SHOOTING STARS: Las Vegas gets in the middle of ‘Middle Men’
All roads lead (back) to Las Vegas. At least for the writer-director — and one of the stars — of the upcoming feature “Middle Men,” which hits town in early December. (Don’t look now, folks, but December’s exactly one week away.)
Writer-director George Gallo, for example, scripted one of the all-time great Vegas movies: 1988‘s “Midnight Run.” And star James Caan, at right, has so many made-in-Vegas projects on his resumé — from “Honeymoon in Vegas” to TV’s “Las Vegas” — that the CineVegas film festival proclaimed him a “Vegas Icon” earlier this year.
But “Middle Man” producer Christopher Mallick has a real-life Vegas connection: His experiences inspired the movie’s “highly fictionalized” account of a “mainstream businessman” who becomes embroiled in the wild world of Internet porn.
“I owned a company that processed payments” for online adult businesses, explains Mallick. “We were the middle men.”
The movie’s currently filming in Phoenix (which is doubling for Southern California), but will shoot Dec. 8 through 10 in Las Vegas.
“There really is no way to double Las Vegas,” asserts another “Middle Man” producer, William Sherak. “You either cheat it or you go shoot it.”
And “cheating” with backdrops is really cheating the audience, Sherak maintains.
“Nothing feels the same as shooting in Las Vegas,” he says. “There’s an electricity to it.”
As always, stay tuned to Shooting Stars for more on “Middle Men’s” upcoming Vegas shoot.
And if you’d like to get into the action, Julie Goldman of Goldman & Associates is looking for extras, including a male cross-dresser, “smokin’ hot girls with beautiful bodies” and “mature money guys,” she says. To apply, e-mail your photo, contact information and the days you’re available to Goldman at Julie@GACasting.com.
Model remodelers: HGTV’s “Bang for Your Buck,” now gearing up for its first season, is looking for “gorgeous kitchen remodels,” budgeted from $20,000 to $100,000, to showcase during the program’s February visit to Southern Nevada.
“We are looking for enthusiastic, outgoing homeowners who love their new kitchen and would be thrilled to show it off to the HGTV audience,” according to casting associate producer Mindy Christiansen of High Noon Productions, which is producing the series for HGTV.
The remodels should be no more than 3 years old; if you’re interested, request an application by e-mailing MChristiansen@highnoonentertainment.com or calling (303) 712-3248.
Quick hits: With Thanksgiving days away, the week’s production calendar is a bit limited. But a few projects are rolling just the same.
The Travel Channel’s six-episode “Vegas Revolutions” series is expected to wrap Tuesday, showcasing a variety of experiences — from entertainment to indulgences — that exemplify “the new Vegas,” explains supervising producer Mykelle Sabin of Prometheus Pictures. (One such indulgence: Gavin Maloof of the Palms-owning family, shopping at the local Lamborghini dealer.)
Another frequent Vegas visitor, MTV, returned for the latest round of “Making the Band,” capturing Day26 in action at The Mirage’s Jett nightclub and Donnie Klang performing at the Palms’ Pearl as part of the Backstreet Boys tour. “Making the Band” returns in early February.
And the locally produced superhero spoof “Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel” is scheduled to conclude its shoot today, with hero Surge (played by writer-producer Vincent J. Roth) traveling from his usual stomping grounds, Big City, to Glitter City.
