By Ruws Bynum
TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (AP) --Tybee Island has landed a starring role in the new Miley Cyrus movie, and audiences seeing the film next year won’t have to wait for the credits to find out the name of the beach town filling the screen.
Location managers for the movie “The Last Song,” which starts filming on Tybee next week, told residents at a town meeting Monday that the island proved too unique to masquerade as Wrightsville Beach, N.C.
Novelist Nicholas Sparks, who wrote the movie’s script, initially set the story in Wrightsville and Wilmington, N.C. But filmmakers persuaded him to change the location to Tybee Island and neighboring Savannah so they could include local landmarks such as the island’s towering lighthouse and the oak-shaded squares in Savannah’s historic district.
“We had a hard time trying to hide the fact that this was Tybee and Savannah was Savannah,” Bass Hampton, the film’s location director, told about 80 residents at Tybee city hall.
The movie features 16-year-old Cyrus, the star of “Hannah Montana,” as a teenage girl struggling with her parents’ divorce who tries to reconnect with her father during a summer at his home in a quiet beach town.
Filming starts Monday on Tybee Island, 12 miles east of Savannah, and is expected to stretch into mid-August.
The Walt Disney Co. had considered making the film in North Carolina, but ultimately chose Georgia because the state offered a better incentive package. Local officials estimate the production will bring $8 million in direct spending to the area during the next two months.
Having Tybee Island’s name on the screen — on signs for a beach festival and emblazoned on police cars and fire trucks — should make for an even bigger payday after the movie hits theaters in 2010, said Diane Schleicher, Tybee’s city manager.
“When the film releases, the impact on the economy here is going to be immense,” Schleicher said.
Still, there will be some drawbacks for the island’s 3,400 residents.
Hampton said filmmakers will spend several days shooting at the island’s fishing pier, which will mean closing the attraction to visitors periodically, and roadblocks will go up around the beach house being used as a location.
Tybee resident Monty Parks, who opened an Internet cafe near the pier a few months ago, said he hopes to sell plenty of lattes to the film crew and gawking tourists.
“If you’re somebody who wants Tybee to stay out of the limelight, you’re going to be broken-hearted,” Parks said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of people here. It’s going to be great for me.”
Todd McIntosh and Peter Tothpal To Receive Life Achievement Honors At Make-Up and Hair Stylists Guild Awards
Todd McIntosh and Peter Tothpal will be honored with Lifetime Achievement Awards at the 12th Annual Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards (MUAHS, IATSE Local 706). McIntosh is an Emmy®-winning make-up artist known for his work on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Memoirs of a Geisha.” Tothpal is an award-winning hair stylist known for his work on “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.” The awards will be bestowed at the gala event on Sunday, February 15, 2025, at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel.
The MUAHS Lifetime Achievement Awards honor a make-up artist and a hair stylist who have an extraordinary spectrum of acclaimed work, exceptional contributions to the entertainment industry, and outstanding service to their union or their craft.
McIntosh, a multi-Emmy-winning Canadian make-up artist known for his transformative make-up designs, has worked on numerous critically acclaimed projects. He has won two Primetime Emmys and has 12 nominations. With over 30 years of experience in the industry, McIntosh has become a highly sought-after make-up artist, known for his attention to detail and ability to bring characters to life through his artistry.
Additional credits include “Masters of the Universe,” “Pushing Daisies,” “Griselda,” “Legion,” “The Kids are Alright,” “Venom,” “Dark Shadows,” “Star Trek: Enterprise,” “City Slickers (I & II),” “The Brady Bunch Movie,” “Mr. Saturday Night,” “Look Who’s Talking (1 & 2),” “The Clan of the Cave Bear,” and dozens of others.
Tothpal, an award-winning journeyman hair stylist, has had a spectacular and varied career encompassing every facet of filmmaking. From the largest high-profile... Read More