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Frederick, Westminster, & Mount Airy for Film Makers
By Frey | March 19, 2007
It’s a slow news week, so I figured I’d take a few minutes to write about three of the best kept filming secrets of Maryland.
Frederick, MD is the second largest city in the state and the capital of Frederick County (which happens to be the largest county in Maryland). Located 1 hour west from Baltimore and 1 hour north of Washington DC, this decently sized city still has that small town feel - the people are very friendly and more than approachable. It’s a great place to shoot your film. It has some beautiful backdrops - since the Allegheny mountains can be seen off in the distance. The Hollywood film Gods and Generals was partially shot here (from what I understand, the Washington DC scenes). Frederick is host to a very large community, including Fort Detrick (which may or may not be a good thing for filmmakers), two colleges (Hood College and Frederick Community College) and lots of neat parks, and other recreational places. If you want to get “out” of the city - the mountains and other beautiful views are just a few minutes away - and not to mention several of the Civil War battlefields are within driving distance! All in all, Frederick is a great place to shoot a film.
Westminster, MD could almost be described as a sleepy town - which is a contrast to Frederick. With two decently sized colleges, McDaniel College and Carroll Community College, Westminster is also the capital of Carroll County. The people of Westminster are often described as quiet, but friendly. Located 45 minutes north-west of Baltimore and an hour and a half from Washington DC, you can think of Westminster as a farming community that grew beyond the farm. Just a few minutes drive outside of Westminster, you will find many farms and other farming related operations, which makes this is a great town to not only get to know, but a really cool backdrop for a film. In 1997 Hollywood came to Westminster to shoot the film For Richer or Poorer with Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley. They actually renovated the street facades to look like a Pennsylvanian community. Recently, Jason Krznarich (without renovating the street facades) shot his independent film, The Chosen One in Westminster.
Mount Airy, MD is definitely not the largest town - but it’s growing fast. It’s location right off of Interstate-70, and it’s lack of “heavy” traffic, makes Mt Airy one of the most accessible places in Maryland for filming - and a prime candidate for being the perfect town to film in. Literally a half an hour from Baltimore and 1 hour from Washington DC, this town is often called a “sleeper community”. What’s a sleeper community? It means in the daytime, most of this town works down the road. Mt Airy is actually located in 4 different counties. The four counties are: Carroll County, Frederick County, Montgomery County, and Howard County - literally walking across the street in this town will put you in a different county… This town has almost everything one would need to shoot a film - a downtown (it’s small, but really neat), on the outskirts of town are plenty of farms and several golf courses. As a note, we shot our feature film, Hunting Dragonflies, on the outskirts of this town. Several years ago, the band “Hootie and the Blowfish” shot part of their music video on one of the golf courses in this town. This town is easily one of my favorite towns. It’s one of those places where most everyone says, “Hello” and “Good Morning” when passing each other on the sidewalk - and they mean it.
There are many more cities, towns, and other local communities for filmmakers to love and enjoy in the state of Maryland, but Frederick, Westminster, and Mount Airy are three places you must put on your list to investigate. Well worth the trip - and make sure to bring a camera!
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Topics: film, high definition, maryland, reviews |
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