Civil War Drama to be Filmed in Virginia

Gov. McAuliffe announced Monday that ABC Signature, a division of ABC Studios, has chosen Virginia for Point of Honor, the pilot for the television series ABC is co-producing with Amazon Studios, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

The original series is a historical drama about a Virginia family whose lives are torn apart by the Civil War. Filming will take place in September around central Virginia and streaming episodes will be part of the Amazon prime service, which provides original filmed content to members.

Director Randall Wallace, who graduated from E.C. Glass High School in Lynchburg and went on to direct the 2010 film Secretariat about Virginia’s legendary triple-crown winning thoroughbred, will helm the project. Wallace is also known for his screenplay for Braveheart and most recently wrote and directed the film Heaven is for Real.

(There is a mansion in Lynchburg named Point of Honor; no word if there is a tie-in with the film.)

Point of Honor is co-written and produced by Carlton Cuse, executive producer for the hit series Lost, for which he won an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a Producer’s Guild Award and a Writer’s Guild Award.

“I am proud to welcome ABC and Amazon to Virginia to film Point of Honor,” McAuliffe said in the news release. Once again the Commonwealth will serve as the perfect palette to tell the story of this important part of American history. We appreciate the opportunity to welcome Randall Wallace home to Virginia.”

“Bringing Point of Honor to Virginia is another success for the state’s film industry,” said Maurice Jones, Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade. “Projects such as this are instrumental in expanding the infrastructure required to promote a strong and vital production business environment, thus continuing to diversify our economy and create jobs.”

Wallace commented: “We are immensely impressed with the welcome we have received from Governor McAuliffe, the Virginia Film Office and the support from everyone we’ve met in Virginia.”

Virginia Film Office Director Andy Edmunds noted, “We have been working with Randall Wallace since he came to Virginia to research for Secretariat. A lack of competitive film incentives at the time prevented him from being able to film that legendary Virginia story in Virginia. I couldn’t be happier that we are finally able to bring Randall back to his home state for a ground-breaking new media project such as this one. The economic impact for Virginia should it become a series will be significant.”

Point of Honor will be eligible for a film tax credit and funding from the Governor’s Motion Picture Opportunity Fund. The exact amount will be based on how much money the production spends within the state, and certain deliverables to promote tourism in Virginia.

In 2012 the economic impact of the film and television industry in Virginia totaled $328.4 million and provided 3,061 jobs with $50.5 million in tax revenue.

Read more about the project on Variety.