Brushes With Fame

Pete and I have stumbled upon several movies and tv shows being filmed on location. It’s not so hard to do that here in East Tennessee and the Carolinas…we have a lot of films shot here. I’m not completely sure why our area is so popular, but I would venture to guess it is because of our beautiful landscape.

When I was in college, Aerosmith came and filmed their “Ragdoll” video. I was friends with one of the girls who ran out of a house at the end of the video. I also knew the guy who owned the convertible that Steven Tyler drove down the Tree Streets!

We also know a family who did work for the Chuck Norris movie, Delta Force 2, which was filmed in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. They own an excavation company and did all of the “digging and dirt-moving” for the set. Not only did they get paid to do the work, but they also got to take home parts of the set: a helicopter and an outhouse. They are currently using the outhouse to hold all of their pool supplies! Lol!!

Of course, there have been other movies filmed in the area. These are just a few:

• · The Bell Witch was filmed in Sevierville
• · The River was filmed in Hawkins County
• · Winter People was filmed in Carter County…that would be us!
• · October Sky was filmed in Knoxville, Morgan and Campbell Counties
• · Christy was filmed in Townsend

I think it’s really neat when movies go out and film on location. Right now, the Film and Television Location library is expanding and is looking for homes and businesses that would like to be included in their database. Average homes and businesses can expect to earn around $3000 a day when filming takes place. So you just might want to ask the question, “Does your home want to be in Pictures?” When I asked my home, she said no…she needs to undergo some repairs and such before she will be available for work! I don’t know, maybe we should be added to the database anyway. I think our house just might be the perfect place to shoot a natural disaster movie….