UNIVERSITY CITY, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) -
It doesn't come out for another month, but "Up in the Air," the George Clooney film shot in St. Louis over the Summer, was premiered for a small audience at the St. Louis International Film Festival Saturday night.
Among those attending, Jason Reitman, who wrote and directed "Up in the Air." Reitman is best known for his academy award winning movie, "Juno."
Reitman says St. Louis was an ideal place to shoot the movie because it's not one of the "usual suspects" as far as movie backdrops go.
"There isn't a lot of shooting that happens here and because of that it's a very original city to put on film," he said before the screening. "There's a lot of locations I felt had never been shot before, of course, for people from St. Louis they're gonna start recognizing places like the Cheshire in and some of the neighborhoods."
There were also some new faces. Kevin Renick's life may have changed as a result of "Up in the Air." The struggling singer-songwriter from here in St. Louis was laid off from his job a year ago Saturday. On this night, he was watching has his song appeared in the credits of the movie.
It got there because Renick had written a song called, "Up in the Air" right before the movie started shooting here.
"Its was just an amazing coincidence, and when Jason Reitman came to town to do a lecture I thought, I've just got to give it to him."
Reitman remembers the encounter.
"I'm used to teenagers walking up to me and handing me songs because of my film Juno, hoping I'd put it in a movie, but this is the first time a man in his 50s walked up and handed me a cassette tape."
The rest is history.
Meanwhile, the movie's executive producer is also from here, and says his local ties helped some, but Missouri tax credits for the movie industry helped more.
"Even though I'm from St. Louis, my St. Louis connection wasn't enough to get the project here," Michael Beugg said. "It had to be the right place for the film in terms of locations and it had to work out with the economics."
The movie is already getting some Oscar buzz, and is set to open Christmas Day.
Among those attending, Jason Reitman, who wrote and directed "Up in the Air." Reitman is best known for his academy award winning movie, "Juno."
Reitman says St. Louis was an ideal place to shoot the movie because it's not one of the "usual suspects" as far as movie backdrops go.
"There isn't a lot of shooting that happens here and because of that it's a very original city to put on film," he said before the screening. "There's a lot of locations I felt had never been shot before, of course, for people from St. Louis they're gonna start recognizing places like the Cheshire in and some of the neighborhoods."
There were also some new faces. Kevin Renick's life may have changed as a result of "Up in the Air." The struggling singer-songwriter from here in St. Louis was laid off from his job a year ago Saturday. On this night, he was watching has his song appeared in the credits of the movie.
It got there because Renick had written a song called, "Up in the Air" right before the movie started shooting here.
"Its was just an amazing coincidence, and when Jason Reitman came to town to do a lecture I thought, I've just got to give it to him."
Reitman remembers the encounter.
"I'm used to teenagers walking up to me and handing me songs because of my film Juno, hoping I'd put it in a movie, but this is the first time a man in his 50s walked up and handed me a cassette tape."
The rest is history.
Meanwhile, the movie's executive producer is also from here, and says his local ties helped some, but Missouri tax credits for the movie industry helped more.
"Even though I'm from St. Louis, my St. Louis connection wasn't enough to get the project here," Michael Beugg said. "It had to be the right place for the film in terms of locations and it had to work out with the economics."
The movie is already getting some Oscar buzz, and is set to open Christmas Day.
