Little Rock native Joey Lauren Adams is in Hot Springs this week directing a television movie that is being filmed in part in downtown Hot Springs at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa.
The movie, according to a copy of a city of Hot Springs Motion Picture Permit Application, is titled "Betrayed Within," and has been in town since Sunday. On Wednesday night, the production closed Fountain Street to film a scene.
Adams is best-known for her appearances in "Chasing Amy," "Big Daddy" and "Dazed and Confused." She also wrote and directed the 2006 Ashley Judd starring feature movie, "Come Early Morning," which was shot on location in Little Rock.
"When full feature or short length or commercial videography or film come to town, they contact me, and I work a film permit with them, and then we work hand-in-hand with the Hot Springs Police Department and the fire department, Hot Springs National Park, too, to assure that everybody's on the same page so when filming happens, like it's happening right now in Hot Springs, it goes smoothly," said Bill Solleder, marketing director for Visit Hot Springs, who also serves as Hot Springs film commissioner.
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"Joey Lauren Adams, who is a well-known actress and is directing a film in town right now. The first few days of it were filmed in the Arlington Hotel, I believe they may still be filming there right now," Solleder said Thursday.
"There was a really interesting scene there last night where they came out on to Fountain Street, and they worked with police and fire to bring out a fire truck and police car out there to set up a scene outside, and when I went by it really was a joy to see a full-blown movie set on the streets of Hot Springs, including all the lights and cameras and wardrobes and directors and producer and the talent and all working side-by-side with Hot Springs to make a film, I think that's just great for Hot Springs," Solleder said, noting he hopes more productions choose Hot Springs as a filming location.
"I really think that any director or writer that's working on a film, or a commercial, can find any sort of backdrop that they need for film, in Hot Springs. Whether you are looking for the historic downtown backdrop or a natural landscape of one of the city parks or the national park or the national forest, the lakes, it just seems like we have it all here," he said.
Solleder has been film commissioner for about four years, succeeding the previous film commissioner, Steve Arrison.
"I'm just into assisting with logistics and administration. I don't have the time or the manpower right now to go out and be bidding for films to come into town or scouting, but I am a great resource when the film companies call and ask what they need to do to smoothly and safely produce a film here," he said.
As far as inquiries about filming in town, Solleder said he gets "maybe one a month or so. We do know Microsoft was in town recently. They were working on a commercial here." He said Jennifer Gerber, executive director of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, is also considering filming a project in town.
"With talented filmmakers like Joey Lauren Adams and Jen Gerber, and their connection to New York and Hollywood, we're hoping that opens the door up to other filmmakers' eyes, to see not only Hot Springs but the whole state of Arkansas as a great place to make a film," Solleder said.
"No parking" signs cover parking meters on Fountain Street, which was closed on Wednesday for the movie production. - Photo by Tanner Newton of The Sentinel-RecordProductions coming to the city, he said, also help the city.
"You get people coming in, you have one thing. Of course, people are staying, those crews and talent are staying in hotels, they are eating in our restaurants, shopping, so there's some income there," Solleder said.
"We're hoping these films, whether it's through credits, will say 'Hot Springs, Arkansas' in them and in the long run, film industry is a great industry," he said.
Solleder said if a blockbuster is filmed in town, it could lead to more tourism.
With David Hill's "The Vapors" book, "we saw the value in that and created like a self-guided tour that people could follow online to see places in the book. You know if there ever were a blockbuster feature shot in Hot Springs, surely somebody would want to capitalize on that, whether it would be a tour or some sort of licensed imagery from the movie that could connect to Hot Springs."