HBO Films Begins Shooting in Albany
Published:
Contact:
Albany County Convention & Visitors Bureau
Albany Film Commission
Michele Vennard, mvennard@albany.org(518) 434-1217 x300
Debby Goedeke, dgoedeke@albany.org (518) 434-1217 x100
Schuyler Bull, sbull@albany.org (518) 434-1217 x203
FOR IMMEDIATERELEASE
May 8, 2012
ALBANYIS BACK IN THE RING:
HBO FILMS BEGINS SHOOTING
“MUHAMMAD ALI’S GREATEST FIGHT” IN ALBANY
ALBANY, NY – After several months of location scouting and workingwith the Albany County Convention &Visitors Bureau and the Albany Film Commission, HBO has finalized plans toshoot three scenes in downtown Albany, NY.
Directed by Academy Award® nominee StephenFrears (“The Queen”) and written by Shawn Slovo (“A World Apart”), MUHAMMAD ALI’S GREATEST FIGHT is executive produced by Emmy® winner Frank Doelger(HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and “The Gathering Storm”), Emmy® winnerTracey Scoffield (HBO’s “The Gathering Storm”) and Jonathan Cameron. The story is inspired by the book of the samename by Howard L. Bingham, longtime Muhammad Ali photographer/biographer.
The film centers on the culturalicon’s battle with the United States government over his refusal to serve inthe military due to his religious beliefs and opposition to the VietnamWar. Ali was arrested and found guiltyon draft evasion charges, and later stripped of his boxing title and had hisboxing license suspended. While notimprisoned, he did not fight again for nearly four years while his appealreached the U.S. Supreme Court.
Thestar-studded cast includes Academy Award® winner Christopher Plummer (“Beginners”)as Supreme Court Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan II, Academy Award®nominee Frank Langella (“Frost/Nixon”) as Chief Justice Warren E. Burger andBenjamin Walker (the upcoming “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”) as one ofJustice Harlan’s clerks, Kevin Connolly.The film also stars Emmy® nominee Danny Glover (“FreedomSong”) as Justice Thurgood Marshall, Golden Globe nominee Ed Begley Jr. (HBO’s“Recount”) as Justice Harry Blackmun, Academy Award® nominee BobBalaban (HBO’s “Recount”) as Advocate Nimmer, Kathleen Chalfant (HBO’s “TheLaramie Project”) as Justice Harlan’s wife Ethel, Pablo Schreiber (HBO’s “TheWire”) as clerk Covert Becker, Peter Gerety (HBO’s “The Wire”) as JusticeWilliam Brennan, Fritz Weaver (“Frasier”) as Justice Hugo Black, John BedfordLloyd (HBO’s “John Adams”) as Bryon “Whizzer” White, Harris Yulin (HBO’s “IfThese Walls Could Talk”) as William O. Douglas and Academy Award®-winningdirector Barry Levinson (“Bugsy” and HBO’s “You Don’t Know Jack”) as JusticePotter Stewart.
The local production of the film,which takes place Thursday, May 10 through Friday, May 11 will once again bringa positive economic impact, utilize local film resources and providerecognition to our Capital City. TheAlbany film shoot will include some of the actors, with HBO setting up shop indowntown Albany.
“The City of Albany is excited towelcome the HBO film crew,” Albany Mayor Gerald D. Jennings. “As we have seenin the past, our downtown is a great backdrop for movies and we can’t wait tosee Albany on the big screen when the movie is released.”
“This exciting project will havea great impact upon our downtown community,” states Michele Vennard,President/CEO of the Albany County Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Hotels,restaurants and other service providers will see an uptick in activity from thecast and crew, as well as spectators looking for a sneak peak of the movie.”
As with “SALT” and “The OtherGuys,” movie personnel are currently working with the City of Albany and theAlbany Police Department to minimize the impact on weekday traffic.
About the ACCVB:
The Albany County Convention & VisitorsBureau, Inc. was established in 1976 to promote the civic and commercialprogress of the community through increased development of conventions andtourism. ACCVB currently represents more than 300 member businesses and assistseach year in hundreds of regional meetings. ACCVB also operates the AlbanyHeritage Area Visitors Center, Henry Hudson Planetarium, and the AlbanyInternational Airport Information Center. For more information, call518-434-1217 or 800-258-3582 or visit www.albany.org
