Looking for a new place to live.

[krestofre]

So, my wife wants to move. She's tired of this city and longs for a change.

We've talked about St. Louis, North Carolina (Raleigh area), Chicago, and Louisville. (I tried to get her to add Memphis to the list, "We'll be close to the King, honey!" but she didn't go for it.) Any DVXUsers from those areas that can give me the inside scoop? How's the local filmmaking community? Any regular work for an Avid editor? What's cost of living like? Anything fun to do? Stuff like that.

I pretty much know about St. Louis and I think that would be the easiest move, but I have to admit that North Carolina is the most intriguing. I can't even say why, it just sounds nice. Chicago is one of my wife's old loves. And Louisville is the home to some of my wife's family (though I'm at a serious disadvantage because I can't pronounce it correctly: Lou-ah-vuhl or something).

Chris

[Mythfit]

um,. . . thats all that stuff in between New York and L.A., right?

[krestofre]

Sure is. I have no desire for New York or LA, so I carve out what minimilistic existance I can in between. But thanks for asking. :)

[Mythfit]

I kidd I kidd,

Ive been thinking about the makeing the move to wheeling MO myself, not much of a film makeing comunity but maybe I could become a blacksmith and fabricate tractor parts.

(actually I am half serious about this, I made a docu there once and its a beautiful area)

[NO CA$H]

Sure is. I have no desire for New York or LA, so I carve out what minimilistic existance I can in between. But thanks for asking. :)
I'm not a big fan of NYC or LA either.
I love Raleigh though, actually all of North Carolina is beatiful. I'm not sure what the filmmaking community is like there because I wasn;t in to filmmaking back then. But, you are not far from the Smokey mountains national park and its not hard to find work there.

[Filmjunkie677]

North Carolina is def. nice.

[aaron_wade]

just go to my hometown of little rock, ar! :) im actually in dallas, tx now.

[Barry_Green]

Go to NC, that's where everybody's going... :)

Check out findyourspot.com, might help you prioritize and pick a place. NC's got the biggest sound stage outside of Hollywood, and a new tax incentive plan just got passed which rebates 15% of a producer's taxable expenditures back to them (so, provided you're paying tax on the money you spend, you get a 15% cash rebate from the government). A few big series are shot down in the Wilmington area, like Surface and One Tree Hill, and there's always an indie film or doc going on. Talk to the local film commissioner about the employment situation though; AIUI there are five different film commissioners in the state, spread out among the major filming areas.

[krestofre]

NC's got the biggest sound stage outside of Hollywood

Sold!

I wonder if my wife will buy that as a reason. :grin:

[Barry_Green]

Check it out -- it's got San Diego weather, low cost of living, beaches, rivers, forests, and a film industry. What more could you want? Well, as long as you don't mind getting slapped around by a hurricane every few years... but at least you can see those coming, unlike mudslides and earthquakes and forest fires... so...

Raleigh's a different world from Wilmington though. Raleigh's the state capital and a genuine big city; Wilmington's a 300-year-old small town. Very different...

[David Jimerson]

It's also got a new 30-cents-per-gallon gasoline tax . . .:angry:

That was GENIUS.

[dat5150]

Look seriously at Austin, TX. Large, creative-artistic population. Plenty of fun activities, not your typical big city mentality(but I-35 is a pain in the ass after 3pm). Music community is vibrant and awesome.

I lived there for two years and would love to go back someday.

[krestofre]

Thanks for the suggestion, but my wife used to live in TX and she isn't going back for anything.

[J.R. Hudson]

Go to NC, that's where everybody's going... :)


Well; anyone who's anyone anyway's.

You could'nt pay me enough cash to live in L.A. and So-Cal's mystique has long faded.

[krestofre]

If I may be so bold to ask, what made you decide, John? This will actually be the first time I've moved more than 10 miles.

[J.R. Hudson]

A ton of reasons directly related to the betterment of the family (housing, cost of living, quality of life, educatoinal oppurtunites............)

