|
GREENSBORO
— Haley Joel Osment, star of films "The Sixth Sense"
and "Pay It Forward," will appear in a basketball
movie to be filmed in the Triad starting in August.
A
high school sports drama, "Home of the Giants,"
will be the second movie for SymPics International, a production
company started by Greensboro attorneys L. Charles Grimes
and his wife, Elizabeth, and their partners.
Its
first, "National Lampoon's The Trouble With Frank,"
starring singer/actor Jon Bon Jovi, was filmed in the Triad
a year ago.
That
comedy should open in theaters this fall, said Charles Grimes,
who plans to hold a star-studded premiere in Greensboro.
Both
movies show SymPics' ability to attract big talent to smaller,
independently-made films, as well as the growth potential
for the Triad’s film industry.
"I
am hoping that it will pave the way for more projects,"
said Grimes, who is also chairman of the volunteer board of
the Piedmont
Triad Film Commission, which works to attract film
production.
In
2004, producers of film, TV, commercials and still photography
spent $22 million in the 12-county region, said Rebecca Clark,
director of the nonprofit film commission.
Clark
and Grimes expect that figure to grow if the state adopts
pending legislation to give a 15 percent rebate to companies
spending $250,000 or more in North Carolina.
That
would make the state more competitive with those that already
offer incentives.
Grimes
said he considered filming "Home of the Giants"
elsewhere, including basketball-loving Indiana, native state
of scriptwriter and director Rusty Gorman.
But
in addition to the prospect of incentives, Grimes ultimately
decided to film locally "because I love Greensboro,"
he said .
The
movie will be filmed over five weeks starting in mid- to late
August.
Locations
have not been finalized, but Grimes said they will include
spots in Greensboro, High Point, probably Winston-Salem and
some yet-to-be-named colleges across the state.
Now
17, Osment's break-through role came in 1994 as Tom Hanks'
son in "Forrest Gump."
He
received an Oscar nomination for the 1999 film "The Sixth
Sense," as a child who communicates with the dead.
His
line, "I see dead people," recently ranked 44th
among the American Film Institute’s 100 greatest movie
quotes.
Since
then, he has appeared in "Pay It Forward," "Artificial
Intelligence: A.I.," "Secondhand Lions" in
addition to voice-overs for animated films.
"Home
of the Giants” is a coming-of-age story told through
the eyes of Osment’s character, Robert "Gar"
Gartland, a high school journalist who covers the basketball
team as it heads toward a state championship. Gar’s best
friend, Matt, is the team’s star.
When
Matt is asked by a drug dealer and small-time hood to throw
the big game, Gar inevitably gets caught in the middle.
When
he started reading the script, Grimes said , "I couldn't
put it down. It was so exciting until the last second. You
don’t know what is going to happen."
Osment
was chosen for the role because of his name recognition, box-office
appeal and introspective style. "There is a lot of depth
to his acting," Grimes said.
Filmmakers
are also in the process of choosing "four to five very
recognizable stars," Grimes said. SymPics plans to recruit
locally for extras in basketball sequences and for production
crew members, including students from local film schools.
Details will be announced at a later date.
Contact
Dawn
DeCwikiel-Kane at 373-5204 or dkane@news-record.com
|
