Hannah not filming in Montana.
It’s a slow news day…and with that in mind, I bring you:
Hannah Montana movie news!!!!
Here’s the deal–the wildly popular Hannah Montana TV series is making it to the big screen but there’s some issues about where it will be filmed. The premise of the series (for those of you who have previously escaped it) is that high school student Miley Stewart moves from Tennessee to California where she leads a double life–student by day, pop star by night. Miley/Hannah is played by Miley Cyrus, daughter of one-time country superstar Billy Ray Cyrus, who now plays her father on the show (if he screwed this part up, I guess we’d all be worried).
CNN is now reporting that the movie, which is about the Stewart family’s return to Tennessee, might not be able to be filmed there. States can offer packages of incentives to production companies, including tax breaks and rebates, and some states have pursued this type of thing more aggressively than others. Nearby Louisiana has recently pursued a number of productions and is said to be a front-runner for the Hannah movie.
The Cyruses are lobbying Disney to get the movie done in their home state, but the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Department isn’t sure if they can match the Louisiana package. Perry Gibson, executive director of the commission says they’re hoping, though.
“It would mean a real impact on tourism and it would be a family friendly film that would come to the state,” she said. But Tennessee is limited in what incentives it can offer, she said.
(Tourism? Really? It would bring business from the cast and crew. But what are they going to do, preserve the set? In two years will families really be making side trips to Tennessee to see the “Hannah Montana Movie House?”
In the end, though, its always about the money. Any sense of authenticity that actually being in Tennessee would bring, not to mention the Cyruses getting to stay in their own house, isn’t as important to Disney as tax breaks. And let’s be honest–the ten-twelve year old girls who will flock to this movie could care less whether it was filmed in Tennessee, Louisiana, or Montana. Hey, now there’s an idea! Hannah Montana in Montana. Someone get the Montana Film and Television Commission on the phone!
