Unlike his famous actor parents, Timothy Hutton and Debra Winger, Noah Hutton aspired to be on the other side of the camera – shooting the action. That’s exactly what the 23 year old was doing in Roanoke and Blacksburg for over a week – filming venues and local personalities for a short film that will be used to sell the valley to outsiders.
The City of Roanoke, Advance Auto Parts, the NewVa Corridor Technology Council (NCTC), the Roanoke/Alleghany Planning District Commission and the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau are among the entities that paid for Hutton and his production company, Couple 3 Inc., to spend more than a week in the region, shooting a six minute film (after editing) that will showcase the region’s assets, letting young professionals know why this is a place they should consider living.
Hutton praised local backers for supporting a film that’s not the “cookie cutter” tourism video. “They wanted something different, with a story,” said Hutton. The project also stems from an initiative that came out of last year’s Creative Connectors initiative, when several dozen area residents were asked to brainstorm ideas about how to attract professionals to the Roanoke-Blacksburg corridor.
Roanokers John Anderson and Sharon Rappaport, husband and wife, helped recruit Hutton for the project. “They knew the producer of a documentary feature I had just finished directing,” said Hutton, referring to a film about cancer patients. (Anderson wrote and released a book last year called “Stand By Her,” about the women in his life that have battled breast cancer.)
Hutton, a Manhattan, NY resident whose stepfather Arliss Howard (Full Metal Jacket) is also an actor, does have a turn in front of the camera, portraying someone in New York bemoaning the high cost of living there. That’s where the Star City comes in. During his scenes Hutton is asked to make a film about Roanoke as he drives south to check out the valley himself – the film within a film technique. “I get here … and fall in love with the place,” he said. That’s how the film will end – with Hutton looking at apartments.
“I hadn’t even heard of [Roanoke],” Hutton chuckled while relaxing at Mill Mountain Coffee earlier this week. Jeff Hoffman of the local band My Radio and other groups helped show Hutton around town; Hoffman was also a cameraman during the shoot.
“At first glance it’s a surprisingly developed metropolis,” noted Hutton, who also liked the fact that Roanoke is surrounded by natural assets that are easy to get to. In fact his crew hiked to MacAfee’s Knob last week, shooting scenes from that well-known rock outcropping. He liked the green initiatives espoused by people like Jeremy Holmes (Ride Solutions) and the lively nightlife in downtown Roanoke.
Hutton went fly-fishing with someone from Orvis as his guide and spent last Saturday filming at FloydFest. He also praised the level of cooperation from everyone involved. “People really connected to the town get that this [project] is positive.”
On the list of people and places he was asked to shoot were the Taubman Museum of Art (executive director David Micklenburg), the ubiquitous River “Carless Brit” Laker, Jason Garnett of Shadowbox Cinema, the Elizabeth Arden facility, John Reburn (Roanoke Valley Printworks) and the new Virginia Tech-Carilion medical school, which opens this fall. “John Reburn was one of my favorite shoots – he was awesome, a great guy” recalled Hutton.
Not to mention hyper-kinetic Beth Deel and Wendy Schuyler, who recruited Hutton for their latest “Starbomb,” a night time run from the top of Mill Mountain on tricycles and other small wheeled vehicles. Hutton’s crew filmed the Starbomb as well. “It was just a lot of fun,” said Hutton, who wore a dinosaur helmet during his own ride down the mountain.
Hutton attended a “Ted Talk” at Kirk Avenue Music Hall that featured neuroscientist Henry Markham – the subject of a ten-year documentary Hutton is working on. He will follow Markham for The Blue Brain Project, as Markham attempts to simulate the human brain, cell by cell.
“Everything’s modeled on IBM supercomputers,” said Hutton. Sounding something like science fiction, in ten years Markham will turn on the artificial brain, “to see if it is self-aware.” The project has medical research implications according to Hutton, who would like to mix feature film directing with documentaries in the future. He’s also directed a few music videos in New York, which has allowed him to work on creative concepts.
Hutton’s Crude Independence film about oilfields in North Dakota marked his directorial debut at age 21. It won several film festival honors. Being an actor was just something he never pined for as a child – despite his pedigree.
“People would always ask me, do you want to do what they’re doing? I would always say no, I wanted to be behind the camera. I was so surrounded [by actors] I wanted to do my own thing.” Hutton always brought his video camera to movie sets while growing up, whetting his appetite further for filmmaking.
While in Roanoke, Hutton shot scenes downtown at developer Ed Walker’s Hancock Building, extolling the virtues of urban living. “Ed’s been our go-to guy here,” said Hutton. The completed film will premiere at the NCTC gala on September 1 at Hotel Roanoke.
By Gene Marrano [email protected]