Aspiring actors who live in Washington County will want to be at Rivals Steakhouse 10 a.m. to noon Saturday for a casting call.
A commercial for Clean Up Washington County , a new initiative from the Board of Supervisors, will be made by Mathews Film Company to promote awareness of the clean-up campaign.
Filming will take place Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20.
Roles to be filled include the lead character, a 11-12 year-old African American male; a nonspeaking, extra role, a male of any race and age 60 or older; and several nonspeaking roles of all ages and ethnicities.
Parents or legal guardians must be present with anyone under 18 years of age.
Mathews Film Company was started by a Delta native, Jamie Mathews. The company is based in Oxford and serves clients throughout the state and beyond.
Mathews spoke to supervisors at the April 1 meeting, where the board approved to contract with him for services.
“We tend to think that a lot of our inspiration came from growing up in the Delta, the land of literary and musical greats,” Mathews said, noting stories are what drives his interest in a project.
The story Mathews has in mind for the Clean Up Campaign is one he hopes will last generations.
“(Supervisor) Lee (Gordon) told me he remembered a commercial of a Native American crying at the sight of littering,” Mathews explained to the board. “It is a commercial that people remember. It is impactful and tells a story.
“That is what we are going to do - tell the story of cleaning up Washington County,” he continued. “We want to leave a cleaner county for our children.”
Supervisors agreed to pay Mathews $8,000 for three commercial series. The funds will come from a line item approved by the board for trash and litter related issues.
At a February meeting Supervisors agreed that the cleanliness of the county is important and confirmed a cooperative effort with the sheriff’s department to work with residents who report offenders to issue fines to individuals who unlawfully discard trash.
New trash cans have been purchased at the cost of $175,000 for 3,500. Delivery of the cans to residents in the county was completed in March.
Two garbage trucks were outfitted with a mechanism at a cost of $20,000, which will enable the trucks to pick up the new trash cans.
“I think we will see a difference in the months to come as far as the trash in the ditches and surrounding areas,” said Gordon.
Residents were given a letter attached to the new trash cans informing them to remove all other trash receptacles from the county’s right of way.
Tommy Benson, District 2 supervisor, is appreciative of the efforts by the residents of his district.
“The purpose of the getting new trash cans and trucks is to encourage people to clean up in the district,” Benson said. “People were running out of space to put their trash. The board did a good job of coming up with this new initiative.”
Carl McGee, District 3 supervisor, knows the county has a long way to go about the litter issue but its going on a good path to begin resolving the issue.
“It’s an effort to get the county cleaned up,” McGee said. “We have a long way to go but it's a start.”
“We are doing some major cleaning in the county,” said Jesse Amos, District 4 supervisor. “As everyone adjust to the new trash cans, it will make the districts and county look a lot better.”
Plans to place 10 large dumpsters throughout the county for people to discard larger household items are being developed.
“Hopefully, this is another step in trying to help clean up Washington County, which is an issue we should all should be concerned about,” Gordon said.
Residents will also be able to purchase an additional can from the county at cost.
