Nowlin and Auberjonois waking up Hollywood with Minn. production co.

May 19, 2015 at 12:14AM
Film Duo Among those lobbying for the state to keep its incentives for film and TV production are Remy Auberjonois and Kate Nowlin, soon-to-be Minnesota residents. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Minnesota-born actor Kate Nowlin and her actor husband, Remy Auberjonois, are moving here.

"They are literally looking for a house right now," said Minnesota Film and TV Board exec director Lucinda Winter. "They want to open a production company here called Wakemup Productions and make more movies and TV here."

Remy, whose acting career is doing quite well, is the son of actor Rene Auberjonois, credits too numerous to select just one.

"Remy and his wife, Kate, came here and shot a movie called 'The Blood Stripe.' She is the cousin of Dario Anselmo [former owner of the Fine Line]," Winter said. "They have been tremendously helpful in trying to connect with people at the Capitol about how important our snowbate is."

Winter has also been busy helping young filmmakers Chris Charles and John W. Bosher, based in Chicago and in New York City, scout the state for movie locales. "They have a slate of movies. They are very smart; they have a niche, $1-$2 million budget, these two guys are for real."

Kate and Remy are legit, too. "If you like the 'Good Wife,' " said Winter, who knows I do from my tweets. "Remember the guy with the beard?"

That was Auberjonois in the role of campaign adviser Martin Parillo, who offered an unsavory debate strategy to David Hyde Pierce's Frank Prady.

Remy will be hard to spot around town because he's something of a chameleon based on whether he's wearing a beard and how he combs his hair.

"Hubby's a chameleon indeed," Nowlin wrote in an e-mail Monday. She is getting ready to write another movie script while planning the move that she hopes will have the family settled by fall.

"Last big role was really work I did on 'The Blood Stripe.' I shot a short film this spring and am prepping to write our next film. Relocating to Twin Cities [with] our production company, Wakem­up Productions, this Fall.

"Here's to snowbate staying alive! Was lobbying in MN this weekend," she wrote.

Friends rally for ailing Garcia

A Memorial Day benefit is scheduled for Minneapolis Police Sgt. Jesse Garcia III, who was diagnosed in February with stage 4 stomach cancer.

"As he goes through treatments, his thoughts are with his 19-year-old son, Jesse, and his newborn daughter, Vienna" reads the flier about the popular former information officer for MPD and a 24-year veteran. The proud father told me Monday: "Son Jesse just committed to a local college to play hockey and baby girl Vienna is just a doll. … Everybody keeps saying she looks just like me. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

Event planners will decide on a charity. "I think they are talking about a scholarship for a Latino law enforcement student from my high school, St. Paul Johnson," said Garcia. So the money is not for him? "No matter how good of medical coverage you have, you still get medical bills. Some of the money could go for that," said Garcia. "The unique part of growing up on the East Side of St. Paul is it's an extended family that looks out for each other throughout our lives."

The benie is from 1-7 p.m., with a "taco bar" from 3-5 p.m., at Jimmy's Event Center in Vadnais Heights.

SJP Instagrams school visit

Sarah Jessica Parker shared her tour of Minneapolis on her Instagram account.

"The Sex and the City" star and producer was here to meet kids at Be­thune Community School as part of Turnaround Arts, a President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities program.

She posted a photo of the colorful poster the kids designed to welcome her Monday to Bethune.

She also snapped a photo of some bike path art that read: "Understand."

"A nice reminder I stumble on in Minneapolis. I will take that back to NYC along with some great memories," she wrote Sunday. SJP said she was "captivated by the reflection of one building in another" as she appreciated Minneapolis' "beautiful skyline" and she raved about Bachelor Farmer being a "fantastic restaurant."

She also thanked "Minneapolis' mixologist king" but did not say whether she had a Cosmo — another part of an acting résumé that Broadway's "Annie" couldn't discuss with school kids.

C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on Fox 9's "Buzz." E-mailers, please state a subject; "Hello" does not count. Attachments are not opened.


Kate Nowlin
Kate Nowlin (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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