From The Hooksett Banner - Thursday, March 15, 2012
Star Struck
Hollywood comes to town for movie ‘In Your Eyes’
A camera crew sets up outside the Mount Saint Mary’s condominiums in Hooksett.
By RUTH MARIANO
bearlyruth@gmail.com
Joss Whedon, known for his work with the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," movies "Toy Story" and "Firefly," and even the new Avengers movie due out this summer, has embarked upon a new project – what Entertainment Weekly refers to as a "metaphysical love story about two seemingly polar opposites who are deeply connected in ways neither could have imagined."
Allen Pinney and Jennifer Grey on location at In Your Eyes
The film, "In Your Eyes," will star aspiring young actors Zoe Kazan and Michael Stahl-David along with Mark Feuerstein, who many may know from his role as Dr. Hank Lawson on USA Network’s "Royal Pains," and Jennifer Grey of "Dirty Dancing" and "Dancing with the Stars" fame.
Matthew W. Newton, director of the New Hampshire Film and Television Office, steered the production to Hooksett after looking at reference photos scouting for locations in New Hampshire.
"When I got the location photos," he said, "I immediately thought of Mount Saint Mary’s," he said.
When the crew came out to look at the location, they knew it was what they wanted, and they loved the library right next door as a meeting place and staging area, said Newton.
"The librarians there said they’d love to have them," he said, which "sort of sealed the deal."
Hooksett resident Allen Pinney, a production assistant, has also been instrumental in making the New Hampshire portion of this film a success.
"When I get something coming into New Hampshire, particularly in that area, he’s one of my first calls," said Newton. "He’s been a great go-to person."
Of his work on the film so far, Pinney said he has met a few of the actors – Grey, Stahl-David and Kazan – who are "very nice, easygoing," but he just sees them in passing, at meals, going to and from the set. His focus has mainly been on taking care of their production needs in New Hampshire, including securing the site at Mount Saint Mary’s.
"I really wanted them to shoot there and worked hard to make sure we got it for them," Pinney said.
The producers told him that the site fit their needs perfectly.
Pinney was also a key set production assistant in the Discovery Channel’s 2011 "Unusual Suspects" episode of a true crime mystery involving the 1985 cold case of Danny Paquette’s death, when he was shot outside of his Whitehall Road home. Pinney was instrumental in that production in getting local actors and filming locations, including at the old bridge near Robie’s Country Store, which residents can clearly identify when watching the show.
With filming now wrapping up for "In Your Eyes," perhaps more producers will come to Hooksett.
After the fine reception given by Hooksett residents, the extra effort exerted by Pinney, and even the support of our town manager, Newton said, "I hope this is the beginning of more filming in the area."
The Stars’ dressing room trailer arrive at Mt. St. Mary’s
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