Maryland Sees Stars with New Netflix Series
by Amanda Winters, Office of the Secretary
Baltimoreans may once again be seeing stars.
Award-winning actors, filmmakers and film crews will soon descend on several locations in and around the Baltimore area to film the Netflix series House of Cards. Originally broadcast by the BBC in 1990, the political thriller starring Kevin Spacey and directed by David Fincher, who also directed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network, is being rewritten to fit Washington, D.C. as the backdrop. With Baltimore’s vast inventory of locations and architecture, the City is able to easily transform into the nation’s capital with a touch of film magic. Production starts this spring and will continue into the fall.
It’s been a busy year for film crews in and around Baltimore. Over the past year, two highly anticipated HBO productions have wrapped and are on their way to premiering. The first season of VEEP, a political satire series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the Vice President of the United States, will begin on Sunday, April 22. Game Change, a film following Ed Harris as John McCain and Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin on their race to the White House, will premiere on HBO on Saturday, March 10.
- Julianne Moore and Ed Harris starring in Game Change
“These recent productions mean jobs for Maryland film crews and actors, revenue for Maryland businesses, and economic activity for our State,” said Maryland Film Office Director Jack Gerbes.
Season one of House of Cards, consisting of 13 episodes, is a dramatic boost for Maryland’s film business. This production is Netflix’s first venture into one-hour drama programming.
Gerbes says the move by Netflix is a strong one. “They are making this move into original hour-long dramatic programming with an amazing array of talent. I can’t recall another production that has shot in Maryland that has had so many Oscar, Golden Globe, and Emmy winners attached.”
Last quarter, Netflix raked in more than two billion hours of streamed video. According to industry publications, both Netflix and HBO bid for the series, with Netflix taking the win. They currently have about 24 million subscribers.
The state’s newly enacted Film Production Employment Act, signed by Governor Martin O’Malley last May, was instrumental in securing the Media Rights Capital production for Maryland.
