"Love Ranch" The Movie  

A drama about the couple who opened the first legal brothel in Nevada and the violence that resulted when their relationship was tested by infidelity. The story is inspired by the lives of Joe and Sally Conforte, proprietors of the Mustang Ranch, the first legalized house of prostitution in Nevada. Boxer Oscar Bonavena was gunned down at the ranch in 1976, suspected of having an affair with the madame Sally.

Director: Taylor Hackford
Writer(s): Mark Jacobson
Cast: Joe Pesci, Helen Mirren, Bai Ling, Bryan Cranston, Gina Gershon, Scout Taylor-Compton

Release Date: To Be Announced
Official Site: Not Available
Distributor: Not Available
Genre: Drama
Rating: Not Available

Actors Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci were part of opening scene shots this afternoon along Virginia Street beneath the Reno arch, driving along the downtown's main drag in cars from the 1950s and 60s.

Filming started today for the movie "Love Ranch," which is loosely based on the lives of former Mustang Ranch owners Joe and Sally Conforte.
The film is being directed by Mirren's husband, Taylor Hackford, who also directed "Ray" and "An Officer and a Gentleman."
Set up for the shoot began about 9 a.m.for the scene current shooting.
Several downtown streets have been closed for shooting.
Today
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Virginia Street will be closed to vehicle traffic between Second and Fourth streets.
2 to 6 p.m.: West Street between Third and Fourth streets.
4 to 7 p.m.: East Fourth Street between Montello and Ferari streets.
7 to 11 p.m.: West Fourth Street between Washington Street and Arlington Avenue.

Tuesday
10 a.m. to midnight: Virginia Street between Second and Fourth streets.
8 p.m. to midnight: Second Street between Sierra and Center streets.

Wednesday
2 to 7 p.m.: Virginia Street between First and Second streets.

Downtown Reno slid back to the 1970s on Monday March 24, 2008 as crews shot a portion of the feature film "Love Ranch," loosely based on the lives of former Mustang Ranch owners Joe and Sally Conforte.

In the early afternoon, actors Joe Pesci and Helen Mirren sat in a vintage Bugazzi and repeatedly cruised beneath the Reno Arch while a mobile camera crew captured the action.

"We're establishing that the story takes place in the Reno area, so our main characters are driving down Virginia Street," publicist Louise Spencer said. "We have a lot of '70s cars provided by our extras to give authenticity, and we have a lot of extras dressed in '70s clothes."

About 300 people, many from the Reno area, were hired as extras for the film, which is shoot inglocally through Wednesday. The movie is being directed by Mirren's husband, Taylor Hackford, who won an Academy Award for the 1978 short film "Teenage Father" and also directed "Ray," "Dolores Claiborne" and "An Officer and a Gentleman."

"We love the people here in Reno," extras casting director Elizabeth Gabel said. "They are so kind and there's just a hospitality here that we haven't found anywhere else."

Clint Rhyno, an extra from Reno, learned the filming process isn't fast-paced, at least not for actors.

"It's a lot of standing around," he said.

Rhyno, in his first film, was asked to portray a Fitzgeralds Casino & Hotel valet.

"It's a blast, great people, fun times, a bunch of laughs," he said. "A lot of standing around but, you know, a good time."

Patty Lauterjung of Roseville, Calif., drove her son's 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle to Reno, where it is being used as an auto extra.

Because the film is set in the 1970s, producers are including only period vehicles and shoot areas that look as though they could be '70s era.

"My college days were in the '70s, so it's nostalgia for me," Lauterjung said. "I'm having a blast."

Buildings along Virginia Street weren't significantly altered for filming, but the marquee at Fitzgeralds had some noteworthy 1970s touches, including a promotion for a $3.95 prime rib dinner. An advertisement for the disco act KC and the Sunshine Band was also placed on the marquee.

Much of the filming was staged in front of Reno Souvenir Station on Virginia Street. The business stayed open throughout the day, and manager Betty Favila said foot traffic seemed brisker than normal.

"It probably helps us because people are coming down to see what's going on, and they're walking in," she said. "People are mingling in to see what we have, so that's a good thing."

In the afternoon, people loitered on the sidewalks of Virginia Street, trying to spot Pesci and Mirren and get a taste of the film business. Among them was Rob Sawyer, an information technology specialist at a downtown law firm who visited the site on his lunch break.

