Fields of Freedom - Gettysburg Movie Filming In Washington County, Maryland

Historical movie of "Pickett's Charge" being filmed near Hagerstown, Maryland. Movie is first for all-digital IMAX-style big screen production. New theatres at Gateway Gettysburg will show film in 2006.

(PRWEB) June 19, 2005 -- Fields Of Freedom" is a $3.5-million film financed by the Monahan Group as part of the Gateway Gettysburg project to play exclusively in the developments state of the art digital cinemas. The movie has begun filming outside of Hagerstown, MD. Emmy Award-winning studio Greystone Television & Films, of Hollywood, California, is producing the destination feature, directed by filmmaker David deVries from his original screenplay. Robert Monahan Jr., the president of the Monahan Group, Chairman/CEO of Gateway Gettysburg and executive producer of the film as well as producer Craig Haffner and writer/director deVries are spending significant time during filming in Washington County.

The film will be shown on a new 3-and-one-half stories tall, 60-feet wide screen, state-of-the-art digital movie theatre in Gettysburg. The movie will be focusing on the military aspects of the battle, and will be the first of several films to be produced by Greystone for exclusive exhibition at the complex, according to Monahan.

"To have this production company chose Washington County, Maryland for this important film speaks volumes," said Tom Riford of the Hagerstown-Washington County Convention and Visitors Bureau. "We welcome this movie being filmed here, and we are excited that millions of visitors to our region will have the chance to witness part of the historic Gettysburg battle." Riford expressed appreciation for the significant and positive local economic impact that the movie project brings to Washington County.

Maryland Film Office Director Jack Gerbes, "It's exciting that this movie project choose Washington County, Maryland to film one of the most significant battles in the history of the United States. It's wonderful that the movie production company chose Maryland." Gerbes said that the hospitality displayed by Hagerstown and Washington County during the filming makes the area attractive to producers.

The next feature is set for the summer of 2007 and will concentrate on the lives of the civilians who were caught in the maelstrom of violence between the opposing armies. A third film will deal with aspects of the Underground Railroad, the network of Abolitionist sympathizers who helped fugitive slaves escape their oppression and how it impacted the Gettysburg residents.

Fields of Freedom" provides a unique distinction to the ambitious Gateway Gettysburg project, which broke ground in January 2004 and is the largest business development to occur in Adams County, Pennsylvania, home of the historic Gettysburg National Military Park. At 100 acres, the $250 million multi-facility project will be of major economic importance to Gettysburg and South Central Pennsylvania, totally redefining accommodations accessible to its 1.9 million yearly influx of tourists.

Gateway Gettysburg will also impact the 22 million visitors a year to the Washington, DC-Baltimore metro region and be a major attraction to trade associations, government and corporate business. Upon completion, Gateway Gettysburg will include: four hotels, a business conference center with an array of facilities that will include a ball room that will accommodate 1500 guests, an eight-movie theatre complex for first run features as well as two state of the art large format digital theatres, food and beverage facilities, historic retail facilities which will include site appropriate books and DVDs, antiques, art, artifacts, sculpture and local and regional visitor information and reservation services.

The first hotel, a Marriott Courtyard, and the theatres, managed by RC Theatres, will open in November 2005, followed by a Wyndham Hotel Conference in the summer of 2006.

More than 300 cast and crew have been working in Washingotn County, Maryland on the film. It has been a significant economic impact for the community, according to the Hagerstown-Washington County CVB.

# # #