Senate Resolution 15

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING AND CONGRATULATING THE MISSISSIPPI FILM OFFICE ON THE OCCASION OF ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY AND RECOGNIZING ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TO MISSISSIPPI'S ECONOMY AND TOURISM.

WHEREAS, the Mississippi Film Commission was created on January 17, 1973; and

WHEREAS, the significance of the film industry resulted in the promotion of that commission to the Mississippi Film Office as part of the Mississippi Department of Economic Development in 1980 allowing the work of that office to provide a public relations impact on global awareness of Mississippi as a tourism and professional destination; and

WHEREAS, the film industry, extending back to 1916, has been a significant measure of Mississippi's global reputation, with the Mississippi Film Office expanding that impact beginning with the film Thieves Like Us in 1973, and today having supported the production of more than 200 feature films, 29 television movies, 65 documentaries, 25 television series, along with countless individual episodes of television programs, short films, commercial productions, and music videos in Mississippi under the leadership of Directors Walterine Odom, John Horhn, Ward Emling and Nina Parikh; and

WHEREAS, the remarkable list of Mississippi authors and literary artists such as Larry Brown, William Faulkner, John Grisham, Beth Henley, Willie Morris, Thomas Hal Phillips, Kathryn Stockett, Eudora Welty and Tennessee Williams have allowed film and television productions to highlight Mississippi's contributions to the arts, history, literature, medicine and STEM, along with the legacy of noteworthy public figures such as David Sheffield, Fannie Lou Hamer, Cassandra Wilson, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Medger Evers, Emmett Till, James Meredith, Beah Richards, Mamie Till, Robert Johnson, Dr. James Hardy and Elvis Presley; and

WHEREAS, with the support of the Mississippi Film Office, local communities, venues, and the natural beauty of the Magnolia State have served as film locations from historic Natchez to the farmlands of the Delta, from the capital city of Jackson to the beaches and casinos of the Gulf Coast, from the town square of Oxford to Meridian, affectionately the railroad town Queen City; and

WHEREAS, the Mississippi Film Office is a key resource for film productions to take advantage of the Mississippi Motion Picture Incentive Program, a state initiative that provides a cash rebate for spending on completed projects that have invested a minimum of $50,000.00 on Mississippi-based vendors, companies, and cast and crew payroll, inspiring future productions to bring their business to Mississippi; and

WHEREAS, film production in Mississippi has accounted for more than $575 million in direct expenditure since the creation of the Film Office, along with associated payments to local vendors and professionals; and

WHEREAS, organizational leadership in the Association of Film Commissioners International from past Director Ward Emling and current Director Nina Parikh has greatly enhanced the international reputation of Mississippi as a professional setting for global film production; and

