FILLING IN THE  “HOLES” (March 18,2002)

(Ridgecrest)---Ridgecrest’s Business Development Center went “Hollywood” last Saturday as the Ridgecrest Regional Film Commission (RRFC) hosted an open casting call for the independent feature film HOLES that will be shooting in the area later this spring.  Nearly 500 area residents attended the preliminary audition as Casting Director Marshall Peck addressed the crowd, in groups of 40, for several hours. Each applicant then posed for a Polaroid and had a brief interview.  

According to Ridgecrest Film Commissioner Ray Arthur these events are infrequent but always well attended, “Of the 80 to 100 productions that shoot in our region each year, only a handful need speaking actors or extras, and they usually work through Elena (Vitale) at the High Desert Talent Agency.  But occasionally a feature or music video will specifically request an “open” casting call in order to choose from a wider range of people or to maybe find that one in a million look,” Arthur said.

Arthur recalls the first open casting call in the early 1990’s for a children’s movie titled “PET SHOP” that filmed on the city’s old, downtown Balsam Street.  The production company placed a small classified ad in the local newspapers to fill 20 extras positions, and over 450 people showed up for the casting session.

HOLES is based on an award winning children’s novel by William Sacher, who also co-wrote the film’s screenplay.  The story involves Stanley Yelnats, who has landed at Camp Green Lake, a juvenile detention center in Texas, because it seemed a better option than jail. No matter that his conviction was all a case of mistaken identity. Despite his innocence, Stanley is quickly enmeshed in the Camp Green Lake routine: rising before dawn to dig a hole five feet deep and five feet in diameter; and fearing the
warden, who paints her fingernails with rattlesnake venom. But Stanley soon realizes that the boys may not just be digging to build character.

HOLES stars Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Ghostbusters, Galaxy Quest, Gorillas in the Mist) as the warden, with several other high profile actors to be announced soon.  The film will be directed by Andrew Davis (Under Seige, The Fugitive), who recently completed ”COLLATERAL DAMAGE” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Filming is expected to occur in May and June, with a release date in early 2003.