Years ago, film stars and producers flocked to Natchez. They would stay for weeks, filling up hotel rooms and restaurants. Stars like Elizabeth Taylor and John Wayne could be seen around town up until the 1980s.

These days, few film crews come to town. The odd documentary is appreciated, but they don’t stay for very long.

Several Natchez residents are working to change that.

Sally Durkin, media liaison and film commissioner for the Natchez Convention and Promotion Commission Board, said she and Natchez resident Jennifer Ogden plan to visit Hollywood soon.

“We are planning on traveling to Los Angeles sometime in April to attend a location managers conference and take the tools with us, such as videos and still pictures, to help sell Natchez to location managers,” Durkin said.

Location managers are the people to know. They find suitable spots for producers, making sure the locations fill the requirements for the film.

One of the reasons filming in Natchez has slacked over the past few years is the cost of shooting on location, Durkin said.

“It’s gotten astronomical,” Durkin said. “Few people know the movie based on Greg Iles’ book 24 Hours was shot in Vancouver because it was less expensive than shooting in Mississippi.”

In the past week, the Mississippi legislature passed a bill that will improve tax breaks for filming.

Durkin said she plans to try to help Natchez take advantage of the perk.

“We have a lot to offer in the way of landscape and architecture,” Durkin said. “We have architecture that ranges from the 1700s to the 1960s and beyond. We have the river. We have creeks and forests and shacks.”

And more than anything, Durkin said she wanted to make people aware the town has more to offer than scenery for a Civil War movie.

“Our main point is to try to convey to Hollywood that Natchez is conducive to shooting much more than just period films.”