The issue: &8220;Honeydripper&8221; features much about Alabama.

Our position: When something like this happens, everyone in the state wins.

John Sayles&8217; latest film, &8220;Honeydripper,&8221; has debuted across the nation and brings pride to this state.

It was filmed in Greenville, just about a 45-minute drive from here. In a recent story by The Associated Press, Sayles said he received a lot of help from Ricky McLaney of Butler County&8217;s development office and Greenville Mayor Dexter McLendon.

Even the music has an Alabama background. The Alabama Blue Project helped Sayles get some of the blues musicians like Arthur Lee Williams, Eddie Shaw and Keb Mo.

Many folks from Alabama are in the backgrounds or had roles as extras.

The film is the 16th this independent filmmaker has given the public. It&8217;s already nominated for a couple of NAACP Image Awards.

The film is about a man who books a famous showman from New Orleans for a big Saturday night. The star doesn&8217;t show, so the man tries to get by with a drifter, who plays guitar and wants to be a star. Everything for this man is riding on that one show &8212; home, freedom and career.

Sayles has never failed to produce strong films, and this one should be a lot of fun because folks will see neighbors, friends and familiar settings.

It goes to show that Alabama is making use of its resources to attract all sorts of industries, including filmmakers. When something like this film happens, we&8217;re all winners.