[NO CA$H]

Before you decide you should take your wife there on vacation and see if you like it.

[krestofre]

Yeah, I was just thinking that as I was perusing the Wilmington website.

[GaryinCalifornia]

Hey, Chris suprised to see that're you're maybe moving...

So who I'm I going to buy tapes from when I'm out...

So will that mean I'll have the only DVX or even HVX in Springfield when I get back there...

Maybe why John would move... Is the same reason I did...

The reason I moved from Orange County to Springfield was for family... also for home prices... my sisters want to purchase a home and for a down payment here you can get a better house in Springfield than the one I have here in Huntington Beach...

Myself wanting to live on a farm all my life... I searched high and low in California... even if I found a great deal I was always a day late and more than anything a dollar short...

Back there let's say in Seymour you can get a good farm for again a down payment in California...

Plus I've been working with a company and we've done some small commericals (maybe on going) shoots for Universal (one even with a DVX)... and I'm line-producing a movie next month out here... I can make enough on that film so that I can farm the rest of the year... since I own my property out right in Missouri...

Well, if you go let me know... I'll be back the first week next month for a week... then its back to California... plus I get to go to Cancun for four days... even though I'll be working the shoot the whole time...

Good luck,

Gary, a fellow MFAS member.

[J.R. Hudson]

LOL Nice story Gary and I can relate

Ocean; I definately needed an Ocean as well.

[krestofre]

Hey Gary, looking forward to your return.

Yeah, the moving thing is something that we've kicked around for a while and this past weekend my wife indicated that it might be time to do more than kick it around. :)

We'll see how it goes. Barry's really got me looking at Wilmington now. I'm more small town than big city anyway.

[GaryinCalifornia]

Chris, I have to ask a friend who's thinking of moving back to North Carolina... she's thinking about more inland (sorry John) so you avoid the biggest hit of a hurricane... that's why I have to ask her what the name of the town is...

But they have a film festival... college with a film program... I think the film festival is still pretty much run by the family of Vince D'Onifro (bad spelling)....

Its the River Run Festival...

Hey John there's a place in Missouri that has a 65 acre lake on the property... you could have your own private ocean... I think the total for the lake and 500 acres 1.5 mil... a little steep for me... unless Universal likes my work so much on these small shoots they'll give me a big time check... knock on wood...

[dat5150]

You're missing out on Austin(do the research), but I appreciate your desire to not live in TX if its not you're calling.

[Thomas J. O'Hara]

the only thing i know about austin is from what i've seen from "the real world: austin".

those cast members sure did take a beating from the austin bar-goers!

[dat5150]

If your view of the world is through American television, then all I can say is put down the remote, get out and see the world through your own eyes. Until you've done some travelling, especially overseas, your perspective on the world will be limited to the American marketing machine. Get out my friend and quit believing the TV crap....I guess I'm supposed to dislike some areas of the country but its always nonsense once I've been there myself.

[krestofre]

I told my wife about your Austin suggestion and her response was a horrified look and the word "Fireants." It was a very M. Night moment. :laugh:

[J.R. Hudson]

Yeah the whole sand and desert thingy is not appealing

[Erik Olson]

Kresto,

I'm twenty miles north of Charlotte - relocated my family here just about three years ago. My wife and I both work from home - me about 100 days a year, she telecommutes (10am - 6pm) for an institutional investment firm based in Orinda, CA.

We lived in San Francisco, Oakland and Alameda prior to moving here. We looked at the following criteria in this order nationwide:

Cost of Living
Public Schools
Cultural Amenities
Filmmaking Infrastructure

We paid over $800 a month per child (we done got three) for private schools in California - our eldest daughter now goes to first grade in a neighborhood school that's off the charts test score-wise. We pay $270 a month to send both of our twins to a church-based pre-school three days a week.

I'd never worked more in film and television prior to moving here. I'm set to DP an independent feature this year, just wrapped a four-month Discovery Channel project and am set to DP Wild Wheels for forty weeks starting this Wednesday (hello SoCal peeps Jan 11 - 22).

