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+ + + OUR VERY OWN

Cast:

You may know them from...
-Allison stars in the hit NBC drama, The West Wing
-Cheryl stars in the critically acclaimed HBO comedy, Curb Your Enthusiasm
-Jason can currently be seen in CBS's Joan of Arcadia, and was in the 2003 slasher-flick, Freddy vs. Jason

About the Movie:
-Drama
-Release date of 2005
-It takes place in Shelbyville, Tennessee.
-Coming of age story about 4 or 5 teenagers in a small town.
-It's about two teenage girls during the 1970's and their obsession with wanting to be like Sandra Locke, a famous actress who eventually escaped the little podunk town and made it big in Hollywood. I do figure that Hilarie is one of the two teens. She's also VERY blond for the role... Almost FRIED blond.. Shelbyville really is PODUNK, I can't believe anyone EVER thought of shooting a movie there! The town really did have an obsession with Sandra Locke back in her golden days (the 70's) from what I've heard, so I guess that's the only reason it's shot there. Plus the town square is practically a replica of what it was exactly like in the 70's.  (Thanks to DrewBennettGrl83 for that info!)
-The story is a semi-autobiographical account of Cameron Watson's youth in a small southern town in the late seventies. A group of teens hears that an actress from their hometown is returning for a visit. They hope that meeting her will put them one step closer to fulfilling their own dreams.

-C.J. visited the set of OVO, and took pictures with Jason & Hilarie! (Read about CJ's fan encounter here) Note: CJ took 2 pictures, one with Hilarie and one with Jason, but I edited her out and combined the two pictures.

Allison Janney, left, of NBC's The West Wing, and Cheryl Hines of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, are pictured on the set of indie film Our Very Own, being shot in Shelbyville, Tenn. In this scene, Janney, playing Joan Whitfield, and Hines, playing Whitfield's best friend, Sally Crowder, attend a ladies' luncheon.

Hooray for Shelbywood
Hollywood stars shine in Shelbyville native's movie

By BRAD SCHMITT

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. — As a boy growing up in this small town an hour south of Nashville, Cameron Watson was obsessed with local hero-turned-movie star Sondra Locke. He and his friends wanted badly to follow Locke's path to Hollywood.

Watson did just that: Though he hasn't yet achieved Locke's fame, Watson has appeared in small roles in the movie Vanilla Sky and in dozens of TV shows.

Now, Watson is bringing Hollywood to Shelbyville. And he's using lots of folks in his hometown to do it because his hometown is one of the show's stars. Watson also is getting some help from Tinsel Town.

He didn't bring Locke back with him, but Watson has landed friend Allison Janney, star of NBC's The West Wing, Jason Ritter, a principal in Joan of Arcadia on CBS, and Larry David's TV wife, Cheryl Hines, on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Watson has taken his childhood obsession with Locke — who for years was Clint Eastwood's lover — and turned it into a story of five teens who want to ride Locke's coattails out of Shelbyville. The movie, Our Very Own, is both a comedy involving some funny teen characters and a drama about how one of the teens, played by Ritter, is watching his family fall apart at home.

''I was here for the years of (Locke's) rise to success,'' Watson said in an interview sitting in one of the film's locations, a cousin's house just one-third of a mile from Shelbyville's downtown square.

''As kids, we were obsessed with her. When she used to come back to town, everyone was excited.''

Watson turned that obsession into a monologue he performed during a high-powered Hollywood fund-raiser at the now-defunct Tiffany theater on Sunset Boulevard. The crowd loved it, and several industry players encouraged Watson to develop it into a play or a movie.

Watson wrote a screenplay and a year later, he had a reading, an event where he first met Locke. She hadn't been told what the event was, and when the reading began, she looked confused.

''The minute she heard the first reference to her or to her family, she threw up her arms: 'What the hell is this?' '' Watson said. ''By the end of the reading, she was doubled over.''

Armed with a script and Locke's blessings, Watson went forward to make the film. Before long, he found a financier not among Hollywood's powerful movie studios, but back home. Murfreesboro entrepreneur/philanthropist Bob McLean, a Shelbyville native and fraternity brother with Watson's biological brother, heard about the project and agreed to finance it, for a budget said to be less than $5 million. Most major Hollywood productions have budgets between $30 million and $100 million.

With financial backing outside Hollywood, Watson and his producer friends, who formed production company GADA Films, have complete creative control. That also allowed Watson and producers Steve Cubine, Shannon McMahon Lichte and Maggie Biggar to make the movie in Shelbyville.

This gave pause to some of those involved, including Janney, aka press secretary C.J. Cregg on The West Wing, who plays star Jason Ritter's mother in Our Very Own.

''I said, 'Can't we do Tennessee in the middle of California?''' Janney said, laughing. ''Actually, I was very happy to come here and get out of town.''

Janney and Ritter, both on hiatus from their regular shows, said they came to Tennessee to do the project because they loved the script and it presented acting challenges.

Ritter — son of the late John Ritter and grandson of cowboy singer Tex Ritter — plays Clancy Whitfield, the ringleader of his group of teens. Ritter's character also has to face the alcoholism of his father (played by Keith Carradine) and the emotional collapse of his mother (played by Janney.)

''His friends are so much fun!'' Ritter enthused. ''But there's only so much forgetting you can do before you have to go home.''

Janney said her character's collapse was tough. ''This is one of the hardest roles I've ever had to play. On The West Wing, it's not quite as challenging emotionally. This gives me a chance to go places I don't go.''

Many roles are being filled by locals, including some major ones. Derek Carter, a recent Middle Tennessee State University graduate, will play one of the five teens who make up the movie's core. The drama teacher at Shelbyville's Central High School, Marla Jennings, has provided lots of extras and production help. Of the 100 cast and crew members, about half are from Middle Tennessee.

Even catering is local, with a Shelbyville chef, Joe Gordon, whipping up fried catfish, turnip greens, macaroni and cheese and other Southern delicacies, a change the West Coast folks are enjoying.

And in possibly the biggest act of Southern hospitality, many locals have cleared out of mansions and other high-end homes for out-of-town cast and crew, all of whom stay in and around Shelbyville.

Don't look for Janney and Ritter to pop up in Nashville hot spots. Both said they've gone out rarely during production and when they do, they stick to the Shelbyville area. Ritter said he and some cronies have hit a karaoke bar there called Pop A Top.

The film's climactic scenes are being done today and tomorrow on closed sets in some of Shelbyville's walking horse arenas, and as many as 300 extras are being used. The film wraps in about a week, and producers are hoping to have a Shelbyville screening next year before entering Our Very Own in the film festival circuit.

Meanwhile, townsfolk have been enjoying all the hubbub in their back yard, and it has given them a chance to reminisce.

''I've been here for two months,'' producer Lichte said, ''and I can't tell you how many Sondra Locke stories I've heard.''