"Lost and Found in Armenia" feature film to be shot

PanARMENIAN.Net - Filmmaker Valerie McCaffrey's getting back to her roots for her latest film project. The Roosevelt High School graduate, who is of Armenian descent, is the producer and casting director for the feature film "Lost and Found in Armenia". It will film almost entirely in Armenia.

"There is an effort going on to establish a professional film business there as a way to get people outside the country to think of Armenia," McCaffrey says. "This will be the first production where we are having American and Armenian actors together. "I hope this helps put Armenia on the map so more people know where it is."

The film - starring Jamie Kennedy and Angela Sarafyan - will shoot a week in San Diego before going to Armenia in June for the remainder of the filming.

Kennedy plays an American tourist who vacations in Turkey to get his mind off a bad break up. He ends up in a small Armenian village where he is accused of being a Turkish spy.

McCaffrey has made several trips to Armenia through her work with the World Children's Transplant Fund, but this is her first for filming. She wants it to be the first of many.

This project by McCaffrey, whose maiden name is Boolootian, is the latest in a 30-year Hollywood career that's had her working as a casting director and producer for TV shows and films. She found it easier to deal with the madness of show business because of her roots in the Central Valley, The Fresno Bee reported.

"I'm so glad that I am from Fresno. It gave me everything I needed to be successful," McCaffrey says.

She became an independent casting director in 2000 and worked on "Hard Candy," "American History X," "Dark City" and "Problem Child."

She'll be busy the next few months trying to get the most out of the small budget for "Lost and Found in Armenia."

Problems that come with moviemaking don't worry McCaffrey - something else she learned in Fresno.

"My father, Vernon, taught me to be fearless," she says. "If you have no fear, you can do anything."