A film director is coming to Connecticut to prepare for a made-for-TV movie related to the Newtown school shooting.
Jonathan Bucari told News 12 Connecticut that he's planning to be in Ridgefield on Monday to get ready for the project.
The Facebook page for the film company, Demian Productions, stated the movie, "Illness." is about the tragic fate of Benjamin, a 13-year-old boy with a mental illness, and "the ever-growing fear of his parents after they learn about the shooting in Newtown in December 2012."
"Dear friends, after yesterday's report about the film, I would like to clarify one very important point. We are not doing a movie about what happened in Newtown and will never do so. We are doing a non-profit film about mental illness. Our objective is to help families with kids struggling with mental illness. I thank you again for all your support," the Facebook page stated.
As of Monday afternoon, it did not appear that the page was still public.
Ridgefield is about 20 miles southwest of Newtown, where a gunman killed 20 first-graders, six educators and himself at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14 after fatally shooting his mother at their home in Newtown.
Bucari said he picked Ridgefield because he didn't want to upset Newtown residents so soon after the killings, and Ridgefield has a similar look and feel to Newtown.
Ridgefield Supt. Deborah Low said the schools were not aware that a film crew would be scouting locations in town and called this "insensitive."
The timing is poor and that this is not the time or place, she said.
First Selectman Rudy Marconi said the production company is not welcome to film in Ridgefield.
