On location: Osage County as itself

The signs that a high-profile Hollywood movie is shooting near Tulsa begin to bubble up in ways you don’t see on the news. A bartender friend who mixed George Clooney’s drinks one night, or a gleeful shot on someone’s Instagram feed of Juliette Lewis waiting in line at Phat Philly’s.

Somewhere, I knew, Ewan McGregor was holed up in a hotel room — perhaps over at The Mayo — tweeting about his new and unfamiliar surroundings. Maybe they were all there, on one rented out floor full of stars.

That cadre of Hollywood legendry, including Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, were gathered together in late 2012 to bring the words and characters of Tulsa-born playwright Tracy Letts to cinematic life with their film adaptation of his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “August: Osage County.”

Taking place in Pawhuska, “August” introduces us to the Weston clan, who come together at their ancestral home to mourn the death of the family’s patriarch. Of course, when sundered siblings are reunited under trying circumstances, emotions and resentments can (and do) set off the fireworks. The Tennessee Williams-inspired tale is a darkly comedic examination of familial dynamics, though not as black as Letts’ previous works, “Killer Joe” and “Bug.”

By October, filming began in Bartlesville and Pawhuska, which had just played host to hometown prodigy Terrance Malick’s newest film, “To the Wonder.” Before the sheen of Affleck had worn off, locals were being star-struck all over again.

Director John Wells (“The Company Men”) along with producer Clooney seemed keenly aware of the excited hospitality of the local residents.

“You have to be conscious of the fact that you’re intruding upon people’s lives,” Wells told NewsOK’s Brandy McDonnell last month. “They’ll initially be excited and interested by the idea that there’s a film shooting, but that wears off pretty quick when you’ve got your driveway jammed up with a big truck.”

The amiability of the cast and crew was appreciated by he locals. Clooney was “really friendly, he seemed laid back and casual,” Bartlesvillian Jerry Stahl told Fox News.

But not only did the people say nice things of the production, the production had nice things to say of Oklahoma — particularly of the progressive Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate system, without which “August: Osage County” would not have been shot in its namesake location.

“The film wouldn’t have been made here without the [incentives] and the film office and Jill Simpson and her people,”  Wells told HispanicBusiness.com.

The state incentive offers to cover 37 percent of the production costs of a major film, and has posted positive economic gains for every year it has been properly funded. Despite the Oklahoma Film and Music Office’s hard work and clear success, the law has been under attack at the Capitol and is set to expire in 2014. Left unfunded, the stars could very well disappear, along with a vibrant future for Oklahoma’s cultural prestige.

“August: Osage County,” originally slated for a Christmas Day release, will now open in Tulsa theaters on Jan. 10.