'Cool Dog' to screen Aug. 29 for cast, crew

As a thanks to The Shreve, cast and crew of "Cool Dog," director Danny Lerner will present the movie at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 29 at the Regal Cinemas Bossier Corners 9. It's a one-time only private screening. Doors open at 6 p.m.

The movie was shot locally in early 2009 and produced by Studio Operations, a local subsidiary of Nu Image/Millennium Films. The company's local effects division, Worldwide FX, did post-production work.

It's a family adventure flick about a famous German shepherd (hmm, what's that name?) that journeys through the Big Apple.

If you're going to local screening, I hope to be there taking pics, etc.

If you worked on the movie but didn't get an invite, let me know at akent@gannett.com and I'll put you in touch with the right folks. Act fast. There are only a handful of tickets remaining.

PHOTO (top): Actors Jackson Pace (left) and Michael Pare' act out a scene on the set of "Cool Dog" in February 2009 in downtown Shreveport. (Greg Pearson/The Times)

PHOTO (middle): "Cool Dog" does some stunt work on the downtown train bridge connecting Shreveport and Bossier City. (Greg Pearson/The Times)

PHOTO (bottom): The "Cool Dog" stand-in has ice (and stuffing) in his veins. (Greg Pearson/The Times)

Yo, Shreveport! Get ready for an alien invasion ...

... with stunts. And explosions. And car chases. And smoke. And helicopters. And Aaron Eckhart. And Bridget Moynahan. And director Jonathan Liebesman (who made "The Killing Room" here).

"Battle: Los Angeles" will film here Sept. 9 through Oct. 9 and then move on to Baton Rouge.

In The Shreve, there will be tons of exterior work which will involve some pretty big street closures and traffic interruptions. The I-49 overpass -- stretching from I-20 to Murphy Street -- will shut down for five weeks. I'll learn more details tomorrow.

To prepare citizens for the shoot, local mayors and two of the movie's producers will talk to the press tomorrow at 3 p.m. I'll amass as many details as I can.

Can I ask any questions for you, besides ones like, "Where can I get Michelle Rodriguez's autograph?"

Do you want to know about street closures? The cost to the cities? The most affected areas in terms of traffic? Public safety concerns? And how the hell The Shreve and The Boss will stand in as L.A.? (Magic, I tell you. And lots of digital crayons.) What do you want to know?

P.S.: Don't worry: I'm volunteering to be first reporter blasted by an on-screen death ray, if "Battle: Los Angeles" requires as much. Hey, on that note, it's time for a reader poll: vote to your right.

Are you back at work?

For those of you who endured The Shreve's recent production drought, "Straw Dogs" and the upcoming "Battle: Los Angeles" should be encouraging signs.

If you are back at work -- as crew, vendor, actor, etc. -- let me know how you feel. You can respond by leaving a comment here, or you can reach me at akent@gannett.com or 318.459.3256.

QUESTIONS FOR YOU

• Who's working on "Straw Dogs" this week, or "Battle: Los Angeles," which begins shooting early September?
• When was your most recent film job?
• What are you doing now?
• How does it feel to be filming again in The Shreve?
• What's your outlook for local work?

Two to talk about at RFC

When you're listening, you hear movie chatter in surprising places. Tuesday at yoga – yes, I'm an on-again, off-again yogi – the class was all abuzz about "Food, Inc." The documentary about an industrialized food industry opens today at the Robinson Film Center. Now, it's not that I wouldn't expect yogis to be interested in the doc. They're healthy. They care about what they eat. Their buzz makes perfect sense. What's interesting is how movies like this become sincere lifestyle conversation pieces. As often is the case with talk about docs, people use the subject as a starting point for their own inquiries. You can participate in one of those publicly on Saturday at 3 p.m., when there will be a panel about community gardening and all things salubrious. (Full disclosure: The panel is sponsored by the host of my yoga class, but he wasn't the one who started the Tuesday conversation!)

Additionally, my Facebook inbox has been all a chatter about the 20^th anniversary screenings of Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing," also at RFC. To call this masterpiece about race relations "a masterpiece about race relations" only scratches the surface. "Do the Right Thing" remains an astounding piece of filmmaking not only because of its subject, style and form – all brilliant, by the way – but also because it successfully uses humor to seriously examine the tension between nonviolence and in-your-face protest. If you haven't seen this on the big screen, do it.

Extras needed for overnight shoot on 'Straw Dogs'

Glorioso Casting needs extras for an overnighter beginning Wednesday (Aug. 19).

To register (if you haven't before), click here. If you haven't worked on a project in a spell, call the GC office at (318) 751-9140.

MUST BE: 18 or older, and able to work outdoors at night.

PAY: $64 for 8 hours work. Time-and-a-half thereafter. 12-hour shoots are common. You'll be fed. There will be prize drawings. Biggest prize is a $500 gift card.

La. Produces to meet 7 p.m. tonight at RFC

Kendrick Hudson will speak at tonight's Louisiana Produces meetup.

Hudson has done a lot of location work in the film industry. Projects include "Skateland," "W." and "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell." He also produces indie projects, like "Outside Sales" and the forthcoming "For Whom He Tolls."

From RFC's Will Bryant: "Kendrick will speak about his experience in the industry, encompassing everything from documentary production ('Ghosts Of The Abyss,' 'Aliens Of The Deep') to reality-show production ('The Next Action Star') to his latest project, the indie suspense thriller 'For Whom He Tolls,' which was shot in and around Carthage, Texas. We hope to see you tonight!"

