LIGHTS, CAMERA...ACTION IN ORANGE COUNTY!
There have been a number of not abl e f il ms shot in Orange Count y over t he years. You may not know
t hat Rain Man shot scenes at Sant a Ana Regional Transport Cent er, Ocean?s Eleven shot scenes at t he
Irvine Campus of UCI and Fast and Furious rol l ed cameras in Lit t l e Saigon in West minst er. The
Hangover III product ion shut down t he 73 t ol l road bet ween t he I-405 and Jamboree Road and Tom
Hanks?pop music f eat ure That Thing You Do shot many scenes t hroughout Orange Count y. Ol iver
St one?s Savages t ook f ul l advant age of OC coast l ine communit ies and t he Dana Point Harbor as
backdrops.
Now, OC based Bl ue St ar Fil m Corporat ion and Producer Michael Zanet is are in Pre-Product ion t o
shoot t he f eat ure f il m The Thrill Is On al most ent irel y in Orange Count y where t he act ual event s
port rayed t ook pl ace. The f il m is based on t he ext raordinary f riendship bet ween Zanet is and B.B.
King t hat l ed t o King receiving his St ar on t he Hol l ywood Wal k of Fame. In 1980, Zanet is, a young
drummer and ardent f an, at t ended a B.B. King concert at t he Gol den Bear in Hunt ingt on Beach and
af t er t he show he was int roduced t o t he l egendary ?King of t he
Bl ues? by King?s son sparking a 35 year f riendship. In August ,
1988, B.B. King perf ormed at t he Grand Opening of Michael ?s
Supper Cl ub in t he Dana Point Harbor. Then, as t heir f riendship
reached a crescendo, in t he f al l of 1990, Michael received a rare
honor when B.B. King invit ed him t o join t he bl uesman onst age
at t he Coach House Concert Hal l in San Juan Capist rano f or a
rousing jam session. The next day King received his St ar on t he
Hol l ywood Wal k of Fame, a l ong await ed gif t f rom Zanet is.
Zanet is says, ?al t hough we coul d have buil t set s el sewhere, we
f el t t hat using t he act ual l ocat ions woul d bring a much more
aut hent ic l ook and f eel t o our f il m. Many of our ext ras and
background act ors wil l be drawn f rom our l ocal communit ies.?
Despit e t ax incent ives and ot her f inancial ent icement s f rom
ot her st at es, Zanet is has secured l ocat ions in OC and enl ist ed t he
services of t op Hol l ywood f il mmakers t o assist him in t he
product ion of t his t rue st ory based f il m. Third generat ion Cast ing
Direct or Cat hy Sandrich and Producer James Hol t have been
inst rument al in t he devel opment of The Thrill Is On. Sandrich has
cast over 140 f il ms incl uding Oscar Winner The Fugitive. Hol t has
Produced over 35 f il ms incl uding 3 of George Cl ooney?s most
popul ar movies, Michael Clayton, In the Valley of Elah and The
Men Who Stare at Goats. Award winning act ors Mykel t i Wil l iamson
and Pat rick Fugit are cast in t he st arring rol es of B.B. King and
Michael . Two of t he most respect ed and popul ar t hespians in t he indust ry, Mykel t i is best known f or
his perf ormance as t he l ovabl e charact er ?Bubba?in t he Oscar Winning Tom Hanks f il m Forrest Gump
and Pat rick f or his breakout perf ormance as ?Wil l iam Mil l er? in t he Oscar Winning Cameron Crowe
music-drama Almost Famous.
In addit ion t o enl ist ing some of Hol l ywood?s el it e, Zanet is has brought Sant a Ana based David Ot t a
Product ions onboard wit h it s Founder David Ot t a serving as Co-Producer of The Thrill Is On. DOP has
been act ive in t he f oref ront of Orange Count y f il m and t el evision product ion and sport s broadcast ing
f or over 25 years. DOP?s cl ient s incl ude ABC?s Modern Famil y, A&E Biography, CBS Sport s, NFL Fil ms,
Fox Sport s West , Universal St udios and t he Travel Channel .
For more inf ormat ion visit www.t het hril l ison.com and cl ick on our YouTube l ink.
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