With its old-time appearance intact, Natchez has been a magnet for movie makers seeking just the right setting for a period piece. Ask Ward Emling, who heads the Mississippi Film Commission.

&uot;Natchez is our unique location in Mississippi,&uot; Emling said Thursday from his Jackson office. &uot;There are very few places in Mississippi where you can step off a boat on the river and look at a period street like Silver Street.&uot;

For the highly touted new movie &uot;The Ladykillers,&uot; which opened Friday in larger markets, Natchez played host for only a small portion of the film. And the movie’s star, Tom Hanks, did not come to Natchez. However, the producers left Natchez and Mississippi with a good feeling, Emling said.

Furthermore, the impact on Natchez was much greater than the two days of shooting might imply.

Today’s movies about business

Some movie settings can be anywhere &045;&045; and have been, of late, with a movie set in Georgia actually shot on location in Louisiana, for example. The difference may be in Louisiana’s aggressive laws, which provide tax incentives to the movie industry.

&uot;It’s not glamour. It’s business. Consider that the average movie costs over $100 million to make and release,&uot; Emling said. &uot;We’ve been able to make movie makers comfortable about Mississippi by convincing them we’ll support them.&uot; More is required to ensure a future for filming in the state, however.

Emling has worked closely with the Mississippi Legislature and is following a bill now before state lawmakers. The bill, for one thing,

would provide a 10 percent rebate on certain expenditures by movie makers.

&uot;We were given the status of manufacturing a couple of years ago, stealing the idea from New York state,&uot; Emling said.

&uot;The definition of raw materials at this point includes only film and videotape. We want to add things like materials for sets, makeup and other things that have a useful life only on film. We’re trying to broaden the kinds of equipment that qualify so that where you go makes the studio and shop floor and reduces tax on

equipment used there.&uot;

A community that welcomes movie makers is a place people in the film industry will remember, Emling said. Still, today, &uot;you can’t argue with the business decisions aspect of it.&uot;

Natchez saw a flurry of filming in the 1980s, with movies such as &uot;Beulah Land,&uot; the mini-series &uot;North and South&uot; and the television series &uot;The Mississippi,&uot; for example.

&uot;Natchez offered an amazing variety of period locations then. It was an advantage to find a place like Natchez,&uot; Emling said.

&uot;Every second of ‘Beulah Land’ was filmed in Natchez.&uot;

Times have changed, and the fewer movies choosing location shoots in Natchez in more recent years speaks of those changes. &uot;Decisions used to be driven by location, but now they are made more by the bottom line,&uot; Emling said.

A community reaps big

benefits

Mississippi and its photogenic communities benefit in big ways from movies made on location.

&uot;It’s a substantial and pervasive boost to the community. It reaches all across the economy of a community, from car rental, dry cleaning, seamstresses. It directly or indirectly affects everyone,&uot; Emling said.

A movie such as &uot;Beulah Land,&uot; shot entirely in Natchez, has an impact difficult to measure because it is so widespread.

However, for &uot;The Ladykillers,&uot; the advance team was in town for weeks prior to the shooting, &uot;buying materials, cleaning up streets and houses. It’s hard to gauge the impact,&uot; Emling said.

&uot;The shooting company occupied about 100 rooms for two nights.&uot;

Natchez impressed

the location managers, producers John Cameron and Bob Graff and the directors, brothers Joel and Ethan Coen.

&uot;They loved Natchez. They thought the people were great,&uot; Emling said.

Their good experience could translate into more opportunities for Natchez, he said.

As in other industries, movies have cycles. When themes of Civil War and Civil Rights were big, movie makers looked to Mississippi, Emling said.

And in the 1980s, the popular miniseries type of movie provided some good opportunities for Natchez and Mississippi.

&uot;You’re not seeing that kind of miniseries anymore,&uot; he said.

Other successes in Mississippi

Canton has been successful in attracting movies in recent years, perhaps the most highly publicized one being &uot;A Time to Kill,&uot; based on John Grisham’s best-selling novel.

&uot;Canton is an incredibly supportive community of the industry,&uot; Emling said.

&uot;I can’t minimize what they have done. But they are greatly aided by Jackson. They are only 20 minutes up the road.&uot;

Indeed, the distance from airline service &045;&045; Alexandria, La., at about 85 miles being the closest &045;&045; is a disadvantage for Natchez, Emling said.

And in recent years, movie makers have made more small-town movies than 1800s-period movies.

&uot;And the small-town movies favor town squares, which you find at Canton and also at Oxford and Holly Springs. That has appeal today,&uot; Emling said.

Canton has taken the bold step of planning a movie studio. &uot;There is a 25-acre piece of property provided by the county on which a sound stage will be built,&uot; Emling said.

&uot;We’ve named the property a film enterprise zone because it will be an industrial park with a focus on the film industry,&uot; he said.

Emling said its proximity to Jackson also detracts from the boost Canton gets from movie making.

&uot;In Natchez, you have everybody involved with the movie staying in Natchez. In Canton, most of them are staying in Jackson,&uot; Emling said. &uot;They are not involved in the day-to-day business of the town. In Natchez, all the money goes right into the Natchez economy.&uot;