Reaching for share of film boom
It’s hardly a secret that film production has been the most … well, dramatic growth industry in Georgia in recent years, to the point that only the California dream factories in and around Hollywood are bigger.
Now Columbus just might be up for some of Georgia’s motion picture business — specifically, animated features.
As reported last week by business writer Tony Adams, work is already under way on a 2018 animated family feature called “Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero” to be voiced by, among others, Helena Bonham-Carter and Gerard Depardieu. It’s to be the product of a company called Fun Academy Motion Pictures … of Columbus.
Company founder and executive producer Richard Lanni, who seven years ago worked on media projects for the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center, told the Ledger-Enquirer that he first envisioned Columbus as a distribution center, but “as time has gone on and I’ve spent more time here and we’ve looked at the place, we believe we have the answer to giving Columbus its share of the $7 billion film industry in Georgia.”
And because animation doesn’t require the large sets, sound stages, outdoor venues or specific weather conditions of live-action filmmaking, the animation studio Fun Academy plans to create here will not have to be enormous.
What it can do, if the project succeeds and prospers is bring more jobs, growth, capital and attention to Columbus and the greater Valley area. As reported earlier, the city, Columbus State University and the Springer Opera House are already working on developing film production skills and talent – which, especially in the case of animated features, includes digital imaging and other computer skills. (Some early work on “Sgt. Stubby” has already been done at The Loft recording studio.)
Fun Academy’s chief operating officer Crystal Traywick, who brings knowledge of the business from her time with Carmike Cinemas, noted that an animated film studio in Columbus would be the first in Georgia. That would be quite a business and creative coup in a state that has taken its place as a major player in the industry.
Among the best
Kudos to Columbus Technical College for recognition as one of the top two-year institutions of postsecondary education in the state.
A survey by Affordable Colleges Online ranks Columbus Tech seventh best of the 24 two-year colleges in Georgia. AC Online, according to the description on its website, provides “in-depth resources that address topics, questions and concerns related to higher education with an eye on affordability and accreditation.”
Columbus Tech President Lorette M. Hoover said those demands include “learning how to teach to today’s generation while helping those who are behind the technology curve move forward. Understanding technology and having easy access is paramount in today’s learning environments.”
It is indeed. And Columbus Tech’s learning environment is obviously getting the job done.
This story was originally published October 31, 2016 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Reaching for share of film boom."