George Clooney is Up in the Air

A web site for the new George Clooney movie, filmed partly in Omaha, has been posted, including a trailer for the movie.
The story, based on a novel by Walter Kirn, focuses on a businessman (Clooney) obsessed with amassing frequent flyer miles. It was directed by Jason Reitman, director of Juno and Thank You for Smoking.

A brief scene from the film, featuring Clooney and Vera Farmiga, was released at the Telluride Film Festival.
Scenes from the movie were filmed at the Omaha Eppley Airport. at the end of April of this year. In addition to Clooney and Farmiga, the film features Jason Bateman, Anna Kendrick, and Melanie Lynskey. Several actors from the Omaha area also worked as extras on the project.

For more info: Go to the Apple web site.

Nebraska Filmmakers Urge Tax Incentives

A coalition of filmmakers has met with Governor Dave Heineman and Nebraska state legislators to promote tax incentives for filmmakers who bring their projects to the state.

Director Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt) and Mark Hoeger, president of the Nebraska Film Association, among others, discussed the advantages of such a program. They cited a recent study by Stu Miller, the former deputy director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, showing that for every dollar spent on the tax incentive, $1.08 dollars will return to the state. The coalition pointed out that this figure does not include the positive economic effect the incentive would have on hiring and tourism.

Forty-seven other states have tax incentive programs for filmmakers. Iowa recently shut down its tax incentive program, citing inappropriate expenditures and mismanagement. The program is under review.

Legislators and coalition supporters agreed that such a program would only make sense if it had a positive effect on the Nebraska economy.

For more info: Nebraska Film Association.

Cloris Leachman Comes to Omaha

Impresario Bruce Crawford will delight audiences with another in his series of Omaha movie events. This time it's Mel Brooks' 1974 classic Young Frankenstein. Crawford's special guest for the evening will be award-winning actor Cloris Leachman, who played Frau Blucher, the scary housekeeper in the movie.

Previous guests have included Janet Leigh, Ray Bradbury, Kevin McCarthy, Patricia Neal, and many other notables from the film industry.

Ms. Leachman, a Des Monies native, has been in the public eye since 1948. She was a regular on The Mary Tyler Moore show and the star of Phyillis,
a spinoff in the 1970's. She has made many guest appearances on TV shows, including The Office and Dancing with the Stars.

Among Ms. Leachman's many memorable film roles are Ruth Popper in The Last Picture Show and Mrs. Ezra MIller in Daisy Miller. She will soon be seen in Expecting Mary, The Fields, Timberwolf, and The Story of Bonnie and Clyde.

As part of her appearance, Ms. Leachman will also sign copies of her recently published book, Cloris: My Autobiography.This will be the 25th time Crawford has presented one of his movie events, all of them benefits for the Omaha Hearing School. Crawford's partner this time out is Omaha's Mystery Manor.

The showing of Young Frankenstein and the appearance of Ms. Leachman will take place on Friday, October 16, in the Joslyn Museum's Witherspoon Auditorium at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 and are available for purchase at participating Hy-Vee customer service counters.

For more info: Omaha Film Event

Vision Maker Film Festival

The 3rd Biennial Vision Maker Film Festival will take place October 30-November 5, 2009. Co-sponsored by the Native American Public Telecommunications, Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, and the Sheldon Art Museum.

One of the features to be presented is “Video Letters from Prison,” and NAPT documentary sot at The Nebraska State Penitentiary. Filmmaker Milt Lee will talk about his film.

New this year is a short-form video competition for high school and young adults. These projects will be featured on the website:

NAPT has a long history of supporting Native-produced audio, film and video for Public Television and Radio. The Vision Maker Film Festival is designed to attract more attention to Native American filmmakers and culture.


For more info: Native American Public Telecommunications

Iowa Suspends Tax Incentive Program for Filmmakers

Thomas Wheeler, Manager of the Iowa Film Office, has been fired by Governor Chet Culver (pictured with actor Michael J. Fox), who has called for an investigation by the state auditor and attorney general, as well as the Revenue Department, into alleged abuses in the program.

