Dale Kaye Bringing Hollywood to Livermore

You can catch Nicole Kidman in her Oscar-nominated role in “Rabbit Hole” at the Vine, or you might just see her in person when she films scenes in Livermore for the HBO movie set to air next year.

You can thank CEO and Livermore Valley Film Commissioner for bringing the high-end production to the valley. She’s been working like the proverbial dog to get Hollywood to notice that this would be a swell place to film.

Need an oil rig? We’ve got it. Cowboys? Check. And how about a national lab? Think we’ve got that covered. Livermore’s got an eclectic group of buildings and landscapes, including wineries, vineyards, historic buildings and even a large, ornate Hindu temple.

We can find a spot to stand in for a lot of places, including Spain.

“Hemingway & Gellhorn” is about Ernest Hemingway and his third wife, journalist and war correspondent Martha Gellhorn, who inspired “For Whom the Bell Tolls," set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War.

James Gandolfini, best known as Tony Soprano, has been nurturing the project for more than six years and originally was set to play Hemingway. Not sure if we’ll see him around town, but there’s a chance. More likely, we might catch a glimpse of Kidman, husband Keith Urban and their two children. The family has been photographed around San Francisco during filming last week.

Marin County pals Lars Ulrich of Metallica will play Hemingway’s friend and Peter Coyote plays editor Maxwell Perkins.

An HBO spokesperson says the battle scene from the Spanish Civil War will be filmed in Livermore this month, although the location is a secret.

Really? A secret in Livermore? We’re dubious it'll stay under wraps for long, but it would be good for future filming consideration if the area identified only as North Livermore were not packed with spectators.

Not that folks in Livermore are particularly star-struck. James Depaiva (Max Holden in “One Life to Live”) is a Livermore native and boxer Max Baer, father of Max Baer Jr. (“Beverly Hillbillies”)  grew up in Livermore. The name of Baer's sister Francis' family, the Santuccis, is prominent in the valley.

Clint Eastwood’s mother-in-law has lived here for years and hasn’t been bothered when her daughter Dina and Clint have come to visit. A few years ago, during the California Independent Film Festival, I chatted with Nikki Sixx and Mark Hamill outside of Zephyr without as much as a second look.

More recently, there have been episodes of Discovery Channel’s “Mythbusters,” A&E’s since canceled MC Hammer reality show “Hammertime” and Fox’s “America’s Most Wanted” filmed around town.

But this may be the first time a star the caliber of Nicole Kidman has come to town to film.

That will change if Kaye has her way. She’s got Hollywood connections, having worked as a producer, who will help spread the word that Livermore's a great place to film. She got oh-so-close to getting Kevin Costner and Diane Lane here for a movie project a while ago.

I know that my other life as the president of the North America Television Critics Association and an entertainment reporter for the last couple of decades is seeping through this column. I have a personal interest in seeing more film and television productions coming to town.

But why should residents care if Livermore becomes a hot spot for filming? Well, besides watching folks like Kidman, Gandolfini and her co-star, Clive Owen, hang around town, it means a lot of money going into city coffers.

Money is spent to hire crews, secure locations and rent equipment. Workers also need places to sleep, eat, shop and, of course, golf. And that means money pumped into the local economy.

And wouldn’t that be a good way to fund local projects for the arts?