Laws of Motion - The Stamford Advocate (May 30, 2007)

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 14:54:50 GMT

Swank and Perry begin filming movie in Norwalk (The Stamford Advocate - May 30, 2007)

NORWALK -Filming starts today on “Laws of Motion”, an independent movie that will get by with a lot of help from one of America’s best-known “Friends.”

“Matthew Perry is the lead,” location manager Marshall Johnson said last week.

As anyone who owned a television between 1994 and 2004 knows, Perry became a star playing wisecracking Chandler Bing on the Emmy Award-winning sitcom “Friends.” More recently, he starred in “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” which NBC canceled this month after one season.

Perry’s movie resume includes 2000’s “The Whole Nine Yards” and 1997’s “Fools Rush In.”

Two-time Academy Award-winner Hilary Swank also will appear in “Laws of Motion”, a comedy that will be shot almost entirely in Norwalk.

“We’ve got one day (of shooting) in Stamford and two days in Westport, but the rest of it’s all in Norwalk,” Johnson said.

Swank will participate in a few days of shooting, he said.

Also appearing will be Ben Foster, who played Russell Corwin on HBO’s “Six Feet Under.” Foster appeared in the 2006 movie “X-Men: The Last Stand” and “Alpha Dog,” a film released in January.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Perry’s character is “a husband struggling with life in a repressive career and community along with headaches caused by his free-spirited brother (Foster) and sister.”

“Swank will take on a supporting role as the all-too-perfect neighbor of Perry’s harried character,” according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Most of “Laws of Motion” will be filmed in East Norwalk, Johnson said, but there also will be three days of driving shots and two or three days of filming in SoNo. Filming is slated to wrap July 2.

Norwalk has the “community feel” the production needed, said Johnson, who characterized “Laws of Motion” as a film about a family with history in a town that has history.

“Everyone’s been so great (in Norwalk), but aesthetically for this film it’s just so perfect,” he said.

Production officials have worked with the city to minimize any disruption filming might cause, Norwalk police Lt. Paul Resnick said.

“I think they have a healthy respect for the citizens and the needs of the city of Norwalk,” he said.

Filming may require temporary road closures, but not this week, he said. Closings will be intermittent, as police will stop traffic only for the time it takes to shoot a scene.

“Laws of Motion” joins a roster of productions drawn to the area since the state legislature last year approved a 30 percent tax credit for movie makers.

Laws of Motion - The Hour - June 14, 2007

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 14:07:51 GMT

courtesy of The Hour (June 14, 2007)

By ROBERT KOCH
Hour Staff Writer
NORWALK — Yes, that was actor Matthew Perry using the pay telephone in the entrance of Norwalk City Hall around midday Tuesday.
Talking to his wife, to be exact, as part of the filming of the comedy drama, "Laws of Motion."
"We're filming some scenes at City Hall, outside, in front of it and also within the building itself," said Marshall Johnson, film location manager. "It's a scene that takes place at the end of the film, where he's speaking with his wife. It's a scene that takes place in a hospital. We doubled City Hall as a hospital."

The film, a production of Plum Pictures and also starring Hilary Swank, revolves around three siblings who've gone their separate ways coming back together after the youngest has an accident. Perry, the oldest of the three, plays a physics professor named Morrie, according to Plum Pictures representative Carina Alves, speaking from the company's offices in Manhattan.

In Norwalk Tuesday, the filming shut down the main entrance to City Hall. Film crews asked those approaching the building to enter via a side door. Crews pointed their cameras from the building atrium outward toward the pay phone, as set employees urged onlookers — and there was no shortage of spectators — to remain silent.
In the scene, Perry, looking wornout and slightly disheveled, hangs up the phone and walks away frustrated.

Many City Hall employees, including Mayor Richard A. Moccia, stepped into the atrium, stood behind the film crews and watched the filming.

"I actually got to meet Matthew Perry and talk to him. I just welcomed him to Norwalk. I talked to him and a couple of their producers," Moccia said. "The interesting thing is they made it look like a hospital emergency room. (City) employees all enjoyed seeing the movie being made and Matthew Perry was very nice."
Tax Collector Lisa Biagiarelli had her digital camera handy and snapped photographs of the film set. Asked why, she indicated that she's interested in any movie with a local connection.

"I'm a fan of movies and I enjoy going to movies. I'll definitely go to a movie if it has a connection to the city," Biagiarelli said. "I took a lot of pictures of the camera people and camera equipment. I got a couple of pictures of (Perry)."
"City Hall was supposed to be a hospital because they had a sign behind him saying 'Mercy Hospital' and there was a red cross on the door," Biagiarelli said. "There were a couple of people walking around in hospital scrubs."

"Laws of Motion" is one of four productions, including two major motion pictures, being filmed or under consideration for filming in Norwalk — an increasingly attractive locale film producers.

Thanks to generous tax breaks passed by the state legislature last year, more and more films are shooting in Connecticut. The state is granting 30-percent tax credits on production expenses in the state above $50,000. Film studios can sell the credits to state corporations on the open market, shaving 30 cents off every dollar they spend in Connecticut.

By early last month, production staff from "Laws of Motion" already had met with the Norwalk Police Department. They coordinated brief shutdowns of some city roads for driving scenes.

Moccia said representative of the production companies have told him that they have enjoyed the city's cooperation. He expects more movies to be filmed in Norwalk in the coming year. That in mind, Moccia wants a "one-stop procedure" for permitting and other matters, so that the movie makers can produce their films and and that residents won't be inconvenienced during the process.

"It looks like were going to have at least three more movies made in Norwalk, so we want to make sure it's a minimal intrusion for residents," Moccia said. "Again, we want to put it in balance and perspective."

If you missed your chance to see "Laws of Motion" being filmed Tuesday, keep your eyes open around town. You'll have more opportunities.

"We're going to be in Norwalk for most of the shoot," Johnson said.

nadmar

Laws of Motion - The Stamford Advocate (May 30, 2007)

Laws of Motion - The Hour - June 14, 2007