AMELIA ISLAND FILM FESTIVAL CALLS FOR GEORGIA ENTRIES
ST. MARYS, GA—The Coastal Georgia Film Alliance encourages all Georgia filmmakers or filmmakers making films in Georgia to enter the 3rd Annual Amelia Island Film Festival (AIFF) that takes place February 24-27, 2011. This year’s theme, “Meet Me in Paradise,” is a tribute to the festival’s island location, but festival founder Tony McAdoo says Amelia Island’s location right on the border of Georgia and Florida makes it natural to have a special competition dedicated exclusively to Georgia films.
Partnering with the Coastal Georgia Film Alliance in St. Marys, Georgia, the AIFF hopes to draw entries from across Georgia with the winning Georgia entry to be premiered in St. Marys.
“We premiered a Georgia film last year in St. Marys,” McAdoo said. “And it was the perfect appetizer to set up the four-day event across the river here on Amelia Island.”
McAdoo looks at the Southern Georgia/Northern Florida coastline as an exciting “cinemagical” region in which only a “river runs through it.”
“This area is leading the way in cooperative efforts between the two states,” McAdoo said. “Georgia’s enticing tax incentives combined with Florida’s diversity of geography provides a win/win situation for filmmakers looking to maximize their budgets.”
Both Coastal Georgia and Amelia Island have seen their good share of film activity recently with several full-length productions being shot in the area as well as two TV pilots.
Coastal Georgia Film Alliance Chair Doug Vaught says that the area’s wealth of natural beauty and myriad film friendly locations are getting the attention of filmmakers from as far away as Hollywood.
“Eye of the Hurricane, starring Campbell Scott, is about to start production in St. Marys,” Vaught said. “And ironically, L.A.’s BraveArt Films has chosen St. Marys as a stand-in for a small town in Florida for this film.”
On Amelia Island, The Diary of Preston Plummer, starring Rumer Willis, has just completed three weeks of filming.
For information on how to enter the Amelia Island Film Festival, visit www.ameliaislandfilmfestival.org. Entrants are asked to signify if they are entering as a Georgia film. For more information about the Coastal Georgia Film Alliance and filming in Georgia, visit www.coastalgeorgiafilm.org.