In a separate development, Sen. Tom Courtney, chairman of the Legislature’s Government Oversight Committee, has announced that he will also begin an investigation.

The program provides millions of dollars in tax credits for filmmakers who choose to shoot their films in the state. Up to 50 percent of what is spent by production companies in Iowa can be recovered. The program has been suspended until the outcome of the investigation is determined.

Criticism of the program includes inappropriate spending and poor accounting.

Michael Tramontina, the head of Iowa’s Economic Development Department, and Vince Lintz, Deputy Director of the Department, which oversees the tax incentive program, have both resigned from their positions.

Amy Johnson, who is a project manager in the Economic Development Department, will take over as interim manager of the Iowa Film Office.

At a press conference on Monday, supporters of the program urged the governor to allow the program to continue during the investigation. The Governor reaffirmed his decision to suspend the program. Governor Culver’s goal, according to a letter he wrote, is to improve the program in order to make it more accountable to Iowa taxpayers.

For more info: Iowa Film Office

Lights! Camera! Me!

I spent a few heady minutes under the bright lights on Thursday as a featured extra on the set of “Lucky,” the dark comedy being shot in Council Bluffs and Omaha by Ten/Four Pictures.

As the driver brought me from the parking lot down to Base Camp, where all the stars’ trailers are, I joked, “Which trailer is mine?”

“That one,” he said, pointing to a very long trailer.

I laughed. I thought he was joking. But it was my trailer all right. Sort of. Actually, it was the honey wagon, the bathroom trailer, which has a number of small dressing room/bathroom compartments, each about the size of the starting gate at a horse track.

I began to wait, gazing out the door now and then until I saw Kathy Wozniak coming toward me.

“Are you my husband?” she called out as she approached.

“I am! I am your husband!” I answered. “But don’t let my wife know!”

Kathy and I were to play the grieving parents of a kidnap victim who appear on a television screen in the background of a scene.

Our call time was 11:30. Hours would pass before they were ready for our brief scene. As I waited, I remembered what Alex Zakrzewski, director of this summer’s production of “Vipers in the Grass,” told me about moviemaking: “You want to know how movies are made? Wait-wait-wait-wait—shoot. Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait-wait—shoot . . .”

And, boy, was he right. What do you do while you’re waiting five hours for your scene? You get nervous, you practice crying in the full-length mirror, you read a murder mystery, you snack, you nap, you stroll around the trailers hoping for a glimpse of Ann-Margret (one of the stars of the movie, pictured above), you rehearse a little with your co-star, you snack some more. Then Adam, the production assistant comes, and you think it's time. But no. It's only time to eat.

He takes you to Pauli's Bar, where the caterer has set up a lavish meal for cast and crew. And just as you're thinking you'll never see a star, there's Jeffrey Tambor of "Arrested Development," "The Larry Sanders Show," and the Hellboy movies, eating at a table by himself. Stay cool. Must be professional. After all, you're an actor, too. Kind of. You nod politely and sit at a different table with your movie wife and Adam. But as you eat, you glance around hoping to get a glimpse of the movie's other stars: Colin Hanks, Ari Graynor, and of course, the divine Ann-Margret.

Finally, after a full five hours, Adam knocked again. This time the director was ready for us, and the driver whisked us to the set, a barricaded city block in the UNMC neighborhood lined with semis overflowing with cables, c-stands, lighting equipment, and much more. The sidewalks were lined with more cables, racks of costumes, lights, and crew members, all of them busily doing their part to make the movie happen.

Adam led Kathy and me to the house that was being used as the home of the Colin Hanks character. Several crew members and a fireman were using a snow machine to cover the front yard with snow and covering the curbs with cotton batting. Part of the story takes place in winter, you see.