Greensboro was mentioned in an above post as a major low/no/student filmmaking community. Naturally, we are proud to have the new NBC series Surface based in Wilmington now. Just about everyone I worked with on Driver X went on to work that show.

Of course, Wilmington is home to Screen Gems - one of the largest permanent studio facilities outside of LA and NY.

Oh, and John is moving here.

I grew up in the OC, so I know a little about beaches. I surfed the Wedge and San Onofre growing up and (surfing aside) will tell you that SoCal beaches have nothing on the beauty of those found in the SouthEast.

Long, flat stretches of spotless, naturally occurring sand (not imported like Santa Monica) goes on for miles. Venture fifty miles one direction or another and you'll find lowland estuaries, swamp and the amazing IntraCoastal waterway. Imagine the little berms of sand with the little fences straining to keep it back - like at the beginning of JAWS, and you'll have an idea what most of our coast looks like.

Charlotte has an symphony, opera house and all the major Broadway road shows come here. This place is home to BofA (not in SF anymore) and Wachovia among others, so if you work in finance, Charlotte is hard to beat. Technology is going like gangbusters in the Triad and our neighboring town Kannapolis is being remade into a multi-billion dollar bio/gene tech campus as we speak.

If you like the mountains, they are about two hours west by car from Charlotte and less from Raleigh and Greensboro. Nothing like the dramatic divide that we're used to out West, but beautiful in their own way. Many families maintain a second home at the beach or in the mountains for summer or fall (leaves fall just around Halloween) getaways.

Oh, and did I mention that John is moving here?

e

[krestofre]

Gee, thanks for taking the time to make that great post! I've got to admit that when I started this conversation I was leaning towards staying put, but now I think I'm getting more excited than my wife is.


Kannapolis is being remade into a multi-billion dollar bio/gene tech campus as we speak.

That's going to be a huge point for our family. Microbiology / Biotechnology was my wife's major in college, but there's not much call for it around here. She'll be thrilled.

I do have one point of confusion though. Is John planning on moving there too? :huh: :laugh:

[Erik Olson]

Where'd you get that idea? We used the following resources when we were looking for our own slice of Mayberry.

www.greatschools.net (http://www.greatschools.net/) - this allows you to look at demographics, scores, teacher / student ratios and so on. Useful on many levels.

www.realtor.com - hard to argue with hundreds of search returns for 2000 s.f. (and much larger) homes within commute distance of Charlotte under $200k. For searching, use these good zip codes.

Concord (my town) is 28025
Wilmington town center is 28402

Here's some propaganda (http://www.northcarolina.edu/content.php/pa/kannapolis.htm) on Murdoch's technology campus at the old Cannon Mills (RIP).

Feel free to drop us a line if you have questions about the NC!

e

[Thomas J. O'Hara]

haha, i was only kidding man. anyone who believes crap on mtv is foolish.
i've been 'round the world, from italy to NC to AZ and now here. sorry to stir any feelings, i'm sure austin is a wonderful place.

[kimko]

hey man there's " austin city limits" (in a sammy davis jr voice) it's a really smoking concert program, you should watch it baby!

[Quillen]

I am Krestofre's wife.

The sound stage is almost enough to convince me when combined with the distance from the ocean and that it sounds like the husband would be very happy. :D

Being the stay at home sort of wife, here are some of the activities I would enjoy.
1. someplace to walk/hike/bike on a daily basis
2. caves - preferably not a tour with a few lights and a fake Indian. A "Cavern of Sonora" type might have me packing. COS is in Texas if you are in driving range and haven't gone. They have lovely cave bacon.
3. art museum, theater, history museum, aquarium, zoo, someplace to see the stars (be it high hill or man made), orchards, nature center, state park, refuge.
A high percentage/All of these would elicit a larger scale packing response. A museum with weaponry would fascinate FIL, but not do much for our 2 yr old :P .
4. A little China type Chinese food restaurant or a fairly authentic Thai place.
5. ocean/possibility that my husband might scuba dive with me at some point
6. salt water type fish tank store, will drive a few hours. Pet Warehouse isn't quite the same. I'd like aqua cultured (aka tank bred/reproduced) live stock

I would be happy on acreage, I'd like a couple sheep and horses.
I like small town living, if it is with in a drive to entertainment.
I would like a larger city, if the crime rate wasn't too high :P A suburb is good, too.

