SHOOTING STARS: 'Stuey,' 'Rovin' Gamblers' focus on poker

It's a double real-to-reel deal on location in Las Vegas this week as two poker-related features -- one a fictionalized biography, the other a documentary -- hit the tables.

First up: "Stuey," which recounts the rise and fall of poker ace Stu "The Kid" Ungar, a three-time World Series of Poker champ who was found dead in a seedy local motel in 1998.

"The Sopranos' " Michael Imperioli plays "Stuey's" title character, a gambler who "was such as genius at cards and reading people," explains A.W. Vidmer, "Stuey's" writer, director and producer. (Vidmer shares the latter role with F.A. Miller.)

To Vidmer, the movie explores "the imbalance that genius can cause," he says, describing Ungar as "all in, all the time. That was essentially his life; his drug of choice was more. He sucked the marrow out of life."

Before starting its nine-day Vegas visit Tuesday, "Stuey" spent 12 days on location in Nashville and Columbia, Tenn., which "stood in quite well for New York in the '60s," according to Vidmer.

But "only Vegas can play Vegas," the filmmaker acknowledges. "There's really no way to reproduce it accurately."

Because "Stuey" follows Ungar's life from the '60s to the '90s, Vidmer plans to stick to longtime Las Vegas landmarks to maintain "a timeless look."

A primary location, of course, will be Binion's Horseshoe, where Ungar won his World Series titles. (Some footage will be captured there during this weekend's Hall of Fame tournament, says Las Vegas-based production manager Eddie Fickett.)

The production also is scheduled to visit the Riviera, where the Top of the Riv will be featured in a gambling scene. A party scene will be staged in the hotel's presidential suite, reports Riviera publicist John Neeland.

Other "Stuey" locations range from Circus Circus' entrance to Red Rock Canyon, the Las Vegas National Golf Course and a few private residences, Vidmer says.

Several Las Vegans will turn up in the movie, from Imperioli's "Sopranos" castmate Steve Schirippa to Pat Morita, stand-up comedian Johnny Dark and actor Joe La Due, according to local casting director Ray Favero, who also placed 18 day players in "Stuey." Other familiar featured faces include ESPN's Al Bernstein and Tex Whitson, the World Series of Poker's press coordinator.

Michael Pasternak (whose credits range from "The Wanderers" to "NYPD Blue"), meanwhile, replaces the late Rod Steiger as a mysterious and menacing presence who visits Ungar on the final night of his life.

If you're interested in joining the aforementioned performers, "Stuey" needs real-life poker dealers and poker players as extras, along with general background types.

An open call for extras will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at Wild Streak Talent, 3355 W. Spring Mountain Road, Suite 264, reports Wild Streak's Frankie Mason. (Bring a photo of yourself to the call.) The agency also needs hundreds of extras for the upcoming "Looney Tunes" feature, which hits Las Vegas at month's end. Stay tuned to Shooting Stars for more on next week's "Looney" extras calls.

Meanwhile, on the documentary side of the poker table, "Rovin' Gamblers" returns to town this weekend to shoot footage at Binion's Hall of Fame tournament.

The feature-length documentary, which has been in production since March, focuses on "the new generation of poker players," professionals from 20 to 40 years old who "are all making a living playing poker," according to producer-director Rebekah Sindoris.

Among them: Las Vegans Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman-Traniello and Layne Flack.

"Rovin' Gamblers" began while Sindoris was working on a fictional short and came to Las Vegas to interview poker pros, including Hall of Fame member Walter Clyde "Puggy" Pearson (who drives a bus-sized RV called the Rovin' Gambler), as part of her research.

After talking with them, however, she and her collaborators "realized there was something a lot bigger" in the subject "and put the 20-minute short on hold."

The resulting documentary, shot on digital video, follows the featured players in cash and tournament games; "Rovin' Gamblers" has visited Las Vegas "about six or seven times in the past six months," the director says.

By the time Sindoris adds this weekend's footage, she'll have about 125 hours of digital video to whittle down to feature length before "Rovin' Gamblers" is ready for the festival circuit.

Southern Nevada also serves as a backdrop for some show business gamblers this week: 30 "American Idol" semifinalists, arriving for a reunion concert to be staged Sept. 18 at the MGM Grand Garden arena.

Included in the concert, scheduled to air on Fox Sept. 23, will be song segments from the "Idol" crew, taped this week at Valley of Fire and a downtown location that hadn't been determined at press time, according to Las Vegas-based location manager Frank Carillo.

Elsewhere on location this week: the hidden-camera game show "Oblivious," which is scheduled to capture unwitting contestants in action today through Thursday.

The New TNN show, produced by Stone Stanley Entertainment (the folks behind such programs as "The Mole," "PopStars" and "The Man Show"), features comedian Regan Burns, in disguise, quizzing unsuspecting contestants on topics from pop culture to politics at a variety of venues. Every correct answer from an "oblivious" contestant earns a cash prize.

Also on the game show beat, Telepictures' syndicated "Elimidate" continues its 10-day Vegas visit through Friday, shuttling between Harrah's Las Vegas and the Rio for segments featuring an "all-star" lineup of daters.

Rounding out this week's location itinerary: Belladonna Productions, which plans a one-day shoot on the Strip for a TV commercial promoting a European insurance firm.

Finally, catching up on a bit of weekend business, Telepictures' in-development "Judge and Justice" was scheduled to shoot Sunday at the Clark County Courthouse, with District Judge Joseph T. Bonaventure presiding before the cameras, according to court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer.

The show uses a "People's Court"-style formula, Sommermeyer says, "with a couple twists and turns." Telepictures and court officials had been discussing the project "for a couple months," he adds.

Bonaventure's high "Court TV" profile during the Ted Binion and Margaret Rudin murder trials may have sparked his involvement with the proposed series, but Bonaventure's office declined comment, referring questions to Telepictures, where officials cited a company policy not to comment on projects in development.

Carol Cling's Shooting Stars column appears Mondays.

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