Scenes for independent film shot in Barstow

BARSTOW - They needed to show life on the open road so they came to Barstow.

Production crews and actors from the independent film "Montana Amazon" filmed scenes for their movie near the Harvey House, the Bagdad Cafe in Newberry Springs and locations in Amboy over the past several days.

The movie, starring Hayley Joel Osment, Olympia Dukakis and Allison Brie, tells the story of a dysfunctional family's road trip across America. The family, led by a grandmother played by Dukakis, lives in rural Montana. After a killing occurs, the grandmother decides to move the family to Canada, but becomes confused and heads for Mexico instead.

"They aren't too good at reading the signs," said Melitta Fitcer, the film's line producer.

The film's producers decided to come to the High Desert because the film required desert scenery and wide open spaces to portray life on the road, said the film's production coordinator Dave Ebmeier. Some of the scenes filmed in and around Barstow will represent five or six different states.

"There are some great backgrounds here," he said.

He said the movie only recently started filming and is scheduled to wrap up in several months. The movie could be released in early 2009.

City Spokesman John Rader said that several film and television shows have expressed interest in filming in the city. The city works with the Inland Empire Film Commission and producers to encourage filming in the area. Film crews do not require special permits to film within city limits which can make the area attractive to filmmakers, he said.

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