MOVIE MOJO: Tax incentives, metro locales fit indie film ‘Jones’

The $8 million indie film “The Jones” starring David Duchovny and Demi Moore was scheduled to wrap a 27-day shoot Thursday.

Earlier this week, Mojo stopped by the Alpharetta gated community where most of the action took place.

“The Jones” features a seemingly happy suburban family that moves into a neighborhood. But they’re hired guns from a marketing firm that is using them to evangelize about products and provide marketing research. Duchovny plays the husband who is conflicted by the entire operation.

Duchovny, in a green jogging suit, was shooting a scene in which a character played by Lauren Hutton stops him, gets him into a limousine and tries to entice him to take a promotion. It was an especially chilly morning and during breaks, Duchvony jumped up and down and paced to stay warm.

The “Californication” star, who recently split from his wife, Tea Leoni, and had entered a facility for sex addiction, wasn’t allowed to talk to the media. (In fact, when Mojo and a publicist even got near him, a security guard shooed us away.)

But producer Andy Spaulding was happy to talk about the film. Recent enhancements in Georgia’s tax incentive laws drew Echo Lake Productions to the metro area, which has plenty of suburban subdivisions that fit the mold of what the film was seeking.

He also liked the fact the city has experienced film crews (more than 80 percent were locally hired) and plenty of quality area actors to fill in secondary roles. He even placed a couple of “Real Housewives of Atlanta” prominently into a party scene as extras.

Kristi Zea, “The Jones” production designer and a producer, has an illustrious list of credits including “Goodfellas,” “The Departed” and “Philadelphia.” She spent several weeks with local location manager Michael Riley finding the proper home for the Jones family to live in.

She vetted dozens of homes and with the real estate market cratering, there were plenty of empty ones to choose from. But she needed a house with loftlike spaces, and they were few and far between. In the end, she picked a home that was occupied. This meant the production company had to pay the family to rent a nearby home for a month so “The Jones” could take over.

“We wanted something upscale but not over the top,” Zea said.

Inside, most of the furniture is covered in white tarp to keep dirt off from scampering production crews. A huge black-and-white photo of the fake Jones family (which also includes rising star Amber Heard) is featured by the dining room. Oversized carnival photo booth-style photos of each family member are featured up the stairwell.

Among the other locales “The Jones” used: Kell High School in Marietta and Alpharetta’s Muse hair salon, Pampas Steakhouse and Atlanta National Golf Club.

The film won’t be released until the fall of 2009 at the earliest, Spaulding said.

‘Beaufort’ at the High

Oscar-nominated film “Beaufort” will be screened Saturday at 8 p.m. at the High Museum.

Released in 2007, “Beaufort” portrays the last days of Israeli occupation of medieval fortress Beaufort Castle. Tickets are $7 for general admission, free for patron-level museum members. Tickets can be purchased at www.high.org, the Woodruff box office or by calling 404-733-5000.