Hollywood writer brings first look at film about Hutch to Fox Theater
A Hollywood writer is headed to Hutchinson to show off his script and get input.
On Sunday, Jake Farrago, the writer of “No Place Like Hutch” — a film about Hutchinson and its history, will hold a reading at the Fox Theater.
The film is currently not yet in production, but before Farrago began filming, he wanted the residents of Hutchinson to have the first look through a table read of his script with local actors.
“It’s usually not something we do publicly, but I think it’s important, especially for something so focused on the DNA of the town,” Farrago said. “I would love for (the film) to bring back love and a renewed interest in the town itself.”
Farrago said he invited actors from Stage 9, Family Community Theatre and Hutchinson High School Thespian Club read the script on stage.
A film about modern Hutchinson
Farrago grew up in Maine, but currently lives in Los Angeles and works as a writer for Hollywood films. He began writing “No Place Like Hutch” after visiting Hutchinson two years ago.
Farrago first heard about Hutchinson through an article about the Strataca Underground Salt Museum’s vault of classic movies and props from famous film sets.
“It’s kind of sad in a way because all those great films that defined millions of people’s lives and generations are just sitting underground, never to be seen again in the dark,” Farrago said. “So I thought, what if the characters of those films were conscious of that?”
Two of the classic movies stored in the salt mine include “Wizard of Oz” and “Gone with the Wind,” which Farrago said he wanted to “bring to life with some movie magic.”
The film revolves around a teenage girl who recently turned 18 and is looking to move away from Hutchinson. Farrago said this was when the characters from the classic movies stored in the salt mine visit the teenager.
“These characters come to life, but no one in town can see them except for a teenage girl in Hutch,” He said. “There’s kind of a rediscovery of those characters.”
Farrago said one of the characters he plans to bring into the film is Dorothy, who discovers facts about Hutchinson. “No Place Like Hutch” is set in modern Hutchinson.
Production has not begun, but Farrago said multiple Hollywood studios and production companies are backing the project, set to film in Hutchinson sometime in the future.
Farrago set the live table read for 6 p.m., Sunday, May 1, at the Fox Theater in Hutchinson. The event is free to the public, with complimentary popcorn for all attendees.