NATCHEZ — Natchez Mayor Butch Brown said he’d like for the formation of a local film commission to follow quickly on the heels of the release of the James Brown biopic “Get On Up.”

The Tate Taylor-helmed project premiered in New York City Monday and will premiere locally Saturday evening, with a nationwide launch Aug. 1.

The majority of the film, which focuses on the life of the Godfather of Soul from the time he was 5 until he was 60, was filmed in the Natchez area.

Brown said he has heard rumors of plans for two more films to be made in the area in the coming year, and he wants to see the commission formed with members who understand the film industry and know how to talk to professionals and movie-making agencies.

“We have to have people on that committee that know how to talk to producers so they know what our incentives are, both statewide and locally such that we are very competitive,” he said.

“We are not going to give up on movies.”

The formation of the commission will have to take a backseat to the filling of the vacant Convention and Visitor’s Bureau director’s position, Brown said, but he thinks that position will be filled by early September.

An interim director, Creda Stewart, has filled the position since former director Connie Taunton stepped down in March.

The reason the commission will have to wait for the hiring of the CVB director is because the commission likewise needs a paid staffer, Brown said.

“I want it to be filled with a strong professional,” he said.

“I feel like if we are going to stay in the movie business, we have got to be more professional about it and treat it as more than something that pops onto our radar every now and then.”

Despite having to wait, Brown said he expects to have the commission launched by the end of the fiscal year, which concludes Sept. 30.

The mayor said he has been in discussions with  an individual who is “eminently qualified” to lead the film commission, but declined to name who it was.

Brown likewise withheld the names of those he was considering for the five or seven member commission.

“These are all people who are professional enough and understand the industry to make the right kind of decisions,” he said.

Natchez previously had a film commission in the 1970s and 80s, and former Mayor Tony Byrne said in December — when Brown first mentioned the commission — the 1980s group was able to recruit 13 films to the Natchez area, some of which were for television and others for theatrical release.

Bryne’s commission, which traveled to Hollywood once a year and made contacts there, disbanded in 1988 after he lost a bid for re-election.