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The Hollywood Reporter
Oct. 28, 2004
'Desperation' struggled to shoot at U.S. locale
By Nellie Andreeva
On Sunday, "Desperation," ABC's three-hour movie based on Stephen King's horror novel, is slated to begin production
in Bisbee, Ariz.
The Halloween start date is a perfect fit for the spirit of the project. Moreover, it took more than a few tricks and
treats to allow the $12 million production to be shot in the United States in an era when many telefilm projects
automatically head north to Canada or other foreign locales to allow producers to make the most of their budgets.
Indeed, it took a Herculean effort by "Desperation's" executive producer Mark Sennet and director Mick Garris, as well
as help from politicians including Arizona Sen. John McCain and Gov. Janet Napolitano, to lure "Desperation" to the
state. A number of the state's businessmen even pitched in for the cause of having a major TV production shot in the
region.
Oscar winner Cliff Robertson, Emmy winner Tom Skerritt, Annabeth Gish, Ron Perlman and Steven Weber lead the
cast of "Desperation," which chronicles the ordeals of a group of travelers thrown together in the nearly deserted
spooky Nevada mining town of Desperation, complete with an enormous haunted mine pit and an abandoned movie theater.
The big challenge for Sennet when hammering out the budget for "Desperation" was closing a $1.5 million differential
between filming in the United States and filming outside the country. Sennet made a number of key political connections
during the past few years when he was working on the politically themed, Washington-based HBO series "K Street," and he
drew on them to get financial breaks needed to close the gap.
Sennet enlisted the support of McCain, who lobbied with Napolitano to help the crew of "Desperation" get breaks on a
number of services in Arizona in order to make the budget reasonable for ABC.
Copper giant Phelps Dodge let the crew film at its Bisbee mine for a small fee, with businessman Donald Diamond and
local businesses, including Nissan and Hertz, pitching in to keep the production costs under control, Sennet said.
According to Sennet, in their efforts, the "Desperation" team received a lot of support from California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, who has made it a priority of his administration to find ways to stem the exodus of film and TV
production from California in particular and the United States in general.
The success of setting the project in Arizona also prompted Napolitano to get behind a tax incentive initiative,
which would give film and TV productions a 15% tax break similar to other states, Sennet said.
"We look at this as a test case with others to follow suit if it works," he said.
While King's book was inspired by his cross-country trip through Nevada, Bisbee proved the perfect location. Using a
location that brings the author's vision to life was important, but fighting to film "Desperation" in Arizona became
much more than that.
"We want to do everything we can to keep our industry in the country and not outsource it to Bangalore," Garris said,
referring to the Indian city that has become a hub of outsourced telemarketing jobs.
The film will be a very faithful adaptation of the book, said Garris, a longtime King collaborator. "But I see it as a
desert noir (or blanc, because it's bright and sun-drenched in the desert), as Norman Rockwell goes to hell."
ABC senior vp movies and miniseries Quinn Taylor called "Desperation" one of his favorite King novels.
"It's literally about good vs. evil, and it's scary, it's scary and it's scary," he said.
Sylva Kelegian, Shane Haboucha and Matt Frewer also have been cast in the movie. King is an executive producer and also
penned the screenplay. Gish, who recurs on NBC's "The West Wing," is repped by ICM, as are Robertson, Skerritt and
Frewer. Weber is repped by WMA; Perlman is with UTA.
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Special thanks to alfornos at the Haven Message Board
for passing along this article.
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Have a great day! :)