WHEN: 7 p.m. tonight.
WHERE: Robinson Film Center, 617 Texas St., Shreveport. (Second floor.)
COST: free.
INFO: (318) 459-4119 or (318) 424-9090.

'Acceptance' debuts Aug. 22 on Lifetime

The locally filmed cable movie will be unveiled this month. It's a comedy about the stress of college admissions. You'll notice campus scenes shot at Centenary College. Stars Joan Cusack, Mae Whitman and Brigid Brannagh.

* I'm also excited to hear about the debut of "Leaves of Grass" at the Toronto Film Festival in September. Also shot in The Shreve, it stars Edward Norton. He plays twin brothers who get rolled into an Oklahoman pot pickle.

Trailer: 'I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell'

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell in HD


Shot in The Shreve during the coolest days of summer, year 2008. Thoughts? Find more info at the website. Movie's got a multi-city "Premiere Tour" beginning Aug. 11. Theatrical release is Sept. 25. All the details here.

Trailer for local indie: 'For Whom He Tolls'

Kendrick Hudson, who has done a lot of location work for the local movie industry, is producing a small indie drama with local resources. He and a team recently wrapped production on "For Whom He Tolls," and it looks like it will be screened in September at the Robinson Film Center. I sent Hudson a few questions about the project, and here are his answers:

Alexandyr Kent: Where did you shoot the indie project, and how did you pull the team together?

Kendrick Hudson: It's a feature length psychological/suspense thriller, set in East Texas and shot in Carthage. It's directed by Randal Reeder, who is from the area, and his brother owned the property where we shot. Due to budget restraints, the script was written around the property and most of the story takes place inside the home.

We were able to pull together a crew by sending out the script to friends of ours that all work in the industry, who happen not to be working at the time. People were very receptive to the story and the script sold them to work on the film.

AK: What is “For Whom He Tolls” about, and why did you want to make it?

KH: Its a story of a young girl named Kayla, played by Lena Clark who comes back home to take care of her mentally ailing Grandmother, played by Gina Brazell. With the help of a mysterious new neighbor, played by Lije Sarki and an at-home nurse played by Angela Ware, they try to mend their relationship and find peace in a small east Texas farm house while dealing with eerie visions of a Man in a Suit, played by George Wilson.

I wanted to produce this movie because, I believed in the script and in the director's vision. I had some personal experiences with my own aging grandmother that were similar and thought the audience could relate. In the story the grandmother is experiencing dementia, and it allows the actors to use their range due to the emotional roller coaster they were going through. There are some really heavy scenes and it allowed us to showcase some the areas acting talent in that regard. Also, I wanted to do this project because of the message. It has some "Sixth Sense" qualities and mixes dramatic tones with the classic thriller or horror style but in the end has a message of love and forgiveness.

AK: What do you hope to do with the film?

KH: We plan on screening the movie at the Robinson Film Center next month and onto the festival circuit with the hopes of distribution.

Trailer: 'The Killing Room'

Made in The Shreve. And directed by Jonathan Liebesman, who is in pre-production on "Battle: Los Angeles," which will be shot here and Baton Rouge.

What do you think?

'The Collector' rings up just $3.6M

"The Collector" earned $3.6M at the box office this weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. The total -- earned from 1,325 theaters compared to "Funny People's 3,008 ($23.4M) -- clocked in at no. 11 of the weekend's top grossing flicks.

Weekend results, according to Box Office Mojo
1. "Funny People," $23.4M
2. "Harry Potter," $17.7M
3. "G-Force," $17.1M
4. "The Ugly Truth," $13M
5. "Aliens in the Attic," $7.8M
6. "Orphan," $7.3M
7. "Ice Age," $5.3M
8. "The Hangover," $5.1M
9. "The Proposal," $4.9M
10. "Transformers," $4.6M
11. "The Collector," $3.6M
12. "(500) Days of Summer," $2.8M

LSUS's animation program to offer open house

What's AVEP? The Animation and Visual Effects Program at LSU Shreveport.

What can you do there? AVEP trains students in animation and visual effects for film production and other disciplines. Learn all about the opportunities at an open house on Aug. 17. You can chat with professors, kick the tires on the hardware (not too hard), and get a look at the Advanced Flight Simulation System.

WHEN: 6 p.m. Aug. 17.
WHERE: LSUS Technology Center Room 209.
COST: free. There will be door prizes, too.
MORE INFO: avei@lsus.edu or 318.795.2480.

DigiLou is now Moonbot Studios

I just received this transmission from the relatively near reaches of cyberspace. Later this week, I hope to learn a bit more about Moonbot's experience at Siggraph:

Lampton Enochs and Alissa Kantrow of Louisiana Production Consultants and William Joyce of howdy ink, LLC are proud to announce the formation of Moonbot Studios (formerly Digilou), a digital animation and visual effects company. Headquartered in the Inter Tech Science Park in Shreveport, LA, Moonbot Studios will support the growing film, television, and digital interactive media industries in Louisiana and worldwide, by combining the incredible talents of its team and the generous entertainment industry incentives in Louisiana.

Currently in production at Moonbot, "The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore" is the story of a man whose life is erased and who loses everything. Co-Directed by William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg, Morris Lessmore, with no place to go, finds a new and wonderful world through the curative power of story and is thus inspired to rewrite his own story.

And, hey. They're hiring. Click The Legion for details.