BENTONVILLE, Ark. — While many may say Bentonville's established landmarks and vibrant small-town feel make it seem like the movies, a new film shows that Hollywood finally got the message.
Northwest Arkansas shows up on silver screens in Meg Ryan's "What Happens Later." Producer Kristin Mann said, "It was a bit of a journey."
Mann is a native of Little Rock and says she's always pitched her home state as a location. This time, director Meg Ryan was familiar with the location.
"Not everyone always goes for it. But she did because, thankfully, she had been to Bentonville for the Bentonville Film Festival before and had been to Crystal Bridges, where we ended up shooting a lot of the movie," Mann said.
Other factors playing into picking NWA were the available crews in the area and the Arkansas Digital Product Motion Picture Incentive.
"I know that it was critical in bringing my project here. And it'll be critical in bringing the next project here," Mann said.
Mann said she knows other filmmakers are also taking the hint that Northwest Arkansas is a great place to shoot.
"I plan to bring another project here to Northwest Arkansas that I'm really excited about," Mann said. "It's a great place to shoot [and] your money goes a long way. So, it should be attractive to producers and investors looking to find a great spot to shoot."
The film stars Meg Ryan and David Duchovny as ex-lovers stranded in a snowstorm at the airport. However, movie magic may make things seem a little different.
Dennis Cottrell and his wife watched the premiere at Malco Razorback Cinema on Friday. He said immediately after the movie, he hadn't realized it was Northwest Arkansas he was looking at.
Mann explained that the entire film was shot at Crystal Bridges and XNA, which were cut to seem like one location. It also had a couple of cameos from the Tower Bar at the Momentary and Thaden Fieldhouse.
"Making those locations work, like shooting, filming in an active museum and an active airport, had its challenges for sure," Mann said. "But everyone there was super helpful and collaborative with us, and really happy with the way that it all turned out."
"It was a good movie. And this is a great place to live. So it was good," Cottrell said.
In Arkansas, there is legislation that helps recruit filmmakers to film in our state. There are tax rebates and tax credits on qualified productions.
Mann says the incentive bumps in some of the towns and a growing crew base could help Arkansas' film industry grow.
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