Local extra Miranda Nelson, riding Patch, walks through a scene with Vianlix Mestey (center), while Mallory Pilcher, Morgan Pilcher, and Sandra Pope (at rear) get ready for the next take. The cast and crew of the movie "Deception" wrapped up shooting in rural Wilkes County Tuesday, having enjoyed Washington hospitality and cooperation for some three weeks this summer.

"The town of Washington and all of the people have been fantastic," said the film's director and star Vianlix Mestey.

Vianlix, who is making her first independent film, fell in love with Washington from her first look on the Holly Court Inn web site. "It was just overwhelming how beautiful Washington is, and how friendly the people are," she said last year on her first visit. "They've done everything for us to make this possible. I wanted to thank everybody from the Mayor on down for opening the doors of this town. I hope our filmshows the town's beauty and history."

Producing a low-budget filmis far easier with the large number of historically costumed extras available. "The extras in their own costumes brought the quality of the production up a notch, for sure," Vianlix said. "They're a wonderful asset."

She especially appreciates the help given by Phil Rothman, who gave the filmcrew the run of his inn for a while. Much of the filming took place at Holly Court Inn, the Rothmans' historic bed-andbreakfast inn on South Alexander Street. "Phil has been wonderful," she said, "such a good host and his home is just beautiful."

Neighbors adjusted to the occasional requirement for the closing of South Alexander Avenue and Liberty Street, and city officials and police have been most helpful, she said. "Everything we've asked for has been given." Watching the movie company set up shots under the shade of giant oaks in their park-like front yard, Susan Abramson said she hoped that other filmcompanies would findWashington and Wilkes County.

"I hope movie people can see how wonderful Wilkes County is for filmmaking," she said. "We've got the infrastructure, we've got all these costumed local extras, and we've got made-to-order locations with these beautiful old homes, both in town and in the country."

With the filming wrapped up, the movie will now go into post-production to produce a finished film. Scott Schneider said that when the filmis ready to be seen, they'd like to have the premier here in Washington next summer. "We want to premier the movie here to thank you all for your help," he said.