Saturday, July 28, 2007

Costner movie officials say Belen is a great site for filmmaking

Jackie Schlotfeldt News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jschlotfeldt@news-bulletin.com

Belen With Hollywood about to hit town, an update was given by Michael Dellheim, the location manager for the movie "Swing Vote," to the Belen City Council on July 16.

Dellheim said they would be filming for three days beginning Monday, July 23. The film crew will then leave and return on August 27 to continue filming for approximately four weeks.

"It's a big circus that's about to come to town," Dellheim said smiling. "Thank you for having us."

Filming for the Kevin Costner movie was narrowed down to two locations: Belen and Las Vegas, N.M.

"We looked at a lot of places," Dellheim said. "We saw Belen and loved it — Becker Street — and the old section of town. I'll do all I can to make it go smoothly."

Dellheim is no stranger to New Mexico. In fact it's his 21st year in the Land of Enchantment, and he is very much aware of the economical impact a film can have on a municipality.

"I worked with the state economical development for four years, and I see what after-hours purchases like gas and hotels bring," Dellheim said. "I'm a big fan of filmmaking for that reason."

While there will be some road closures or detours once filming begins, Dellheim said he would make sure businesses had notice and the public was informed.

"Thank you for choosing us," Mayor Ronnie Torres said. "The spin-off's like food (sales) and hotels — it's very good."

Torres asked when the film would be released, and Dellheim said about the time of the 2008 election.

"It's a take-off of what happened in the (2000) election, but instead of it coming down to one state, it comes down to one man," Dellheim said. "It's a satire of the shameless pandering that goes on in politics. It's a very funny script. We're excited."

In other actions the council: