The Forger

Story: A teenage art prodigy is abandoned in Carmel by his mother. While struggling to survive, he meets an man who introduces him to the world of art forgery, forcing him to choose between artistic integrity and the prospect of wealth. 

Scenery: Filmed entirely in Carmel and neighboring areas. Notable highlights include the Carmel Mission, Carmel Beach, an art gallery at Ocean Avenue and San Carlos, the workers cabins at the Odello Fields next to Highway 1 just south of the Carmel River, Sunset Center auditorium, and many other locations. There is also a brief shot of Colton Hall in Monterey.

People:

• Director: Laurence Roeck
• Stars: Josh Hutcherson, Hayden Panettiere, Alfred Molina, Lauren Bacall, Billy Boyd, Tricia Helfer, Dina Eastwood, Scott Eastwood. 

Also of local interest: 

• Director Laurence Roeck is a native of Carmel. 
• Dina Eastwood once worked as a local TV news anchor at KSBW. 
• On March 19, 2011 a rough cut of the film was publicly screened at Carmel's Sunset Center auditorium, the same place where the movie's climax was filmed. It was released direct to DVD on July 3, 2012.
  
• The film makes three references to one of Carmel's original Bohemians, a writer named George Sterling. Sterling was largely responsible for creating Carmel's legendary Abalone Song, among other things. Sterling and some other members of the Bohemian Club had acquired small vials of cyanide. Sterling kept one with him at all times. He eventually used it to commit suicide in 1926. In the film, Joshua (Josh Hutcherson) finds a vial in a box along with a photo of Sterling in the studio of Anne-Marie (Lauren Bacall). The film briefly hints at the vial's contents as Joshua reads a book about local Bohemians. Knowing Sterling's real life and death story will add to the viewer's understanding of how the vial symbolically fits into the plot. Also, in Anne-Marie's studio is a photo of a nude man crouched on Carmel beach. That photo is also of George Sterling.
  

Technical:

• Year: 2012
• Studio: Experience Media
• Film: color
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (cropped to 1.78:1 for DVD release)
• Sound: Dolby Digital
• Running time: 93 min.
• MPAA Rating: PG-13