An epiphany while visiting her parents leads to movie producer's decision to focus action, lights and camera on Smith Mountain Lake

By Laurie Edwards
721-4675 (ext. 406)October 2008

When Bill and Sue Timmins' daughter Sara Elizabeth came to visit them at their Smith Mountain Lake home in December, they could tell she was frazzled.

The 31-year-old works as a producer and creative director for an independent film company in Los Angeles, where she has assisted in producing and/or managing about 10 films. To make ends meet, she travels the country as a motivational speaker between projects.

"When she got here, she was terribly stressed out and exhausted because she had been working and traveling for two-and-a-half of three months," said Sue. "And she was very emotional because she was so tired."

One day, Sara Elizabeth left her parents' Sandpiper Bay house and set out for a walk. It was an experience she won't soon forget.

"The quiet and calm of the lake led to so much clarity," Sara Elizabeth said.

What she came to realize during the walk was how much she valued the serenity and peacefulness of the lake and the lifestyle surrounding it. "It represented so much more than what I have in my life in Los Angeles," she said.

Sara Elizabeth returned to her parents' home and told them: "I had a tremendous revelation."

She borrowed her father's video camera and went back out, capturing the solitude and tranquility of the lake on film.

"I think she wanted something to hang onto and share with other people," said Bill.

When her holiday vacation ended, Sara Elizabeth did just that. She returned to Los Angeles and showed the film to her co-workers. "I want to make a movie about this," she said. 

A lake story

From Sara Elizabeth Timmins' revelation, a storyline slowly formed. Working with fellow Life Out Loud Films associates Liz Forde, producer, and Michael J. McKay, director, the plot began to take shape.

The movie, under the working title "Lake Effects," focuses on a mother and her two daughters, said McKay. The elder daughter has relocated to Chicago from her lifelong home at the lake to become a lawyer. When she left, she had no intention of coming back to small-town life at Smith Mountain Lake.

The younger daughter, an aspiring artist, never left home, even when she was offered a scholarship to a prestigious art institute. A teacher at an elementary school, she often wonders if she made the wrong decision.

The young women's lives are turned on end when their father dies unexpectedly. The grieving sisters and mother begin questioning their life decisions and redefining their relationship with the lake.

"For so long, it's been dad equals family equals lake," said Forde.

Wading through memories, the women start to see the lake through their own eyes, suddenly understanding why the lake is important, allowing them to develop personal relationships with Smith Mountain Lake.

Casting the net

To capture the character and essence of the lake community, Sara Elizabeth Timmins, Forde and McKay visited with SML business owners, community and county leaders and citizens last week. It was the first trip to the lake for Forde and McKay.

After flying into Raleigh, N.C., the group drove to the Timmins' Union Hall home, windows up, radio on. When they arrived and opened their doors to the sights and sounds of the lake, Forde and McKay said they, too, felt the serenity Timmins had described.

But there would be little time for rest and relaxation. During their four-day stay, the three met with members of Smith Mountain Lake Association, Tri-County Lake Administrative Commission, SML Chamber of Commerce and county tourism officials, dutifully taking notes.

"Every day, it's just amazing the stories we hear," said Forde. "This was just one trip and we have a basket full of stories."

Those tales ranged from local legends -- such as the giant catfish that feeds near the dam -- to historical tidbits -- including how trees and abandoned barns and houses were left in the valley that Appalachian Power flooded to form the lake.

"We're just now initiating the research," said McKay. "Whether it makes it into the script or not, these are things we might be able to impart to the cast and the crew."

Some aspects of lake life, however, are a must for inclusion, they said, including the She-Doos, Antique and Classic Boat Society and Franklin County's moonshine history.

At a meet-and-greet Oct. 15 arranged by Roy Enslow, owner of Bridgewater Marina and production coordinator for the film, four She-Doos came decked out in their signature lime green, excited about the prospect of being featured in the film.

"We could wear our lime green boas," said one. "We could ride down the lake in two rows on our Sea-Doos," said another." 

