CHISHOLM, Minn. (AP) — Production is set to begin on a full-length feature film on Lake Street in Chisholm.
Co-Directors Deborah Puette and Robert Enriquez are set to begin making a movie called “Cash for Gold” later this month with filming to take place at Tommy’s Bar and a vacant building next to the bar on Lake Street in Chisholm.
There are two production companies involved with the project, Chariot Entertainment and Red Baron Films are producing the film. They are working in collaboration with the Chisholm-based Lost Forty Studios.
This is not the first project that Puette and Enriquez, both of Los Angeles, California have worked on together.
“He had been managing my acting career for a long time,” Puette said. “When I wrote the short film in 2012, “Cash for God,” he directed it and I starred in it and we produced that together.”
To her credit, Puette, an actor, has written, co-directed, and made many movies. She was involved in “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” and several television shows, including “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Criminal Minds,” “ The Author,” and others.
When scouting locations back in December, the two said they found the people on the Iron Range to be very welcoming, and Lake Street stood out as an ideal location for filming, the Mesabi Tribune reported.
“We wanted something that was small — I had written the movie to be like Lake and the older storefront,” Puette said. “People think we’re crazy, but it’s meant to be set in winter where there’s snow and a lot of cold.”
“Even better, the people are amazing in all aspects,” Enriquez added.
One of the primary locations in the movie is a bar, where the main character, Grace works.
“We needed it to be a local bar where people come in and know each other,” Puette explained. “And we want it to reflect the flavor of where it is.”
“Moose on the wall, murals of men hunting and all that flavor — you can tell that bar’s been there for a long time,” she said. “It’s got so much character.”
“A film about hope in our times, “Cash for Gold tells the story of two unlikely friends and the split-second decision that will change both of their lives forever,” reads a synopsis provided by Puette.
“It’s early December in a small town in America’s heartland, and Grace Sanders is struggling both to save her home from foreclosure and maintain her sobriety in the wake of her husband Bill’s recent death…,” it reads.
While they weren’t ready to announce the cast for “Cash for Gold,” the duo assured there are recognizable actors and actresses attached to the film.
Production incentives being offered by St. Louis County, Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB) and the State of Minnesota also played a role in bringing the project to the Iron Range.
Enriquez said incentives like the rebate program are important in growing the film industry in the area, and to open up opportunities that people may not be aware are available in filmmaking.
“It’s a big initiative for us and the film commission to hire as many local people as possible,” he said.
He also talked about the potential for economic benefit to the local economy as people involved in the production pay for things such as car rentals, meals, and gas.
Riki McManus, chief production officer at the Upper Midwest Film Office also talked about the potential economic impact of having a film shot in the local area.
“Having ‘Cash for Gold’ shooting in the Iron Range is such a great opportunity for the Region,” McManus said via email on Monday. “As we remember from ‘North Country,’ it is all about economic development for the area. From job creation to bringing additional business to restaurants, lodging, hardware stores, as well as many mom and pop stores on the main streets of the Iron Range, it’s all good.”
“North Country,” a 2005 film starring several A-list actors and actresses like Charlize Theron, Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson, was shot in locations across the Iron Range along with Minneapolis and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Enriquez said they are seeking extras, and will try to bring on as many people as possible. When meeting with the Chisholm Police Chief and Chisholm Fire Department, he said they are happy to audition local police officers and firefighters to be cast in smaller roles that happen to be police officers and firefighters.
