THE HISTORY OF THE "BONNIE AND CLYDE" MOVIE

The Tonya S. Holly and her Cypress Moon production of the "Bonnie and Clyde" movie, which is supposed to be filmed here in Alexandria, has been delayed for several years now.

Pictured at left are Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy and Holly.

Here is the history of that movie:

On June 1, 2007, Holly and her Cypress Moon Studios announced the new "Bonnie and Clyde" movie and said that it was are continuing their travels throughout the South as they scout for locations for the film in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. (See: "SOUTHERN FILMMAKER TONYA S. HOLLY HITS THE ROAD WITH BONNIE AND CLYDE").

December 7, 2009: I made a Public Records request, on behalf of an unidentified client, for all invoices concerning Bill Hess, the city's economic development director and who has been working with film industry representatives for three years, and his trip to California on the "Bonnie and Clyde" movie. ("CITY OF ALEXANDRIA ANSWERS THE PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST ON BILL HESS: IS THIS ALL THERE IS?").

December 18, 2009: Having violated the state's Public Records Law by not providing those records in time, Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy figured that he would preempt that records request by having Bill Hess and Finance Director David Crutchfield appear on one of his TV shows. With all three men bragging about landing this movie for Alexandria, David told us that the City had put up $50,000 on the "Bonnie and Clyde" movie, while another $21,500 was spent on travel and meals for the past 2 years. ("MAYOR ROY'S ADMINISTRATIVE BRIEFING OF 12-18-09").

December 21, 2009: The City of Alexandria finally responded to my Public Records request and stated that there were no documents of any nature" regarding Bill Hess' trip to California. ("CITY OF ALEXANDRIA ANSWERS THE PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST ON BILL HESS: IS THIS ALL THERE IS?").

December 28, 2009: The Town Talk reports on, or repeats the bragging of Jacques and crew, about the "Bonnie and Clyde" movie. ("ALEXANDRIA'S MOVIE BUSINESS").

June 15, 2010: Hess reported to the City Council that the "Bonnie and Clyde" movie hadn't begun filming yet due to problems with its financing. ("THE ALEXANDRIA CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF JUNE 15, 2010").

January, 2011: Hess and Holly assure us that the movie will be coming soon. (" "BONNIE & CLYDE". WILL IT COME?").

May 5, 2011: It was reported that the movie's star, Hilliary Duff, was no longer doing the movie (""BONNIE & CLYDE" MOVIE HITS ANOTHER SNAG"), but Holly denied that as a rumor. (See Also: "BONNIE & CLYDE MAY HAVE ALSO ROBBED THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA" and the posts linked thereunder).

May 26, 2011: KALB TV reports that Cypress Moon's $50,000 contract with the City of Alexandria ran out on July 16, 2010 but it "should start shooting within the next eight weeks, but I don't know depending on actors schedules now, depending on that we had set in stone where Alexandria was going to be the second week of shooting". ("The Story Behind "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde""). "The contract called for Holly to shoot scenes in the Alexandria area, generate at least one million dollars in revenue for the city, consider the area for future projects and open a local production office." id. "Kay Michiels, Chief of Operations for the City says in a statement: "We expect performance and we will enforce the contract." id.

November 11, 2011: Hilary Duff and Kevin Zegers were initially set to play Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow in Tonya S. Holly's "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde" but scheduling conflicts will prevent Duff and Zegers from assuming the roles. Although Holly still doesn't have someone to pay Clyde, she has found her new Bonnie, at least, in actress Lindsay Pulsipher. ("UPDATE ON BONNIE & CLYDE").

December 12, 2011: "Sean Faris has signed to star as Clyde Barrow in indie feature "The Story of Bonnie and Clyde" from Cypress Moon Studios." (See: "Sean Faris the male half of 'Bonnie and Clyde'").

January, 2012: KALB TV reported that the "Bonnie and Clyde" movie will begin filming soon at Angola followed soon thereafter in Alexandria.

Cypress Moon's website states that:

"Among the specific locations that Holly visited are the JM Jones Lumber Company, The Stratton Chapel in the rear, Natchez Eola Hotel, the old jail in the county supervisors building and Jefferson College. The team also found numerous downtown shops that can be dressed to look like the banks and storefronts That Bonnie and Clyde robbed as well as rows of houses that can double as tourist courts. Holly and her team also traveled to and toured Angola prison in Louisiana that will be used to recreate the infamous Eastham prison – also known as Bloddyham, in which Clyde was incarcerated." ("SOUTHERN FILMMAKER TONYA S. HOLLY HITS THE ROAD WITH BONNIE AND CLYDE").

Alexandria isn't even listed as a location.

Has Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy been hoodwinked by Holly? Has any other locations for the movie spent all of the money that Alexandria has?

Hopefully the move will be at least partially made here and we can recoup some of the money were are spending on it.

See Also:

JACQUES SAYS THAT THE FILM INDUSTRY IS DOING GREAT IN ALEXANDRIA

FAITH FORD ON THE TRUTH OF THE LOUISIANA TAX INCENTIVES' EFFECT UPON THE FILM INDUSTRY

JIM BROWN: LOUISIANA IS HOLLYWOOD EAST, BUT PAYING ONE HECK OF A PRICE
&

WAS IT A SLY MOVE TO GET GHOST HUNTERS TO CHECK OUT THE BENTLEY?