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| The Brofft’s former house on Elsmar Avenue (FTM file) |
Hollywood film crews have become a somewhat regular sight in
Northern Kentucky this year. Robert Redford, Casey Affleck and Danny Glover spent some time in Newport. John Travolta filmed his latest in the area and local actors like Nathaniel Sizemore picked up roles. This Sunday, the latest Hollywood movie to come to the area will be even
closer to home, as “Haunt”, produced by Eli Roth (Hostel, Inglorious Basterds)
and written and directed by up and coming duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, will
be filming in Fort Thomas. The V.A. hospital will have a starring role as a
college campus and a house on Elsmar Avenue will play a major part in the
finale.
Chance and Randi Brofft were in the middle of selling their
home on Elsmar, so they were expecting to have plenty of phone enquiries and
requests to have a look around but one they got was very different than the
others. Chance explains, “My wife called
me and said, “I just had the weirdest call ever.” We had put pictures of our
house on Facebook to advertise that we were selling, someone had seen the
picture and sent it on to a location scout for this movie and he wanted to have
a look at it. They were already using the V.A. hospital to stand in for a
college campus but they were looking to shoot a house as well.”
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The one major feature the filmmakers were looking for was a house
with a white picket fence and Chance and Randa’s house is one of only a few in
Fort Thomas which has one. “The scout
had picture comparisons of different houses that were what they were looking
for and one of them was exactly like our house.” The scout passed pictures
on to the producers and they arranged for them to come and have a look.
When they arrived Chance and Randa weren’t really sure who
the people were, “It was very informal,
they kind of walked around for twenty minutes and did their thing, took some pictures. We didn’t
know at the time who they were. Eli Roth has made big movies like Hostel and starred
in Inglorious Basterds, the Tarantino movie, so we had this big time producer,
director and actor in our house and we didn’t put it together until after they
left. They were all extremely nice individuals.” The producers liked what
they saw and asked to use the house in the movie.
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In the middle of all the excitement, Chance and Randa sold
their home. Fortunately the new owners were aware from the beginning about
their new home’s starring role and were only too happy to keep it in the
picture. Although the Brofft’s won’t be around to see it being used in the
film, Randa has kept in touch with the new owners, who are in the process of
moving in, and the location scout, so they’ve been kept informed about the
process.
The scenes featuring the Brofft’s former house are due to be
filmed this Sunday. The house will be used for exterior shots of the heroine’s
mother’s home, both in the final scenes of the movie and in flashbacks. Without
delving in too deeply and spoiling the plot of the movie, it seems like it will play a
pretty important part.
“Haunt” itself has been filming all over Northern Kentucky
for the last couple of weeks. It’s written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan
Woods, who are considered to be up and coming filmmakers. Their last project
was as writers of the yet to be released “A Quiet Place”, which stars John
Krasinksi (The Office) and Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada, Edge of Tomorrow).
“A Quiet Place” also marks Krasinski’s directorial debut.
“Haunt” is a supernatural thriller. According to deadline.com
“The story begins on Halloween, as a
group of friends encounter an “extreme” haunted house that promises to feed on
their darkest fears. The night turns deadly as they come to the horrifying
realization that some nightmares are real.” Stars include Katie Stevens,
who stars in “Faking It” and appeared on the 2009 season of “American Idol”,
Will Brittain of “Kong: Skull Island” and Lauryn Alise McClain of the band McClain.