'Painted House' of film is open to tourists

'Painted House' of filmis open to tourists
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- The Delta farmhouse featured in the film version of author John Grisham's best seller "A Painted House" is open for tours.
Residents of Lepanto, where much of the made-for-TV movie was filmed, hope the house will attract Grisham fans as well as curious travelers.
"A Painted House" is Grisham's 2001 tale of life in Arkansas cotton country in the 1950s. Grisham was born in Jonesboro, about 25 miles northwest of Lepanto, in 1955 and lived on a cotton farm until age 7.
Many of the furnishings in the house are from the movie set. The interior is period-authentic, even down to the canned goods in the kitchen.
The 30-by-60-foot structure was designed using sketches Grisham gave producers of his childhood home. It is staffed by local volunteers.
'Gilligan's Island' starproduces film fest
Actress Dawn Wells, best known as Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island," will produce the first Spud Film and Music Festival from Aug. 3 to 7 in her hometown of Driggs, Idaho. Daytime events will be at the Grand Targhee Resort in Wyoming (12 miles away); events throughout the day and evening will be at the historic Spud Drive-In in Driggs. Wells founded the Film Actor's Boot Camp, a nonprofit educational organization in 1998, which has grown into the Spud Film Institute. The institute is for the already-trained actor making the transition from amateur to professional in film and television.
For more information, visit www.spudfest.org.