Extras 
CATSKILL - Independent producers from Silverwood Films and Redbone Films drew upon as much local flavor as possible in shooting of a Sundance-bound movie Wednesday on the steps of the Greene County Courthouse.

Several local reporters were joined by Village Board President Vincent Seeley and about 20 residents in playing members of the media, while local law-enforcement officers were cast as themselves for the concluding portion of a fictional trial in the full-length feature film "Stephanie Daley."

The use of Seeley as an extra was a last-minute decision but required only walking down stairs in an effort to ask a question of the lead character.

"This was unexpected but it should be enjoyable," Seeley said.

Among the most visible extras was village of Hunter Mayor William Maley, who plays an attorney escorting lead actress Amber Tamblyn through the small horde of reporters and into a waiting van. While not appearing apprehensive about the role, Maley was able to produce the day's first outtake when all the other characters entered the vehicle but his door failed to open and he was left conspicuously alone.

The misstep was part of the fun for Maley, who welcomed the economic benefits of a 40-member crew spending most of the 26-day shoot in Greene County.

"They shot at Hunter Mountain, they shot at (Hunter-Tannersville) High School," Maley said.

"They had rented rooms in my (bed-and-breakfast) for a month-and-half," Maley said. "It had to be thousands, tens of thousands of dollars they spent in the community. There was food service that they needed and took catering from the local people, and it shows the area to a larger group of people."

Maley said the area should receive a boost because filmmakers are finding the region attractive.

"With the crew themselves, most of them had never been here before," he said. "They're from California, Los Angeles, and most of them were pleasantly surprised how nice it was."

Other communities in which scenes from "Stephanie Daley" will be filmed include Phoenicia and Palenville.

Lynette Howell, a producer for Silverwood Films, was enthusiastic about cooperation from the community for a film with a budget of less than $1 million. An Annenberg Grant from Robert Redford's Sundance Institute will allow the producers to keep their costs in check.

"Because these are low-budget movies, you need all the help you can get," Howell said.

While most extras arrived about 8 a.m. Wednesday, the crew already had been working for a couple hours setting up makeup areas, script desks and equipment staging areas in the courthouse.

"Stephanie Daley," written by Hilary Brogher, is about a forensic psychologist hired to learn the truth behind the case of the 16-year-old title character, who is accused of murdering her infant after concealing her pregnancy.

Besides Tamblyn - who starred in the TV series "Joan of Arcadia" and the film "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" - "Stephanie Daley" features Tilda Swinton and Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton."Stephanie Daley" is to be shown at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival in January. 

 dailyfreeman.com 12/1/05 By William J. Kemble, Correspondent