New local film project “The Genesis Code” coming soon, “La Linea” is on now hold

Attention hockey and movie fans…. its the next big movie project to get excited about… but this one may have more local involvement than the last.

“The Genesis Code” is coming and will be spending several million of its $8 million to $9.5 million dollar budget in West Michigan.

The movie is a drama about a college hockey player and his relationship with a female reporter at the school newspaper.   The story revolves around their struggle to balance their spiritual faith and what they are learning in their science classes.

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Jerry Zandstra, Vice President of American Saga Productions says that “The Genesis Code” was approved Tuesday for Michigan’s film 42 percent tax refund incentives by the Michigan Film Office in Lansing.

Shooting is set to begin in April in Lowell and Grand Rapids, but since the movie needs some scenes with snow, a second unit will be shooting some exteriors sometime in the next three weeks while snow is still on the ground.

When principal photography begins in April, scenes will be shot on the Calvin College campus with hockey scenes at the Van Andel Arena or the DeltaPlex.

A director will be hired soon, then the production company will confirm the cast, but they can’t name names until they are actually under contract… the word is that some of the actors/actress being considered are names we would recognize.

Zandstra tells me “We’ve taken a lot of photos already and sent them on to the producers. They review them, narrow the list, and then will come to make their final decisions. I can tell you that two of our executive producers are Jerry Offsay, former president of Showtime and Garry Hart, former president of Paramount Television.”

American Saga Productions is the company behind “Station House,” a reality-TV show about firefighters that was shot in Grand Rapids last year at the LaGrave Avenue fire station.

The production plans to hire local residents to take part, including an eventual casting call for people with Screen Actor’s Guild credentials.   Zandstra, a Christian Reformed pastor, will be one of the local actors, he’ll be playing a preacher in “The Genesis Code”.

 “La Linea” is now on hold

As for the other movie project that was planned from American Saga Productions, “La Linea” the TV movie miniseries starring Robert Duvall is on hold for the time being.

The story was to be set at the U.S.-Mexican border with Duvall playing a “tick rider” for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, watching the border looking for any diseased animals coming across the border.

Zandstra says “Its $18.5 million budget in normal economic times made perfect sense, but the drop in ad revenue has meant we are pushing projects with budgets at or under $10 million.  We have to make the best decisions we can on behalf of our investors, and that means projects like The Genesis Code rise to the top.” 

For more: Previous post on “La Linea”

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