| BALTIMORE, MD Thu, Apr 10, 2008 Governor Martin O’Malley today announced that My One and Only, a feature film starring Renee Zellweger, will begin shooting in Maryland for eight weeks beginning next month. Set in the 1950s, and expected to be almost entirely shot in the Baltimore area, My One and Only tells the story of glamorous divorcee Ann Deveraux’s (Zellweger) road trip in search of a wealthy husband. Based loosely on the childhood story of actor George Hamilton, the film will be directed by Richard Loncraine, who also directed Firewall and Wimbledon, and produced by Aaron Ryder, known for such films as The Prestige, Memento and the upcoming Hamlet 2.
“We welcome the cast and crew of My One and Only to Maryland and will do whatever we can to make their experience here a pleasant one,” said Governor O’Malley. “Having My One and Only shoot here will not only generate tremendous publicity and attract visitors and businesses, but also pump millions of dollars into the local economy, employ thousands of residents in high paying, creative jobs and provide many area businesses with new opportunities.”
“We are thrilled to be here in Baltimore,” said Ryder, the film’s producer. “If not for the incentive provided by the State and the tenacity of the Maryland Film Office that lured us here, we would be shooting the film in a far less appropriate city. We're looking forward to spending the spring and early summer shooting in this fantastic state and city.”
The fiscal year 2008 appropriation of $4 million to the Film Production Rebate Fund was pivotal in securing My One and Only, among other projects. Initiated in 2004, the program helps to preserve Maryland’s outstanding film base by offering a partial rebate of locally paid wages and encourages producers to film on-location in the state, employing local film crews in well paying and highly-skilled jobs.
In the first nine months of Fiscal Year 08, three feature films have shot in Maryland, including the recently released Disney film Step Up 2 The Streets, as well as two independent films and the final season of HBO’s The Wire. In FY 07, Maryland hosted 404 days of filming, including 5 feature films, a number of independent films and projects and more than a dozen television productions. The economic impact for all projects was $70 million.
The Maryland Film Office, located in Baltimore, Md., is an agency of the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, within the Division of Tourism, Film and the Arts. Its primary goal is to promote the State of Maryland as an ideal location for film, video and broadcast productions. The Film Office provides location scouting and pre-production research, acts as a government and community liaison and provides full service throughout film production. For more information about the Maryland Film Office, visit www.marylandfilm.org.
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