Film Authority wants to get cameras rolling again in West Volusia

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Jun 28, 2008 - 9:53:05am

Things have been pretty quiet in West Volusia, film-wise.

The West Volusia Film Authority, out of cash and lying low for the past few years, wants to change that.

Movie-making hasn't completely disappeared from the local backdrop.

An Orlando production company is shooting some scenes in Lake Helen for a lower-budget horror/psychological thriller called The Tenant.

Another movie shot in Lake Helen, the 1999 release The First of May, was a low-budget but star-filled film. Its cast boasted Julie Harris, Mickey Rooney and Charles Nelson Reilly, with a cameo appearance by Joe DeMaggio.

West Volusia did get location credit for this family movie, but was not credited for scenes shot locally for Adam Sandler's The Waterboy 11 years ago.

Such reminiscences were among the topics when Film Authority liaison Mark Shuttleworth and other members of the organization assembled June 16 for a meeting at Caffé da Vinci in Downtown DeLand.

With governmental cutbacks, the outlook for getting grants or funding is hazy for now, but the group is determined to proceed with whatever resources it can find — including their own.

The dozen members agreed to develop a list of resources the area can offer film companies: lodging, office facilities, sound stages, shooting locales and equipment.

Jeffrey Ault, executive director of the Sands Theater in DeLand, said film festivals at the newly restored Athens Theatre, set to reopen this fall, will bring people in to see the area.

When film people come in, "They'll tour the Athens, the Historic Courthouse. They'll say, 'This is awesome — I want to shoot a movie here,'" Ault explained.

Along with the Athens, a Web site is needed to publicize local resources for niche movies, then bigger movie companies. Member Steve Reece said he designs Web sites, and can put one together.

Member Gary Rogers, who came to Central Florida from Los Angeles to work at the Universal Studios sound stage, said a niche movie might have a budget of $5 million to $8 million.

Rogers, who now lives in DeLand, teaches film and acting at Sumter Community College.

The group will consider a new name — perhaps just "West Volusia Films" or a name that will pop up readily in Internet searches for location sites. Reece said he will investigate new names for the group.

Putting together a promotional DVD and streaming video for the Web site will be among other projects.

The group will reconvene at 7 p.m. Monday, July 14, at the Cultural Arts Center in DeLand, 600 N. Woodland Blvd.

Mad cow coming at ya

One film is currently in development by local producer Ron Siwicka. He came up with the concept, and friend Steve Reece developed the screen play for Cud.

Siwicka, experienced at working on television and cable news sets such as CNN Headline News, and Reece, with a background building and working on movie sets, already have the first prop: a moveable, menacing mad-cow head. Its eyes glow red, while steam escapes from its nostrils.

Cud is designed to be a fairly campy movie, both a spoof of past horror flicks and a take on mad-cow disease and other anxieties of modern life.

The plot: When the addition of cattle byproducts and parts to cow feed is banned due to fear of mad-cow disease, a local cattleman starts incorporating human parts into the feed, instead.

It makes a truly toxic brew. Cows ingest not only humans, but the toxic chemicals humans eat in food.

The cows, starring one in particular named Bossie, get a taste for human flesh and blood. The horror and the camp ensue.

Reece and Siwica are looking for local filming sites, including one in a factory-type setting, one at a pond or small lake for a Jaws-like scene, and a scene for circus mayhem involving the crazed bovine.

Film Authority member Bruce Pratt is vice president of national marketing for Cole Bros. Circus, and just might be able to help them out with the last locale.

Stay tuned for more developments.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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