Posts Tagged ‘Connecticut’

Residents of the town of Wallingford, Connecticut, are once again finding that their otherwise average New England town is the backdrop for a feature film. Earlier this month, The Midnight Game, starring Renee Olstead, Deborah Twiss, and Shelby Young, kicked off shooting. Little is known about the film at this time, though it is known to be a horror/thriller theme. Director A.D. Calvo, though originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, is no stranger to using Wallingford as the setting for his films. His first feature, The Other Side of the Tracks, was shot almost entirely in Wallingford, and even featured the town mayor in a cameo role. That film was released in 2008. In December 2009, Calvo filmed his sophomore feature, The Melancholy Fantastic, also in Wallingford. Calvo does currently reside in Wallingford, and also had a hand in writing the film.

The Midnight GameI‘s stars are no strangers to Hollywood East themselves. Olstead once appeared on the TV show “Providence,” which was filmed partially in Rhode Island. Twiss has appeared on the TV show “Fringe,” which is set in Boston, Massachusetts. And Young appeared in the movie, The Social Network, which was partially filmed in Boston.

The Midnight Game is set to be released sometime in 2013.

On last week’s episode of “Kourtney and Kim Take New York”, the 2 elder Kardashian sisters went to Mystic, Connecticut to escape the paparazzi and spend some quality time together. Ditching their respective mates, much to the dismay of Kourtney’s on-again-off-again baby daddy, Scott Disick, the raven-haired siblings packed up baby Mason and took a tinted black Escalade to the Constitution state.

The trio arrived at the Whaler’s Inn, a place that Kim referred to as “the cutest little bed and breakfast” and unpacked their things just in time to grab dinner at S & P Oyster Company, where Kim ordered the black tiger shrimp, dressed in lemon and parmesan, with asparagus, on a bed of whole wheat linguini.

During their stay, Kourtney called Mystic “a peaceful, charming little town”, just the sort of place the girls were looking for to get away from the craziness of life in the NYC.

While the ladies were in town, they brought baby Mason to the Mystic Aquarium, where they fed a beluga whale, pet a penguin, and got to see a variety of sharks, seals, and fish in the viewing tanks, and even handle some other sea creatures in the facility’s touch tanks.

The ladies seemed to genuinely enjoy their brief stay in the Nutmeg state before returning to their hotel (and their men) in Manhattan.

No word yet on whether or not the state is considering changing the spelling to Konnektikut.

Massachusetts native and “The Tonight Show” host Jay Leno is heading back to New England to perform live at Connecticut’s Foxwood Resort Casino.  The legendary comedian will be at the resort’s MGM Grand on August 27.

Leno grew up in Andover, Massachusetts and later attended Boston’s Emerson College, earning a degree in speech therapy.  While attending school in Beantown, Leno got his start performing at local comedy clubs. His career really took off when Leno took over for Johnny Carson as host of “The Tonight Show” in 1992. He was involved in a controversy with fellow Massachusetts comedian, Conan O’Brien last year after Leno briefly left the show to O’Brien, only to return as host a few months later.

Tickets are on sale now for Leno’s Foxwoods’s appearance and prices range from $50-$70.

If you’ve watched any TV in the past few months, you may have caught a cute little commercial from Sprint, featuring the likes of junior soccer team from South Windsor, Connecticut. The team, enthusiastic as they are about soccer, have the unfortunate record of not winning a single game last season.

In the ad, Sprint encourages people around the country to like the team’s Facebook page and text the coach words of encouragement, flashing his personal cell phone number on the screen, to help push the girls into the winners’ circle, and “help make a team of underdogs America’s team.”

“I was contacted by the ad agency through the president of my soccer club.  He forwarded and email which explained the intent of the campaign and told me it was up to me if I wanted to proceed,” said coach Hank Cullinane of how the South Windsor Thunder became the subject of the ad.

The commercial was shot over 2 days at Rye St. Park in South Windsor.

“It was interesting to experience the process. We were told that it would basically be a practice and they would film it. It turned out to be a series of stop and starts. The director or producer would see something they liked and say “do that again.” I was surprised by the amount of material that was filmed to produce a 30 second ad,” said Cullinane.

“The overall reaction from the public has been 98% positive.  There are a number of teenage boys who feel the need to get attention.  The girls are overwhelmed by the support the commercial generated from all over the country,” said Cullinane.

As if their newfound fandom wasn’t enough, the girls were already enjoying their success when former Olympic Captain Julie Foudy surprised them at the field to coach them for a day. Not a bad day on the field!

To check out the team and send them your own best wishes, like their Facebook page here. You can also watch their Sprint commercial below.

Johnny Depp to star in ‘The Night Stalker’ Remake & Paul Revere project.

★ Johnny Depp to star in Disney movie about Paul Revere.

★ Zookeeper opens in 3rd places its first weekend in theaters.

★ Ben Affleck allegedly lost $400k in poker games to Universal Studios president, Ron Meyer, but seems to be having a fine time with his family.

★ CBS gets caught fudging with Boston’s fireworks shots.

★ Reports say former Celtic star Shaquille O’Neal will be working for Turner Broadcasting.

★ Scenes for the upcoming movie Ted filmed at the Hatch Shell.

★ Boston’s own Chris Evans, the current Captain America, admits to seeking therapy, and gained 15 pounds for his new role.

★ Supermodel Stephanie Seymour calls the police on her son in Connecticut.

★ Matt Damon is bald!

★ Meryl Streep’s daughter gets married in Connecticut.

Hartford born television host, Brooke Burke shares her tips for doing it all in a self-help book for the modern mom.  In “The Naked Mom: True Confessions, Authentic Advice and Smart Reflections on Modern Motherhood” Burke shares how the mother of four juggles her career as host of “Dancing with the Stars” and raising her young children.

