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Industry News

1 Aug , 2003  

Written by Chris Cooke | Posted by:

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A report of news & events in the local industry for August 2003.

Email news to news@newenglandfilm.com. 

In the News

Paramount Pictures has begun principal photography for "The Stepford Wives" in towns throughout Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Frank Oz is directing, and Paul Rudnick has adapted Ira Levin’ novel for the screen. Nicole Kidman and Matthew Broderick star as a young, married couple that moves into the antiseptic suburban town of Stepford Connecticut, where all the wives seem to just love doing housework and pleasing their husbands. Bette Midler plays another newcomer to the town, Glenn Close and Christopher Walken play current residents of the town, and Faith Hill and Jon Lovitz also make an appearance. The original 1975 thriller starred Katharine Ross.

Dan Ireland’s "Passionada," set in the Portuguese-American community of New Bedford, Massachusetts premieres August 4 at New Bedford’s Flagship Cinema. If you miss that showing, you’ll have a second chance Aug 9 at the New London Film Festival in Connecticut. The film, about the relationship between a widowed fado singer and a professional gambler, stars Sofia Milos, Emmy Rossum, Jason Isaacs, Lupe Ontiveros, Seymour Cassel, and Teresa Russell. The Samuel Goldwyn film opens in New York and Los Angeles on August 15. Although most of the film was shot on location in New Bedford, many scenes were shot at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun casino.

The Vermont Film Commission has unveiled its new, state-of-the-art website. The site features an online production guide, location information, and more. Check it out at http://www.vermontfilm.com. 

Meanwhile, the Maine Film Office and The Maine Film Commission have managed to obtain expanded tax incentives for film, television, and video productions in the state. The new incentive program contains tax breaks for both in-state and visiting productions. Visit the FAQ section of the On-Line Productions Guide at www.filminmaine.org for details.

The Maine Film Office reports that commercial shoots, which took a dive in 2002, are back with a vengeance. The volume of all calls has risen dramatically. The office has not yet landed the HBO project "Empire Falls," but says it’s probable the film will shoot there. The film’s production office has already begun lining up crew.

New Hampshire is trying to land a prospect of its own — a film based on the true story of The Shaggs, a late-1960s-era pop trio from Fremont, New Hampshire. Hole Digger Films is leaning toward Nova Scotia, but New Hampshire has begun dangling carrots. The Shaggs — Helen, Betty, and Dot Wiggin — were hailed by Frank Zappa as "better than the Beatles" and has become a cult curiosity among music collectors. Some say their artless, ramshackle playing, available on their lone album "The Philosophy of the World," is both awkwardly amateur and hauntingly compelling. Other folks say they’re just plain-old bad. Should make for interesting viewing, regardless.

Filming has begun in locations throughout Southeastern Connecticut and Rhode Island for the television pilot of "River Street," a 13-episode series that explores the conflict between commerce and values that brews beneath the surface of democracy. Each hour-long episode will feature a "surreal, non-linear" story line, in which "you step over the double yellow line into the watery subconscious and learn to sink or swim." Tom Deedy Productions LLC of New London CT is filming the pilot in association with White Tiger Films of Santa Rosa, CA.

Mystic Seaport’s whaler the Charles W. Morgan was featured on the July 16 installment of the PBS series History Detectives, which explored the whaler’s possible involvement in the Underground Railroad. On each show (which has been described as Antiques Roadshow meets CSI), the History Detectives team looks into a historical mystery, using traditional and modern investigative techniques to gain new insights into history and revealing the truth behind local folklore and historical buildings and artifacts.

Folks in the Rhode Island film community are still smarting over the loss of MTV’s Real World/Road Rules Challenge. Lyla Delmon Realty had helped the network find locations first in Newport and then in nearby Middletown. After concerned neighbors filed a court order to the effect that the network’s intention of filming on private property was a zoning variance, the network decided to look for location elsewhere. The project, which was expected to bring in $4 million into the Rhode Island economy, has relocated and is currently filming in Telluride, Colorado.

Not all reality shows meet the same resistance. The Outdoor Life Network filmed a segment of "Beach Ambush" on Newport’s First Beach. Each show, comedian and host Don Jamieson ambushes six unsuspecting beachgoers and challenges them to an assortment of adventures. A state away in Mystic, Connecticut, Two Hands Entertainment filmed the pilot of Joke Vision, in which real people on the street are given a joke to tell and recorded on film — reality TV, it seems, has reached new heights. A new NBC reality show starring Carrot Top is planning to shoot in locations throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

"The Enforcers" paid a visit to Hartford, Connecticut, in March. The Learning Channel series, which uses interviews, news footage, and re-enactments to tell real-life cop dramas, conducted two days of on-camera interviews with detectives from the Hartford police and FBI agents. TFG Film & Tape provided location support, supplying crew and equipment. TGF also shot segments of upcoming shows for the Food Network’s Top 5 television series in Cheshire and Wallingford and traveled to Westport to film an interview with Christopher Plummer about his role as a Klingon in "Star Trek VI" (to be included in the upcoming DVD release).

Another Learning Channel show – "Trading Spaces" — paid a visit to Woodbridge and Milford Connecticut, assisted by Banyan Productions. The show records the exploits of people who switch houses and redecorate. And Connecticut saw more Food Network activity — this time with "Food 911" — as Stone House Productions of South Norwalk filmed a segment about Pepe’s pizza in New Haven.

The ABC Family series "Switched" filmed an episode in Guilford, Connecticut. In the show, two kids from different parts of the country trade lives for a few days. Mandie Deason, of small-town Vinita Oklahoma traded places with Madison’s Adam Duda for four days in late June. Evolution Film & Tape filmed the shoot.

Earlier this summer, director Al Halstead filmed his short horror "Gothic Nightmare" with Leonine Productions in Groton and Waterford Connecticut.

Congratulations to the winners of the 1st Maine Screenwriting Competition — Gary C. Spurgat, Jr. (first place, for "Stealing Lobsters"), Beth Eison (second place, for (Before I Wake"), and Michael Kimball (third place, for "Trapline")

Upcoming Deadlines

Write and research from a secluded cottage in New Zealand! Roy W. Dean Film and Video Grants (www.fromtheheartproductions.com/grantmain.html) Writer/Researcher Grant (August 30).

Other deadlines include the New Hampshire Film Expo (August 15 — www.nhfilmexpo.com); Vermont Filmmakers Showcase (August 15 — www.vtiff.org/vtfilmmakers.html); Cine Golden Eagle Film & Video Competition (August 15 — www.cine.org); PBS Summer Road Trip Video Contest (August 22 — www.pbs.org/horatiosdrive/videocontest); 9th Annual Northampton Independent Film Festival (September 1 — www.niff.org); and Salem Amateur Horror Film Festival (September 5 — www.salemfilm.com).

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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