Hollywood comes to Allendale

Cinematographer Jack Anderson, a 25-year Hollywood movie veteran who has worked with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, and Peter Bogdanovich, has come to West Michigan to work on his latest project: a movie he is producing with Grand Valley film and video students.

The movie, 'Freezer Jesus,' is the focus of this year's Summer Film Project, an annual undertaking of the GVSU School of Communications. A crew of 21 students is filming scenes for the production at farms between Allendale and Grand Rapids [directions below]. Local actors make up the cast. Anderson, who lives in Los Angeles, will be in town until June 15 to serve as director of photography for the film.

Anderson's camera credits run the gamut from big Hollywood films ('Hook,' directed by Steven Spielberg) to award-winning indie flicks ('Always Say Goodbye') to television series ('Mad About You,' 'Third Rock from the Sun,' etc.).

For the past month Anderson has been passing his knowledge of 'the industry' along to Grand Valley students by teaching classes on the technical aspects of camera, grip and electrical work on movie and television sets. He discussed scenes from some films he's worked on, including Jim Jarmusch's cult classic 'Down by Law' and William Freidkin's 'To Live and Die in L.A.' Now students are gaining firsthand experience on lighting, camera techniques, and shooting.

Anderson, 56, said that he is 'pleasantly surprised' by the students' interest and capability. 'What I find very nice is that not only have the students picked up on the technical information they need to know, but they've also been getting into the routine of a film set, which is difficult to do. It's like the military in a sense -- there's a hierarchy and there's a lot of hurry-up-and-wait. They understand it and are showing a lot of enthusiasm.' They're also finding that 12-hour workdays are not uncommon.

The film, he said, is very good and might surprise people with its seriousness. Students will edit the film this summer and its premiere showing is planned for this fall.

'Freezer Jesus' tells the story of a farmer whose life is turned upside-down after he sees the image of Jesus on his yellow Amana freezer. Word gets out and religious pilgrims begin to flock to his farm. The screenplay, selected anonymously through the School of Communications' annual screenplay competition, was submitted by John Dufresne, a prominent author and creative writing professor at Florida International University (johndufresne.com). 'Freezer Jesus' is adapted from a story in his 1991 short story collection, 'The Way that Water Enters Stone.'