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NATCHEZ — Davis Sharp had no intention of working in the film industry. He was studying to become a physical therapist at the University of Mississippi when a summer job after his freshman year threw a wrench into his plans.

“I got a phone call about a job from someone at the newly built Crooked Letter Picture Company,” Sharp said. “I went there to meet the location managers for Breaking News in Yuba County.”

Sharp was hired as a location assistant for his first job. The film, directed by Tate Taylor and produced by John Norris, starred Allison Janney, Mila Kunis, and Wanda Sykes.

“What’s funny is that movie was pretty brutal. We filmed at lots of locations, and we had really long shoots. We would shoot long into the night. I told the people I was working with there was no way I wouldn’t finish my path to physical therapy. They kept telling me that I was going to get the film bug. I guess they were right,” he said.

Sharp and his brother, Burne Sharp, have since formed the Natchez Film Company. The film company works on all different kinds of film projects.

In 2022, Sharp said he worked on 11 productions in seven states, including a Disney project in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and projects in North Carolina and South Carolina.

“I did tons of work in Natchez that year, as well,” he said.

Sharp has continued to work in the film industry as a freelancer or through Natchez Film Company.

“We had a little lull recently, so I made a promotional video about all Natchez offers to the film industry. I wrote it and recorded a voiceover track for it. Once we had finished the first version, I sent it to John Norris, and he and Tate Taylor watched it,” Sharp said. “They thought it was good enough for Mr. Taylor to come into our studio and redo some of our voiceover lines.”

Sharp said Natchez is perfectly situated for film producers. The video is meant to spread the word about the film industry’s readily available assets in Natchez.

“We are encouraging people to look at what Natchez has to offer,” he said. Any backdrop, from flat farmland to the bluff towering over the Mississippi River to busy downtown streets to historic homes, can be found in Natchez.

“Part of our mission statement at Natchez Film Company is to help grow and support the creative economy in the area,” Sharp said. “We want to highlight the fact that Natchez is a place that has highly experienced film crews. We have a lot of film crew union members who live in the area.

“Thankfully, our state has a very attractive incentive in place for film production. And there’s lots of talk about the legislature actually raising the cap on those incentives,” he said.