Then there was Gil Cates, Jr., the director, shaking our hands as if we were the most important people on the set. He took us past the snow-bound house and put us in front of the camera with a bank of lights in our faces. We huddled, clutching the photo of our kidnapped daughter. We were to imagine that a TV news reporter was filming us as we pleaded for her return. Our scene will play silently in the background during one of the movie’s scenes, but Kathy and I had both worked out lines of dialogue to make our moment feel more real, at least to us.

Before the director was ready for us, Kathy looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, “You’re a good father.” I looked down at the photo of our imaginary daughter and felt my own eyes fill with tears. “And you’re a good mother,” I said. “She’ll come home. She will.”

When the director called action, we turned our tear-streaked faces to the camera and pleaded with the kidnaper to let our girl go. Two minutes and two takes later, we were finished. A flurry of handshakes, thank-you’s, and congratulations, and we were suddenly whisked back to real life, still weepy and exhausted from our pretend grief.

A five-hour wait for two minutes on camera. Was it worth it? Oh yeah. It was a real kick to be part of a big-time Hollywood movie, even if that part was tiny.

As Adam took us back to Base Camp, we thanked him for taking such good care of us. “You made us feel like stars,” I said.

“You are stars,” he said.

I have to admit that made me feel pretty darn good. I guess now all I need is an entourage!

For more info: "Lights! Camera! Action! (Omaha World-Herald, "Council Bluffs Gets Lucky"

"Barstool Cowboy" Gets Distributor

Mark Thimijan, of Lincoln, has reached an agreement with Celebrity Video to distribute "Barstool Cowboy," the indie movie he wrote, produced, and directed.

The central character of the movie is Mick, a depressed cowboy played by Broken Bow native Tim Woodwar, who decides to drink his life away. That is, until he meets an artist-in-the-making named Arcy, played by Omahan Rachel Lien (who also played a major role in "April Showers"). By the end, both are changed by the relationship.

Shot in and around Lincoln, the cinematographer was Dough McMains. Most of the cast and crew are Nebraskans.

The movie is now on sale at Netflix, Blockbuster, Amazon.com, and elsewhere.

Now showing: For Love of Amy

A dying man’s best friend promises to take care of the man’s widow and daughter. But when the widow becomes incapacitated, the friend, an African-American, becomes the Caucasian daughter’s only support. For Love of Amy is a story of friendship, tragedy, hope, and the desire to do the right thing. and it’s now playing at Rave Theater in Omaha.

Vincent Alston, of VLA Productions, wrote the screenplay and is a producer for the movie. Shooting took place in 2007 in and around Omaha.

Actor-director Ted Lange, who achieved fame as Isaac the bartender in TV’s Love Boat, directed the movie. He has directed many productions for theater and television and is himself a playwright.

Omaha’s Tyrone Beasley, artistic director of The John Beasley Theater & Workshop in Omaha, is the film’s assistant director.

The movie’s talented cast includes a number of Hollywood- and Omaha-based actors, including Vincent Alston as the dying man’s best friend, Joyce Sylvester (“Right to Remain Silent”), Lindsay Seim (“California Dreamin’”), and Tyrone Beasley. Omaha’s John Beasley (“The Apostle”) also appears in the movie. Grace Bydalek ("Strawberry Shortcake"), of Omaha, plays Amy.

For Love of Amy started its run at The Rave Theater at the Westroads Shopping Center in Omaha on August 28.

For more info: http://www.forloveofamy.com/

LEO Comes to Town

LEO Films, a Los-Angeles-based film production company founded in 1991, has pulled up stakes and relocated to Council Bluffs, Iowa, one of the latest film companies to take advantage of Iowa’s generous tax incentives for filmmakers.

The company has developed eighty feature films since its creation. Among the company’s 2009 releases are “Flesh Suitcase,” a film about drug dealers; “Eye,” a thriller about kidnapping; and “Space Zombies,” a film about . . . well, really, the title says it all.

The company’s first Iowa production will be “My Own Blood,” a thriller written, directed, and produced by company founder Steve Lustgarten.The film will be shot in and around Council Bluffs, with some shooting taking place in Des Moines. Many of the cast and crew will be from Iowa.

