Chamber receiving plenty of calls about upcoming movie production
Published 12:00 am Saturday, July 29, 2006
Carol Lee and the Greenville Area Chamber of Commerce are fielding a variety of phone calls from people across the United States interested in “Honeydripper”, a film scheduled to start production in Butler County in September.
And “interested” usually means an actor or actress wanting to find their way in front of a camera, said the Chamber's Executive Director.
She said since it was announced that the Danny Glover vehicle would film in Butler County, the phone lines have been ringing non-stop.
Lee said she and Annie Glenn Branum, executive assistant of the Chamber, ask those who phone to submit a head shot and brief biography, items they will pass on to the production crew arriving in early September.
“The first cut will be made by the photographs and the biography,” said Lee. “The second will be made through interviews.”
Lee said the producers are generally looking to cast a number of the leads using people from Butler County. One lucky teenage girl could also find herself in an enviable position, according to Lee.
“I do know they want to cast Danny Glover's stepdaughter - who is about 17 in the film - locally,” said Lee.
“Honeydripper,” set in the early 1950s, focuses its story on southern blues musicians.
The production crew is expected to consist of anywhere between 80 to 100 people, she said. The movie will film in Georgiana, Forest Home and parts of Greenville and while many residents would like to snag a film credit, Lee said the production would also need contract work for duties behind the scenes.
“They're going to need office personnel, accountants - any local contractors like painters or builders,” she said.
Those wishing to rent their homes to the production crew should also be forewarned, said Lee.
“When they rent your home, they want you out of the house - and that means ‘out of the house,'” she said. “They also want only furnished homes.”
The producers will use the corner building at Whitney Bank in downtown Greenville for office space. The production is expected to last until after Thanksgiving, said Lee.
“They're very interested in Greenville and Butler County,” said Lee. “I received an email from (producer) Maggie (Renzi) about how overwhelmed they were with all of the southern hospitality.”