From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage --

A small-budget movie about a group of people working at a music equipment store in Anchorage, set in the mid-1990s, is scheduled to film in Alaska this summer, backers say.

Experience Media Studios, based in Abu Dhabi (!), pre-qualified Nov. 7 for the state film subsidy. Chief executive Michael-Ryan Fletchall described the project in an email as an “an edgy ‘90s music scene comedy.”

“We will definitely be casting locally for some of the key roles, hiring local extras and crew, as well as showcasing Anchorage as a backdrop for the story,” Fletchall wrote. The project will be announced in the coming months with the budget expected to be under $10 million, he wrote.

“To get a sense of what we are creating, please check out the movie we are putting out in March starring Josh Hutcherson ('The Hunger Games') called ‘Carmel-by-the-Sea,’” he wrote.

According to the company's application to the state, the filmmakers expect to use:
-- 30 Alaska crew members
-- 15 non-Alaska crew
-- 10 Alaskans as talent
-- 6 non-Alaska talent

Here’s a roundup of other productions that recently pre-qualified for the state film subsidy, including what sounds like more reality TV gold mining:

-- Non-fiction TV show
Applicant: Prospector Productions – The Goldfather LLC.
Pre-Qualified: Dec. 5
Notes: Another mining reality show? In August, Iowa State University posted an item about a student headed to Alaska to pan for gold as part of a “Prospector Productions” project that would air on National Geographic.

“So far, all they know is an approximate location for the shoot -- south of the Yukon River and north of Fairbanks on 10,000 acres of private land ‘with proven gold reserves,’” the university news service said at the time.

Read more from the Iowa State Daily.

Estimates for non-Alaska crew: 16 people.
Estimates for Alaska crew: 11 people
Alaska talent: 44 people (hmmm...)
Length of project: 15 weeks

Also approved:

-- Commercial/advertisement
Applicant: Epoch Films (New York)
Pre-Qualified: Dec. 7
Non-Alaska crew: 13
Alaska crew: 30
Non-Alaska talent: 1
Alaska talent: 0

-- Non-fiction TV project
Pre-Qualified: Dec. 7
Applicant: Parthenon Entertainment Ltd. (United Kingdom)
Non-Alaska crew: 2 or 3
Alaska crew: 5

-- Non-fiction TV project
Pre-Qualified: Dec. 8
Applicant: Alaska Channel Inc.
Non-Alaska crew: 0
Alaska crew: 20