WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -
Filming is scheduled to begin next week on "The Trouble With Frank," an independent feature comedy starring actor and rocker Jon Bon Jovi.The film, directed by Oscar nominee Arthur Hiller and produced by Matty Simmons, will be shot in Winston-Salem, Greensboro and possibly High Point, said Rebecca Clark, the director of the Piedmont Triad Film Commission.
The budget for "The Trouble With Frank" is in the $4 million to $5 million range, Simmons said. He is producing the film along with William Greenblatt and Phil Smoot.
Simmons said he expects to wrap up production by June 3.Bon Jovi will play a lovable dreamer who decides to organize an all-girl hockey team. He finances his dream through a myriad of credit cards, only to be left holding the bag when the creditors come around.Hiller was nominated for an Oscar for best director for "Love Story" (1970).
JON TO START FILMING TODAY
Comedy's filming brings Hollywood to the Triad
Open casting for extras will be held today in Greensboro for movie starring Bon Jovi
Friday, April 30, 2004
By Mark Burger
JOURNAL ARTS REPORTER
Filming is scheduled to begin next week on The Trouble With Frank, an independent feature comedy starring Jon Bon Jovi, directed by Hollywood veteran Arthur Hiller and produced by Matty Simmons.
The film will be shot in Winston-Salem, Greensboro and possibly High Point, according to Rebecca Clark, the director of the Piedmont Triad Film Commission.
An open casting call for extras will be held from 8 p.m. to midnight today friday the 30th in front of Much Restaurant, on the corner of Elm and Market streets in downtown Greensboro. People, 28 and older, who want to audition, should bring a current photograph.
The budget for The Trouble With Frank is in the $4 million to $5 million range, Simmons said. He is producing the film along with William Greenblatt and Phil Smoot.
"Everything's going great," said Simmons, a veteran of National Lampoon whose previous films include such blockbuster comedies as National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) and National Lampoon's Vacation (1983).
"We're very happy with the cast, and we've got a great group here," he said. "I had always wanted to work with Jon Bon Jovi. He's really a good actor, and I think he's going to do well in a comedy." He said
he expects to wrap up production by June 3.
Bon Jovi will play a lovable dreamer who decides to organize an all-girl hockey team. He finances his dream through a myriad of credit cards, only to be left holding the bag when the creditors come around. What started as a dream becomes a legal nightmare - but it's all for laughs.
"He's failed at everything he does," Simmons said of the character. "Then he does something right - but there's a catch."Because I wrote the script, I am a little prejudiced," Simmons said, laughing, "but I think people will find this an easy film to relate to."
Working with Clark and the Piedmont Triad Film Commission "has been great," Simmons said. "I'd like to work with her on every movie!"
The film's production crew will include a significant number of local professionals, as well as film students from Piedmont Community College, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and the School of Filmmaking at the N.C. School of the Arts. The students will earn internship credit for their efforts.
"At least one-third of a production's budget stays in the community," Clark said. "And a significant portion of that goes to local crews. So, these are local people - local taxpayers - making money. That money stays right here in the community."
Details regarding specific filming locations are being kept secret to make sure that the production goes smoothly, Clark said.
Accommodating the production's needs is a major consideration, she said.
Director Hiller, who earned an Oscar nomination as best director for Love Story (1970), also directed The Hospital (1971), The In-Laws (1979), Teachers (1984) and Carpool (1996). From 1989 to 1993 he was president of the Director's Guild of America, and from 1996 to 1998 he was president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.Since emerging as a top-selling rock 'n' roll star in the mid-1980s, Bon Jovi has made the successful transition to acting with roles in Moonlight and Valentino (1995) and No Looking Back (1998).
He played an ill-fated Naval officer in U-571 (2000) and a grizzled vampire-slayer in Vampires: Los Muertos (2002). He also appeared in a recurring role on TV's Ally McBeal and has continued his recording career. In
2003, the band Bon Jovi embarked on its Bounce tour.
The supporting cast includes Cary Elwes; Estella Warren; David Faustino; Nora Dunn, a former Saturday Night Live regular; and young Jonathan Furr, the star of Two Soldiers.
Things have improved somewhat for the film commission, which was teetering on the verge of extinction a little
more than a year ago. Last year's big-screen horror hit Cabin Fever was filmed almost entirely on location in Winston-Salem, Mocksville and Mount Airy."We're on a roll," Clark said. The 2003 Oscar winner for best short feature, Two Soldiers, was also filmed at locations in the Piedmont Triad. Two Soldiers was screened last week to sold-out houses at RiverRun International Film Festival here."I am really happy about all of this (production) activity," Clark said, "and we've got some other things gearing up for the near future. I am absolutely, positively thrilled. This is the way I like it."
� For more information about the Piedmont Triad Film Commission, call (336) 393-0001. The Extras Hotline contact number is (336) 217-4348.
� Mark Burger can be reached at 727-7370 or at [email protected].
Information from: Winston-Salem Journal, <http://www.journalnow.com>