FAIRMONT, W.Va. — A Fairmont-based production company is making noise in the worldwide film industry.
The Allegheny Image Factory had two of their productions in the Netflix top five recently.
Jeff Tinnell, who owns the business with brother Robert said “Gaslit by my Husband” and “The Bad Guardian” are films produced locally that have trended near the top of the Netflix rankings.
“It’s really exciting—Netflix is the largest distributor of films, the largest studio with the largest viewership going right now,” Tinnell said Monday on WAJR’s “Talk of the Town.” “So, to get to that position with not one, but two films is really exciting to us.”
The brothers have worked in Los Angeles and Canada for many years and started the company in 2005 primarily as a publishing company. Their first project, Feast of the Seven was a book written by the brothers and transformed into a movie. The company moved into production about 15 years ago and moved back home to West Virginia after the West Virginia Film Production Tax Credit was passed by the legislature.
“The state of West Virginia created a film tax incentive and in the production small movies and large movies that’s a big key component when you see movies shot in different places,” Tinnell said.
The company does several projects for the Lifetime Network, AMC, and the Independent Film Company. The productions need a variety of support from meals, lodging, and transportation to actor salaries and set construction.
“Our shows are in the neighborhood in direct spend, not the ancillary pieces,” Tinnell said. “If you’re talking about doing a $2 to $2.5 million film, we’re spending $600,000 to $700,000 directly into the community; take Marion County, for example.”
Establishing the company in West Virginia was a process, according to Tinnell. Many people in the industry had concerns based on broad perceptions of the Mountain State. Once people came, the people of West Virginia and the natural beauty did the rest.
“After we got over those first hurdles of getting people to come here it’s been awesome,” Tinnell said. “The talent likes to come here, the people that come with us to work here like it and it’s ease of working, friendliness of the people and changing perceptions has been very important.”
This fall an original horror movie called “River” will debut at the Toronto Film Festival. The film is about a group of brothers that travel up the Monongahela River to distribute their father’s ashes when they’re attacked by a homicidal maniac. The film is expected to be a major release following the showing in Canada this fall.
“River, a horror movie that will be coming out this time next year in ’27,” Tinnell said. “We shot that in the Monongalia and Marion County area.”