Like a lot of people, Alexander Kane wanted to become an actor in the movies.
Against all odds in south Georgia, Kane made that dream come true.
And then, like countless working actors before him, Kane wanted to become a producer.
And he made that happen, too.
Kane, a native of Fitzgerald, was married and had a family in his 20s, so he went to work in the oil business to provide for them.
“I had to put my dreams on hold,” he says. “But that happens a lot in life.”
In his late 20s, though, Kane started working out, got his teeth crowned, and took acting classes, sensing the time would come when he could start auditioning.
“I’ve always been a guy that wants to create his own destiny,” Kane says.
After he started getting cast in productions, Kane created the opportunity to become an executive producer. He gained an acting part in “Breach,” a Bruce Willis movie that had been slated to film in Canada.
But, knowing that his hometown was hoping to sell and demolish the old high school gym, he had a brainstorm. Kane helped arrange the sale of the old building to serve as an outer-space set. That gained him his first executive producer credit.
He also has acted in and executive produced “Trog,” “Gasoline Alley” and “Lena and Snowball.”
Kane says his company, The Melanie Group, has produced $42 million worth of movies in south Georgia in the last couple of years, with about 20 percent of that amount being spent locally.
Next up: He’s going to produce a remake of the classic Western “High Noon.”
“I’m very blessed,” he says. “A lot of things have fallen my way.”
He calls Georgia’s tax credit a blessing. “It is extremely appealing to anybody who has a monetary interest in filming. It obviously is a magnet that automatically brings projects to our door," he says. "Being in Georgia absolutely is a benefit.”