By Esteban Fernandez
For Times West Virginian
Fairmont — It’s been a good day for Bob and Jeff Tinnell from Allegheny Image Factory.
Two of their films, “Gaslit by my Husband” and “The Bad Guardian,” hit two of the top five spots on Netflix since Sunday. Everyone from the actors to the network is pleased, Bob Tinnell said.
“Waking up this morning to be No. 1 and No. 4 in the country was not something we saw happening,” Bob Tinnell said. “And so that kind of threw the whole day into an uproar.”
Calls of congratulations have been rolling in all day, he said.
It’s big news for the Fairmont based film company, who shot both movies in the Marion County area. “The Bad Guardian,” which was shot in Mannington, Shinnston and Fairmont, tells the story of a woman fighting to free her father from a greedy court-appointed guardian. ‘Gaslit,” shot mostly in Fairmont, tells the true crime story of a woman who discovers things aren’t what they seem after she’s attacked in her home by a masked intruder.
Both movies were initially produced for Lifetime, before migrating to Netflix.
Bob Tinnell said to have both movies occupy such a large footprint in American media consumption is validation for the company. He said it sends a message that not only is Allegheny Image Factory producing quality films, it’s also promoting the state of West Virginia on multiple levels.
“On the purely visual landscape level, where you’re seeing a West Virginia that’s maybe not one that’s presented in the media, I think it’s validating for our state, county, local governments and public officials to go, ‘this West Virginia tax credit works,” Bob Tinnell said, referring to the state’s film tax credit. “I mean, this is a billboard at the end of the movie, the big logo, filmed in West Virginia.”
As for the state’s visual presence, Tinnell said the landscape and architecture of West Virginia made the film “Gaslit” more believable. Tinnell said the diversity of the architecture found in institutions such as hospitals, colleges schools, and diversity of landscapes ranging from rural to urban provide unique locations to shoot.
While Tinnell celebrated, Dave Lavender, who runs the West Virginia Film Office, attended South by Southwest, one of the largest film and media conferences in the industry. The conference actually has its own ties to the Mountain State. The conference’s logo was designed by a mountaineer in Helvetia, West Virginia.
Lavender said this year marked the first time multiple film productions took place over the winter. Two features were shot back to back in Princeton and the Asylum, known for its mockbusters, and three films were shot back to back in Martinsburg. The studio also built a spaceship interior inside the historic Martinsburg Roundhouse.
Steakhouse Productions also finished a feature length film in the Huntington area. Lavender said it was exciting to start the year with so many new film productions. He said once the weather warms, even more productions will get underway.
Lavender said building the creative industry here in the state is important because the film industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, one West Virginia has sat on the sidelines of for a long time. Diversity strengthens the economy. It also empowers West Virginians to tell their own stories and stay in the state.
“There’s just a lot happening,” Lavender said. “I think we better get used to turning on Netflix or Apple TV and seeing stuff that’s made in West Virginia.”
Tinnell has more in the pipeline as well. He’s keeping tight lipped on a horror movie his company shot in the area last year, but so far, keeps teasing how amazing it will be. He said it’s going to be on 800 screens.
“I can’t wait,” he said. “It’s going to send a powerful message. Honestly, as scary as the movie is, it’s just flat out beautiful. It really showcases our landscape.”
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