Why filmmakers keep coming back to Somerset-Pulaski County, and what it means for the community

Another film is in production as momentum builds for the community’s growing on-screen presence

Som­er­set and Pulas­ki Coun­ty are con­tin­u­ing to emerge as a hub for film pro­duc­tion in Ken­tucky, with a new fea­ture film now in pro­duc­tion — bring­ing sig­nif­i­cant eco­nom­ic impact to local busi­ness­es and new oppor­tu­ni­ties for com­mu­ni­ty involve­ment.

Dur­ing the last week, home­town film scout and loca­tion man­ag­er Char­lie Louthen and his team from Lex Stu­dios have set up shop in Som­er­set-Pulas­ki Coun­ty to shoot a new fea­ture film, Christ­mas at Moose Lake, bring­ing the hol­i­day sea­son back to life in the mid­dle of spring. Not only have res­i­dents and vis­i­tors been delight­ed by the com­mu­ni­ty Christ­mas tree back on dis­play at Foun­tain Square, but vis­i­tors to Pulas­ki Coun­ty Park have also been treat­ed to a back­drop of Christ­mas trees and snow.

This heart­warm­ing, sto­ry-dri­ven film is expect­ed to be a net­work tele­vi­sion pro­duc­tion. It marks the lat­est in a grow­ing list of pro­duc­tion com­pa­nies choos­ing Som­er­set as a film­ing des­ti­na­tion. 

The film­ing of Christ­mas at Moose Lake comes on the heels of the March 27 the­ater release of She Dances, which includes scenes shot at The Cen­ter for Rur­al Devel­op­ment. She Dances is a 2025 Amer­i­can com­e­dy-dra­ma film direct­ed by Rick Gomez from a screen­play by Gomez and actor Steve Zahn. Star­ring Zahn, Ethan Hawke and Zahn’s daugh­ter, Audrey Zahn, the movie is receiv­ing nation­al media atten­tion, includ­ing on Late Night with Seth Mey­ers and in The New York­er, and is help­ing shine a spot­light on Som­er­set as a viable film­ing loca­tion.

For Louthen, the deci­sion to film anoth­er movie in Som­er­set was an easy one.

“I love mak­ing movies in Som­er­set — because Som­er­set tru­ly loves film,” Louthen said. “Every pro­duc­tion here feels like smooth sail­ing, thanks to incred­i­ble sup­port from peo­ple like Leslie Ikerd with city tourism, Crys­tal Kidd at the Cham­ber of Com­merce, and John Alexan­der with Pulas­ki Coun­ty.”

Louthen has been involved in mul­ti­ple film projects in Som­er­set, a tes­ta­ment to the expe­ri­ence local part­ners and busi­ness­es have built in sup­port­ing pro­duc­tions.

“No mat­ter where I go, I always pro­mote Som­er­set as a film­ing des­ti­na­tion because pro­duc­tions here are treat­ed so well — not just by local offi­cials, but by the com­mu­ni­ty as a whole,” he said. “This lat­est film has come togeth­er thanks to the sup­port of so many amaz­ing local peo­ple and busi­ness­es. It tru­ly makes me proud to be from here.”

That sense of com­mu­ni­ty sup­port is a key rea­son pro­duc­tion com­pa­nies con­tin­ue to return and a major dri­ver of the eco­nom­ic impact that fol­lows.

“Film pro­duc­tion is a pow­er­ful exam­ple of how tourism and eco­nom­ic devel­op­ment inter­sect,” said Leslie Ikerd, exec­u­tive direc­tor of See Som­er­set Tourism. “When a pro­duc­tion choos­es Som­er­set, it brings imme­di­ate busi­ness to our hotels, restau­rants, retail shops and ser­vice providers, and it also cre­ates oppor­tu­ni­ties for our res­i­dents to be part of some­thing unique.”

More than 500 locals applied to be extras for Christ­mas at Moose Lake, Ikerd said, high­light­ing both the excite­ment sur­round­ing the project and the oppor­tu­ni­ty for com­mu­ni­ty involve­ment.

“While we may not know where the fin­ished film will ulti­mate­ly land, we do know the impact it leaves behind,” Ikerd said. “These pro­duc­tions sup­port count­less local busi­ness­es and cre­ate an ener­gy in our com­mu­ni­ty that enhances our qual­i­ty of life. For a few weeks, our small town is part of some­thing much big­ger, and that mat­ters.”

That impact extends well beyond the pro­duc­tion win­dow itself, said Michelle Allen, exec­u­tive direc­tor of Lake Cum­ber­land Tourism.

“Film projects like this don’t just gen­er­ate short-term eco­nom­ic activ­i­ty — they help posi­tion our com­mu­ni­ty as a des­ti­na­tion for future invest­ment,” Allen said. “Each suc­cess­ful pro­duc­tion builds con­fi­dence among film­mak­ers and pro­duc­ers, while also intro­duc­ing new audi­ences to Som­er­set and the Lake Cum­ber­land region.”

That grow­ing inter­est is part of a broad­er trend across the Com­mon­wealth, sup­port­ed in part by the Ken­tucky Enter­tain­ment Incen­tive pro­gram, which encour­ages film and tele­vi­sion pro­duc­tions to invest in local com­mu­ni­ties. 

But local lead­ers say what tru­ly sets Som­er­set apart is its abil­i­ty to deliv­er a seam­less, wel­com­ing expe­ri­ence for crews. From coor­di­nat­ing per­mits and loca­tions to con­nect­ing pro­duc­tions with local busi­ness­es and tal­ent, orga­ni­za­tions across Som­er­set and Pulas­ki Coun­ty have devel­oped a col­lab­o­ra­tive approach that con­tin­ues to attract repeat projects, Ikerd said.

“Weeks ago, when Char­lie con­tact­ed me about his inten­tion to bring a new film here, we imme­di­ate­ly got to work help­ing make con­nec­tions and find part­ners and par­tic­i­pants to make this project suc­cess­ful,” Ikerd said. “Our ulti­mate goal is to ensure that the hos­pi­tal­i­ty film crews receive when they come here is sec­ond-to-none, and through out­stand­ing col­lab­o­ra­tion with a num­ber of local orga­ni­za­tions, we’ve made that hap­pen. Som­er­set has some­thing spe­cial, and peo­ple in the indus­try are start­ing to take notice.”

For Louthen, that com­bi­na­tion is hard to find else­where.

“This is the fourth film I’ve brought here, and each expe­ri­ence has been just as seam­less and reward­ing as the last,” he said.