Below the belt (http://www.politico.com/blogs/anneschroeder/)
The low-budget indie flick “Below the Beltway” has been spotted filming around town with actors who aren’t your usual low-budget indie guys: Tate Donovan, Kip Pardue, Sarah Clarke, Spencer Garrett (who, interestingly, is playing Tom DeLay in “Casino Jack”), and director Dave Fraunces, who actually was RFK in “Bobby.” It’s all due to a former House, Senate and Mayor Anthony Williams guy — Jim Wareck. He dreamed up and wrote the movie about what really happens in D.C. “There’s never been a realistic portrayal of staffers,” he says. Basically: A character has fallen from grace and wants to get back in the scene — but eventually all the characters realize “there is life above the Beltway.” “It’s damn hard to do,” Wareck says of the movie process. “It’s like fighting the devil with a bucket of water.” Still, the movie was being shot in Alexandria over the weekend with a few cameos: Chris Matthews, Jack and Susanna Quinn and former Mayor Williams. And there’s more to come: Wareck is putting his friends in as much as possible, like former John Kerry gal Amy Dacey, Quinn Gillespie’s Virginia Hume and the Food Network’s Duff Goldman. Sadly, the new Rules communications director Vince Morris has been cut. “He hasn’t forgiven me,” Wareck says with a laugh. Matthews’ son, Michael, is “the MVP” of the set, Wareck says — he’s the locations manager. The power breakfast scene involved Matthews calling Pardue’s character “a jerk.” Susanna Quinn was Matthews’ breakfast partner, while Jack Quinn was seated with Williams, and Jack Quinn also assails Pardue’s character, calling him “an [expletive]” while Williams says, laughing, “Take a number.” Hopefully, there will be a Mayor Fenty cameo, too, talking about D.C.’s voting rights, and rumor has it they’ll be filming in POLITICO’s offices over the weekend. “It’s tough to make comedy in D.C. authentic when Joe Lieberman wins the funniest man in D.C. contest every year — it’s not a funny town,” Wareck says. The movie’s filming for 19 days, but “it’s not the best 19 days of your life,” Wareck notes. “It’s like you’re two days out from Election Day every day. ... Producing is like managing a campaign.” Always political.
By Anne Schroeder Mullins June 10 at 04:00 AM
