“Bellevue Avenue” film to be set in Newport

A feature-length film about Newport during the Gilded Age will begin production in June, according to the executive producing team that will announce the project during a press conference at 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 18 in Ochre Court. Filming locations will include several University properties.

The film, “Bellevue Avenue,” will mix suspense, compassion and compelling characters to illustrate a world of ethical and social disarray, says Ken Dooley, screenwriter and executive producer. Dooley, a Cranston native, wrote “The Murder Trial of John Gordon” and “The Auerbach Dynasty,” among many others.

For a quarter of a century, Bellevue Avenue was the favorite playground of the rich and royal, where European princes came to visit the marble “cottages” of their American counterparts – the captains of American industry and finance and their wives. But what was Newport really like behind those baronial iron gates? “Bellevue Avenue” asks and answers that question, probing into the social and financial intrigues that lay behind the dazzling facade.

The film will be directed by Emmy-nominated Andy Lauer, who has worked under the direction of Oliver Stone, Michael Bay and David Fincher, among others. Eric Lutes, an acclaimed TV and film actor, will serve as both actor and producer. Rhode Island native Arlene Violet, the first female attorney general in the United States, is also a producer.

In addition to Salve Regina, filming locations will include Newport sites such as Fort Adams State Park, the Malbone Estate, the Old Colony and Newport Railway, Rough Point, Bellevue Avenue and others.