CARMEL, Ind.–Your family budget might be tight, but if you’re able to give money to help make the movie “Mayberry Man”, you could be part of the action. Stark Howell, of Carmel, one of the producers, says the movie will be filmed in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, Andy Griffith’s hometown.
It will feature in cameos, some of the people who appeared on the original “Andy Griffith Show”, who are also regulars at the Mayberry festival in Danville each year. They include Maggie Peterson-Mancuso (Charlene Darling) and Ronnie Schell (Duke Slater).
“There’s this huge community of present-day Mayberry fans and it’s called “The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watcher’s Club”. Howell said those fans and the festivals inspired the plot of the movie.
“He gets caught speeding in a small town. It’s a very ‘Andy Griffith Show’ type plot. And, the judge sentences him, because he knows a fine isn’t going to do anything, the judge sentences our movie start to a week at Mayberry Fest.”
Howell said he knew that Hollywood wasn’t likely to fund such a production, so they turned to fans to help out. You may have seen the ads on Facebook.
“So we thought we could do a fun little movie for the fans, get the fans involved and partner with them.”
Howell, whose family grew up with Ron Howard’s, moved to Carmel, which is where his wife is from. He describes his exit from California as an escape from Hollywood, where he was a TV producer.
He promises a “G” rating for the film.
PHOTO: Courtesy Mayberry Man movie