[GenJerDan]

Questions, then. NC has a 6 - 8.25% state income tax + the state and local sales taxes (with come to about 7% in toto).

Does the cost-of-living and cost-of-business offset that?

Also, has NC finally given up on the idea that once an NC resident, always an NC resident? (Meaning, even if you move, they still expect tax payments from you...and will collect the back taxes if you ever come back again. A lot of military folks got slammed with that...)

[Erik Olson]

GenJerDan,

Those are good questions on the taxes. I've only been here a short time - definitely haven't tested the come and go query for myself. Our taxes are 7.25% in Cabarrus County.

Our car insurance dropped from about $200 a month to $250 a quarter. We had $150k / $300k coverage there, $300k / $500k here. Our 800 s.f. starter home in Oakland sold for $355k, we bought 2300 s.f. in Concord's historic district for $212k. Up until Katrina wrecked two crucial East Coast pipelines, our gas prices were $.50 / gal less than San Francisco prices for the same grade.

Milk, meat, produce and booze are significantly more expensive here. Oranges come from California when Florida is a few states away. There are no wineries of distinction here - Biltmore Estate has some drinkable table wine.

People like them some brown liquor here. I'll be picking up some bottles of the Hangar One whilst I'm in California. Oh, the state runs the hard liquor stores (ABC) and you cannot buy anything alchoholic between 12:01a and 11:59p on Sundays.

e

[J.R. Hudson]

Sold !

Can't f **** i n g wait.

Aggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh !

Overland should work for the ministry of tourism

[Erik Olson]

In my pants!

Speaking of packages... I'm not going to be in Las Vegas for Wild Wheels... everything is in the OC, LA and lovely Chino.

e

[GenJerDan]

Oh, the state runs the hard liquor stores (ABC) and you cannot buy anything alchoholic between 12:01a and 11:59p on Sundays.

e

Two words: Stump Liquor

Put $5* on a stump out in the woods, come back later and it has magically transformed into a bottle of yummy.

Or paint thinner, depending on your palate.



*Probably a lot more now...that was the 60's price. :grin:

[GaryinCalifornia]

Chris,

I was wondering have you still decided to move...

I'll be in California at least until the middle of March... then hopefully it'll be time to come back to Springfield...

But been getting a lot of work out here... doing this feature... I did post the below information on the MFAS site...

Looks like we have David Keith, Gary Busey, Kelly Hu and Lorenzo Lamos all signed... the rest of the cast or the lead roles are unknowns...

Except are female lead got a gig on Lost right after we casted her...

Then my friend (the producer of the film we're working on) emailed me an said her attorney has half a million if we can raise the another half... but I've always sucked at raising money... that would be to a family film...

So who knows... when I live in California I get no work... then when I want to get out of California I'm offered jobs...

[Shaw]

You should definitely consider moving to Montana! It's great up here although it may seem like an odd choice. There are some great new film incentives that were recently pushed through by our new governor. There's also no sales tax and the schools are absolutely great. Bozeman is roughly 36,000+ (rough estimate) so it's not too big nor too small.

To go through your list Quillen:

1. LOTS of places to walk and bike! There's no lack of outdoors around here. I don't know if you guys ski but there is a local ski resort 15min from town and it's pretty cheap.

2. I'm not entirely sure about the caves. I know there are some famous caves with guided tours (Lewis and Clark Caverns). I know of a few small caves that are only accessable via hiking. I don't know how deep they go though so spelunking may or may not be an option.

