KNOXVILLE – The Visit Knoxville Film Office today announced Knoxville has been named one of MovieMaker’s Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker in 2020, ranking seventh out of 10 smaller cities and towns. MovieMaker determined the winners using surveys, editorial research on tax incentives and recent productions, and personal visits to most of the locations on the list. The full list of winning cities and towns is below.

“Being named to MovieMaker’s list for the second year in a row is an honor, not only for our team at Visit Knoxville but for all the hardworking film industry professionals in our area,” said Curt Willis, Visit Knoxville Film Office Director. “We are so proud of the thriving local film and television community and are looking forward to continuing to support them in welcoming even more talent to Knoxville over the coming year.”

"We’re thrilled about the new and returning cities and towns on our list of creatively thriving places for moviemakers to do great work. This year, we decided to move Los Angeles and New York City to the Hall of Fame of Best Places to Live and Work as a MovieMaker, which opened up the list to richly deserving new communities that are creating their own great film legacies,” said MovieMaker editor-in-chief Tim Molloy.

As the home to Jupiter Entertainment and their new production arm, The Hive, as well as other industry leaders including Discovery Networks, Lusid Media, Rivr Media, and North South Productions among many others, Knoxville continues to be a leader in the unscripted television industry. 2019 also saw the release of several films recently shot in the area, including Purity Falls on Lifetime and Paul Harrill’s Sundance selection Light From Light, as well as new productions like A Hard Problem, directed by hazart.

Filmmakers are attracted to Knoxville for the statewide and local filming incentives. In addition to the 25% -30% grant available from the Tennessee Entertainment Commission, the Visit Knoxville Film Office has partnered with city and county governments to offer an additional 5% cash rebate to qualifying productions, which is a rare find for filmmakers. Low cost services and locations, a deep bench of qualified crew due to booming television production in the area, and an incredibly supportive and welcoming community lauded by each filmmaker that visits the city all add up to make Knoxville a stand-out filming destination.

The complete list of MovieMaker’s 2020 Best Smaller Cities and Towns to Live and Work as a Moviemaker:

10. Newark, NJ
9. Wilmington, NC
8. Providence, RI
7. Knoxville, TN
6. Ashland, OR
5. Richmond, VA
4. Pittsburgh, PA
3. Santa Fe, NM
2. New Orleans, LA
1. Savannah, GA

MovieMaker is dedicated to the art and craft of making movies. The 2020 list of the Best Places to Live and Work as a Moviemaker appears in the Winter 2020 issue, with a cover story on LuckyChap Entertainment, the production company co-founded by Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Sophia Kerr and Josey McNamara. The issue is available on newsstands in February.

About the Visit Knoxville Film Office
Established in 2013, the mission of the Visit Knoxville Film Office is to strengthen Knoxville's economy through the promotion of the city as a premiere filming location. For more information on filming in Knoxville, please visit FilmKnoxvilleTN.com and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Visit Knoxville (Knoxville Convention and Visitors Bureau) is the official CVB for the City of Knoxville and Knox County. Visit Knoxville is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, private company that works together with the community, business leaders and local and state government to further develop Knoxville as a premier leisure, meetings and travel destination. Join the Visit Knoxville conversation with the hashtag #knoxrocks on all of our social platforms.