Hollywood Has Indeed Discovered the Potomac

Former NBC news correspondent Peter Hackes was in Central Casting’s office for only a few minutes last January when the owners of the Washington firm whisked him off to the Bristol Hotel for a motion picture audition. A few weeks later, Hackes found himself nervously facing Jack Nicholson and making his acting debut in the hit movie “Broadcast News.”

For Carol Ness, who co-founded Central Casting 18 years ago “when there wasn’t any need” for a casting company in Washington, placing Hackes in the role of president of the movie’s television network news department capped an extraordinary month. Her 10-person firm cast 65 speaking parts and 3,600 extras for “Broadcast News,” adding $300,000 in gross revenue to Central Casting’s coffers.

That undertaking was followed by “Suspect,” which required Central Casting to cast 1,100 extras and 19 speaking parts. The two major movies helped push the company’s revenue past $2.5 million last year, compared to $500,000 in 1980.

There’s no doubt about it, according to Ness and others involved with filming in the Washington, Virginia and Maryland area: Hollywood has found the Potomac.

Long a scenic backdrop to countless movies, the Washington region now is taking a bigger role in the movie business. With movies like “Broadcast News” being filmed entirely on location in Washington, the region is growing in importance as a movie center, boosting related local businesses and bringing millions of dollars into the regional economy.

In addition to “Broadcast News” and “Suspect,” among the movies filmed in or around the region in the past few years were “No Way Out,” “Gardens of Stone” and “Dirty Dancing,” parts of which were filmed at Mount Lake, a resort hotel near Roanoke, Va. A number of yet-to-be-released films also were made locally, including “Clara’s Heart,” starring Whoopi Goldberg; John Waters’ “Hairspray;” “Li’l Rock and Roller,” starring Justine Bateman; “Phoebe,” starring Isabella Rosellini, and the NBC miniseries, “Lincoln.”

Filming of “The Accidental Tourist,” starring William Hurt, is about to begin in Baltimore, and Tri-Star Pictures is planning to film “Life After Life” in Washington this year.

Daily Variety, the Hollywood-based show business newspaper, devoted almost an entire issue last month to the virtues of filming in Virginia. Mike Malek, Daily Variety’s director of marketing, said the issue was “a recognition of the fact that filming has become a truly multistate business.” and that this region has gotten a generous portion of the business.

Andrew Spaulding, Virginia’s film commissioner, estimates that film and television production crews spent $7 million in the state last year. Crystal Palmer, director of the District of Columbia’s film office, estimates an economic impact of $18 million. Both based their figures on spending reported by film companies, and neither used an economic impact multiplier that state film commissions routinely employ in reporting such figures.

Maryland reported a $40-million economic impact, including $5 million from “Clara’s Heart,” which was shot in Baltimore and the Eastern Shore over two months last fall.

All three states still are dwarfed by longtime film-production giants California, which reported an economic impact of $6 billion from film production last year, and New York, which reported an economic impact of $2.3 billion.