I don't know if this fits into the Rumors/News Section, but here goes: (Please move this thread if it is in the wrong place)
From The Advocate
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From The Advocate
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Disney to film movie in Norwalk, Stamford
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By John Nickerson
Staff Writer
Published July 3 2007
NORWALK - After seven bank robberies in two months, here's a movie scene police wish for: An officer thwarts a robbery and hauls the suspect to headquarters.
The story line will be played out in the Norwalk police headquarters July 19, courtesy of the Walt Disney Co.
The police department's parking lot will be converted into the back of a Chicago police station to film a cop - played by actor and comic Martin Lawrence - bringing in a bank robber, Disney publicist Eric Meyers said.
The movie, "College Road Trip," is about a cop taking his daughter on a college tour, Meyers said. Lawrence's daughter is played by Raven, who played toddler Olivia during the last three seasons of "The Cosby Show."
She stars in her own show on the Disney Channel called "That's So Raven."
Lawrence and the Disney crew also hope to film scenes in an interrogation room at the old police station on West Avenue, Meyers said.
The scenes to be shot in Norwalk will be used early in the movie, before the college road trip begins.
Production on the movie, which will be shot in Stamford and other communities in southern Connecticut, begins Monday and is expected to wrap in mid-September, Meyers said. The movie should be released next summer.
"College Road Trip" plans to film a scene at Stamford's E. Gaynor Brennan Municipal Golf Course on Stillwater Road later this month.
Superintendent Michael Sullivan said the producers told him they were looking for a golf course with a tree near a pond for a scene in which a parachutist lands in a tree.
Location scouts from Disney and Director Roger Kumble visited the course but have yet to finalize the details, Sullivan said. They discussed renting the course on July 23, a Monday, when the course closes to the public to host tournaments, he said.
The film revenue will help because the course no longer is supported by tax dollars and must generate enough money each year to break even, Sullivan said.
"They will be buying the day just like we booked a double-header," he said.
After meeting with filmmakers yesterday in Norwalk, Lt. Paul Resnick said people are excited that a portion "College Road Trip" will be shot at police headquarters.
"This will be the first film shot here," Resnick said.
Filming is expected to begin at police headquarters at 6 a.m. July 19 and finish at about 2 p.m.
During that time, parking in the public lot off South Main Street will be "tight," Resnick said.
"We are working with the film company to design the best possible parking plan for them and us," Resnick said. "We have been meeting with the film company to explore their needs and share with them our operational requirements so that the filming goes as smoothly as possible with the least interruption to our operational tempo."
Tad Diesel, Norwalk's marketing director, said "College Road Trip" is a step forward for the city, which has played host to about nine other filmmakers since the beginning of the year.
"It is Disney. It is Martin Lawrence. This is not second-tier Hollywood coming east. These are legitimate studios with first-class actors and actresses," Diesel said.
City officials receive calls from studios every day looking at bringing film production crews to Norwalk, he said.
"This industry has consumed the attention of the city of Norwalk. . . . There have been a bunch of movies that have come to town and they are staying at our hotels, dining in our restaurants," Diesel said. "All of those economic benefits really do come when people visit our city. It has been a very good year."
Diesel said Disney will pay a small licensing fee to use the police department.
- Staff Writer Donna Porstner contributed to this story.
Copyright © 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
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