“Honeydripper”
To Be Filmed in Butler County
-from The Alabama Film Office, July 10,
2006
MONTGOMERY -- The Alabama Film Office
(AFO) and the Butler County Commission for Economic Development have
announced that two-time Academy Award nominated writer/director John
Sayles will direct his next film entitled "Honeydripper"
in Butler County this September.
Sayles’ films include "Eight
Men Out", "The Secret of Roan Inish" and "Lonestar".
He is recognized as one of the most respected writer/directors in
the film industry and is a noted author, having his short stories
and books published over the years.
Sayles and producer Maggie Renzi
scouted locations in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi before
choosing to lens in central Alabama.
The film is set in the early 1950’s
and will star Danny Glover along with famed blues guitarist Keb’Mo
and legendary vocalist Ruth Brown. Sayles and Renzi were assisted on
their location search by the AFO, which contacted economic
development agencies across the state with location inquiries. After
not finding the exact look the film makers needed, AFO contacted
Ricky McLaney of the Butler County Commission for Economic
Development for assistance.
“The whole scouting process changed
once we contacted Ricky McLaney,” said Tommy Fell, location
coordinator for the film office. “We were scouting Butler County
and explaining the look we needed for the primary location of the
film and Ricky drove us to the area that was immediately chosen”.
The film makers have been working
with Greenville Mayor Dexter McLendon and area businesses on
logistics for filming this fall. “We are excited about this
project coming to Greenville and Butler County and I look forward to
our citizens being part of this film,” said Mayor McLendon.
This is not Greenville’s first
brush with celebrity in the past year. ABC selected Greenville for
the premier of My Kinda Town last September.
“John Sayles and I are really
looking forward to working in Alabama” says producer Renzi “For
us, making a film on location is not only a job but a way to explore
different communities as more than ordinary tourists. With "Honeydripper"
as with all our films, we will do our best to introduce a worldwide
audience to Butler County, a place many have never visited. We can’t
wait to get started.”
Fell says that working with the team
of Sayles/Renzi will offer the state a chance to collaborate with
independent film icons. “John Sayles and Maggie Renzi have
produced films that are inspirational, heartwarming and educational.”
Their choice to film this project in Alabama is as important as any
project we have landed and once again shows the importance of
filmmaking in the state.
AFO, a division of the Alabama
Development Office, promotes the state to the film and video
industry as a site for on-location production for feature films,
television, music videos, industrial and corporate training films
and commercials. |
