Hurricane Katrina's aftermath stretches from New Orleans to Las Vegas this week as documentarian Stephen Rue arrives to interview evacuees for "New Orleans Story."

Rue also plans to pitch a 13-week documentary TV series about the Katrina tragedy at the annual meeting of the National Association of Television Program Executives, which continues through Thursday at Mandalay Bay.

So far, Rue's filmed 170 hours of footage featuring displaced New Orleans residents in cities from New York to Nashville.

But Las Vegas and New Orleans have a special affinity, he says, because they're both "hedonistic havens."

Production on "New Orleans Story" began even before Katrina hit last August.

That's because Rue was already filming a documentary on a Habitat for Humanity construction project in New Orleans' Ninth Ward, which became one of the city's hardest-hit areas.

"We had the last footage of the Ninth Ward" before Katrina struck, Rue says. After filming there and getting to know the residents, "we felt obligated to continue," he explains. "As a victim myself, I'm in a unique position to create a historic record."

Former New Orleans residents who would like to share their stories may contact Rue at (504) 319-9990 or StephenRRue@aol.com.

Presto-digitation: Japanese comedy-magician Shinji Maggy hits the Strip for "Mr. Magician Goes to Las Vegas," a two-hour special for TV Tokyo, which is scheduled to conclude a three-day visit Tuesday. The show airs Feb. 13, according to Mugi Morijiri, production coordinator for the Los Angeles-based Idea Network production company.

On the road again: The independent feature "Isolated" hits the road to the middle of nowhere -- Coal Creek Road, off U.S. Highway 95 -- Tuesday and Wednesday for pick-up shots marking the movie's beginning and end.

The psychological horror tale filmed last June in Northern California's Mother Lode country because "we needed the wooded look," explains Las Vegas-based writer-director Eric Nichols. "But we wanted to spice things up, so we rewrote the beginning and end to give it a 'Twilight Zone' feel."

Nichols hopes to debut "Isolated" at June's CineVegas film festival; you can catch a 60-second preview of coming attractions on the movie's website, www.isolated-themovie.com.

Casting about: Another local filmmaker, Malcolm Brooks, plans a February shoot for the action drama "Heroes."

Before then, however, Brooks needs performers to appear in the ultra-low-budget project; you can find information on available roles online at www.mb-films.com.

Carol Cling's Shooting Stars column appears Mondays. Contact her at 383-0272 or e-mail her at ccling@reviewjournal.com.