Angie Franzer
Metromix

Dusk is just beginning to set on the Coachella Valley while the Colony Palms Hotel in Palm Springs buzzes with action.

Actors scurry to the makeup room where they will be powered, hair sprayed and tweaked before their big scenes. The production staff — recognizable by their secret-service like earpieces — make final lighting adjustments. Lines are memorized, the scene is set, and it will only be moments before local director Christian Sesma says the magic word: “Action.”

What looks like an ordinary hotel on the outside has been transformed into a full-fledged movie set for Sesma’s third full-length feature, “Shoot the Hero.”

La Quinta actress and entrepreneur Denise DuBarry Hay is serving as executive producer of the film that features her daughter, Samantha Lockwood, Palm Springs- based actor Fred “The Hammer” Williamson and former CBS 2 reporter Mike Hatton.

While other movies have shot a scene or two in the desert, “Shoot the Hero” is filming almost entirely in the Coachella Valley.

“It’s the realization of a long-standing dream, to film in our home,” said Sesma, a Palm Springs High School graduate who decided to try his hand at filmmaking after being hospitalized for a burst appendix in 2003.

Palm Springs’ close proximity to Los Angeles has allowed Sesma to compile a cast of local and Hollywood talent, including Jason Mewes (“Clerks”), Katie Morgan (“Zack and Miri Make A Porno”), Danny Trejo (“Desperado”) and Nick Turturro (“NYPD Blue”).

“People who live in L.A. and all these big cities, it’s easier for them to get to Palm Springs rather than to fly to Germany or Hamburg. It’s so convenient,” said Lockwood.

Trejo, appearing in his second Sesma film, agrees, calling Palm Springs “a great, film-friendly place to shoot.”

Exceeding initial expectations may not be difficult, considering the project’s production value.

Klemens Becker, who has helmed the lens for box office hits like “Gladiator,” “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum,” is serving as the director of photography. At his disposal are two RED ONEs, the hard-to-find camera of choice for directors Ron Howard and Peter Jackson.

Hatton says the project has been more fun than work.

“I don’t even feel like I’m acting,” he says with a laugh.

“It’s a mission we’ve had for several years,” said Hay. “We’ve wanted to bring more of a film industry here, and Christian and I are on a mission to do that.”
Additional Facts
Famous faces

Actors appearing in director Christian Sesma’s latest movie “Shoot the Hero,” now filming in Palm Springs.

JASON MEWES
What you’ve seen him in: Kevin Smith’s “Clerks,” “Mallrats” and “Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back,” “Zack and Miri Make a Porno”

DANNY TREJO
What you’ve seen him in: Nearly 200 films, including Quentin Tarantino’s “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Spy Kids” and the upcoming “Machete.”

NICK TURTURRO
What you’ve seen him in: Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center,” “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry,” “NYPD Blue”

KATIE MORGAN
What you’ve seen her in: ”Zack and Miri Make a Porno,” two HBO specials and numerous adult films.

Go to palmsprings.metromix.com for an exclusive Q&A with actor Danny Trejo

Original Article Found Here