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A touch of Hollywood has come to the West Georgia area as Clint Hutchinson brings his new project The Conjurer to the area for production. The film, a low budget, independent production, has attracted investors and a great deal of local interest. The second credited production for California based Red Five Entertainment, the film will film primarily in Whitesburg; however, other locations throughout the county will also be utilized.
The premise for the film, penned by newcomer David Yarborough, follows a couple that recently suffered a devastating loss after the wife miscarried. They return to the area where she was raised and move into an isolated farmhouse with a small cabin in back. Unbeknownst to them, the cabin was once occupied by an old witch, or "conjurer", and when the couple begins talking about tearing the cabin down, the terror begins.
Director Clint Hutchinson, whose previous work At a Glance, garnered him the Special Gold Jury Award at the 1991 WorldFest Houston Film Festival is helming the project. Conjurer will be Hutchinson's first credited feature length film. The film represents only the second major project for Red Five as well, with the company's first project Terror Track unable to attract domestic distribution, but distributed in South America, Asia and European markets. Producers Lance Dreesen and Richard Mix hope that the current project will gain a domestic distributor, although plans are in place for a direct-to-video release in the event no theatrical deal can be made.
As the film's Executive Producer, Mix is looking not only to bring attention to the project, but also to establish the west Georgia area as a hub for future film projects. Riverwood studios, near Peachtree City, has already begun work on a massive expansion project, which along with tax breaks issued by Governor Sonny Perdue, will hopefully bring more films to the area. Mix is a resident of Carroll County, and is also producing a film documenting the UWG cheerleading squad, tentatively titled Cheer the Braves. Through his connections in the county and with the University of West Georgia, several Mass Communications students have begun work on the production. John Anderson and Freya Cole both volunteered for duty on the set as a possible step up into the industry. According to Anderson, "Working on the production is a great opportunity" and he hopes that the experience, along with his work on UTV-13 news, will boost his resume when he graduates. Cole was assigned to the casting call held Friday morning, where she took head shots of the prospective actors, some of whom were UWG students as well.
The UTV-13 staff is also involved in the production aspects of the project as well, developing and chronicling the production for the behind-the-scenes feature of the DVD edition. While primary filming will be centered in Whitesburg, the crew does plan to work on Adamson Square in Carrollton on April 2.
Angelica Campos contributed to this story.
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