By By Janet Little Cooper
Cameras were rolling in several Atmore businesses Thursday as part of a partnership between Coastal Gateway Economic Development and the Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce.
A camera crew from Onmedia, a part of Mediacom Cable, shot footage at Roaster's Gallery, Annie's Community Cup, Gregg's, Jus Because and McElhaney's Restaurant and Grill in Atmore to be used in a 30-second commercial that is intended to showcase the regional area of Conecuh, Monroeville and Escambia counties.
"We want to expose people from outside of this area about what the county has to offer as a whole," CGEDA director Wiley Blankenship said. "Onmedia had done a commercial for Monroeville last year that was great. It was really effective for Monroeville. I am convinced that this was the best way to expose our region."
The four different 30-second commercials are expected to hit the airwaves by the first week of July and are scheduled to run for 12 months on three of the highest rated cable channels.
The targeted area is Baldwin, Mobile, Escambia County, Fla., and Santa Rosa counties.
"There are four chamber of commerce offices participating in the filming by contributing a percentage of the money involved in it," Blankenship said. "In addition to the Atmore chamber, Brewton, Monroeville and Evergreen are all participating as well as the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Poarch. The chambers of commerce are vital in helping us to recruit industry and business. The commercial will feature a collage of all these areas. Footage from each area will be combined in one commercial. We are trying to sell the area as one region."
The Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce executive director Emilie Mims helped pick out the sites to be filmed.
"We were trying to pick places that people would not expect to find in Atmore," Mims said. "I think that this is a very positive step for Atmore to be involved in television advertising. It is intended to reach people outside of Atmore and entice them to visit or relocate to the area. Even though we only filmed a handful of businesses, once the people get here, all of our merchants will have a shot at them."
According to Blankenship, businesses can purchase the backside of the commercials giving the area multiple exposure that will then turn into a 60-second spot.
"The purpose of the commercial is to boost tourism and the production of housing and a different way of life," Blankenship said. "I especially think that we are going to see the greatest benefit from the winter months when the snow birds flock to the coastal area that we plan to target with the commercials.