Talk about special effects. G-STAR high school students helped film a live-action sequence Thursday along Palm Beach—complete with two aircraft donated by InJet. It’s all part of the school’s production of its first feature-length film, “It’s a Dog Gone Tale: Destiny’s Stand.”
InJet, a West Palm Beach-based provider of private jet services, is supplying the school-sponsored film crew with planes, pilots, and flight time — free of charge.
“It definitely adds to our movie’s production value from salability to watch-ability,” G-STAR CEO and founder Greg Hauptner said. “Any time you add an airplane and an aerial façade to a movie, it makes a big difference, but when you have two of them, you can really take a low-budget movie and make it look high budget.”
Two planes were used for the live action scene on Thursday with one of them being piloted by Jeffry Coursey, InJet’s chief financial officer and managing partner. Additionally, his eldest son, an accomplished private jet captain, flew the other plane.
The filming took place from Palm Beach to Stuart and west to Lake Okeechobee. The crew shot rural areas at low altitudes for the film’s opening and credit backgrounds.
“The producers liked the effects of filming from plane to plane so much that they decided to re-write the script to include one of the aircraft as a star in the opening scene,” Coursey said.
Over the summer, the G-STAR crew also had access to one of InJet’s midsized jets, a Hawker 800A, and they were allowed to film office scenes at InJet’s West Palm Beach headquarters.
“G-STAR is a great school filled with talented students,” Coursey said. “We are excited to help them along the way with any aviation needs they have for their first full-length production.”
G-STAR students are involved in all aspects of movie, including acting and set design. However, the movie is also filled with big names, including Tony and Golden Globe winner Barry Bostwick, (Hannah Montana: The Movie, Ugly Betty and Spin City) and Academy Award winning writer/producer Bobby Moresco (Crash, Million Dollar Baby). Appearances are even made by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.
The movie is being produced through the on-campus G-STAR Studios Production and is scheduled to be released around April 2010.
The movie’s premise centers on a quiet summer community that erupts in turmoil as progress, fueled by power and greed, threatens not only their way of life but the future of hundreds of abandoned pets and the shelter that protects them. Led by unlikely heroes, the teenaged residents and their parents must choose sides or watch their beloved community and their homes disappear forever.
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September 16, 2009Ruby Red Slippers
