(WICHITA, Kan.) — Movie Maker Magazine recently named Wichita the number 10 city for independent film production. FactFinder 12 talked to local filmmakers to find out what makes Wichita so special.Derin Dopps is a co-owner of JDDL productions. He says many Wichita draws filmmakers from coast to coast."Most people don't realize the draw from the coasts. There is a lot of people from the industry that live right here in Wichita. Wichita is kind of like a tractor beam that brings people into the center of the country," says Dopps. Dopps says Wichita's appeal is four fold. First the is Wichita's location. Dopps says, "We are at the perfect halfway point between New York and L.A." Dopps continued to say Wichita is superior to Los Angeles because of our weather. Filmmakers can shoot during the Summer, Winter, Fall and Spring and get four completely different landscapes. The cost of production in Wichita is much lower year round. Food, lodging and gas are all significantly cheaper than our east or west coast counterparts. And last but not least Dopps says Wichita is ideal because of the people. "Big studios will call us to film here and say we'll send our people, " Dopps said, "but I tell them there's no need. We have plenty of talented and skilled people right here." One thing local filmmakers wish Kansas had more of is government support. Dopps says Kansas is behind other states in offering production companies tax incentives to film in here.
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