Bio pic starts filming in Lawrence
5:51 p.m. Monday, August 4, 2008
"To me, it's not just a Stan Herd story. It's more about this ensemble piece with all of these different people and I'm just one of the guys," said Stan Herd.
KU film alum Chris Ordal is telling the story of crop artist Stan Herd and using his home base as a backdrop.
"We're shooting almost everything in Lawrence and we will be going to New York for a couple pick up shorts, but we're putting New York here in Lawrence," Ordal said.
Most of the talent is also based out of New York, and some are seeing Kansas for the first time.
"I always thought it would be flatter than it is. Lawrence is fantastic. It's a beautiful town," actor Bruce MacVittie said. "People have been extremely friendly and it's actually very diverse."
"This is my third summer doing film here and there's no one that doesn't speak highly of here and tell other people to come here," actress Laura Kirk said.
Some of the cast isn't as easy to get along with.
"We have a constantly changing set. One of our cast members is Mother Nature and so she tends to be a little difficult to work with sometimes, so that's an interesting challenge," Ordal said.
And having a film based on your life is not exactly an everyday occurrence.
"The term is always 'surreal.' It's a little strange," Herd said. "The thing that worried the most, quite frankly, was just Stan Herd's in town and they're making a film about him and we're going to shut the town down. That's a little weird for me."
The independent film is being shot over 36 days and will wrap in about a month.
"It's faster than regular film and television," MacVittie said. "A lot of Hollywood stuff is a little bit excess and independent films are really the way things should be shot, I think."
"We might have a couple of days in September but for now we're just getting through the shoot," Ordal said.
And Ordal's goal for the film?
"One billion dollars in box office results. But realistically, I just want to get the story told," Ordal said.
Ordal requested that Massachusetts street between 8th and 9th streets be shut down for filming. The crew has until midnight to keep the block closed, but he says the filming should wrap for the day before then.
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