Community involvement

Whether or not the She-Doos make the final cut, Bill Timmins said the ladies have offered to serve as a taxi service for the film crew, ferrying them to locations easier to reach by water than by land.

It's the kind of help Life Out Loud Films officials said they hope more people will volunteer to do. Bill and Sue Timmins are serving as the liaison between the company and lake residents, compiling lists of volunteers to serve in various capacities to help keep the budgeted $1.8 million film's cost down.

"There's so many little things that could really help out a lot," said Bill Timmins.

Sara Elizabeth Timmins said lake residents can work on the set as photographers, catering and craft services, transportation crew, logistics team, extras and in a variety of other roles.

"We want the community to not just watch us do it, but actually be a part of it," she said.

Those working behind the scenes will have the chance to be featured in a spin-off film, a documentary called "Just Add Water."

Her mother is working as the casting coordinator for extras, a job she filled in 2001 for Life Out Loud Films' production "Tattered Angel," which was produced in part by her daughter and featured former "Wonder Woman" Lynda Carter in a supporting role.

"I up and moved to Cincinnati for six weeks," said Sue Timmins. "Talk about learning a lot ... and it was very rewarding."

It was a stop near home for the Timmins family, who moved to the lake about three years ago from Warren, Ohio.

In addition to filming at the lake, Forde said there are plans for both cast and crew to volunteer at the lake.

"We'll have a day when the crew does volunteer work," she said. "And part of the proceeds will go toward lake cleanup." 

Showcasing the lake

In addition to preproduction work, the studio is seeking product placement and filming locations. For products that will be featured in the film, Sara Elizabeth Timmins said they'd like to approach local companies before they approach any national companies.

"It will be much cheaper for locals," she said.

While the trio will do a location scout later this year and next, Timmins said they're open to suggestions from area businesses that would like their stores or restaurants showcased in the film.

McKay said they also will be approaching lake-area artists whose paintings can be featured in the artistic daughter's bedroom. One painting, however, will have to be specially created because it will feature the family patriarch, a role that has yet to be cast. Artists who participate will have recognition somewhere on the DVD.

"We'll find a way to call everyone's attention to them and say, 'Here's how to contact the local artists,'" said McKay.

He also said the film may feature a spoken epilogue by a lake official, letting viewers know that while the movie is fiction, the community and the lake are real. Information on how to learn more about Smith Mountain Lake also would be provided.

"We're not fictionalizing the lake," said McKay. "The characters and stories are fictional, but the life, the family, the adventure and the lake are real."

Big-screen lake living

Timmins said they're aiming to showcase Smith Mountain Lake's community in theaters and later on DVD.

"It's definitely going to be made much more like a theater-release than a made-for-TV movie," she said. "With some of the names we're talking about getting, that shouldn't be a problem."

Well-known actors, said Timmins, could play supporting roles where they'd only need to be on set for a few days. Their addition to the cast, however, can ratchet the film up to a national theater release. But even if the film isn't released in theaters, Timmins said lake residents will have the opportunity to see it on the big screen.

"We will do a screening at the lake specifically for the lake community," she said.

The filming, which is set to begin next fall, is expected to take three to four weeks, with postproduction setting a release date around 2010.

And while other film companies have scouted the lake as potential locations but not followed through -- other than the 1991 film "What About Bob?" starring Bill Murray -- Timmins said "Lake Effects" will become reality.

"It's not in my nature to start something and not finish it," she said. "There is absolutely no way, no matter what I have to do, that this job will not get done and done well.

"And we have an entire community that we have brought into this project, that we have an obligation to finish it. ... It's not just about us anymore."

For more information about "Lake Effects," visit lifeoutloudfilms.com. To volunteer, call Bill and Sue Timmins at (540) 576-1332.

Smith Mountain Lake could soon be the venue for another movie.

