“Our production designer, Albert Brenner, would come up with these offbeat names and would run them by Garry Marshall...if they both got a laugh out of it they would use it.”Santa Paula was selected to double as Hull, Idaho due to the “look of the town,” said Mielcarz. “It doesn’t have Spanish architectural influences and has a more generic look as opposed to other Southern California towns.”Filming “Georgia Rule” involved approximately 120 crewmembers as well as between 20 to 80 extras on given day.The film was one of the first major productions undertaken by Limoneira Co., which has contracted with the city to handle much of the details of location shooting.“We have been working with both” the city and Limoneira and “have had a great experience with them so far.”Mielcarz added that “Georgia Rule” will be distributed by Universal Pictures and released sometime in 2007.Producer Morgan Creek Productions is set to release “Man of the Year” directed by Barry Levinson and starring Robin Williams, Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Jeff Goldblum and Lewis Black on Oct. 13.Another Morgan Creek production is “The Good Shepherd” directed by Robert De Niro and starring Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, William Hurt, Timothy Hutton, John Turturro and De Niro.
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This liquor store, on Main Street, was just part of the movie “Georgia Rule” that was filmed last week in Santa Paula. Photo by Don Johnson |
Dark comedy, ‘Georgia Rule’ co-stars Santa Paula as Hull, Idaho
July 26, 2006
Santa Paula News
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula TimesA dark comedy from acclaimed director Garry Marshall last week packed East Main Street with plenty of star power appearing in “Georgia Rule” produced by Morgan Creek Productions.Felicity Huffman - a 2006 Academy Award best actress nominee for her portrayal of a preoperative transsexual in “Transamerica” and an Emmy winner for her role on television’s “Desperate Housewives” - Lindsay Lohan and Cary Elwes star in “Georgia Rule.”“Georgia Rule” writer Mark Andrus also penned “As Good As it Gets.”The story centers on a rebellious teenager, Rachel (Lohan) who is sent by her dysfunctional mother, Lilly (Huffman) to spend a summer with her grandmother Georgia.Garret Hedlund and Dermot Mulroney are also featured, playing Harlan and Simon respectively.Lohan’s character and her stepfather Arnold (Elwes), whose public demeanor is that of an aboveboard citizen, share a dark secret.Dealing with troubled teenage Rachel sets the stage for the intricate familial relationships of the three generations of women.Santa Paula, filming took place throughout the Central Business District as well as several nearby other locales - is standing in for Hull, Idaho, a name selected by Marshall.“Garry came up with the fictitious name, as it sounded like the least likely place that a teenager from the big city,” Rachel’s hometown of San Francisco, “would want to spend her summer in,” noted Greg Mielcarz, vice president, worldwide publicity for Morgan Creek Productions.But seemingly dull Hull has some surprises reflected by some of the quirky names on signage placed on faux downtown business buildings.
