Filmmakers with two Academy Award nominations plan to shoot their next movie in eastern Iowa.
The still-unnamed movie will revolve around baseball and another Iowa-made film about that sport, according to Denny Hitchcock, who’s handling the local casting calls.
The storyline is about an 18-year-old baseball player from the Dominican Republic who saw "Field of Dreams," got very excited about it and wanted to play in Iowa because of the film. He gets picked up by a major league team and is sent to Davenport to play for the Quad Cities Swing.
Hitchcock says they’ll be shooting at baseball stadiums in both Davenport and Burlington and they’ll need plenty of baseball fans to serve as extras.
Hitchcock says some speaking roles were already cast during casting calls in LA, New York and Chicago, but several small speaking roles remain. He says they’ll also need thousands of extras for the shoots at the stadium and other locations around town.
The Burlington shoots will run August 14-17 while the filming will take place in Davenport between August 20 and September 6th.
There will be bonuses for the many extras that will be needed. The extras won’t get paid but they’ll all get t-shirts, meals and there will be drawings for things like a big-screen TV.
The auditions will be held at The Lodge in Bettendorf next week on July 9th and 10th. For more information, contact Hitchcock at (309) 786-2667, ext. 303, or send email to dpjh@circa21.com .
The film’s producers, Paul Mezey, Jamie Patricof and Jeremy Kipp Walker have worked on several films together, including "Maria Full of Grace" and "Half Nelson," both of which were nominated for Oscars.