WHEREAS, on location film production has brought to Mississippi such luminaries as Elijah Wood Adventures of Huck Finn; Claude Jarman, Jr., Intruder in the Dust; Carroll Baker, Baby Doll; Tom East, Huckleberry Finn '74; George Hamilton, Home from the Hill; Robert Redford, This Property is Condemned; Mitch Vogel, The Reivers; Diane Ladd, The Reivers, Wild at Heart; Robert Duvall, Tomorrow; Keith Carradine, Thieves Like Us; Shelley Duvall, Thieves Like Us; Tom Skerritt, Thieves Like Us; Robby Benson, Ode to Billy Joe; Glynnis O'Connor, Ode to Billy Joe, The Historian; Morgan Freeman, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, Vanquish, Paradise Highway, The Minute You Wake Up Dead; Gerald McRaney, The Brain Machine, Blind Vengeance; Kris Kristofferson, Freedom Road; Tommy Lee Jones, Barn Burning, The Client, Double Jeopardy; Ralph Macchio, Crossroads; Gene Hackman, Mississippi Burning, The Chamber; Willem Dafoe, Mississippi Burning, The Card Counter, Wild at Heart; Frances McDormand, Mississippi Burning; Holly Hunter, Miss Firecracker, Strange Weather, O Brother Where Art Thou; Mary Steenburgen, Miss Firecracker, The Help; Tim Robbins, Miss Firecracker; Alfre Woodward, Miss Firecracker, Freedom Road, The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag, Mississippi Grind; Ally Sheedy, Heart of Dixie; Virginia Madsen, Heart of Dixie, Ghosts of Mississippi; Denzel Washington, Mississippi Masala; Sarita Choudhury, Mississippi Masala; Charles S. Dutton, Mississippi Masala, A Time to Kill, Cookie's Fortune; William Forsythe, Stone Cold, The Hollow, The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag; Courtney B. Vance, Adventures of Huck Finn, Cookie's Fortune; Ron Perlman, Adventures of Huck Finn, Joe Baby; Penelope Ann Miller, The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag, Murder at Hollow Creek; Julianne Moore, The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag, Cookie's Fortune; Matthew McConaughey, A Time to Kill; Sandra Bullock, A Time to Kill; Samuel L. Jackson, A Time to Kill, Black Snake Moan; Ashley Judd, A Time to Kill, Double Jeopardy; Tonea Stewart, A Time to Kill, Mississippi Burning, Same Kind of Different As Me, Nightmare in Badham County, Minstrel Man, Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, etc.; Whoopi Goldberg, Ghosts of Mississippi; Chris O'Donnell, The Chamber, Cookie's Fortune; Faye Dunaway, The Chamber; Frankie Muniz, My Dog Skip; Kevin Bacon, My Dog Skip; Diane Lane, My Dog Skip; Harvey Keitel, Finding Graceland, Hard Matter, Joe Baby; Glenn Close, Cookie's Fortune; Beth Grant, The Rising Place, As I Lay Dying, A Time to Kill; George Clooney, O Brother Where Art Thou?; John Turturro, O Brother Where Art Thou?; Tim Blake Nelson, O Brother Where Art Thou?, As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury; John Goodman, O Brother Where Art Thou?; Viola Davis, The Help, Get On Up; Octavia Spencer, The Help, Ma, A Time to Kill, Get On Up; Jessica Chastain, The Help; Allison Janney, The Help, Breaking News in Yuba County, Ma; Anna Camp, The Help, From Black; Aunjanue Ellis, The Help, Get On Up, John John in the Sky; James Franco, As I Lay Dying, The Sound and the Fury; Margo Martindale, The Hollars, Ghosts of Mississippi; John Schneider, A Gift Horse, Mysterious Circumstance; Dan Aykroyd, Get On Up; Craig Robinson, Get On Up; William Sadler, The Duel, The Hollow, The Historian; Woody Harrelson, The Duel; Liam Hemsworth, The Duel; Kim Coates, Strange Weather, Sweating Bullets; Dolph Lundgren, Shark Lake, Don't Kill It; Wes Brown, Nanny Seduction, Every Time a Bell Rings; Nicolas Cage, Wild at Heart, Arsenal; John Cusack, Arsenal; Adrian Grenier, Arsenal; Jason Patric, MK Ultra, Murder at Hollow Creek; Peter Stormare, Muti, Kill 'Em All, Hard Matter; Ben and Erin Napier, Home Town; Morgan Freeman, Barbara Crampton, Jakob's Wife, A Suitable Flesh; Jeremy Pope, The Inspection; Gabrielle Union, The Inspection; Emile Hirsch, Son, Devil's Workshop; Cole Hauser, Muti, The Minute You Wake Up Dead; Oscar Isaac, The Card Counter; Adrienne Warren, Women of the Movement; Tyrese Gibson, The System, Hard Matter; Frank Grillo, Paradise Highway, A Day to Die, etc.; Juliette Binoche, Paradise Highway; Jeremy/Jason London, Mickey Rourke, Hunt Club; Ryan Kwanten, Glorious; and

WHEREAS, Mississippi productions continue to attract the talent and investment of recognized filmmakers such as Paul Schrader, Joel and Ethan Coen, Elegance Bratton, Mira Nair, Rob Reiner, Wim Wenders, Charles Burnett, Effie Brown, Gina Price-Bythewood, Tina Mabry, Julie Dash, Kasi Lemmons, Joel Shumacher, John Krasinski, Patrik-Ian Polk, James Franco, Tate Taylor, Alan Parker, Michael Mann, Jay Russell, Robert Altman, Walter Hill, Sydney Pollack, Arliss Howard, Vincente Minelli, John Ford, Albert Maysles, Martha Coolidge, Louis Malle, Sydney Pollack, Mark Rydell, George Sidney, and James Mangold; and

WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we join the film industry in marking this landmark event in the development of a professional State Film agency which has enhanced our economy and promoted a positive image for the State of Mississippi:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commend and congratulate The Mississippi Film Office on the occasion of its 50th Anniversary, and recognize its contributions to Mississippi's economy and tourism.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the Executive Director and staff of the Mississippi Film Office, forwarded to the Division of Tourism and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.