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SPRINGFIELD Local filmmakers volunteering their time and talents started production last week on the city's video entry into a national contest that could bring the premiere of "The Simpsons" movie to the City of Homes. Or is that the "City of Homers?" Springfield, the oldest city with that name in the country, is one of 14 communities competing for the honor of being designated as "the" Springfield and the home of the cartoon family. Other Springfields include those in Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee, New Jersey, Florida, Michigan, Kentucky, Nebraska, Colorado, Louisiana and Vermont. The communities must show their "Simpsons spirit." Participating communities must postmark their three to five minute entry, which must contain key props sent by 20th Century-Fox studios, by June 23. The studio will then post the videos on the "USA Today" web site and the nation will get to choose the winner. Because the competition brings national attention, local organizers were taking the production very seriously. Details about the script and the nature of the video weren't released, although at a press conference conducted last Tuesday, political consultant Tony Cignoli revealed that Senator Edward Kennedy had agreed to take part in the video. Kennedy shot his sequence in Washington, D.C. on June 8, but what he said or did wasn't revealed. There has been an effort from groups in other Springfields to try to learn about competing approaches to the video assignment through news accounts. Cignoli said he views the production process in the same way he thinks of a political campaign. "We need a national vote," he said. At the Tuesday press event, the video's executive producer, David Horgan, a local filmmaker best known or his recent feature "Cathedral Pines," said city officials have been contacted by the "London Times," the BBC and Israeli radio about the contest. "This video is going to be seen by the world," Horgan added. Horgan announced that Ed Brown of New York Sound and Motion would be providing editing services. Brown's Springfield-based company includes ESPN, CNN and A&E among its clients. The video began shooting at the Veritech studios in East Longmeadow on Thursday afternoon. Production continued this past weekend with scenes staged in Agawam on Friday and Saturday and WWLP in Chicopee as well as a climatic scene shot in downtown Springfield on Sunday. Additional scenes were also shot on the Veritech sound stage. Marty Langford, the primary author of the script and one of the video's directors, explained that in order to meet the deadline the production teams would begin editing the footage before the last scene is shot. The local filmmakers who are also donating their services include Scott Kittredge, Warren Amerman, Karl Kopopka and Joel Katon. Amerman, Katon, Kittredge, Horgan and Rob Daviau also made contributions to Langford's script. Langford confirmed that everyone is a volunteer on the production. Over the course of the week the name "Homer" appeared in lights on the top of Monarch Place. "We are excited about the buzz that his campaign has generated for our Springfield. Ours is the first Springfield established in the Untied States of America. Springfield, Massachusetts has been the home of many other firsts - from the first American automobile (The Duryea); the nation's first armory (George Washington's) to the Indian Motorcycle and the first frozen foods (Birdseye). We wanted to help our hometown to come in first again in this nation-wide competition," Monarch Place owner, Paul C. Picknelly, said. *** On the Veritech set on June 14 at 4 p.m., Kittredge was the director of the day and was wrestling with donut placement not just any donut, but a strawberry frosted donut with sprinkles. Key Simpson's icons, such as Home's signature snack, must be worked into the video. One member of the production had to visit several donut shops in order to find a sufficient supply. Luckily, Kittredge said they have enough pastries so there are spare or "stunt donuts." The actor on set is Matt Blake, a stand-up comedian who has been in national commercials and is the host of "Sidelines" a web-based sports show on www.nbcsports.com. Kittredge conferred with Blake on how to enter the scene and how to play it. Blake used his skill as a stand-up comedian to bring bits of business to the scene and later Langford said Blake was brilliant. It takes several takes before Kittredge okayed the scene and then the production crew continued on until 7 p.m. with some outdoors footage. The next day Kopopka is the director of a sequence in which Langford and Kittredge are pressed into duties as actors along with Langford's son Max. Shot behind the Veritech building, passing motorists may have been confused by the sight of a man struggling with a Homer Simpson mask. *** At the Tuesday press conference, Brown said the finished video would show viewers the state of the film and video industry in the area. "You don't have to go to New York City for a commercial," Brown said. Horgan said the video is a "way to speak about Springfield as a place on the rise." | ||||||
