I was born in the mountains, lived and went to school in a lot of small towns and now, unfortunately, live in the Dallas metroplex. Too much pollution, noise and population.
Granted, small towns can't offer everything but they are more relaxing. Of course for a story setting they can be great because there are so many quirky characters and everyone knows everyone's business.
I have a feeling that Avatar will probably take home a lot. Yes, it's the retelling of Pocahontas or any other story where a foreign country invades and takes over, but hopefully it will get today's youth thinking about the future of the world. A movie with this great of a production, graphics, story and sound deserves to be a winner and not glossed over.
Also being a person in the Broadcast & media industry, I can relate to your issue and a change in life. I too decided to get more serious about my writing. Sounds like you have a good start and hopefully a great future.