Tucson's film industry may not be thriving, but it still has a heartbeat, thanks to the star-studded two-week shoot of "Goats."
The film was an economic shot in the arm for the town. Tucsonans found work in seven speaking roles, and as 100 extras and a couple of dozen crew members.
Tucson Film Office Director Shelli Hall said the production spent $500,000 to $750,000 in town, the bulk of it in 1,000 combined hotel-room nights, car rentals and other incidentals. Cast members stayed at Hacienda del Sol, and the crew stayed at Four Points by Sheraton University Plaza.
"Goats" wrapped up the two-week Tucson and Southern Arizona portion of its filming Thursday. Next, the production is headed to New Mexico, standing in for the East Coast.
Tucson locations included Barrio Viejo, a local house and Tucson International Airport.
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Executive producer Riva Marker, who served in the same capacity on best-picture Oscar nominee "The Kids Are All Right," hopes to debut the film at the Toronto or Sundance film festivals, find a major distributor and push the movie for Independent Spirit Awards competition.
The cast includes David Duchovny, Keri Russell, Vera Farmiga and Minnie Driver.
"Goats" is a quirky Tucson-set tale of a friendship between a teen boy named Ellis (Graham Phillips) and his family's 40-ish pool man, Goat Man, played by Duchovny.
The film is based on the 2001 book by former Tucsonan Mark Jude Poirier, who attended Green Fields Country Day School, then went on to graduate from Georgetown, Stanford and the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins.
He wrote the book while living with longtime friends Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry and working at McMurtry's Texas bookstore. Eventually, the book drew the attention of director Christopher Neil, who helped get the wheels of the movie version turning. Poirier adapted his novel into a screenplay.
Poirier, who teaches at Columbia, spent most of the shoot in Tucson.
"We're really fortunate because everyone's really good," Poirier said of the actors.
The film was originally going to be shot entirely in New Mexico, but Poirier and director Christopher Neil coaxed producers to shoot for two weeks in Tucson.
"It's nice that this is happening, because Tucson has been getting a bum rap all over the country," Poirier said, referring to the Jan. 8 shootings. "This is going to be a beautiful film. The cinematography is great, and the weather is perfect."
Contact reporter Phil Villarreal at 573-4130 or pvillarreal@azstarnet.com
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