The business editor as actor

John Temple Ligon, the business editor of the Columbia Star newspaper in South Carolina, has been cast as a lobbyist in a film being shot in Columbia called “Nailed” and starring Jake Gillenhaal and Jessica Biel.

Ligon writes, “For us newcomers, the most impressive sight on the set was the expensive equipment, and the gargantuan scale of that equipment, and all the people necessary to operate it. After the first hour of filming, the informed nail sunk into my skull with estimates of what all this production could cost.

“How much of this money was being spent in South Carolina? For the day, most of it, including my extra’s fee.

“The South Carolina Legislature has recently returned to an attractive incentives package to lure big- budget film production into the state to throw around lots of money among us resident South Carolinians.

“From what I saw in my one day of impersonating my lobbyist buddies, film production is grossly inefficient. They take all day for one scene with a huge population of local extras, tons of expensive equipment, and ample supplies delivered by local services.”

Read more here.