3. We have a great local theater and the University has a "Shakespear in the Parks" festival every year. Great fun. Bozeman is also home to the famous "Museum of the Rockies". There's a big section devoted to Paleontology/dinosaurs so the museum has attracted some of the best experts in the field. They even teach at the Univeristy. They usually rotate exhibits in their upstairs level ever few months or so. I've seen everything from indians to cars to WWII weaponry etc. Honestly a first rate museum. They even have a lecture hall/theater with padded seats you can get (would need to discuss terms) if you have a movie you'd like to play for the public

4. We have several chinese places. We don't have anything super authentic though. Actually, we have a place called the Mongolian BBQ (if I remember correctly) that's rather authentic and only serves a variety of noodle type dishes.

5. No ocean, sorry =)

6. I honestly don't have any idea

If you want sheep and horses this is the place to come to though! The great thing is that you can live out in the country fairly easily around here. We live just outside city limits and drive in for school/shopping etc. Not a whole lot of crime around here. It's a really nice community and has all sorts of diverse stuff due to the local University.

Just an idea anyway =)

EDIT: Forgot to add that the University has a well known and VERY popular film program. There's also a yearly local film fest that attracts some important people. Also have a local symphony etc.

[krestofre]

Good evening Ladies and Gents,

Sorry for ressurecting such an old thread, but almost half a year has passed and I'm no where closer to getting to Wilmington.

The reason I bring this up again is probably more looking for an emotional boost than anything. I've applied to every video-related position that comes up in that area of NC and I've got nada. I realize that the prospect of hiring someone that's halfway across the country probably isn't too appealing for most people. So for those of you who have moved long distances before, how did you do it? Just keep sending that resume and waiting? Is there a trick? The farthest I've ever moved in my life is 10 miles south, so I'm reallly clueless.

Thanks.

Chris (stuck in Springfield)

[kimko]

south Charleston S.C. LOT OF FILMING THERE and it's a nice place.

[sean90291]

I've moved too many times. Acros countries, borders and continents. It's alwasy exciting and unnerving and never totally easy. But so far, always worth it. You gotta just go for it. Time to move more than 10 miles! Heck, you can always move back. And don't you find most jobs are through word of mouth/contacts? Applying for jobs via resume or remote is never going to compete with the guy who knows a guy who lives down the street. Count on taking 12 months to settle in and make your contacts. If the economy is okay in the area you're going to, you could always take some other job for a couple months to help with expenses until you start getting contacts. I think it's especially worth the move if you're going to a film centre with more going on than Springfield, cuz you clearly know your Avid! Within a year you'll have way more work than you ever had in Springfield I bet.

[krestofre]

I follow what you're saying, and I don't disagree, but I've got a wife and two kids who look to me to eat, and moving that far without a gaurenteed income might be asking them to take too much of a risk ... I don't know ... things to ponder, I guess ...

Thanks for chiming in with your experience, Sean.

[sean90291]

Yeah, bein the dad makes it trickier you're right. What if you picked a place and made short forays to the location. Say you chose Wilmington. Get a room in somebody's house for cheap and just spend a month there scouting and interviewing and seeing if you can drum up a contract worth moving for. Being apart from family would be the hard part. Do you work full time as it is, or are you a contrct/freelance worker. If you're freelance, you could use one of those stints between jobs to go hang out in the new city. Not easy, I agree. But it could be really worth it. Your wife and kids will get the benefit of a new adventure in a new city too.

[krestofre]

Oh believe me, it's the adventure for the wife that prompted this whole thing. :)

I do work full time right now, otherwise your suggestion about going myself would have been a great one. The most I could manage away from Springfield without cutting some major ties would be 2 weeks. Nothing like pressure I guess. :)

[DC]

Or how about you save some $$$ for awhile, then move? That way, you'll have money to fall back on while you look around.

I may know of a position at a college in Massachusetts. They may be looking for someone to run their video department - there's an Avid.

And I know people who know people in Branson, if you're interested.

A man of your caliber should have no problem finding a job.

