LOUISVILLE (WHAS11) - Kentucky might not come to mind when you think about making movies, but the Bluegrass is quickly becoming a filmmaker favorite.
In fact, a film just recently wrapped up filming in Louisville. It’s called “Murder at the Mansion,” and it’s set at a local mansion.
"My wife’s great grandmother was Carrie Gaulbert Cox of Cox Park, so we're in the old Cox Place,” homeowner and interior designer Lee W. Robinson said. "We are having opportunities to get people into the Commonwealth that have never been here before."
"It is drama. It is so much fun,” actress Anna Hutchinson said. “My character gets engaged at the start of the film. She hasn’t met her fiancé’s family, so they go to this estate and meet his mother, his adopted sister, and then it’s kind of like madness ensues. There’s a murder around, and my character has to find out who the murderer is before she gets murdered.”
“I like to consider it slightly dark comedy, but I might be wrong on that,” actress Melissa Bolona said.
“I am so in awe of the beauty and intricacies in every corner,” actress Audrey Landers said.
Tax incentives from the state are making it more and more enticing for filmmakers to bring work to the Bluegrass.
"If you spend a million dollars, the state would give you back $300,000 for the spending that qualifies,” producer and Stargazer Films creator Zach O’Brien said. “Kentucky is just the sweet spot with the incentives.”
O'Brien is a Derby City native and recently relocated his company from Los Angeles to Louisville.
"They have people moving here from California. They love living in Kentucky. They love the lifestyle here. They love the economics of it,” O’Brien said.
He called the incentives a win-win for both sides, comparing the investment to a national commercial for state tourism. O’Brien said that spot may run once or twice for the same price, but believes a 90-minute film can have a far greater influence.
"The movie is going to run forever. It's going to showcase all of Kentucky in a really positive light,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien wants to see the Bluegrass movie boom continue, but there's a moratorium on the incentives right now. It gets lifted in January. It’s a move he hopes will keep show business coming to the Commonwealth.
"It's great to be back here. We'd love to do more filming here. We always try to show off the city as much as we can,” O’Brien said.