BY JANELLE GELFAND
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Cincinnati skyline will be the backdrop when Miramax Films begins shooting scenes from the movie In Too Deep on the Ohio River today. The film schedule includes staging a drive-by shooting on city streets and exterior shots in the West End.
The filming will enhance the police story, which is set in Cincinnati and is being filmed mainly in Toronto.
Today's filming takes place on the upper deck of a B&B Riverboat, where star Omar Epps, who plays a young undercover policeman, acts out a scene with Nia Long.
On Wednesday, Vine Street between 12th and 14th streets will be closed for action scenes that include shooting and driving stunts.
On Thursday and Friday, the crew will move to the West End to film at the Arts Consortium and a public housing project.
On Saturday, crews will shoot more footage of the city.
In Too Deep, directed by Michael Rymer and written by Michael Henry Brown and Paul Aaron, is a fictionalized version of the life of Jeffrey Coy, an undercover officer with the Boston Housing Authority and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Mr. Coy helped bring down a drug kingpin in 1990.
Other actors in the movie (but not here this week) include Pam Grier, Stanley Tucci and rapper-actor LL Cool J. include The production should bring in an estimated $1-1.5 million to the area, says Lori Holladay, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky Film Commission.
A bonus: Neighborhood kids could be eligible for scholarships through a new fund established by the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority, started with money from the movie's location fees. A premiere showing of the movie will also benefit the fund, Ms. Holladay says.
