Movie Chatter

Well we are a week closer to the Georgia Coast Birding and Nature Festival October 7-10, 2010. I am working to get everything in place. Take a look and sign up. It promises to be great fun.

In the meantime, my friend Paul Baicich who puts out a monthly newsletter called The Birding Community E-Bulletin reports about a new movie in the making. If you have not read the book, The Big Year, grab a copy it is a fun read. I cannot wait for the movie like Paul I hope they show birders in a good light.


Here is what Paul wrote:
“BIG YEAR” MOVIE CHATTER

Birders have been abuzz recently about an upcoming movie, expected early next year, loosely based on Mark Obmascik's 2004 book, THE BIG YEAR. The book was about the quest by three birders - Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller – to see as many birds as possible in North America in 1998.

The movie, a 20th Century Fox production, will be a fictionalized spin-off on the book. The three main characters have been renamed in the film, many of the facts and locations moved around, and it will be set in the present-day rather than the late 1990s.

Here are a few details:
- Three months of shooting began May 3. Release expected sometimec in 2011, perhaps as early as April.
- Shooting locations: Vancouver BC, Osoyoos, BC (doubles for Texas and Arizona); Tofino, BC; NYC; Arizona; the Yukon (for Attu).
- Executive Producer: Ben Stiller
- Director: David Frankel
- Casting (in part): Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, Jack Black, Brian Dennehy, Dianne Wiest, and
Anjelica Huston.

The movie's director, David Frankel, says, "To me, this is a fascinating story about three men who are at a crucial point in their lives, caught up in an obsession. The bird watching really reveals their character."

Let’s hope the picture of birders steers away from the unpleasant image presented by Miss Jane Hathaway in TV’s famous "Beverly Hillbillies."

You can find some sample birder interest in the film here:
http://birdersforum.com/index.php/topic,896.0.html