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JACKSONVILLE-FILMED G.I. JANE WILL MAKE TNT CABLE NETWORK DEBUT JULY 25

7/24/2003

G.I. Jane, the1997 military drama starring Demi Moore as the first woman ever to train to be a Navy SEAL, is coming to the small screen with its television debut on the TNT cable network July 25 at 8 p.m.

“Having G.I. Jane film in Jacksonville was a huge coup for our city,” said Todd Roobin, chief of the city’s Film & Television Office. “At the time, the movie was the highest budgeted major motion picture to shoot on the First Coast. The film also involved major Hollywood A-listers including Demi Moore, Academy Award winning director Ridley Scott and Viggo Mortensen who went on to Lord of the Ring fame.”

G.I. Jane was filmed at various sites throughout Jacksonville in Duval and Clay counties. Jacksonville’s Huguenot Park served as the beach base for Moore’s Naval SEAL training and the ships at Mayport Naval Station across from the park provided a scenic backdrop. In addition, Dunn’s Creek Fish Camp off Hecksher Drive became a rustic bar; Craig Air Field was the Navy Spec War Center for helicopter aviation; Big Talbot Island became Captiva Island where the Navy SEALS drop from helicopters into the water; the St. Johns River Inlet near Mayport was featured as water training for Navy SEALS; Camp Blanding served as the SEAL barracks and a wooded area off Middleberg Road was the obstacle course.

When G.I. Jane was filmed in Jacksonville in 1996, the film’s production company, Hollywood Pictures, hired 100 technicians and 5,500 extras from the area. The movie was estimated to have a $14 million economic impact on the local economy. In the years since the filming of G.I. Jane, those figures were surpassed by Columbia Pictures’ BASIC, which was filmed in Jacksonville in 2002 and released in theatres nationwide in March 2003. BASIC, also a military-themed movie, hired 120 area technicians, 5,400 extras and had an estimated local economic impact of $15 million.

Director Ridley Scott, the mastermind behind such films as Gladiator, Thelma and Louise and Alien was quoted during the filming of G.I. Jane saying “Filming in Jacksonville was a wonderful experience. The crew is talented, professional and dependable. I look forward to a return visit!”

The TNT Cable Network will also air G.I. Jane July 25 at 10:30 p.m., July 27 at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., and August 6 at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.

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