Alaska Finally Joins the A-List

Photo Courtesy of Me

I've been a little homesick for the Great Land lately, and it looks like I'm in good company. According to an Associated Press featured article that appeared on TMCnet World News on February 23, 2011: “The real Alaska has finally joined the A–list. Long a bit player in the entertainment world, the 49th state increasingly is sought out by TV and film producers for its unmatchable lure of spectacular beauty and peril, of wild adventures and dangerous jobs.” Phil Segal, president of Original Productions, reports, “(Alaska) represents the allure of the unknown, akin to Old West wagon trains heading to an uncharted destination… We're in Alaska for one reason and one reason only. It is an amazing, cultural den that has so many stories to be told. It is this incredibly rich final frontier that is an amazing backdrop for storytelling.”

With the recent successes of television shows like “Deadliest Catch,” “Ice Road Truckers,” “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” and “Flying Wild Alaska"—which opened to a record 2.6 million viewers this January—Alaska is now home to more series per capita than any other state, and the trend shows no signs of slowing. Drew Barrymore’s newest feature film “Everybody Loves Whales”—set in Barrow and shot on location in Alaska—is set to be released on January 13, 2012, and John Voight just finished filming a new supernatural thriller (tentatively titled "Ghost Vision") during the winter of 2010-2011. On Tuesday, February 22, 2011, a team of action-movie producers arrived in Anchorage to research a feature film about a dangerous mountain rescue (tentatively titled “The Peak”) that they hope to film in Alaska as early as next year.