Lustgarten’s film career took off when he won a Student Academy Award in 1983 for “American Taboo,” a film about obsession that was chosen over Spike Lee’s student film, “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads." The plan is for LEO Films to stay in Iowa and make a lot of films.

Another success story for the Iowa tax incentive for filmmakers. Since the passing of the tax incentive in 2007, the state has issued $32 million in tax credits for over twenty film projects and recouped $810,000 more than it has lost in tax revenue.

Nebraska, are you listening?

Happy Birthday, Swoosie!

And happy birthday today to Swoosie Kurtz, born in Omaha in 1944. Kurtz's long list of movies and television appearances includes Dangerous Liaisons, Rules of Attraction, Heroes, and Nurse Jackie.

Council Bluffs Gets "Lucky"

Lured by the tax incentive, the latest movie project to come to the area is now shooting in Iowa.

Ten/Four Pictures is filming “Lucky,” a dark romantic comedy, in Council Bluffs this month. The movie, starring Colin Hanks, Ann-Margret, and Jeffrey Tambor, is about a serial killer who wins the lottery.

Hanks, son of Oscar-winner Tom Hanks, has many screen credits, including Peter Jackson’s “King Kong,” “The Great Buck Howard,” and “The House Bunny.” Screen legend Ann-Margret has been seen most recently in “The Break-Up” and “Santa Clause 3.” Award-wining comic actor Jeffrey Tambor has been seen in “The Hangover,” the Hellboy movies, and “The Larry Sanders Show.”

The film is being directed by Gil Cates Jr. and produced by Cates and the co-founder of Ten/Four Pictures, Caitlin Murney. Written by Emmy-nominated Saturday Night Live staff writer Kent Sublette, the movie is the second for the new production company. The company’s most recent film, just out, is “Order of Chaos.”

For more info: Ten/Four Pictures

Iowa Welcomes Filmmakers

In May 2007, Iowa began offering filmmakers financial incentives to produce their projects in Iowa in the form of transferable income tax credits valued up to 50 percent of the total qualified spending in Iowa.

For many filmmakers, it was an offer they couldn't refuse, and they've been beating a path to Iowa's door ever since.

Similar bills have been passed in most other states in the country. The results, by almost all accounts, is a boon to state economies.

The Iowa Film Office reports that, since 2006, only two movies had been filmed in the state. Since the tax incentives came along, fourteen films have come to the state.

Recent Iowa film projects include Polynation Pictures’ "The Scientist" and Reel Entertainment’s documentary on RAGBRAI, the yearly cross-Iowa bicycle trek. Upcoming projects include a horror comedy and Ten/Four Pictures’ production of "Lucky."

The tax incentive seems to be working for Iowa. Council Bluffs city officials report that the production companies rent hotel rooms, office space, hire local actors and crew members, and buy food, fuel, and entertainment—all of which means money for the local economy.

A similar tax incentive has been knocking on doors at the Nebraska state legislature for the last two years, but has been left out in the cold. Nebraska is one of a small handful of states that do not yet have a tax incentive program for filmmakers.

"Sandy Creek Girls" to Shoot in Nebraska

Everyone loves a rags-to-riches story. That’s the heart of "The Sandy Creek Girls," an upcoming film to be shot in Nebraska about a high school girls basketball team that goes from zero to hero, winning eight Nebraska state championships.

And it’s all true.

Just ask real-life Sandy Creek coach Russ Ninemire, who will be a part of the film to be made about his winning teams.

Cylk Cozart will direct the film. Brian Austin Green, Heather Chadwell, Dean Cain, Jonathan Lipnicki, Tiny Lister, Nancy Lieberman and Jim Brown will star. Cozart’s acting roles include White Men Can't Jump, Conspiracy Theory, and In the Line of Fire. He’ll play a lead in The Sandy Creek Girls.

Basketball is one of director Cozart's passions. He is the back-to-back 3-Point Shooting Champion and Team Captain for the NBA Entertainment League and is also Team Captain of the Hollywood Knights Celebrity Basketball Tour.

