Downtown Tulsa Street Turned Into A Movie Set

By Emory Bryan, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- A bit of Hollywood is in Tulsa.  Downtown is the set for several scenes of a movie called The Killer Inside Me.  A scene was being shot on Monday with Casey Affleck and Ned Beatty, two of the stars of the movie.  Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson were not in the scene, but a lot of people spent the day hoping to spot them.

3/4/2009 Related story: Part Of Major Motion Picture To Be Filmed In Tulsa

The spectacle attracted a crowd.  Every person who emerged from a building was looked over to see if they might be one of the movie stars.  Boston Avenue was filled with antique cars, and extras lined up outside the Philcade with curlers in their hair waiting for makeup and wardrobe.

"A period piece, the 50's possibly, they're all dressed and have their hair pulled back in the 50's style," said Brook Souders.

The scene was 1950's Fort Worth which explains the presence of a Texas flag.  Downtown Tulsa doubled for Texas, once all the newspaper boxes and modern signs were moved out of view.      

Mary Beth Babcock had a front row seat.

"This is a very exciting time for Tulsa, downtown Tulsa especially," said store owner Mary Beth Babcock.

A 1945 Ford Police car has been in a couple of movies.  Now its owner, Gary Arnett, will be as well.

"Got a white shirt to match the period and a nice spiffy tie to match, and they wanted to make sure that everything matched this period," said extra Gary Arnett.

A lot of people who would otherwise be working took the day off hoping to see someone famous.

"I just came down here to see the famous people downtown, that doesn't happen every day," said Chelsea Beard.

For several patient fans, the wait paid off.  They were able to snap photos of star Casey Affleck during the scene shot on Boston Avenue.

The shooting was running a little behind on Monday afternoon so the crew will likely be back shooting on Tuesday.

Scenes for the movie have been shot in Guthrie, Cordell, Enid and Oklahoma City.

The current film project underway in Oklahoma is the biggest movie the Oklahoma Film Commission has ever hooked.  But, they're hoping to lure more filmmakers.

"The films that have been shooting here the last couple of years have all been a couple of million and below, and this one is in the $10-12 million range," said Jill Simpson, Oklahoma Film Commission Director.

Producers can get more than a third of that back in rebates.  The Oklahoma Film Commission said the state had the perfect combination of financial incentives and unique locales. 

Oklahoma beat out New Mexico and Texas as other possible filming locations.