By Shelley Koppel
Entertainment writer
STUART - For many girls, Barbie, the Bratz dolls and Hannah Montana are the only role models they have. Filmmaker Brian Carroll hopes to change that with his action/adventure tale "Natalie, Queen of Scots," now filming in Stuart and around the Treasure Coast.
Mr. Carroll spoke recently about his first feature film and why he's filming most of it in Martin County.
"I made a short film version of 'Natalie' with a cheap camera and used my siblings," he said. "A friend saw it and said it should be my first feature and I should cast my sister, Kelli, in it."
Mr. Carroll, who lived in Port St. Lucie for 10 years, and his producer, Serenity Caldwell, put out a call on the Internet for funding and raised $45,000. A local fundraiser brought in some more money.
"A film with good production values should cost from $2-3 million," Mr. Carroll said. "We are making it for $250,000 because of the location. The people in south Florida are very helpful, especially Joe Catrambone of the Chamber of Commerce and Gary and Misti Guertin. It will look like a $5 million film because of the work people have put in."
The film stars Mr. Carroll's sister, Kelli, 11, a student at Palm Pointe School in Tradition, and other local performers. The director said the film really tells two stories.
"One is more Natalie's personal life," Mr. Carroll said. "Her parents are divorced, her mother has remarried and there's a new baby on the way. There are a lot of things she doesn't understand.
"As a security blanket, she forms a fantasy world, where she's Natalie, queen of her kingdom. She builds a sand castle and she threatens the ocean not to knock it down. When it does, she declares war on the ocean."
Filming, which began July 20 and is expected to last five weeks, is taking place in Stuart and Martin County, with a few scenes shot elsewhere.
"Stuart feels like a classical-looking town," Mr. Carroll said. "Martin County opened its doors to us. They've been invaluable in the process. Because of the efforts of Martin County, it will not be our last film here. I love this area. It's taken a long time to realize how special this area is to me. We're moving our studio, Lobsterback Entertainment to Stuart."
After filming and post-production, the production team will work to get the film shown at film festivals. Mr. Carroll said there has been some interest in the film, which has been in the works for 18 months.
"I'm so happy we started shooting," Mr. Carroll said. "This movie is about kids, about how kids are often looked down on in movies. People think kids will laugh at anything. Our movie shines a light on the fact that kids are very smart and have a unique way of showing it, different from adults."
For more information about "Natalie, Queen of Scots," visit the Web site www.nataliequeenofscots.com or call Brian Carroll at (860) 490-9883.