Earlier this month, we learned Hollywood stars Robert Redford and Jane Fonda will reunite this fall for a movie shot in Colorado. The Netflix project is called "Our Souls At Night."
The production company has set up shop in Colorado Springs and will start shooting in mid-September about 40 miles southwest in a small town called Florence.
So far the general reception seems positive, although some veterans still aren't happy with Jane Fonda from a controversy that dates back to the Vietnam War. That's according to the Canyon City Daily Record:
Vietnam veterans quickly voiced their distaste in Fonda's casting once the announcement went public, as many veterans will explain they see Fonda as a traitor.
Fonda was given the name "Hanoi Jane" after she was photographed seated on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun while visiting Hanoi in 1972.
This movie is based on a novel by the late, beloved Colorado author Kent Haruf.
Haruf lived in Salida, and wrote the critically-acclaimed "Plainsong" trilogy that's set in the small, fictional town of Holt on Colorado’s eastern plains. The author died at 71 in November 2014 after finishing his final novel, "Our Souls at Night," also set in Holt.
The movie adaptation of "Our Souls At Night," which is eligible to get up to $1,500,000 from the state, is the biggest production shot in Colorado since Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight."
Two other movies approved for some state incentive money are shooting in Colorado right now. That includes "Hoax," a throwback to horror films like "Friday the 13th."
The story centers around a camping trip that doesn't end well, while the ensuing investigation also turns into a fight for survival. (Hint: The case may or may not involve Bigfoot.)
The filmmakers are shooting in Lake City, Colorado, and they plan to wrap up by Sept. 10.
“You really get this feeling that there is no one around for miles and that you could be the first people who have been up here in a long time," producer Michael Haskins told CPR News. "And with the type of film that we’re doing, it needs to have that feel of uncivilized nature.”
The local team behind "Hoax" plans to spend $800,000 in Colorado and hire 30 crew and 15 cast members from the state. That makes the project eligible for $160,000 in incentive money from Colorado.
"Until the last several years, Colorado has had a difficult time providing jobs for people who want to work in the film industry," Haskins said. "So this allows us to bring more people in, to have a better shoot, and to teach people how to work on film sets, which in turn brings more films in."
Netflix is also shooting another movie called "Amateur" around Denver, including at Regis University. It's about a young basketball phenom whose videos go viral online. The production can get up to $350,000 in state incentive money.
CPR's arts reporter Corey Jones spoke with Colorado Matters host Nathan Heffel about these projects.
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