsburgh does have all those things you mentioned, plus a lot of Hollywood features have been shooting there over the past few years. I'm strongly looking into Point Park for film school when I finish community college, I've heard great things about their film program and Pittsburgh seems like a great place to live.

I think the biggest problem with these lists is that it depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking to work a 9-5 job and shoot movies with your free time, then it may be a decent list (although apparently flawed, as mentioned in the earlier comments about New Orleans), but if you're looking to primarily work in freelance film/video in addition to your own projects, it's a poor list for the most part. They've had Baltimore on there a bunch of times and being a MD resident I can assure you that hardly anything gets filmed around here, since they got rid of the tax incentives a couple years ago. Plus, Baltimore is a city with high crime and unemployment. Not a place I'd want to live, for sure. I'm not quite sure about Baltimore because I live in the suburbs but I can tell you where I live about 40 miles west of Baltimore, there are very, very few films being made. Some amateur filmmakers here and there but not much of an indie presence at all, although the newly created Frederick Film Office and relatively new Frederick Film Festival have been attempting to change that. Not trying to stray off topic, just stating that I think these lists sort of should be taken with a grain of salt.
 
The solution to the New Orleans crime rate is to not live inside the city limits of New Orleans (Orleans Parish), but to live in the surrounding parishes; Jefferson, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, St. Charles, St. John, etc. If road rage is an issue for you, avoid Baton Rouge like the plague. The traffic is horrific and you will end up dead or in prison. People from other parts of the country think that the Big Easy is quaint and charming and that the locals are just the friendliest folks ever. That's because they only deal with residents that work in the hospitality industry and get paid to be nice to them. Yes, there is a metric ass load of movies being made down here at any given time and work in the film industry is fairly easy to find. The flip side is that it is temporary work (like most work in the business) and may not be there next week. If you are looking for a well paying, steady, professional job, good luck with that. The cost of living down here is reasonable and well below the national average, but keep in mind that we have some of the highest insurance rates in the nation. Shreveport is only interesting if you grew up on a farm.

If you have any specific questions, just ask.
 
JoshL said:
No love for Pittsburgh! We just had Batman here!

Seriously though, this isn't a bad town for film at all. A pretty decent film school that runs three indie theaters around town, a pretty good annual film fest and a decent, but not centralized community. Lots of colleges and art schools. Cost of living is pretty low (we're usually ranked in "best places to live" lists) and if I recall, pretty decent tax credits.

Also: home of H.G. Lewis and George Romero! Due to the latter, it's pretty easy to get sick of zombies in this town, but you'll have that.
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I thought the same thing! Everybody's been talking about how Pittsburgh's a great place to be right now.

Although I did find some decent apartments outside LA that aren't much more expensive than mine in Pittsburgh right now. I've been considering making the switch.
 
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