[Zak Forsman]

You could'nt pay me enough cash to live in L.A. and So-Cal's mystique has long faded.
i just secured a $375,000 budget with a 40% profit margin to produce a documentary over the next 6 months. not sure i'd have the same opportunities if i'd stayed back in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. so, i suppose what i'm saying is they do pay me enough to live in L.A.

one day i hope to move to europe or australia so i can live out my life raising a family and making films ala kubrick.

[krestofre]

Or how about you save some $$$ for awhile, then move? That way, you'll have money to fall back on while you look around.

Yeah, unless something miraculous happens I guess that's pretty much the plan. It's just slow, and I am, by nature, impatient. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)


And I know people who know people in Branson, if you're interested.

Hey, never turn your back to an opportunity. I'll PM you. :thumbsup:


A man of your caliber should have no problem finding a job.

Gee. Thanks for the compliment. Now if only you ran a well-paying post house in Wilmington, NC. :)

[FilmMakerr]

I live in LA, and I wanna get out, but I'm also a Filmmaker, so I stay =)

[sean90291]

I wonder if one result of the digital revolution will be the end of LA as the centre for all things film. As in music, the hold the big studios have on filmmaking is loosening...and so it is becoming less relevant to be in LA to make films. Or maybe it's too entrenched as the mecca to change. But I think it will be interesting to see how the new technologies shift the hot spots for filmmaking. I mean, filmmakers start out as poor artists...and it's not very easy to be a poor artist in a city as expensive as LA. Filmmakers might have a lot more choices about where to move maybe?

[kimko]

the weather, the talent, the terrain, makes it feesible. fees ible

[TimurCivan]

Northa carolina is nice. But Raleigh is kinda crap. Chapel hill/carboro is prettier.

Plus Barry's NC incentives :)

My cousins live there. I like it. i visit a couple times a year. The weather isnt too bad during the winter, but its humid like whoa during the summer.

[krestofre]

I wonder if one result of the digital revolution will be the end of LA as the centre for all things film. As in music, the hold the big studios have on filmmaking is loosening...and so it is becoming less relevant to be in LA to make films. Or maybe it's too entrenched as the mecca to change. But I think it will be interesting to see how the new technologies shift the hot spots for filmmaking. I mean, filmmakers start out as poor artists...and it's not very easy to be a poor artist in a city as expensive as LA. Filmmakers might have a lot more choices about where to move maybe?

Honestly, I think that we'll see a decentralization of filmmaking in our lifetimes. We already see it to some extent. Rodriguez has his main shop setup in Texas. Lucas has his main shop set up in ... er ... Lucasville or something like that. Making a Hollywood film will probably require a trip to LA for a long time to come, but if you play your cards right you can make a film anywhere you want even today. The real deal-breaker is going to be digital distribution. If we can get rid of film, then anyone with theatrical contacts can become a distribution company and I think a lot of people will be like "I don't need LA."

Just my speculation, but I think I'm on to something. :)

[David Jimerson]

A little late in this game . . .

Here in Charlotte, NC, we pay (total) the 3rd highest taxes in the country.

[Erik Olson]

This is true, but cigarettes are very inexpensive. Smoke, smoke smoke.

e

[GenJerDan]

SoCal only became the place because of slow lenses.

But enough people are getting sick of it for it to changes...sooner rather than later.

[sean90291]

The real deal-breaker is going to be digital distribution. If we can get rid of film, then anyone with theatrical contacts can become a distribution company and I think a lot of people will be like "I don't need LA."

Just my speculation, but I think I'm on to something. :)

I think you're definitely onto something. Because we ARE going to get rid of film. Film's days are seriously numbered. Music is already being self-distributed by recording artists and they're starting to make big money. Maybe a country artist doesn't need to go to Nashville anymore. And maybe a filmmaker doesn't need to go to LA . Hey, if you guys saw BUbble, I thought the performances Soderbergh got out of threee non-actors who lived in the small town he shot in was inspiring. Theoretically, we can all find actors anywhere and make films where we want. Not M:I:3...but we can make good films nonetheless. And so that I don't sideline Krestofre's thread completely...it's just another case for why Krestofre should make the move!