Connecticut Post 05/16/2007 Seagal makes mark in city film shoot ANDREW GROSSMAN BRIDGEPORT — The usual cast of workers, commuters and pedestrians downtown was replaced Tuesday by squealing tires, men with guns and Steven Seagal. Crowds gathered on State and Main streets to watch as crews filmed scenes for "Marker," an action movie starring Seagal slated for release next year. The production comes almost a year after a new state tax credit went into effect designed to lure movie production to Connecticut. The credit offers production companies the opportunity to recoup up to 30 percent of their production expenses here.	A stuntman, filling in for actor Steven Seagal, shoots a gun while filming an action scene on State St. in downtown Bridgeport Tuesday afternoon. (Ned Gerard/Connecticut Post)
Brent Morris, one of the producers of "Marker," said the credit was one of the main reasons the film is being shot in southwest Connecticut. The city has been trying to sell itself as a prime location for movie shoots, and it could be working: Robert De Niro and Sean Penn were in Bridgeport last month for the filming of another movie "We have rolled out the red carpet," Mayor John M. Fabrizi said as he led two visiting classes of Black Rock Elementary School fourth-graders from City Hall Annex to the set of "Marker." The students, who had come for a pizza party and tour of the mayor's office, posed for a photo with Seagal and watched in wide-eyed amazement as the movie crews scurried around State Street. Fabrizi said he will have a cameo as a mourner in a scene to be filmed at a Bridgeport church next week. He was quick to point out the benefits that visiting film crews bring to Bridgeport. "It builds pride and it certainly helps out our mom-and-pop shops," Fabrizi said, standing on State Street between takes early Tuesday afternoon. "It brings people out. People get excited." A few minutes later, a man with a headset began moving a crowd of onlookers across Main Street away from the set. "There's going to be explosions," the man warned. "With glass." Soon, gunfire erupted on State Street. Two men in a dark Ford Crown Victoria parked near the corner of State and Main streets exchanged fire with men in a black Chevy suburban. A window in the Crown Victoria shattered. Then, the suburban launched into an aggressive three-point-turn that would have made any driving instructor shudder. It sped toward Main Street, scraping against a white Audi parked in front of the Playhouse on the Green. Then it came to a screeching halt next to the Crown Victoria before someone shouted, "Cut!" Morris, the line producer for "Marker," said it was easier to film in Bridgeport than Stamford, where crews filmed for six days earlier in the month. Morris said "Marker" will be shot in Bridgeport for 12 days, though he refused to say where because he wanted to avoid attracting crowds. He did say that downtown streets will be closed again on Thursday for more filming, but Seagal will not be on the set. Jeff Bishop, the vice president for recruitment at the Bridgeport Economic Resource Center, helps coordinate movie shoots in the city. He said there are plans for crews to shoot scenes for "Marker" in a church on Golden Hill, at a cemetery on the city's West Side and in various theaters and restaurants around the city. Bishop listed a number of other film companies that are scouting locations in Bridgeport, including Miramax and Disney. Bishop agreed movie shoots are good for the city. "It brings a lot of economic activity," he said. "They stay in the hotels, they visit the restaurants." But Jeff Burr, the owner of Take Time Cafe on the corner of State and Broad streets, down the street from where crews were filming a gun battle, said Tuesday that business had been average. For Sandy Jenkins, a Stratford resident who works in Bridgeport, Tuesday was anything but average. Like many in the crowd, she strained to take a picture of Seagal with her cellular phone before returning to work. "This is pretty exciting," she said. "I missed De Niro, so I didn't want to miss Steven Seagal."