Filming on Zach Galifianakis bank heist comedy begins in Swannanoa

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Photo of movie shoot in Swannanoa via Native Social Pub on Twitter/Instagram

Photo of movie shoot in Swannanoa via Native Social Pub on Twitter/Instagram

Filming has officially begun on the new Zach Galifianakis comedy flick around Asheville. The folks at Native Social Pub tweeted a photo today of the movie crew in downtown Swannanoa (if there is such a thing) with the following:

Pretty cool! They’re shooting a scene for ‘Loomis Fargo’ within a block of Native Social Pub! Spotted Owen Wilson on set.

The site onlocationvacations says that the moviemakers will be in the Waynesville area next week:

During the week of July 14 the movie will be using the Hazelwood Elementary School in Waynesville, NC as a staging area/base camp for a shoot taking place nearby.

The movie, which also stars Owen Wilson and Kristen Wiig, is based on true crime: in 1997, an armored car driver in Charlotte drove off with $17 million in cash and worked with a gang of redneck wannabe criminals to cover his tracks. Things didn’t work out so well. The movie’s working title is Loomis Fargo. It’s also known as “unnamed armored car movie.”

The movie’s casting company alerted people who applied to be extras over the Fourth of July weekend about when they would be needed. Here’s the latest need, for Tuesday, from the casting company:

UAC -Need Utility Stand for filming on TUESDAY in area on outskirts of Asheville. Prefer someone with stand in or set experience. Should be of average height 5’10 -6’1, slender to average build. Please submit your photo and information -name,age, phone,height/weight, clothing sizes, city/state you reside and any experience you may have. Submissions should be sent to [email protected] with heading TUESDAY STAND IN.

 

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

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20 Comments

  1. boatrocker July 9, 2014

    Just to put this out there to the almighty Internets, but William R. Forstchen’s “One Second After” would be a wonderful novel to movie-ize for the sole reason it takes place between Swannanoa and Montreat. Therefore, all the sets are standing already in the form of real live places mentioned in the novel. Goodness, real locals used as extras, local construction for any additional sets, local catering, and who doesn’t love a good disaster movie and-

    Wait, I just had this amazing dream. It involved a living wage for local businesses and allowing Asheville and WNC to be a true movie making powerhouse instead of just where stars visit for a few weeks and looky-loos gush online about seeing them downtown. Oh well, it was a wonderful dream.

    Reply
    1. Matt July 9, 2014

      your such a boat rocker. You really rock the boat. All the time. Every post.

      Reply
      1. Matt July 9, 2014

        edit: “you’re”

        Reply
      2. boatrocker July 9, 2014

        What, that idea doesn’t appeal to you? Making a movie about a novel written in WNC that takes place in WNC and actually take care of the folks making that movie?

        Oh well. As for the name, I’ve mentioned before on this site it’s an allusion to whitewater boating. At least my name isn’t the punchline for that joke- what do you call a guy with no arms or legs at your doorstep? How about that for some truly acerbic wit?

        Reply
    2. Big Al July 10, 2014

      Do you seriously believe that movie studios seek places where they have to pay Living Wages?

      “Cold Mountain” (a WNC saga) was filmed in Romania because they could hire lots of cheap extras for the battle scenes.

      5 films based on novels about (and written by locals of) WNC have been filmed in Buncombe, Haywood, Madison and Brevard counties: “The Winter people”, “The Journey of August King”, “Serena”, “The World Made Straight”, and “Songcatcher”.

      All were small-budget, art-house films (except maybe “The Winter People”) because such are the only films that can “fit” in the limited economy and infrastructure of WNC.

      Other films that used Biltmore Estate and other locations shot only a few scenes here and filmed the rest in Hollywood sound stages. That is just how Hollywood works.

      It is OK to dream, just make sure you wake up to reality.

      Reply
      1. boatrocker July 10, 2014

        That’s kind of my point, dreaming but waking up to cold hard reality with a bit of humor. Cold Mountain did fool me though- I thought those Carpathian Mountains did a pretty good job of masquerading as the Blue Ridge Mtns.

        I’d still love a good disaster movie made here ala “one Second After”- I found myself rolling my eyes when the military comes to the rescue, and don’t get me started on Newt Gingrich’s foreword to the novel, but enjoyed the ‘what if’ factor.