"I think it's great that we have a couple of Oscar-winning actors, you know Joe Pesci and Helen Mirren, coming to Reno to film something because, usually, we don't get that caliber of talent," he said. "It's just interesting seeing this stuff firsthand. I'm a big movie fan."

 Tuesday March 25, 2008

As filming continued Tuesday on the motion picture "Love Ranch," Reno Councilwoman Sharon Zadra visited the set to read a proclamation declaring the day "Love Ranch Day."

The Reno Gazette-Journal talked with producer Marty Katz about the movie that stars Oscar winners Joe Pesci and Helen Mirren.

Question: Can you tell us a little about the movie inspired by the story of former Mustang Ranch owner Joe Conforte.

Answer: It's not really a factual, point-by-point story based on Joe Conforte, but there are obvious similarities to Joe Conforte and Oscar Bonavena, the (murdered) boxer, and the Mustang Ranch. Ours is called the Love Ranch, and it's run by a husband and wife who bring a boxer to their bordello, to their brothel, to train as a way of generating business and also a way of publicizing the brothel. Also, I think, the ambition of the owner is to move from just being a brothel owner to managing world-class boxers.

The story begins there, and it turns into a love triangle, and it ends in a murder. In between, you get a sense of what it must be like to be one of the working girls who work in a brothel.

Q: New Mexico is where you shot most of the film. What made you decide to come to Reno for a few days?

A: Well, Reno is Reno. It's the biggest little city in the world. There's only so much you really want to do with visual effects, and you want to be in the real environment for your exteriors.

We were in New Mexico for controlled environments, like the ranch, which we built. There's nothing quite like being in the real Reno when you're trying to sell Reno.

We actually have a camera out at the new Mustang Ranch today. We have a camera team there photographing. We went to the Donner Pass because, though the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico are spectacular, at a certain point you really can't compare them to Donner Pass and Donner Lake. So, we had to shoot that there. We've pretty carefully integrated Reno throughout the entire movie, the real Reno, so that you'll feel that you're in Reno for the whole thing.

Q: You're doing a film set in 1976. Were there challenges because of the way the city has changed over the years?

A: One of the things we did early on with (Nevada Film Commission deputy director) Robin (Holabird) is I got a list of all the buildings that were here in the '70s, that still are here.

Then, we went to every single casino and found the one that was the most suitable for the period, which turned out to be Fitzgeralds. Then, we found out they were remodeling it, so we had to go and kind of retrofit some of the stuff, get rid of the plasma television sets and get rid of some of the things that wouldn't have existed back then.

But it's not easy. My set decorator, for example, pointed out to me the various list of things I had not even taken into consideration, everything from the signs in windows, the prices in windows, to the type of T-shirts being sold. There are all kinds of things that you have to think about.

All of the marquees had to be changed. We had to get permission from the '70s performers to put the marquees up using their names. Period cars. You fortunately have a lot of proud owners of period cars, but you don't want to make them all look brand new, like 'American Graffiti,' that nice shiny look. So, you have to make some of these well-maintained, beautiful period cars look more lived in. Lots of things like that.

Q: Do you have any idea how much a crew like yours will spend here?

A: We're probably spending in the neighborhood of $750,000 to just film for three days, let alone the cost of prepping and wrapping, which happens before and after.

So, I wouldn't be surprised if, overall, we spent close to $1 million here. You know, between hotel nights and per diems and catering and all the odds and ends.

Q: Where do you go from here?

A: Tomorrow's our last shooting day, and then there will be wrapping here. Then, I go back to New Mexico to finish shutting down the operation, and we have probably a few post-production shots that we'll do. That'll do it.

Q: How do you finance a film like this?

A: It's an independent at the moment in terms of its financing.

Ultimately, a major studio or major distributor will come along and put their brand on it as well. But basically, in this case, (director) Taylor (Hackford) went to David Bergstein who runs Capitol Films. They're quite a big producer of independent films, as well as a distributor of independent films internationally, and they're expanding.

Taylor brought them the package and they agreed to finance the movie, and they agreed to finance it without making a deal with a domestic distributor yet because we want to finish the movie and then sell it."

Q: So, you'll have more creative control?

A: That's correct. We want to make our movie and then have a studio distribute it.