By Carol Badaracco Padgett
“It’s better to be on the edge of a party, don’t you think?” – torch songstress Mandy Nichols, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt; screenplay: John Lee Hancock, director: Clint Eastwood
Savannah is a party nobody wants to miss. It’s film, TV, music, gaming and art run wild. And it’s also the Georgia coastal epicenter for the entertainment industry – the place to be November 18, 2023, when the Unscripted roadshow hits town to revel on the rooftop of Marriott’s Alida Hotel, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel on River Street.
It’s the right time to RSVP, get set up to visit the Hostess City of the South, and see what creative-economic secrets Savannah holds. Saving your spot will also include dibs on the Savannah Film Alliance Honors Gala pre-event, happening the night before.
Without question, multi-faceted Savannah is all about film. Forrest Gump (1994); Cape Fear, in 1962 and again in 1991; Magic Mike XXL (2015); Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2 (currently in production); Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018); The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000); The Longest Yard (1974); Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997); Ford v Ferrari (2019); The Menu (2022); Pain Hustlers (2023); and so many more.
For productions thinking about setting up shop in Savannah, the city offers an interface through the
Savannah Regional Film Commission. Emmy-nominated producer Walker Dalton was recently
installed as the commission’s new executive director.
Savannah is also SCAD – and its schools of Entertainment Arts and Digital Media. Savannah
College of Art and Design’s biggest campus of three, SCAD Savannah is spread across the
cityscape in 70 historically renovated, technologically fueled facilities.
Film and TV degrees at SCAD include BFA, MA and MFA with courses on topics like digital film
production, sound for film and TV, lighting and camera production, post production, screenwriting,
directing, editing, visual storytelling, platform and distribution, production for mobile and social
platforms, cinematography and visual design, and story development.
The school’s beloved quarter-of-a-century running film festival, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival,
with a recent 2023 run of October 21-28, also draws in acclaimed filmmakers and films, Academy
Award winner guests, student filmmakers and cinephiles from around the globe. SCAD and cinema keep getting more and more enmeshed as time rolls on, with the university recently opening a brand new breakout backlot for students and film studios at the university’s Savannah Film Studios.
According to SCAD reps, the project’s Phase I with backlot is part of a three-phase, 11-acre expansion that makes the entire film studio development the largest and most full-scale of any university film complex. The Phase I expansion with backlot includes two soundstages, production- design and costume-design shops, and 17 separate street facades.
All the new backlot components sit next to SCAD’s next-generation LED volume for virtual productions. And the university also boasts a television studio in its Hamilton Hall building. So together, with the new offerings, SCAD’s Paul Wallace, founder and president, says, “If you have a story you want to tell on a screen, big or small, you can tell it at SCAD.”
Savannah also is and always was — music. Its Historic District houses a living, breathing music scene. And its Savannah Musicians Institute is a small studio-style music school full of working musicians. Its teachers are working musicians in their fields – encouraging students through education, play and performance in just about any genre, on any instrument and vocally.
Savannah is gaming, as well. SCAD, in person and online at SCADnow, offers a BFA in interactive design and game development. And its School of Digital Media gives game design students hands- on internships with local and national studios.
The Hostess City of the South also has an incredible arts scene. Savannah.com lists 12 must-see museums in the city just shy of 150k residents, including Savannah History Museum, Jepson Center for the Arts, Telfair Academy, Georgia State Railroad Museum, SCAD Museum of Art, Massie Heritage Center, Andrew Low House, Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, Harper Fowlkes House, Savannah Children’s Museum, Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum, and Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum.
While Savannah is thick with arts and entertainment all on its own, the city encourages collaboration outside its own creative sphere and invites its coastal partners to the party.
The new Coastal Entertainment Alliance, launched in October 2023 to support coastal cities and counties, businesses and organizations that operate within the film and entertainment industry, with the goal of giving them support and the infrastructure they need to thrive and help grow the region’s creative economy. The alliance’s website, www.CoastalEntertainmentAlliance.com, will serve an information hub about the region and will provide resources for area crew and other professionals working in the entertainment industry along Georgia’s 100 miles of coastline and 14 barrier islands.
Additional Unscripted roadshow partners and supporters in Savannah include Bowen Schmidt entertainment attorneys, Security Associates of Coastal Georgia, and Sapelo Insurance, provider of
film production insurance.
Georgia Unscripted will also bring together a sought-after collection of creative visionaries, business executives, talent, educators, government officials and elected leaders who will enlighten attendees on Georgia’s creative economy and its continued opportunities and growth strategies.
RSVP for the coastal version of the Unscripted roadshow – and celebrate Georgia’s creative economy from the Hostess City of the South.