Although born in Hartford, Connecticut, Burke moved to Arizona and a young age and earned a broadcast journalism degree from UCLA.  Burke gained fame in the modeling world posing for men’s magazines like Playboy, Maxim and FHM.  She also led a career as a television host, hosting the E! travel show, “Wild On!” and rock band reality competition, “Rock On.”  Burke took top prize in season seven of “Dancing with the Stars” and started hosting the reality competition on season 10.

Burke has two children with ex-husband Garth Fisher and two children with her fiance, French singer and actor David Charvet.  Burke’s four kids range in age from 11-year-old, Neriah to her only son, three-year-old Shaya.

Is Grease still the one that you want?  If so, start working on your hand jive, because the National Tour of Grease is in Boston for a five-day run.

The show will run from April 27- May 1 at the Citi Performing Arts Center’s Wang Theatre.  The Kathleen Marshall, Tony nominated revival opened on Broadway in August, 2007 and ran for 554 performances.  Tickets for the Boston shows start at just $28.

The original cast of the 1978 film won’t be onstage this time, but they had some interesting New England connections.  The original Danny Zuko, John Travolta owns a house in Maine and the original Rizzo, Stockard Channing lived in Connecticut and started her career with the Theatre Company of Boston.

For your blast back to the 50′s past, you can purchase tickets online today.

Want to be an expert on the elaborate world of Connecticut’s hot dog stands? Fortunately for you, independent filmmaker Mark Kotlinski has taken up the cause in his film A Connecticut Hot Dog Tour. Kotlinski takes a culinary expedition through floating frankfurter stands with special appearances along the way by celebrities and hot dog connoisseurs alike.

“The film takes the viewer on a mouth-watering road trip to some of Connecticut’s distinctive hot dog stands to sample their house specialties, history and local hot dog culture,” Kotlinski said in an interview for NewEnglandFilm.com.

A New Britain, Conn. native of Polish ancestry, Kotlinski grew up eating various types of sausage and franks. Thus, he felt it was important to showcase a diverse assortment of venues in his A Connecticut Hot Dog Tour. Along with presenting the menus of such restaurants as Weiners on Water in Haddam, Conn. and Super Duper Weenie in Fairfield, Kotlinski’s film also describes the evolution of each individual hot dog stand. Each place has its own top secret recipe, making it unique from the rest.

Kotlinski admitted that and his videographer/co-producter, John Carluccio, encountered a few blips throughout the epicurean adventure. The crew had very little space to shoot footage inside the hot dog stands, and it was often impossible to set up lighting equipment. Only the available light was used for the inside shots, Kotlinski said.

Also, the Connecticut weather was an issue, and rain frequently forced the crew to reschedule outdoor shoots. ”The weather in Connecticut is definitely a major factor in productions. However it’s also one of the major advantages… It’s a perfect backdrop for a film.”

When asked about his favorite of all the venues he visited, Kotlinski predictably avoided making any such decision. “I actually don’t have one favorite; it depends on what I’m in the mood for. Some days I need a chili dog and others I need a hot relish fix. That’s what I like about Connecticut hot dog stands: there’s not one specific style, so they’re all pretty unique.”

Preview the lip-smacking journey in the following trailer. Other clips from the film, as well as information on how to purchase your own copy can be found here!

Having recently received the go-ahead to shoot 100 episodes in the next 15 months, the new TBS sitcom “Are We There Yet?” deserves some attention from Hollywood East. To add to the intrigue, it is now being shot on our turf! The state-of-the-art Connecticut Film Center studio on Stillwater Avenue in Stamford, not Los Angeles, will be the new filming location of the show, which details the life of a man — played by former NFL player Terry Crews — who has just married a divorced mother of two.

According to StamfordAdvocate.com, creator of the sitcom, Ali LeRoi, says Connecticut is becoming more attractive to the television industry because of the state’s film credit program as well as the ready access to New York City acting talent. The filming of “Are We There Yet?” will also benefit Connecticut’s economy according to Stamford Mayor Michael Pavia; with a budget of over $60 million and a 15-month filming time line, the show will bring lots of business to local vendors. Many of the cast members and production crew have even moved to the area with their families.

In addition, the Film Industry Tax Incentive Act, established in 2006, provides a 30-percent tax credit for film production expenses that exceed $100,000. The filming of “Are We There Yet?” brings a four-to-one return to the state based on these film tax incentives; for every $1 that is discounted by the state, the show injects $4 into the economy.

“It’s another great day for Stamford,” Lieutenant Governor Michael Fedele told StamfordAdvocate.com last week after taking a tour of the set.

One of the executive producers of “Are We There Yet?,” rapper “Ice Cube,” promotes the show — which airs Wednesday nights on TBS — in the trailer below:

It’s been a year in the making and subject to months of delays, but Connecticut Studio LLC’s proposed $50 million studio-sound stage is finally ready for action.

According to Hartfordbusiness.com, General Manager Mark Miller will be joined by Gov. M. Jodi Rell, Congressman John Larson, South Windsor Mayor John Pelkey and other state and local officials this week to announce the groundbreaking for the project, now a 61-acre plot in South Windsor near the junction of Interstate 291 and Route 5. Construction for the movie studio is estimated to create as many as 500 union construction jobs over the next eight to ten months.

The 500,000-square-foot project will include nine movie-TV sound stages, executive offices, mill and storage facilities and space for locating shooting, and will be funded in part by Connecticut film tax credits. A 125-room hotel, four restaurants and retail space were also included in the original plans.

Let us know what you think about this new movie studio!