Shooting is scheduled for this fall in Georgia and Nebraska.
For more info: IMDB

Nick Nolte Comes Home to Omaha

Actor Nick Nolte returned to his hometown of Omaha this past weekend to attend his 50th reunion at Westside High School. Among the events he attended was the Friday night football game with Elkhorn (Westside won 21-14).

Nick Nolte became an actor after leaving his hometown. He became a model for print ads in Minneapolis. Later he would perform his first acting roles at the Pasadena Playhouse in California, and then in regional theater. His big break came when he was cast in Rich Man, Poor Man (1976) as Tommy Jordache. Among his many movies are 48 Hours (1982), Q&A (1990), Cape Fear (1991), and Tropic Thunder (2008). Nolte, a strong supporter of independent film, also appeared in The Beautiful Country (2004), Off the Black (2006), and Peaceful Warrior (2006). He turned down the role of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

“I never felt comfortable in real life very well,” says Nolte. “It's always been an awkward kind of thing for me and so when I hit the stage I just sensed freedom. I sensed here's a place that I can have all the experiences of life and not feel uncomfortable about it.”

Nolte is one of many accomplished actors who came of age in Omaha, including Fred Astaire, Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando, Henry Fonda, Dorothy McGuire, and Swoosie Kurtz. Nolte lives in Malibu, California, and is currently at work on Warrior, in which he plays an alcoholic former boxer.

Jay Karnes: From Shakespearean to Super Cop and Back Again

You may know him as Detective Holland “Dutch” Wagenbach on The Shield, the award-winning police drama from FX. Or you may know him as Josh Kohn, the out of control ATF agent on FX’s Sons of Anarchy. Or you just may know him because you went to school with him at Brownell-Talbot School in Omaha, where Jay Karnes caught the acting bug.

The Nebraska native made a name for himself as a Shakespearean actor for many years, especially with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where he played major roles in Love’s Labours Lost , among other plays.

He has also made guest-star appearances on a number of television shows, including Frasier, Judging Amy, Chicago Hope, The Pretender, Start Trek: Voyager, House, and Burn Notice. His most recent work is as Brutus in the Marin Shakespeare Company’s production of Julius Caesar and in Donkey Punch, a short film that premiered at the HollyShorts Film Festival this month.

The film, produced by Emmy-winning director Anthony Russo and directed by Kenneth Hughes and written by John Hlavin, is getting a great deal of good buzz from audiences and critics alike. Though hard to describe without spoilers, if it were a reality TV series, Donkey Punch would be called "When Good Dates Go Wrong--Terribly, Terribly Wrong."

Karnes attended the University of Kansas and lives in California. He is married to actress Julia Campbell, with whom he has twin girls.

Nebraska Writers Have “The Goods”

Lincoln Nebraska screenwriters Andy Stock and Rick Stempson have hit the Hollywood big-time.

Once they were a struggling law school student and a tennis coach. But all that changed when their first screenplay, “Ball’s Out: Gary the Tennis Coach,” won the BlueCat Screenwriting Competition. Barely had filming begun on the project when they were approached to write “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard,” the off-the-wall car lot comedy starring Jeremy Piven now in theaters. Piven plays a used-car liquidator—a clunkers-for-cash kind of guy. According to Stock, “It's an hour and a half of hanging out on a car lot with a lot of crazy characters.”

Lifelong friends since they met at a tennis tournament in childhood, Stock and Stempson have said goodbye to law school and coaching (mostly) to write full-time in Lincoln. Their next project is a detective story set in Florida.

The Goods (R-rated) is directed by Neal Brennan, who has worked for Dave Chappelle, and is showing in 1800 theaters across the country, including several in Omaha but not, sadly, in the screenwriters’ home town of Lincoln.

But that’s all right. When funnyman Will Ferrell is a member of your movie’s cast, you get over such disappointments quickly. Asked what that was like, Stempson said, “Mind-blowing.”

For more information: The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard