Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

 

Published - Sunday, January 27, 2008

La Crosse, The Movie

By RYAN STOTTS | La Crosse Tribune

Everyone has heard the rumor that Hollywood star Johnny Depp is considering La Crosse as a location for a future film.

And, with Minnesota currently represented by two Oscar-nominated films with home-state ties, it’s high time for Wisconsin to get in the movie-making game.

But high drama is unfolding as this river city’s road to film-dom has become cluttered with hassles over tax breaks, competing locations in other counties and a city unfamiliar with location shooting.

It already sounds like a movie, doesn’t it?

The La Crosse Tribune agrees, and if the Depp project doesn’t materialize, we offer the big-name actor looking for a spot to shoot his movie a movie about a big-name actor looking for a spot to shoot his movie. We graciously offer "La Crosse, The Movie."

And, to sweeten the pot, we offer a high-profile cast of our locals and stars to attract Depp and his producers.

  • Johnny Depp as himself

  • Actor/former presidential hopeful Fred Thompson as Gov. Jim Doyle

  • Dylan Walsh (“Nip/Tuck”) as U.S. Rep. Ron Kind

  • “Malcolm in the Middle” mom Jane Kaczmarek as state Rep. Jennifer Shilling

  • “Project Runway” guru Tim Gunn as Dave Clements, executive director of the La Crosse Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

  • Mike Farrell (“M*A*S*H”) as UW-L chancellor Joe Gow

  • Julian McMahon (“Nip/Tuck”) as WTC president Lee Rasch

  • Actor Albert Finney (“Erin Brockovich,” “The Bourne Ultimatum”) as Logistics Health chairman and CEO Don Weber

  • Mitch Pileggi (Skinner from “The X-Files”) as La Crosse Tribune publisher Rusty Cunningham

  • Oscar winner Sean Penn as La Crosse County administrator Steve O’Malley

  • Character actor Harry Dean Stanton (“Alien”) as former La Crosse mayor Pat Zielke

  • Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres as La Crosse Public Library director Kelly Krieg-Sigman

  • Oscar winner Meryl Streep as American Red Cross Scenic Bluffs Chapter executive director Cheryl Hancock

  • Comedians/spouses Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller as Tribune entertainment reporters Geri Parlin and Terry Rindfleisch

  • Christopher Lloyd (“Back to the Future”) as Chip Denure

  • Jerry “The Beav” Mathers as Mayor Mark Johnsrud

     

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