Las Vegas’ appeal touted in new ads

What happens in Vegas ... is happening again.

At least that's what the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority undoubtedly hopes will be the reaction to new TV commercials shooting this week.

Designed to promote Las Vegas' continuing appeal as naughty-behavior headquarters, the six new spots -- expected to debut in September -- will shoot at a variety of Strip venues, including CityCenter's Aria and Mandarin Oriental hotels. Other planned locations range from such Strip icons as Bellagio's fountains and The Mirage's volcano to downtown's Fremont Street.

In addition to spotlighting the phenomenally successful "What happens here, stays here" theme, the new ads reportedly feature humorous advisories warning visitors against sharing wild times with the folks at home via Facebook and Twitter -- and thereby protecting Vegas visitors' sacred right to party with impunity.

Weekend warriors: Don't quit your day job.

That's advice David Schmoeller has taken to heart.

Schmoeller, an associate professor in the film department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, makes a short film every semester. But he hasn't directed a feature since the late '90s, when he shot the children's movie "The Secret Kingdom" in Romania, before he came to UNLV.

But that all changes this weekend when writer-director Schmoeller begins production at UNLV on the thriller "Little Monsters," which is scheduled to shoot weekends through November.

Inspired by a notorious 1990 British case, in which two little boys kidnapped and murdered a younger boy, "Little Monsters" focuses on the perpetrators, now 18, who have been released from custody with new names -- and, they hope, new lives.

"The story's set here," Schmoeller explains and focuses on "what would happen" and "how would they survive."

After working alongside "Little Monsters" producer May May Luong as producer of the comedy "Thor at the Bus Stop," Schmoeller "actually realized I could make a movie," he says. "It just has to be on the weekend."

Onward and upward: Speaking of local filmmakers, 1991 Chaparral High School graduate Bryan Wizemann will be in the cinematic spotlight next month when his made-in-Vegas "Think of Me" has its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Filmed here last fall under the title "An Entire Body," with Las Vegas-based Lola Pictures providing production services, the movie focuses on Las Vegas' grittier side, exploring the plight of a struggling single mother (Lauren Ambrose) who's pressured to give up her 8-year-old daughter in an under-the-table adoption.

Quick takes: NASCAR Champions Week doesn't hit Las Vegas until December, but that's not stopping a camera crew from visiting McCarran International Airport on Wednesday and Thursday to shoot a TV commercial promoting the event.

And a trio of reality-TV projects were expected over the weekend. History's "Brad Meltzer's Decoded" was scheduled to wrap a three-day Vegas visit at locations from McCarran to the Strip, the Fremont Street Experience and Desert Breeze Park, shooting segments for its second season. The Women's Entertainment network was expected to bring "Braxton Family Values" -- about singer Toni Braxton and her four sisters -- to town for second-season shoots at the Las Vegas Hilton and on the Strip.

And, from OWN (alias the Oprah Winfrey Network), "Don't Tell the Bride" planned a weekend visit to the Strip; the show, a U.S. version of a British series that debuts Oct. 15, gives $25,000 to a cash-strapped couple to create their dream wedding -- as long as the groom plans the big day without input from, or knowledge of, the bride.

Carol Cling's Shooting Stars column appears Mondays. Contact her at (702) 383-0272 or ccling@reviewjournal.com.