Gastonia, NC - Filming was underway Sunday in Gastonia for the Charlotte area's newest cop drama Last Call of Duty. It's a Screen Actors Guild Signatory Short Film written & produced by North Carolina State Trooper Darren Conrad.
Conrad also plays the staring role Officer Daniel Howell, “So much of my life and everything that I've seen went into every line, every character, every person, every event."
The film chronicles Howell's last day on the job.
Ten SAG actors, five non-union actors, more than a dozen extras & countless hours of prep and film work are making the project possible.
It brings a cast of respectable names.
Veteran actress Francine Locke is probably best known for her role in Risky Business, now she plays Howell's devoted wife.
She says of reading the script, “I'm like wow, this is a good story."
But Locke says it's more than that. She says the film is evidence of the quality Charlotte has to offer, “The directors and DPs and cinematographers and writers, it's all really, really growing down here."
Executive Director George Peroula agrees, “It's giving opportunities to all sorts of actors & extras to get good parts without having to go somewhere far way."
Locke says Charlotte's freshness, architecture and climate are attracting more attention in the film world and to its film community.
She says, “It's bringing work here to the community. They're proud of that, they like it and they support what any of the film makers are doing.”
This is Conrad's first screen play.
He says, “We've got the tools, we've got the talent. So come on to the South, let's make some movies."
Conrad says he's ready for more.
Scenes for Last Call of Duty will also be shot in Belmont, Monroe & Cherryville. Filming wraps in about two weeks.
Conrad expects the film to be released this spring.
