After more than three years of research, Visit Indy, the Indy Chamber, the Central Indiana Community Foundation, and the City of Indianapolis have announced a partnership to launch a two-year marketing initiative called Film Indy.
Film Indy’s mission will be to position Indianapolis as a production-friendly city for TV commercials, TV shows, corporate training videos, and movies – in support of driving additional tourism spending by visiting film crews, engaging local production companies, and generating marketing exposure for the city.
“Film Indy’s public-private partnership promoting Indianapolis as a dynamic backdrop for entertainment programming represents the first proactive, unified effort to attract television commercials, shows, and movies to our city,” said Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard. “Another benefit of Film Indy is helping promote the more than 600 local film production companies and the economic role they play in our city.”
As part of the three year research phase leading up to the launch, Visit Indy, the Indy Chamber, and the Central Indiana Community Foundation examined several other major U.S. cities where a city-level film office has helped spark economic impact and the overall marketability of a city, including: Portland, Chicago, Kansas City, Baltimore and New Orleans.
This two-year initiative will begin January 1, 2016, and will be overseen by a 12-person Film Indy Advisory Board, made up of Central Indiana community members. Film Indy will be housed out of Visit Indy’s offices as a function of marketing the city. The budget for this initiative will be $300,000 over the two- year pilot phase, with Visit Indy investing $100,000, the Central Indiana Community Foundation investing $100,000, and the City of Indianapolis investing $100,000.
“This new public-private partnership is exactly why Indianapolis continues to excel, we work together for the betterment of the city,” said Brian Payne, President and CEO of the Central Indiana Community Foundation. “We are excited about this new initiative, helping uplift Indy as a culturally-minded city. With all of our local and regional Universities offering related degrees, this will also be a workforce development tool.”
A public-facing website is being built now, showcasing the diversity of film locations, the affordability of filming in Indy, and more information on securing film permits. It’s anticipated that an Indy Film Commissioner will be hired in the first quarter of 2016, charged with proactively selling Indy as a production location to locations scouts, producers, and the film community on a national and regional level. The Indy Film Commissioner will also handle booking film crew hotel rooms and ensuring a smooth production.
“We are always looking for new ways to help market Indianapolis and elevate the city’s brand,” said Chris Gahl, Visit Indy’s vice president of marketing and communications. “Film Indy will not only help position the destination as a vibrant city through the lens of TV commercials and movies, it will also generate economic impact through tourism spending. After examining other cities operating with a similar film office, we estimate this initiative has the potential to generate more than $6 million in incremental economic impact on an annual basis, while engaging our local workforce, and sparking tourism.”
Film Indy will work closely with Film Indiana, part of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, pitching the city’s overall affordability and vast diversity of locations within a short drive. Major corporations that have recently filmed TV commercials in Indianapolis include: Papa John’s, Apple, Visa, Reebok, TaylorMade, Delta Faucets and Subaru. TV shows recently filmed here include: Travel Channel’s “Man vs. Food” and Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”