        Reply
        1. Big Al July 10, 2014

          I had the exact OPPOSITE response to the MASSIVELY HUGE Carpathians masquerading as the humble Blue Ridge. Ridiculous.

          The military did not “come to the rescue” in “One Second After”. 90% of the residents of Black Mountain/Swannanoa died after one year of being on their own (along with 99.9% of the rest of the eastern US). The military was simply the only institution whose electronics survived due to being deployed overseas at the time of the attack. Who else did you expect to have ANY ability to pick up the pieces? The Peace Corps? DHHS? the EPA?

          Reply
          1. boatrocker July 10, 2014

            Yes, stuff got worse before the military guys showed up and were greeted as some sort of faux liberators (though they weren’t), but careful man, you’re giving the book away to those who haven’t read it. It did have a definite right wing slant to it, though I could overlook that.

            Reply
          2. Big Al July 11, 2014

            If you want the touchy-feely, tree-hugger, bunny-lover left-wing slant on this kind of apocalyptic dystopian story, read “World Made by Hand”. It almost WISHES that such a disaster would befall America.

            Oh, excuse me, I meant “Amerikkka”. Gotta get my head in commie-lib mode.

            Reply
          3. boatrocker July 11, 2014

            Yes, Big Al. I like your sense of humor too.
            Isn’t it cool to hijack a thread about brown nosing “like OMG, I saw a famous person” and turn it into a discussion of literature?

            Evil Laugh.

            Reply
    3. roo July 10, 2014

      Wifey slogged through Forstchen’s book and read bits to me. Hater lit.

      Reply
      1. boatrocker July 10, 2014

        Do you mean she hated it or is his book ‘hater lit’ in your mind? I just read it after finding it in a bookstore for funsies- it didn’t change my world either, but I did enjoy the local places along 70 being alluded to.

        Reply
    4. Jason July 14, 2014

      I just had a dream to. It involved all the people in Asheville who complain about living wages are ACTUALLY qualified and educated enough to perform a job that is considered a career and not a job meant for teenagers and extra money. I know it’s crazy, it’s just a dream.

      Reply
      1. boatrocker July 14, 2014

        Huh? I think I need Internet to English subtitles to understand Jason’s post. Can you clarify a bit?

        If you are saying what I think you are saying, should we Buncombites (with the highest cost of living in NC yet with wages that are what one would make in the 1970s or 80s) just suck it up and work harder? These arguments always confuse me.

        If it’s a matter of being educated, check on that. I also use both my degrees to put food in this beautiful face. If there simply are not enough jobs that pay a living wage (living wage ain’t a swear word by the way), is it belly aching to point that out? I’d love to own the Grove Park Inn or something similar but someone already does. I see a problem with wage disparity, and not with people taking a job (any job sometimes) say in the food service industry to support themselves.

        Am I doing something wrong if I find it difficult to save money or not being excited about a movie company being in town that doesn’t give two turds about local economies except to find cheap filming locations?

        My point about lampooning the ‘yay, Asheville is
        on the map’ comments is that most who live here won’t see much economic benefits from a movie shot around here.

        Being ‘on the map’ is great for bragging rights, but not much else.

        Reply
  2. Murphy July 8, 2014

    Asheville has “been on the map” for some time…

    http://www.exploreasheville.com/press-room/press-kit/asheville-in-movies/

    Reply
  3. Doug Cegelis July 7, 2014

    Ran into Owen this evening near Thirsty Monk. Wasn’t sure it was him at first because of the mustache and goatee he was sporting. My fiance and I quickly shook his hand and told him what big fans we were. He was very gracious.

    Reply
  4. asheville real estate July 7, 2014

    Wow, Asheville’s really getting on the map! Hard to believe Swannanoa is being used in a film.

    Reply
    1. boatrocker July 7, 2014

      Ask Asheville how many full time movie jobs for above minimum wage are being created here. Otherwise, like OMG!.

      Reply
      1. Jason W. July 9, 2014

        The film industry is not a full time gig, it’s a project to project gig. Especially in NC.

        Reply
        1. boatrocker July 10, 2014

          Agreed.

          Reply

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