2024 Reports

On Location: Heritage, Justice, and the Film Industry

Avrami, Erica C.; Dublin-Boc, Jenna L.; Brodheim, Adam; Coleman, Gabrielle; Harrison, Calvin; Leach, Michelle; Osorio-Godoy, Geryel; Zhao, Shuya

The use of historic places for on-location filming is a longstanding and vital practice in movie and television production, and one that is evolving with the proliferation of filming incentives throughout the US and internationally. Many sites and communities benefit financially by opening their doors and streetscapes to the film industry, which can create jobs and generate revenue through location fees as well as film-induced tourism (also known as screen tourism). However, the overall economic, environmental, physical, and social outcomes of these on-location filming arrangements are not always positive, consistent, or equitable. This report results from a Fall 2022 Historic Preservation and Urban Planning joint studio at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation. Students analyzed policies and practices related to the use of historic buildings, streetscapes, cultural landscapes, and archaeological sites for on-location filming to understand the consequences for communities, for the places community members seek to preserve as heritage, and for the narratives those heritage places represent. Alabama served as a primary case study, and students traveled to Montgomery and Selma to more deeply interrogate how heritage places significant to the Civil Rights movement have been utilized and represented in film and television, the equity issues involved, and how local organizations and authorities promote and regulate on-location filming. The studio was undertaken with the support of World Monuments Fund and in collaboration with the Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium.