Director: More movies could be shot in Clinton

By Randy Bell

Movie director David Lipper speaks with reporters as he completes filming of his next movie, The Neglected, in Olde Towne Clinton. It was the third movie for which Lipper has used Clinton as a filming location.

David Lipper likes what he’s found in Clinton – the people and places that make it easier to shoot a movie on a tight budget and an even tighter schedule. That’s what he’s done three times now in less than three years.

Lipper, the president and CEO of Latigo Films, co-wrote and directed the company’s latest effort, which was completed in December after shooting for less than two weeks in Clinton’s Olde Towne District.

The Neglected is a thriller starring Josh Duhamel as a police detective trying to save his kidnapped son. A couple of months earlier, Lipper and Duhamel teamed up on Off the Grid, also filmed in Clinton with Lipper as producer. And, in 2022, he directed Murder at Hollow Creek, starring Jason Patric and Mickey Rourke, in Clinton.

Lipper says he was introduced to Mayor Phil Fisher during that first visit.

“We talked about what I could do to help bring some movies this way and what he could do to make things easy for us, [so] that we would want to keep coming here. And I think both of us really lived up to our ends of the bargain,” said Lipper.

Fisher has allowed crews to film on City property, including City Hall and the Clinton Police Department, as well as in his own home.

For his part, Lipper has given the city some exposure to film audiences, instead of trying to pass Clinton off as some other location – and that’s especially true in The Neglected.

“One of the things we really like is using the people in this town and make it as authentic as possible,” Lipper says. “So, we have actual Clinton police playing Clinton police. And we’re not changing the name.”

“We’re making the town of Clinton the town of Clinton, and we’re showing drone shots of the water tower and the Welcome to Clinton sign,” said Lipper. “So, we’re establishing this town as a character in the film. I feel like people should know about Clinton.”

The movie crews have also spent a lot of money with local businesses, staying in hotels and eating at Olde Towne restaurants.

Fisher says, “It has been a great relationship.”

Lipper says sometimes it’s better to shoot movie scenes on a sound stage, where there’s more control. But by filming The Neglected on location in Olde Towne, he was able to get more accomplished during his short schedule.

“We had a twelve-day shoot on this movie, which is unusually small. We had to wrap everyone before Christmas. That means I need to put all the locations next to each other. So, the mayor’s house here. City Hall across the street. Over here by Capitol and College [Streets] are our trailers. And everything was in a four-block radius. It’s almost like a backlot of a studio.”
Lipper says having everything within walking distance was crucial.

“You can’t even imagine how much time it takes to pack up all your gear and drive twenty minutes to a [different] location. Those kinds of moves are days of missed filming opportunities.” He says not having to do that in Clinton helped to keep the production on schedule.

After the filming wrapped, The Neglected moved into post-production. Lipper is hoping Clintonians will soon be able to see it on a big screen somewhere.

“We’re striving for all of our films right now to go into the theaters,” he says. “The straight-to-video-on-demand market is tough these days. All of our movies have gotten bigger. Budgets have gotten bigger. Casts have gotten bigger. The expectation is to go theatrical, meaning in the movie theaters.”

Lipper has four more movies he’d like to shoot, and he says this city probably hasn’t seen the last of him. “I am sure I will be back to Clinton – and I will probably be back in a matter of months. So, get ready.”