Baylor School to be site for Helen Hunt movie

In this file photo, actress/director Helen Hunt on the set of "Then She Found Me." Hunt will star in the film "Will to Succeed," which will be shooting in Chattanooga.

"Will To Succeed," a motion picture reportedly starring Oscar winner Helen Hunt, will begin filming in Chattanooga in the next few weeks, city officials say.

"This is huge," said Missy Crutchfield, city administrator of the Department of Education, Art and Culture. "It will have a bigger impact on the city than 'Water for Elephants' did because it is the first feature film to be shot entirely, or almost entirely, here."

In the summer of 2010, filming on "Water for Elephants," which starred Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon and "Twilight" star Robert Pattinson, took place over several days in Chattanooga and North Georgia.

Crutchfield said "Will to Succeed" is set in the 1970s and is centered on a high school. She could not release locations for the filming, she said, but said the Chattanooga Film Commission's Facebook page had clues. The page features pictures and maps of Baylor School.

The film "is set at a prep school," Crutchfield acknowledged.

Baylor officials confirmed that the school had been contacted about the film.

"We were approached last spring about the possibility of serving as the location of a Hollywood film," said Scott Wilson, Baylor School headmaster.

"While many of the final details have not been confirmed, we have been encouraged that the project will indeed happen this fall," he said. "We are truly excited that Hollywood would look to Baylor as a film location. We believe this will be a unique educational opportunity for our students, and we are excited to partner with the City of Chattanooga, the Tennessee Arts Commission and others associated with this project."

Crutchfield said people can visit the Facebook page often to get updates and information about opportunities to get involved in the movie.

She also said that a production crew from the travel series "Music Voyager" will be in town today to shoot an episode called "Music Highway Tennessee."

The film crew will be using the crowd at tonight's Riverfront Nights concert as a backdrop, according to Crutchfield. They will also be filming performances of local artists Dan Landrum and Matt Downer, she said.

"Music Voyager" can be seen on CreateTV and PBS.

The Chattanooga Department of Education, Arts & Culture, the Chattanooga SE Tennessee Film Commission and the Chattanooga Area Convention and Visitors Bureau partnered to recruit the "Music Voyager" project, she said.

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