KGUN9 On Your Side, Tucson News, Weather & SportsGroup wants to bring filmmaking back to Tucson
Reporter: Linda Garrett
Web Producer: Danya Kline
It wasn't that long ago that Tucson played a role in the film industry. Legends like John Wayne, Paul Newman and Clint Eastwood all worked here. Most of that was westerns shot at Old Tucson studios. After a fire destroyed the sound stage back in 1995, movie producers began to take their projects elsewhere like New Mexico, where they offered better tax incentives.
KGUN9 looked into the effort to revive Arizona filmmaking, which could happen from the old Farmer John's meat packing facility at Grant and I-10.
It was the movie "Field of Dreams" that coined the term "if you build it - they will come," but it's also a phrase Tucson filmmakers like Mark Headly are putting into action. Headly is part of a local coalition of directors, producers and movie executives who are working to attract Hollywood back to Tucson.
The meat packing facility is " just lying empty and the owner, Fred Oliver, was gracious enough to let us utilize this place," Headly said.
He would use this place while he and former Tucson studios owner Bob Shelton work to acquire the building to construct a sound stage.
Shelton told KGUN9 that the fire in 1995 " had a lot to do with us losing touch with the film industry because they used to use the stage a great deal."
The group is looking to either rent or buy the building and renovate it's interior, and it could be what Arizona needs to be competitive with other states.
"It's a big space - it's 47-thousand square feet and we could use it for multi-purposes - a great area to build a sound stage, great area to park production vehicles and other things like a museum village." Shelton said about the old meat packing facility.
The group is also trying to get state legislators to extend Arizona's tax incentive program.
Right now it allows filmmakers to get up to 30% of their budget back, but it expires at the end of the year.
Artists have already started repainting the building, and the group said that they would like to keep the mural on the outside of the building, which has been there since the 1960's.
