For the last few months Fayetteville and the rest of northwest Arkansas has been treated to occasional sightings of film crews darting here and there in hushed whispers. People murmur to friends at restaurants and grocery stores, "Did you see them filming at Hugo's yesterday?"
It's been fun to see just how excited people have become talking about spotting Mahershala Ali or Stephen Dorff out and about. And it's got us wanting more movies and television shows in Arkansas. Could you ask for a better background set?
Thousands of Arkansans who have never seen True Detective will tune into HBO next year to watch season three--because filming might have taken place at their church or neighbor's house. For all the knocks on California and New York, Arkies sure do get butterflies in our stomachs when the coasts send a film crew to do a project.
And the projects certainly come with their share of benefits. True Detective's third season will end up having an economic impact of $100 million before everything is packed up and finished, so say leaders in Fayetteville. The actors and crews stay in our hotels (some of them rent apartments and homes), eat in our restaurants and shop at our stores, putting their money into Arkansas businesses. On top of all that, locals usually find work as extras and stand-ins.
That was certainly the case in 2011 for the filming of Mud, which saw film crews brought to the Arkansas Delta along with stars Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon. They even cast a teen named Jacob Lofland from Yell County as a main character. Filming took place in Dumas, Lake Village, Stuttgart and more.
With the God's Not Dead sequels filmed in Little Rock and Saline County over the last couple years, central Arkansas residents are no strangers to seeing cameras and actors. (People sure were excited to have Sabrina the Teenage Witch in town.) And some of us can remember ol' Hank being wheeled around in North Little Rock. And, say, isn't that Mary Steenburgen?
But perhaps the most famous film to come out of Arkansas is the 1996 Academy Award-winning Sling Blade, written and directed by Billy Bob Thornton. It was filmed entirely in Benton on a $1.3 million budget. Talk about a return on your money.
We love seeing Arkansas on the screen, both at the movie theater and in our living room. And as far as we're concerned, getting more movies and television shows in Arkansas is a good thing. Our neighbor to the south, Louisiana, tends to get quite a few movies and television series every year. And that place has some ugly spots. Why not get the prettier sister up here?
When we head down to AMC or the Rave to fork over another $12 on a Friday night, perhaps we'll be able to see a piece of Arkansas on the screen. The movies often do worse.
Hey, the rest of America may wonder why Batman left Gotham to stop the Joker from doing something bad in Flippin, but three million Arkies sure would be ecstatic to see him do it.
Editorial on 08/02/2018