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Industry News

1 Nov , 2003  

Written by Chris Cooke | Posted by:

Reality TV takes over, Adam Sandler's 'The Mayor,' and more... A report of news & events in the local industry for November 2003.

Email news to news@newenglandfilm.com

In the News

Looks like we can start calling the Industry News the Reality TV Review. Such shows are cheap to make and can bring in big bucks, so everyone’s trying to get in on the action.

Connecticut seems to be leading the pack. Earlier this summer, MTV paid a visit to Hartford and New Britain to shoot for its series "Made." Each segment, one desperate soul has their life transformed. Banyan Productions (out of Philly) dropped by to film a segment of the similarly themed, guerilla-style "Ambush Makeover." A biker-looking type (who turned out to be a lawyer) with a beard down to his belly was overtaken by one of the show’s Style Agents near the Cow Parade area of West Hartford. A thorough makeover ensued. Much facial hair was lost. Banyan Productions has also shot segments of Trading Spaces and Epicurious in the area. And Ron Hazelton Productions has set up shop in Fairfield for the Learning Channel’s "House Calls" (in partnership with Home Depot). Each segment, someone gets his or her house redone.

Court TV’s "Psychic Detectives" recently shot an episode in New London and at the Mystic Educational Center in Groton (which stood in for a police station). In each show, a psychic works with detectives to solve an unsolved crime, in this case the disappearance of coast guard officer in the 1970s. The segment will air in February. Meanwhile, KLS Productions from L.A. has been filming a different kind of reality detective series — this one featuring famous forensics expert Dr. Henry C. Lee of the University of New Haven.

The second season of ABC Family TV’s "My Life as a Sitcom" has been shooting in Greenwich, New Haven, Halifax, Norwich, and Middletown. In the first season, real families competed to see whose life was most sitcom-like. The second season follows a kooky hero as he travels across the country, accumulating friends along the way. One-upmanship is the norm in Outdoor Life Network’s "Bragging Rights," in which two men "with a history and a grudge" compete in a grueling series of outdoor challenges. South Norwalk hosted a segment, enlisting the services of the Palace Production Center.

But wait, there’s more: Stonehouse Productions of South Norwalk has been signed up for 64 episodes of Food Network’s "Food 911." As a result, many segments have a distinctive New England flavor. Jeopardy shot 10 episodes at Yale during the week of November 8-12. ESPN was at the Wabeny House in New Canaan filming for a documentary on Seabiscuit. And PBS shot for a day in late October in Mystic, Stonington, and Connecticut’s Quiet Corner. The project is shrouded in secrecy.

Elsewhere in New England, others have caught the reality bug. Burlington, Vermont, recently hosted a segment of a reality show in development, currently named "Love Test." In each segment, a dating couple submits to a series of tests to prove their love. And not all reality lacks educational value: Channel 4 in Britain and PBS have just finished shooting "Colonial House" in down-east Maine. Similar to the hit series "Frontier House," the new historical reality reenactment takes place on a 17th-century colonial village reconstructed on 20 acres of land owned by Passamaquoddy people. Twenty to 30 volunteers participated, trying to eke out a life from the land, using only the methods available to the early colonists. As in our country’s past, the colonists received help from the natives: the Passamaquoddy people demonstrated farming techniques. Until it wrapped, the project was very hush-hush, to prevent modern-day meddlers from mucking up the works. There is no truth to the rumors that PBS purchased the 20 acres with beads.

Asian Invasion alert: Chinese television has been filming "Road Trip USA" with New York’s House Films. The crew recently did some shooting at Mohegan Sun. And the Japanese show "The World from a Train" is veritably stuck on New England, shooting railroads and trains in such picturesque Connecticut settings as Mystic and New Haven’s Union Station, with visits scheduled in Rhode Island and New Hampshire, and in Salem, Massachusetts, for Halloween. Milky Way Media is assisting.

Speaking of trains, the band Train filmed a recent performance in Colchester, Vermont, for an upcoming band documentary. Additional footage includes behind-the-scenes mayhem and interviews.

All states report heavy commercial activity, Maine and Rhode Island in particular. Notable commercial shoots include one for the Segway, the automated one-axle two-wheeler that has pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists in a rage over potential sidewalk and bicycle lane hazards; environmental groups fuming over its government designation as a non-motorized vehicle for emissions purposes, even though it has a motor; and health experts dismayed at yet another excuse for Americans to be lazy.

The upcoming Adam Sandler sitcom "The Mayor" is set in Colebrook, New Hampshire, but none of it was filmed there. However, folks from the state film office did supply some props to the set dresser, including hats, posters, signs, and plenty of fish and game paraphernalia. Only the pilot of CBS’s David E Kelley-produced "Brotherhood of Poland, NH" was filmed there (in Plymouth, last May), but they have come back in the past month or so to do some pick-up shots. Better than nothing, in both cases.

And oh, yeah, we actually shoot movies in New England, too. "Empire Falls" has been shooting in locations all over Maine, especially the less-well-traveled central region, where Richard Russo’s novel is set. Shooting will most likely continue through November and is currently keeping a crew of at least 150 busy. Most production people in Maine are involved in the project to some degree. Many thanks to Russo, who apparently exerted not a little influence in getting the film to the state.

Meanwhile, "Stepford Wives" has wrapped in Greenwich and New Canaan, Connecticut, but is still shooting in Norwalk. And the critics are raving about Clint Eastwood’s "Mystic River," much of which was shot in and around Boston.

And then there are the indie flicks. Providence filmmaker Richard Griffin recently returned to Rhode Island from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he was director of photography for Exhilarated Despair Productions’ "The Stink of Flesh." Now he’s busy filming his own horror B-flick "Rave to the Grave." Shoots included a staged Halloween rave at The Strand, with beats provided by DJ Venom. Who knew too much ecstasy could turn you into a zombie?

Writer, producer, and director Elizabeth Puccini has finished shooting on Bailey Island, Maine, and has relocated to New York City to complete filming her "Four Corners of Suburbia." The film follows five friends and acquaintances, away for an idyllic weekend to try to make sense of their lives. Think "The Big Chill" meets "My Dinner with Andre." Duino Productions is assisting with the film.

Maine residents, gear up for the Second Annual Maine Screenwriting Competition. The top three winners will be awarded cash prizes at the Seventh Annual Maine International Film Festival in July 2004. Manuscripts (feature-length only) are due February 22, 2004.

Anyone interested in entering the biz might want to check out the Action/Cut filmmaking seminar, led by filmmaker and screenwriter Guy Mager, November 15 and 16 at the Palace Production Center in South Norwalk, Connecticut.

Film Festivals

Festivals and special events this month include:


More screenings, festivals, meetings and other events at www.NewEnglandFilm.com/events/

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