Taking advantage of state tax breaks, production of Arthur Newman, Golf Pro made a stop in downtown Raleigh Wednesday.
Colin Firth, star of The King’s Speech, was joined by Anne Heche and Emily Blunt in shooting scenes on Fayetteville Street and in Nash Park. The actors and production crew will be in Raleigh through Saturday.
Production was taking place in Raleigh because the state offers tax breaks to film-making companies, according to Troy Blischok , B camera first assistant. He said the remainder of the filming will take place in Wilmington, N.C .
Since January, 22 films have taken advantage of the tax breaks in North Carolina. Other states, such as New Mexico, have also capitalized on increased tax revenue through incentives to filmmakers.
“New Mexico, Lousiana and Georgia have also put together incentive packages for production companies,” production sound mixer Jeff Bloomer said. “If you can shoot a $20 million feature film for $12 million, it pays for the post [production] and the printing.”
Producers chose Nash Square, where Firth and Blunt shot a scene while sitting on park-side steps, because it resembles an Indiana cityscape, according to Bloomer.
“This [site] was chosen by the director and the art director because of the Terre Haute police station,” Bloomer said.
The News & Observer building is directly across the street from where Firth and Blunt shot their scene. Producers changed the sign on the building so it read “Terre Haute Police,” which is in Indiana.
The main character, Arthur Newman, travels the country in the film, so although filming takes place only in North Carolina, the production crew is using the state’s varied scenery as a backdrop for many different places.
“It’s a traveling movie, so we have to show different areas throughout the movie — or at least different feels,” Bloomer said.
Onlookers stood on all corners of Nash Square with cameras in hand. Police gave the production crew a wide berth — those hoping to catch a glimpse of the actors were forced to look between trees and the large crew that surrounded filming.
The film is on a “tier two” budget and will cost from $6 million to $7 million, according to Bloomer. It is not a low budget film though, since the industry standard for low budget films is $5 million and less.
Thomas Jones, a homeless man who said he was stranded in Raleigh after his wife kicked him out of his house, said he tried to get some work from the production company. He watched filming from the sidewalk near the News & Observer building.
Jones said extras and cleanup crews are needed on a daily basis.
“You have to show up at 5 a.m ., and it’s first come, first serve. You get paid $120 per day to clean up locations after shooting. I would have loved to get some work and put some extra money in my pocket, but they already had everyone they wanted soon after 5,” Jones said.
Extras, mostly dressed in police uniforms, filled the park.
“It would have been awesome to be in a movie and be in a police action scene,” Jones said.
