ST. CLOUD (WJON News) — It’s been decades since the movie The Mighty Ducks filmed scenes here in St. Cloud, but locals still love to talk about it. Local leaders are taking steps to hopefully attract other major motion pictures and television shows to town.
Visit Greater St. Cloud is taking the lead on becoming a Minnesota Film Ready Community with Explore Minnesota. Executive Director Rachel Thompson says the benefits go well beyond bragging rights.
We know from a travel incentive standpoint that people love visiting film locations, as well as there are huge dollars that could come into the community based on production. They also typically hire local film production crews.
Becoming a Minnesota Film Ready Community requires certification through the state. Cities also need to have a specific permit that film companies can fill out. The St. Cloud City Council has set a public hearing for the special permit.
She says part of that process is to identify and work with potential sites to be ready if Hollywood comes calling.
Think Munsigner Garges, the downtown, our courthouse, that’s seen The Mighty Ducks in the past, those types of locations. We put them in a database and work with those facilities to best put those locations forward.
The Minnesota State Legislature has allocated $25 million that can be leveraged as tax incentives and rebates to entice film companies to choose Minnesota as a film location.
People who travel to movie locations for vacation is a real thing, and St. Cloud wants to get in on the action.
They find locations that have been filmed and they make their travel plans around it. We have the Mighty Ducks courthouse listed on that app. When we get additional feature films, we’re able to add to that, to see some traffic from a leisure travel standpoint.
In 1989, the movie Catch Me If You Can was shot in St. Cloud, and in 1992, The Mighty Ducks was released with scenes inside the Stearns County Courthouse.
Other communities in greater Minnesota that are on the list include: Little Falls, Waite Park, Duluth, Grand Rapids, Detroit Lakes, Austin, and Worthington.
Thompson cautions that movie-making is a long process, and it might take years to see results. Also, the industry is often very secretive until the production has been filmed and produced.