By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer

John Barnhardt, who produces television commercials for ABC affiliate WCIV Channel 4 in Mount Pleasant, has a message for local filmmakers who want to see a vibrant Lowcountry film industry: Make films.

Short ones, medium-length ones and videos, too. Whatever movie you can make, with whatever resources you have, make the movie and get it out there.

That, says Barnhardt, is how Texas filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, who produced Sin City, Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Spy Kids fame, helped put Austin on the filmmaking map. Working with homegrown actors and production crews, Rodriguez and others shot films in Austin, submitted them to film festivals and drew the film world’s attention to the town.

As a result, film and other visual media projects in Austin now generate an annual economic impact of nearly $360 million, create 3,500 jobs annually and generate annual tax revenues of $1.3 million, according to the city of Austin.

“What Robert Rodriguez did for Austin, Charleston-area filmmakers can do for the Lowcountry,” says Barnhardt, a Trident Technical College film instructor who has made two 20-minute, 35mm films, each costing $3,000. His most recent project is a 12-minute, $4,000 digital video he is sending to the Sundance Film Festival. All of his movies were shot locally.

Rodriguez began his career as an independent filmmaker who made 12-minute movies on shoestring budgets and submitted them to film festivals, says Barnhardt. In 1992, Rodriguez made El Mariachi, an independent film that cost $7,000, won a Sundance Film Festival award and launched him toward filmmaking stardom.

Local filmmakers should not wait for the state government to drop grants and incentives into their laps, as nice as that would be, insists Barnhardt. Nor should the South Carolina Film Office spend all of its energy trying to lure Hollywood to the Palmetto State.

“Instead of waiting for movies to come here, make them here,” Barnhardt says. “We need a group of movies that are from Charleston, that put Charleston on the map and keep work here.”

While recent state legislation focused on luring Hollywood filmmakers to South Carolina through a number of financial incentives, the legislation does provide some incentives for nurturing a local film industry, notes state film commissioner Jeff Monks. South Carolina taxpayers may claim an income tax credit of up to 20% if they invest in the development or production of a movie made in the state or if they invest in the construction of a production or post-production facility.

Additionally, production companies investing more than $500,000 in a South Carolina film project during a calendar year are eligible for a 10% tax credit.

The South Carolina Film Commission also has a motion picture education program in the works involving Trident Technical College, the University of South Carolina and Clemson University. Film students enrolled at any of the three campuses would be allowed to transfer to one of the other schools to further their film education. A grant for the program could be established this year, says Monks.

Trident Technical College would offer “hands on” filmmaking and production training, the University of South Carolina would concentrate on the finer art of producing films and Clemson would focus on creating graphics for films, explains John Wilson, who heads TTC’s Radio, Television and Film Production department.

About 60 students are enrolled in TTC’s film production program, says Wilson. The program offers certificates in film production, filmmaking, film design, editing and movie-equipment training.

Barnhardt conservatively estimates that the Lowcountry has about 200 filmmakers and technicians.

Combine that with the Mount Pleasant-based Carolina Film Alliance, TTC’s film production program and the Lowcountry’s natural beauty and sunny climate, and the region has the potential to become a significant filmmaking center, Wilson says.

Austin-based economic development consultancy AngelouEconomics agrees. The firm’s recent report outlining an economic development marketing strategy for the Lowcountry advises the region to develop a cluster of businesses supporting the local film industry.

Establishing a film festival where local filmmakers could show their work would help spotlight the Lowcountry’s film industry, too, Wilson says.

“Austin is a university town, and those are the communities where things like film festivals happen,” Wilson points out. The College of Charleston, The Citadel, Charleston Southern University and TTC can also produce an enthusiastic film culture, he says.

Still, it is up to the local film community to put the Lowcounty firmly on the big screen, says Ron Small, president of Matrix Media Inc., a West Ashley-based international film, video and audio production and distribution company.

“To be noticed, you have to make things happen,” Small says. “You can’t wait around for things to happen for you.”

Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@crbj.com.

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