NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — I was looking through a NewsChannel 5 archive tape from 1986 and saw something from exactly 40 years ago. It was Oscar-winner Sir Ben Kingsley speaking to a crowd under a tent in Tennessee. It was the launch of Century Motion Picture Studios Incorporated. A Chicago Tribune article from the time said the plan was to build a $271-million film studio in Tennessee and spend $300-million making movies over the next four years.
"This is a very, very relaxed environment, so I think the work will be good," Kingsley said in a 1986 interview with NewsChannel 5.
1986 actually is a year remembered well by a lot of people part of the Tennessee filmmaking world. That includes producer, director, and writer Coke Sams and actor and writer Daniel Butler. Neither can believe the sort of people their careers have led them to meet.
"The 'Forrest Gump history montage' of crossing paths," Butler said, gesturing to a wall covered with pictures from film shoots at Sams' home.
"No, this was not a place to make movies," Butler said, remembering the early 1980s.
"I assumed Nashville was suffering under some curse that had been levied upon us!" Sams added.
Here's why 1986 felt different. Then-governor Lamar Alexander had set up a film commission a few years earlier. There were some big productions. Those included 1984's StarMan. The John Carpenter film starring Jeff Bridges was partially shot in Tennessee.
Then there was 1986's At Close Range with Sean Penn and Christopher Walken where the locations included downtown Franklin.
"Dang! You really could shoot in Tennessee!" Butler laughed.
"It felt like there was excitement for the first time," Sams added.
"We were building a real talent pool in terms of crew and actors," Butler continued.
Into that era came the Century Motion Picture Studios Incorporated announcement.
"It felt optimistic and many a lost cause is founded on optimism," Sams nodded.
Of course, the Century project didn't end up happening and movie-making in Tennessee stayed a little rare.
"We lost people to Charlotte and Orlando and Atlanta because the work's there," Butler said. "Gotta make rent!"
Interestingly enough, Sams and Butler were part of a major success story.
The Nashville-based Carden & Cherry advertising agency was making ads for companies like Purity Dairies. They featured an actor named Jim Varney and his charter Ernest P. Worrell. In 1987, a group of local filmmakers made a mainstream breakthrough with Ernest Goes To Camp. Shot at Montgomery Bell State Park, it launched a series. The first few films were distributed by Disney.
Butler was an actor and writer on several Ernest projects.
"It was just the most incredible opportunity to me," Butler said.
Sams was a writer on several films and even directed 1994's Ernest Goes To School, stepping in for usual director John Cherry.
They found that success with Tennesseee-based productions.
"We were making it based on the popularity of Jim Varney and those commercials," Sams said. "It was an existing base."
"It was just a gift from God, I mean, c'mon," Butler added.
With recent talk of Tennessee inviting Paramount to relocate its headquarters here, it all feels a little familiar to longtime Tennessee filmmakers.
"Good luck, guys!" Butler laughed. "We've tried it a couple times!"
The way Sams sees it, if Tennessee suddenly becomes a movie-making hub, a studio would be impressed by what they find here.
"The film community here is excellent," he said.
Take us out, Sir Ben Kingsley.
"Tonight. I will be drinking a toast," Kingsley said in his 1986 speech. "Someone will mark the slate. Slate one. Scene one. Take one. Someone will say action and from that moment on, the dreams will emerge. Dreams will flicker and that will flicker in front of the eyes and ears of millions of people."
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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