BEN AFFLECK CULLS FAVORS FROM NEIGHBORHOOD

Ben Affleck made his first film under budget because of favors from the neighborhood.

Director Ben Affleck shot Gone Baby Gone in his hometown of Dorchester, Massachusetts which reflected the authenticity he needed for the story.

Culling favors from the neighborhood, Ben was able to keep production costs way under budget.

“One of the things that I really wanted to make sure we had was a feeling of absolute kind of authenticity for the movie. I hope the sense that you get when you see it is that you’re seeing a part of the world that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to or wouldn’t have access to or wouldn’t know how get into these bars or into these people’s homes and seeing a kind of neighborhood that’s pretty insular and that doesn’t usually allow access to outsiders and that we were able to get in there and show that and not just in a documentary way but in the context of a fictional movie.”

Dorchester also provided the perfect backdrop as he shot scenes in local bars and in the houses of people he knew.

“And the concept of this movie that’s still a pretty exciting and intense mystery but that also is set in a specific and fixed environment as Lord of The Rings or anything else with it’s own rules and it’s own specificity of location. And yeah it required you know going in and knocking on doors and calling in favors and doing all the things we had to do.”

Ben is planning on collaborating with another Massachusetts word smith, his buddy Matt Damon which will mark the first time the writing duo have written together since their award winning Good Will Hunting.