A $3 million independent film was slated to roll into town next month to shoot on location across Southwest Colorado, but not anymore.
“We had an unexpected turn in our production, and will have to leave Durango, Cortez and Colorado,” said producer Michael Doven. “Sadly, my heart is a bit broken over this as I was so looking forward to it.”
Doven said filming for “The Squeeze” was canceled, because they were unable to locate an adequate crew to make the film here. He said bringing in outside crews was going to add some $300,000 to production costs.
Producers are now scouting locations in other states.
The premise of the movie is based around a young golfing prodigy who loses his girlfriend after giving up his dream to join the PGA to play in high-stakes matches against a big-time gambler with known connections to the mob. The fledgling golfer eventually attempts to escape opposing forces of evil and win back his girl.
“It’s ‘The Sting’ meets ‘Tin Cup,’ with a dollop of ‘Caddyshack,’” Doven said.
Emmy-award winning Terry Jastrow, the movie’s writer, director and producer, has filmed more than 60 PGA championships, multiple Olympic Games, the Super Bowl and the Kentucky Derby. Heralded as one of the most experienced sports producers in history, Jastrow was Jack Nicholas’ partner for 13 years. He also was sickened that the shoot had been canceled.
“We flew down to Southwest Colorado worried about what locations we would or wouldn’t be able to find,” he said, “but after scouting with the Four Corners Film Office we were thinking, ‘what couldn’t we find here?’”
tbaker@cortezjournal.com
