Movie to start filming in Carson City, Minden, Gardnerville

Northern Nevada Development Authority and Visit Carson Valley’s cooperative partnership to promote Carson Valley as a film location is not only creating awareness, it is driving results.

Filming begins in early September in Carson City (Telegraph Square), Minden, and Gardnerville for “Once Upon a Main Street,” a new Hartbreak Films Christmas movie to air on the Lifetime Channel this winter. The film company was also in Carson City earlier this month filming scenes for another Christmas movie titled “Feliz NaviDad.”

Over the past year, NNDA and Visit Carson Valley collaborated by working with the Nevada Film Office on a pilot project to identify attributes that Douglas County could offer to film, television and other production companies. These included beautiful and picturesque landscapes, historic and unique buildings, and distinctive and accessible properties.

Essential information was compiled by Visit Carson Valley and submitted to the Nevada Film Office Filming Locations Database. The information is used by production companies to identify potential film locations that could meet their needs. NNDA supported the effort by securing private contributions for professional photography to showcase Carson Valley and complement the database information.

Visit Carson Valley, in partnership with NNDA, rallied a team of partners and stakeholders to ensure the project’s success and form a broader collective approach: Copeland Cultural Arts Center (Carson Valley Arts Council); the Towns of Gardnerville, Genoa, Minden, as well as Topaz Lake; Carson Valley Inn TJ’s Corral; Carson Valley Golf Course; Genoa Lakes Golf Course; Van Sickle Station; and Jacobs Family Berry Farm.

In determining locations, Visit Carson Valley considered the visual aspects of the locations, potential storylines, architecture, open space, charming historic downtowns, and prior films shot in the area. Each demonstrated Carson Valley as a diverse shooting venue.

Visit Carson Valley further assisted by fielding production company location inquiries and sending them to business owners and the Nevada Film Office website to determine the viability of the locations.

According to Jan Vandermade, executive director, Visit Carson Valley, “While working on this project it became even more apparent how special our community is, in both the history and diverse settings. There is a greater synergy that comes when multiple entities collaborate and come together to shine a light on Carson Valley.”

Robert “Rob” Hooper, NNDA president and CEO, said, “The film industry has long been a part of Nevada’s history. Over 10 films, including ‘The Misfits,’ ‘The Shootist,’ and more recently ‘The Mustang’, have been shot in the Sierra Region. Promoting the Carson Valley area for film production leverages the region’s assets appealing to filmmakers to generate direct dollars and positive economic impact for Douglas County.”

According to recent data from the Motion Picture Association of America, the Film and Television production industry creates and supports 2.6 million jobs in all 50 states, both in front of and behind the camera. The industry comprises over 93,000 businesses, 87% of which are small businesses. It also pays out $44 billion per year to over 250,000 local businesses in cities and towns across the U.S. and may inject as much as $250,000 per day into local economies for films shot on location.