The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday renewed an agreement with Create Birmingham to promote film production in the Magic City.

Councilor Hunter Williams, chairman of the Economic Development and Tourism Committee, said the city has seen an uptick in film projects in recent years because of targeted investments.

“This incentivizes production companies by streamlining the entire process through Create Birmingham’s support, from permit applications to site selection and other services that make production easier,” Williams said. “This partnership has been very successful, in my opinion, given their track record and the amount of films we’ve seen being made in recent years, which has made a substantial economic impact here locally.”

The one-year agreement will cost the city $160,000. According to the council’s agenda, the nonprofit group will “provide professional creative industry services in delivering production registration, maintaining film crew and location databases, attracting new films and developing film friendly policy and regional cooperation that will have a significant impact on the city’s local creative economy while raising Birmingham’s national profile as a dynamic and hospitable place to do business.”

Create Birmingham’s mission is to invest in economic development in the nonprofit and commercial creative sectors, including the performing arts, visual arts and crafts, culture and heritage, media and film, design and culinary arts. It does this by distributing grant money and supporting programming and events that support and promote artists and the creative industry.

Create Birmingham began in 2003 as the Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham, a cultural advocacy organization recommended in the city’s Cultural Master Plan. The CAGB’s name changed in 2014 with a refocus on supporting the Magic City’s creative economy.

Two weeks ago, the Create board of directors hired Valerie Collins Thomas, previously a board member, to be its interim chief executive officer after the departure of Quang Do, who joined as CEO in the spring.

Loan Granted to Rehab Former Birmingham Schools Location

The council on Tuesday also approved a two-year, $2 million loan agreement concerning the redevelopment of the former Birmingham City School service garage.

The firm doing the work is RPG Birmingham. As part of the agreement the developer “will undertake a project to construct, renovate, and rebrand the Tower at Uptown,” according to the council’s agenda.

RPG’s plans for the 1.7-acre development will feature four buildings, with 25 residential units, a mini grocery store, a coffee shop, several restaurant spaces, retail storefronts, a fitness center and salon suites, among other offerings.

According to city officials, the former service center has been unused for years. In 2023, the council approved a $1.9 million sale of the property to RPG.

In other business, the council:

• Approved spending $436,000 to install outdoor fitness equipment at three city parks. According to city officials, the locations will be chosen by the Parks and Recreation Board.
• Approved an application with the Alabama Department of Transportation’s Rebuild Alabama Grant. If approved, the money would assist with the repaving of Lakeshore Parkway from West Oxmoor Road to Industrial/Tom Martin Drive. The grant request is for up to $350,000, with a $100,000 match from the city.