Little Rock native Joey Lauren Adams is in Hot Springs this week to direct a TV movie which is partially filmed in downtown Hot Springs at the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa.

The film, according to a copy of a movie permit application from the city of Hot Springs, is titled “Betrayed Within” and has been in town since Sunday. On Wednesday evening, the production closed Fountain Street to film a scene.

Adams is best known for her appearances in “Chasing Amy”, https://www.hotsr.com/news/2022/mar/11/watch-adams-filming-movie-in-hot-springs/”Big Daddy” and “Dazed and Confused”. She also wrote and directed Ashley Judd’s 2006 starring feature, “Come Early Morning,” which was shot on location in Little Rock.

“When feature films or short films or commercial videos or films come to town, they contact me and I work with them for a film permit, and then we work hand in hand with the Hot Springs Police Department and the fire department, Hot Springs National Park too, to make sure everyone’s on the same page so that when the shooting happens, like it’s happening right now in Hot Springs, everything is going well,” said Bill Solleder, Marketing Director of Visit Hot Springs, who also serves as Hot Springs Film Commissioner.

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“Joey Lauren Adams who is a well known actress and is currently making a movie in town. The early days were filmed at the Arlington Hotel, I think they may still be filming there in this moment,” Solleder said Thursday. .

“There was a really interesting scene there last night where they came out on Fountain Street, and they worked with the police and the fire department to get a fire truck and a police car out to set up a scene outside, and when I passed by was really a joy to see a full-fledged movie set on the streets of Hot Springs, including all the lights, cameras, cabinets, directors, producer , talent and all working side by side with Hot Springs to make a movie, I think it’s just awesome for Hot Springs,” Solleder said, noting that he hopes more productions choose Hot Springs as their location. filming.

“I really think any director or writer working on a movie or a commercial can find any type of backdrop they need in Hot Springs for the movie. Whether you’re looking for the historic downtown backdrop or a scenic natural from one of the city parks or the national park or the state forest, the lakes, it just seems like we have it all here,” he said.

Solleder has been a film commissioner for about four years, taking over from previous film commissioner Steve Arrison.

“I just want to help with logistics and administration. I don’t have the time or manpower right now to go out and bid for movies to come to town or do some scouting, but I’m a great resource when film companies call and ask what they need to do to produce a smooth and safe film here,” he said.

As for inquiries about filming in town, Solleder said he gets “maybe one a month or so. We know Microsoft was in town recently. They were working on a commercial here.” He said Jennifer Gerber, executive director of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, was also considering filming a project in town.

“With talented filmmakers like Joey Lauren Adams and Jen Gerber, and their connection to New York and Hollywood, we hope this will open the door for other filmmakers to see not just Hot Springs but the entire state of Arkansas as a great place to make a movie,” Solleder said.

Productions that come to the city, he said, also help the city.

“You bring people in, you have one thing. Of course people stay, those teams and talent stay in hotels, they eat in our restaurants, shop, so there’s revenue there,” Solleder said.

“We hope these movies, whether it’s in the credits, will say ‘Hot Springs, Arkansas’ and that in the long run the movie industry is a great industry,” he said.

Solleder said if a blockbuster was filmed in town, it could lead to more tourism.

With David Hill’s ‘The Vapors’ book, “we saw the value of that and created it as a self-guided tour that people could follow online to see the places in the book. You know if there’s ever been a blockbuster film shot in Hot Springs, someone would surely want to capitalize on it, whether it’s a tour or some kind of licensed imagery from the film that could connect to Hot Springs.”