Filmmakers considering shooting in Memphis want something singular.
Linn Sitler, Commissioner of the Memphis and Shelby County Film and Television Commission, told a crowd at City Hall last week that the area's distinctive character is essential to attracting film projects.
In a story in The Commercial Appeal, reporter Tom Bailey Jr. wrote about the town meeting on the topic of Overton Square and the planned demolition and rebuilding of the area on the square's south side. This is the lead of his story:
Hollywood won't even consider filming east of Midtown because filmmakers can find suburban settings anywhere in the nation.
But Midtown remains distinct and urban -- and one of the symbols of that uniqueness is the landmark Overton Square, local film commissioner Linn Sitler said during the intense face-off at City Hall last week.
"(Movie-makers) say, 'We can get (suburban settings) in any city in the United States,'" Sitler told the gathering. "It's all homogenized."
Her point: Don't destroy what distinguishes Memphis. And it was a point that drew applause in a conference room packed mostly with people opposing the demolition of the Square's buildings on the south side of Madison at Cooper.
