Umbrellas and frequent shade breaks offered temporary relief to a busy crew and celebrity cast during the final day of filming on "Bringing Up Bobby."
The shoot wrapped on Aug. 13 in Oklahoma City, said Sofia Sondervan-Bild ("Cadillac Records"), one of the film's producers.
Many of the movie's stars had scenes during the final day of filming, including a sweltering outdoor shot filmed in the backyard of a $3.8 million Nichols Hills home. Cameras rolled as Bill Pullman ("The Killer Inside Me") and Marcia Cross (TV's "Desperate Housewives") traded lines with 12-year-old Spencer List and Milla Jovovich ("The Fourth Kind"), who plays Olive, a European con artist who flees to Oklahoma with her son to escape her criminal past.
While crews adjusted lighting and lenses, the actors tried to relax on a patio as makeup and wardrobe artists brushed, blotted and tweaked. Thick cables snaked everywhere, and gaffers, grips and assistants hustled to make sure sheets of cardboard were placed underneath any equipment capable of scuffing or scratching the home's marble floors. The 14,000 square-foot abode is separated into two sections, split by a shimmering pool, which teased sweat-soaked crew members who eyed it longingly and audibly lamented not being able to jump in.
Jovovich slugged orange Gatorade in the shade, while "X-Men" actress Famke Janssen, the film's first-time writer/director/producer, told an assistant to lead Licorice, her ever-present Boston Terrier, inside and out of the heat.
List provided much of the off-camera entertainment for the cast and crew. During one take, he led them in chiding Pullman for forgetting one of his scripted actions " tucking in his shirt " which prompted friendly banter and hair tousling between the two. Jovovich also roughhoused with the boy and cracked wise with pop-and-lock dancing and cool, complicated handshake routines.
At the Aug. 15 wrap party, List said he and Jovovich had fun hanging out off-set at a metro country club, eating in Bricktown and at a barbecue, which the actress organized. Carefully choosing his words so as not to divulge any plot points, List said his favorite scene involved stealing a car.
"I was actually in the action of taking the car," he said. "I'm basically Clyde, and Milla is Bonnie."
Filming on the four-week shoot began about a month ago, Sondervan-Bild said, shooting throughout the metro, including downtown OKC, Pops and the Round Barn in Arcadia, and several local schools, including Casady.
The picture qualified for the 35 percent Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate, said Jill Simpson, director of the Oklahoma Film & Music Office, which administrates the program. Many key crew members were brought in from other states, but a number of locals were a part of the cast and crew. While a final breakdown won't be available until producers submit paperwork, Simpson said Oklahomans played important roles on the set and behind the scenes.
Among the movie's executive producers are Chad Burris from Tulsa's Indion Entertainment Group, Steve and Renee Knox, Cole Frates, and David and Maryann Johndrow, who moved to Napa Valley, Calif., from Oklahoma to open Johndrow Vineyards winery, Sondervan-Bild said.
No release date for "Bobby" has been given, but Sondervan-Bild is eyeing spring 2011. Simpson said she hopes the film will premiere in Oklahoma City with a red carpet-styled event attended by the cast. "Joe Wertz
photo Assistant cameraman Chris Benson, director Famke Janssen and director of photography Guido van Gennep. Photo/Mark Hancock
