The Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) has announced that Jane Seymour, Golden Globe and Emmy award winning actress, will be this year’s annual meeting speaker. The CVB’s annual meeting and luncheon event will be held at The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center’s Roanoke Ballroom on Thursday, May 12th at 11:30 a.m.
Ms. Seymour is perhaps best known for her role in “Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman” a long-running television series. Her most significant movie roles have been in the James Bond thriller “Live and Let Die” with Roger Moore and “Somewhere in Time” with Christopher Reeve. Just last year, Ms. Seymour was cast for a principal role in “Lake Effects,” which was filmed on location at Smith Mountain Lake and sites throughout the Roanoke Valley. Ms. Seymour plays the family matriarch, Vivian Tisdale, in a story about two daughters and their mother who embark on a journey of rediscovery after the family patriarch dies.
Music for “Lake Effects” was composed in part by Maestro David Stewart Wiley, director of the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. Several members of the symphony including Wiley will perform during the annual meeting. Sara Elizabeth Timmins, the producer of “Lake Effects,” has plans to give those in attendance the first look at the film with the movie trailer.
“We are honored to have Ms. Seymour as our featured speaker,” stated Landon Howard, Roanoke Valley CVB Executive Director. “The setting for “Lake Effects” in Virginia’s beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains offers a fabulous opportunity for millions to see our area perhaps for the first time through this film.” Howard continued, “It is our hope the popularity of Ms. Seymour and her starring role in the movie will lead to increased visitation to the region.”
Business leaders are banking on the film to be an economic driver for the region and for tourism. In 2009, Roanoke Valley tourism generated over $610 million in annual expenditures, 7,100 direct jobs, and $131 million in annual payroll. In the same year, Virginia’s film industry had an economic impact of more than $346 million, contributing $33 million in tax revenue and providing work for 2,700 Virginians. Filming and tourism are big business and the Roanoke Valley CVB plans to celebrate both on May 12.
Tickets to the event are $45 per person which includes lunch as well as a private book signing. Limited seating is available to the general public.
Reservations may be made by contacting Heidi Mowry at the Roanoke Valley CVB, [email protected] or (540) 342-6025, ext. 116.