August 21, 2017
The Nebraska Department of Economic Development and the Nebraska Film Office are excited to announce the filming of three feature film projects on location in Nebraska.
Independent filmmaker, Bob Byington will be filming on location in North Platte in September. A comedy, Substitution is a story about a substitute teacher who is falsely accused of seducing a student. Byington is an award winning independent filmmaker known internationally for quirky comedies; he has received several awards for his work, including the Special Jury Prize at the Locarno Film Festival. The community of North Platte including the Chamber and Tourism offices have assisted with locations and other physical production needs. For additional information, send emails to: thesub37@gmail.com
Two additional films will be moving forward simultaneously following the total solar eclipse. One filming in the Scottsbluff area, “In The Moon’s Shadow,” and “Bless,” filming near Tryon. Both independent films will be capturing the eclipse. The two films chose this area also for its scenic beauty, the remote pastoral hills of the high plains and the Sand Hills. These projects will be set up and rolling August 19 – 21 to record the movement of the shadow across the landscape, as backgrounds to their stories.
Director Alvin Case’s In The Shadow of the Moon stars Debra Lord Cooke, Elissa Pizel and Jules Hartley. It is the story of two estranged sisters, one a workaholic, the other a recent widow who take a road trip to the Sand Hills of Nebraska to watch the total eclipse of the sun. This is a picture examining family, ambition, love and the effect of a rare celestial event on their lives.
Case has a lengthy career writing and directing numerous art films, feature films and shorts. Cooke has a noted background in screen, television, and stage acting and casting. Pizel has many stage and screen productions and commercial works to her credit. Hartley is known for her acting achievements in television with such projects as Silicon Valley, Scorpion, Law and Order, as well as feature films such as The Measure of a Man, Age of Ice, The Before Time, Visible Scars, The Black Rider; Revelation Road, and the upcoming thriller, The Wiccan.
Maria Dyer’s Bless is the story of a middle-aged woman in Nebraska who asks her two daughters to take her to the ocean because she is dying of multiple sclerosis and believes a miracle will occur there. Dyer will be filming during the eclipse, the thematic element that has drawn her to Nebraska to frame the story of Bless.
“We are really excited to have these projects on location in Nebraska! There is such a great buzz in the industry right now for Nebraska that includes not only the Coen Brothers but these smaller independent projects as well. We have wonderful people across the state helping with physical production needs. Becky McMillen with INSIGHT CREATIVE Productions, and Starr Lehl, Economic Development Director from Scottsbluff have both been fantastic partners with DED and the Film Office to help make these opportunities happen. We could not have done all this without their assistance,” said Laurie Richards, Nebraska Film Officer.
The Nebraska Film Office (NFO) promotes the state for filming on location activities. The NFO provides location information and responds to needs of physical features, shorts, documentaries, industrial and commercial work across the state. The program is part of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.
For more information, contact Laurie Richards: lrichards2@neb.rr.com