Hollywood is much more than a town; it's an entire industry. Cleveland is a bit of Hollywood, angling for a lot more.
We have been the location for many feature films, some movie scenes shot in Cleveland look like real life, but that's the idea. The city also has the buildings, streets, the people, and more for Hollywood's make-believe.
Selling that idea is the job of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission. Ivan Schwarz wants to woo in the big film people to make their films here.
"Covered bridges, urban, suburban, river, lake/ocean," he states. "The architecture is so diverse in this reason.
Schwarz says Cleveland and Ohio have people skilled in the film business who can be the behind the scenes workers and the extras for films. He adds the region is "Lights, Camera, Action"-ready.
"I want to make this a global center of excellence in this industry," he said.
This is Cleveland, but to a big Hollywood filmmaker, this could be just about anywhere. Cleveland has had a starring role before and can be an even bugger star. Scwarz says for this to happen, incentives (money) must be given to those filmmakers to come produce here.
Yes, Cleveland can be Hollywood, and Hollywood can be Cleveland.
"The more content that we make, the better chance we have for an Oscar-nominated film," Scwarz said.