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Filmmaker Dreams Big on a Low Budget
Poague, in his editing studio at his home in Manassas, still holds a dream of an area studio.
(Tetona Dunlap)
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The Virginia market offers labor rates that are cheaper than Los Angeles or New York City, and it has only two studios -- one in Petersburg and the other in Hampton Roads, he said.
In 2003, the economic value of the film and video industry in the state was about $175 million, with scenes for the ABC series "Line of Fire" and the NBC series "The West Wing" shot in Virginia, according to the Virginia Film Office, which says there's potential for more.
"Technology is changing the industry vastly, so it's decentralizing," said Mary Nelson, spokeswoman for the Richmond-based film office. "It's not all about L.A. anymore or London or New York."
Virginia's proximity to the District also provides good backdrops.
"By shooting in Washington, D.C., audiences around the world recognize that," said Charlie Puritano, who owns Alexandria-based Puritano Media Group, a media production company.
Film and video makers spend up to $8 million a year in the city shooting scenes for such movies as "National Treasure" and "The Manchurian Candidate."
More studio space, Poague figured, would attract more projects, so in 2000 he and Summers set out to find investors and build a studio. They signed a contract for about 180 acres of land in Prince William County, persuaded local production company executives like Puritano to lease space if a studio was built, and found some investors.
First the stock market cast a shadow, and then Sept. 11 spooked investors. Poague pulled out of the land deal.
"I pulled the plug twice because I don't know enough wealthy people," said Poague, who was bitten by the acting bug when he briefly attended college and acted in a play. "I don't know the [Donald] Trumps of the world."
So he went back to making movies with budgets of just $100,000 in hopes of attracting the attention of studio executives who could hire him to produce bigger-budget movies.
"I'm hoping once I get a little bit more successful with this, it will open more doors for me," said Poague, whose company is called Capital Film Studios LLC.
For now, making a movie with so little money takes some creative financing and planning for every aspect of filmmaking -- from finding actors to feeding them.
