The location search tool on the Ohio Film Office's new web site is a fun way to peruse some of the most scenic sites in the state. Choosing category "Industrial," subcategory "Factories/Plants/Mills," and region "Northern" will lead you to dozens of photos of the Flats, in all its Rust Belt glory. You don't have to be a filmmaker to enjoy it; the scenes almost start to write themselves.

But producers and directors are the intended users of the site, which was launched earlier this month in hopes of luring more production work to the state. "Ohio can work as a backdrop for any place or time period a producer is looking to capture," says Jeremy Henthorn, director of the Ohio Film Office.

The site also provides information on tax incentives available to productions that shoot here, and a data base of experienced crew. Need a Steadicam operator in Cleveland? A special effects coordinator willing to travel around the state? The data base also accept registrations from Ohioans looking for work.

In September the Plain Dealer reported that in its first year, the state's film tax credit has attracted nine productions that will spend a combined $33 million. They include 25 Hill, about a soap-box derby driver whose father dies in Afghanistan, which shot in Akron, and Unstoppable, the Denzel Washington action movie that opens November 12.

Source: Ohio Department of Development
Writer: Frank W. Lewis