The Bill Murray/Richard Dreyfus movie, "What About Bob?" created a tsunami of interest at Smith Mountain Lake in 1991, and the film didn't even mention the Lake's name.

Already, an independent film team from Life Out Loud Films of Los Angeles, Calif., researching the Lake, spelunking for information and exploring funding sources, has generated steady waves of curiosity, and filming isn't slated to begin until October, 2009.

Entitled "Lake Effects", the film's script has been completed after a number of rewrites and the project is now in the development phase, said director Mike McKay, who was at the Lake last week with colleagues Sara Elizabeth Timmins, producer and creative director, as well as a daughter of Lake residents Bill and Susan Timmins, and Liz Forde, producer.

"Every time I visit my parents here," said Timmins, "I'm surprised no one (since What About Bob?) has made a movie here. Two months ago, when I got here for a holiday, I was so amazed at the peace and calm. It was a time of personal discoveries. During a 45 minute walk, I was able to solve some questions that I'd been struggling with for years."

"Life at the Lake," said McKay, who along with Forde, was on his first visit to the area, "has an immediate impact. This is a totally different world."

The film, which Life Out Loud hopes will be picked up by a major distributor when it is completed, focuses on a fictitious family residing at Smith Mountain Lake and the eddying conflicts its members resolve together. The eldest daughter, always an achiever, completes a law degree and leaves the Lake for a career with a major Chicago practice. A younger daughter stays behind to teach art at a local elementary school. Frustration ensues.

"She always thinks she was meant for bigger, and better things, like her sister," McKay said.

Their father dies, which brings the elder daughter back to the Lake to help settle his estate.

"The film highlights the journeys of the daughters, and their mother, and brings all of them to the realization how the Lake shaped who they are," the director added.

While a drama, the film will have comedic subplots, such as a stakeout by scientists who think the Lake is home to a Loch Ness type serpent. The crew arrives to hunt the creature during the Lake's annual Wine Festival and their appearance creates havoc.

The film also will have a spiritual climax, McKay noted.

"The last writing of the script made me both laugh and cry," said Timmins.

The filmmakers hope to achieve the tone of "The Big Chill", a 1983 classic that told the story of seven former college friends who gather for a weekend at a posh South Carolina winter house after the funeral of one of their friends. Searching for something they lost, they find that all they needed was each other. Nominated for three Oscars, the film starred Tom Berenger, Glenn Close, Jeff Goldblum and others.

"Lake Effects," McKay said, "will focus on a tragic event, but throughout, there will be levity, plus the exploration of family ties and relationships."

At the same time, the film crew intends to shoot a documentary at the Lake, entitled "Just Add Water."

A portion of the proceeds from the upcoming film will be presented to SML for Lake cleanup efforts and the cast and crew will participate in a volunteer day at the Lake.

"Many in the community have already stepped forward to embrace the project by donating and offering numerous services that are needed for production costs," said Timmins. "Volunteers, lodging, airline frequent flier miles, product placements, even deferred payment for services and goods are just some of the avenues. Volunteers are needed to provide locations, casting, catering, art, transportation, photography and other tasks. Even a site medic would be appreciated."

With this in mind, Life Out Loud Productions hopes to shoot a film that normally would cost around $1.8 million for less. A cast, which producers hope will include some noted actors, has yet to be lined up.

Filmmakers are increasingly viewing Virginia as good place for movie production. Costs, compared to the West coast, or many locations abroad, are inexpensive and current tax incentives diminish some of the financial strain on film companies (see the Virginia Film Office website for a full listing of the incentives).

Timmins said she expects the crew will travel many times cross-country to bring the film project to fruition.

"We'll fly out key performers, but we will hire as much local talent (and crew members) as we can to keep costs down. This is a boon to us. If anyone here is interested in helping with the film, they can fill out a form on our website (www.lifeoutloudfilms.com)."

Local contact for the film is Bill Timmins, who can be reached at 540-576-1332.

Roanoke Times:Laker Weekly, Laurie Edwards Oct. 10, 2008