This article was in The Lee's Summit Journal today....
Movie shoots in Lee’s Summit
By Miranda Wycoff
The Lee's Summit Journal Staff, http://www.lsjournal.com/
Actress Dee Wallace sits in the living room set as her character calls her sister. An actress sits in a chair off to the side conversing with her. Wallace hangs up the phone says: “Phase two is complete,” then pauses.
From somewhere offstage: “And scene,” the director says. The process is done twice more so different camera angles can be filmed. But this isn’t a set in Hollywood, or even in New York City — the scene was filmed at 605 S.W. Benjamin Street in Lee’s Summit — a house just behind the Hy-Vee store on Tuesday.
Wallace, best known for her role as “Mary” in the 1982 film “E.T.: The Extra Terrestial” and since starring in several movies and as guest roles in television shows, plays “Aunt Karen,” in the Kansas City-based movie, “Matchmaker Mary.” “Matchmaker,” written, directed and produced by Tom Whitus, currently of Kentucky, is a family film that centered on “love and puppies.”
“Our plan was to make a film about how animals, specifically dogs, interact and make our lives better,” Whitus said.
“Matchmaker” begins at the local animal shelter Wayside Waifs. Mary Carver, played by Katherine McNamara of Lee’s Summit, is a 12-year-old sixth-grade student from suburban Kansas City. Her father promises her a puppy after achieving straight “A’s” on her report card.
At Wayside Waifs, Mary meets a young woman, and the two happen upon a pen of Labrador puppies — Lexie, Tillie and Bailey. The woman adopts one and Mary returns the next day to adopt the another one of the three — after convincing her mother, of course.
The next day Mary meets a young man about the same age as the woman from the previous day. She convinces him to adopt the third puppy, then enters into a scheme to bring the two together through the puppy siblings. But Mary doesn’t stop there. Her parents are on the outs so with the help of the puppies, the puppies’ new owners, her Aunt Karen and Aunt Karen’s new love interest — the owner of Wayside Waifs, Mary looks to play matchmaker one last time.
“I’m really excited,” Wallace said about the film. “It’s nice to do a sweet family film after doing all those suspense and horror movies.”
And Wallace, a seasoned veteran in the film business, was quite impressed with the local rookie who is the film’s star.
“I am so impressed with Katherine,” Wallace said. “As an actress and as a person.” “Jeff Fahey (of ‘Lost’ and another star in ‘Matchmaker Mary’) and I are going to see if we can help get her started in L.A.”
For McNamera her first starring role in a film has been surreal. “It’s been wonderful,” she said. “Just an amazing experience.” The 12-year-old got her start in show business as a dancer in a show, she said. “I ended up loving theater and it just went from there,” McNamara said. Although she said she was surprised to land the lead of “Matchmaker Mary,” she hasn’t been too intimidated. “It’s just been a wonderful learning experience,” she said. “I’m very, very excited and, on my down time, I’ve been observing all the different jobs so I know what’s going on. “I just feel like a sponge on the set soaking up everything.” The filming for “Matchmaker Mary” has been done all over the Kansas City metro-area, including Independence, Blue Springs and downtown Kansas City. And after the crew finished filming the scenes at the Lee’s Summit residence on Tuesday, which serves as “Aunt Karen’s” home, the cast and crew traveled up to Riverside, Mo., to film a few scenes there.
Whitus said he would be done filming on Saturday and throughout the summer they will be working to get the film ready for its Kansas City premiere in September. He said his goal is to get the film on television — as a family movie, and later available on DVD. “(The film) is not really about me or about anything else,” Whitus said. “I just want people to watch the film and hopefully it will help Wayside Waifs make some more money or get those animals adopted.” McNamara added that she hopes the film garners support for the animal shelter, as well. “The whole movie is about Wayside Waifs, this wonderful organization that fosters animals that are otherwise left on the streets. They are good people and hopefully the movie is seen by a lot of people and they want to continue or start their support of the organization.”
Rehearsing a scene with Jeff Fehey...
Katherine McNamara - "Mary"
Kevin Brief - "Bill"
Jilanne Klaus - "Cynthia"
Jon Daugharthy - "Eric"
Cynthia Hyer - "Ellen" 
Jeff Scanlon - "Friend"
Delno Ebie - "Mr. Valasquez"
Susan Garrett - "Mrs. Valasquez"
Jacob Hays - "Jason"
Jennifer Aguilar - "Violet"
Doug Hartmann - "Guy in Restaurant"
Joe Backer - "Guy in Restaurant"
Sharon Snowden - "Karla "
Jared Orr
Jacob Hays
