Coleman Looking To Bring Hollywood To Columbus

From movies to television shows, Ohio is on the radar for movie makers, 10TV's Shayla Reaves reported Monday.

Fifteen films were shot in Cleveland last year, including the newly released action film, "The Avengers." The films brought millions of dollars and jobs to the lakefront city.

Columbus officials said that they wanted a piece of the pie, Reaves reported.

"You've got restaurants, you've got hotels, you've got transportation, even the hardware store," said Thomas McClure, of the Greater Columbus Film Commission. "What happens when you get a production here is the trickle-down effect."

In 2011, the Ohio Film Office reported nearly $70 million were spent on film projects in Cleveland, compared to the $29 million for Cincinnati.

Only $3 million were spent in Columbus.

The film industry paid $20 million in Ohio wages last year and employed more than 9,500 people.

City officials said that they wanted that number to increase, Reaves reported.

"The mayor was pretty upset about that and said we needed to be at the top of the list," Tyneisha Harden of Mayor Michael Coleman's office said.

McClure, whose organization is a non-profit and is self-funded, said that his organization was working with Coleman's office to come up with a plan to bring Hollywood to Columbus.

Columbus would have to go to Hollywood first, though, McClure said.

"That's where you connect with the studios, directors, writers, producers, McClure said.

Harden said that the city did not have a way to send people to Los Angeles.

"We do not have any infrastructure in place to send people out to L.A.," Harden said. "It takes a lot of money to do that, time and also staffing."

Harden said that she wanted to make sure those in Hollywood knew what Columbus has to offer.

"A lot of films are filmed in New York and L.A., but we have some of those things here in Columbus, we just need to make sure people can see them," Harden said.

McClure said that he wanted the next "The Avengers" of "The Ides Of March" shot in Columbus.

"We're Columbus, we're the heart of Ohio," McClure said. "We should be getting the major movies."

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