Movie of Kent State protest shooting to be filmed in Columbus
A movie about the Ohio National Guard’s 1970 fatal shooting of student protesters at Kent State University will be filmed in Columbus, according to the entertainment news website Deadline Hollywood.
Columbus Film Commission and VisitColumbusGa president and CEO Peter Bowden confirmed the news to the Ledger-Enquirer.
Written and directed by Karen Slade and distributed by Briarcliff Entertainment, the movie will feature actors Dermot Mulroney, Clancy Brown, Aksel Hennie, Christopher Backus, Christopher Ammanuel, Andrew Ortenberg and Jacqueline Emerson, the report says.
Filming in Columbus will start in November, and it’s expected to be released in U.S. theaters in 2023, Deadline reported.
The movie database IMDB lists the film’s production companies as Autumn Moon Productions, Beer Money Worldwide and Duality Capital.
IMDB says, “Kent State brings to life the tragedy of May 4, 1970, when four students were shot and killed by the National Guard while exercising their rights to free speech during a campus protest of the Vietnam War.”
Recent movies filmed in the Columbus area include action thrillers “Cash Out” starring John Travolta and “Survive the Night” starring Bruce Willis, faith-based stories “Overcomer,” “My Brother’s Keeper,” “Electric Jesus” and “The Greatest Inheritance” and dramas “Things Don’t Stay Fixed” by artist Bo Bartlett and “The Neon Highway” starring Beau Bridges.
Bowden noted the significance of the “Kent State” film project coming to Columbus in terms of the type of movie and its budget.
“When you have a film that’s telling a piece of history and interpreting it the way the writers and producers are hoping to deliver to the public, I mean, this is a different type of movie in Columbus,” Bowden said. “It takes that moment some of us remember growing up and transports that piece of time and makes it even more relevant or impactful.”
At approximately $10 million, “Kent State” has the highest budget among the movies receiving financial incentives from the Columbus Film Fund in its seven-year history, Bowden said. He declined to specify the financial agreement, but money raised by private donations will offset some production costs in Columbus.
Although he didn’t have specific locations available, Bowden said the 25 days of filming primarily will be at Columbus State University.
Students attending the Georgia Film Academy at CSU will have the opportunity to work on the set, Bowden said, and he expects chances for local actors to be in the movie as extras.
CSU spokesman Greg Hudgison told the Ledger-Enquirer in a voicemail, “We don’t have anything confirmed. We did have a site visit — and it sounds like it’s the same movie — but that was months ago, and there’s nothing official signed as far as permission to shoot on campus.”
