Monday, August 11, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

COLUMN: Shooting Stars

'CSI' ready to film at Green Valley Ranch, Boardwalk

You win a few, you lose a few.

But Las Vegas' TV total remains in the black this week as CBS' top-rated, Emmy-nominated "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" returns to shoot scenes for its upcoming fourth season opener, aptly titled "Assume Nothing."

The title is apt, according to Las Vegan Anthony Zuiker, "CSI's" creator, because "the last five minutes of the first episode" will include "one of the biggest twists of the year," he promises.

Almost all of the show's core regulars -- William Petersen (who plays "CSI" chief Gil Grissom), Gary Dourdan (alias investigator Warrick Brown), George Eads (investigator Nick Stokes), Jorja Fox (investigator Sara Sidle) and Paul Guilfoyle (detective Jim Brass) -- will be along for the Vegas trip. (The lone exception: Marg Helgenberger, who earned another Emmy nomination this year for her role as investigator Catherine Willows.)

The two-day shoot, which begins today, features several locations at Station Casinos' Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, including the pool, the casino, the Whiskey Sky bar and the BullShrimp restaurant. Meanwhile, back on the Strip, the Boardwalk's parking garage also serves as a "CSI" location.

Not so coincidentally, Green Valley Ranch also served as one of the shooting sites, along with Mandalay Bay, for NBC's new "Las Vegas" series, which filmed here last week.

"We're very excited" about the Green Valley Ranch location, says Zuiker, one of "CSI's" executive producers. "We're still longing for a relationship with a hotel that will really let us shoot whenever and wherever we'd like." But, he adds, "Green Valley Ranch and Mandalay Bay look promising."

With both hotels serving as part of "Las Vegas' " fictional Montecito casino group, "ultimately we'll be able to share venues," Zuiker predicts. "It's good for Las Vegas that we're both shooting there. I don't see why the two shows couldn't co-exist."

Those two shows may be back in November for sweeps-month episodes.

But another set-in-Vegas show -- FX's "Lucky," with John Corbett as a down-on-his-luck poker champ -- won't be back at all. Despite an Emmy nomination for "Lucky's" pilot script, the cable network recently canceled the show.

Two other cable networks, meanwhile, bring shows to Southern Nevada this week.

"A Walk in Your Shoes" -- a reality series from The N, Nickelodeon's nighttime teen network, that takes two teens from different backgrounds and asks them to switch lives-- explores the issue of AIDS during its Southern Nevada visit, which is scheduled Tuesday through Friday.

The Southern Nevada episode focuses on Tyler, an HIV-positive high school football player from Pahrump -- and Trevor, a high school athlete who's HIV-negative. In addition to training for and participating in a benefit bicycle ride sponsored by a Colorado AIDS organization, Trevor will meet Tyler's girlfriend -- and go along as Tyler picks up his monthly supply of intravenous medications. Tyler also is expected to join Las Vegas teen AIDS activist Hydeia Broadbent to discuss AIDS prevention and personal stories with local teens.

The Food Network's "Food Finds," meanwhile, returns to Southern Nevada Wednesday to shoot wraparounds for previously taped pieces.

Early morning will find host Sandra Pinckney and crew hoping to beat the most brutal heat at Valley of Fire, according to producer Stuart Crowner.

Later, they'll visit Garduño's at the Palms and capture some glittering panoramas from atop the Showcase Mall and one of the pedestrian bridges crossing the Strip.

Returning to hometown productions, cult auteur Ted V. Mikels' "The Cauldron: Baptism of Blood" -- a sequel of sorts to 1972's "Blood Orgy of the She-Devils" -- keeps rolling this week at a variety of locations, including a Valley View Boulevard recording studio, a make-believe cemetery in a business complex near Rancho and Alta drives, a private residence on the west side of town and a mock police station set up in a medical office.

Mikels' crews always include numerous volunteers and interns gaining on-the-job experience.

But if you're interested in more formalized training, the film department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is now accepting applicants for its Professional Film Crew Training Program, which begins Aug. 29.

The program, aimed at residents who aren't interested in a film degree, provides hands-on classes that offer an inside look at movie and TV production.

All-day classes will be held once a week on Fridays starting Aug. 29. Only 15 places are open in the program; interviews are required for all candidates.

Applications are available at UNLV's film department (located on the west side of campus, off Harmon Avenue) or by e-mailing Kai Murphy, the UNLV film instructor who oversees the program, at Nevadafilmcrew@hotmail.com.

Once participants complete their first semester in the program, they're eligible for crew internships on reality shows, features, TV series and documentaries filming here, according to Murphy -- experience that often leads to professional crew positions.

Through such successes, the program helps Nevada improve its crew depth and attract more production, according to Murphy. And that, in turn, provides more work for the crew members here.

And, on a sorrowful final note, members of Las Vegas' film community are reeling from the death of Justin Lindsey last week in an automobile crash.

Lindsey -- whose production talents ranged from assistant director to art director, set dresser to prop master -- worked at Flying L Productions, which provides location and production services, with his mother, Leanne Lindsey.

"We're all devastated," comments Eddie Fickett, a local production veteran. "He was well-loved in the film community and he will be dearly missed."