A group of movie producers planned to shoot their first film in South Carolina.

Until they came to the Marco Island Film Festival last year.

Now, they'll be shooting their debut film in Southwest Florida — including parts in Naples, Bonita Springs and eventually, Marco Island.

"We won't be shooting at Marco Island for several weeks. We'll be at Mackle Park when we get there," said Andrea Ajemian, one of the producers with Uncovered Productions, the company producing Still Green, an eye-opening story of eight high school friends who gather together at a beach house before going their separate ways to college.

Filming began with a night shoot that started at 9 Aug. 12, in Bonita Springs. The beach house in the film is in Bonita, but in the movie it's in Marco.

Rehearsing began Aug. 11. Hundreds of extras were needed, and locals showed up to audition prior to rehearsal.

Uncovered Productions, based in Rhode Island, is working out of a site at the Lely Resort in East Naples.

Still Green, written by scriptwriter Georgia Menides, doesn't have a box-office cast — but some of its actors have been in some big-name movies and television series. The lead roles are played by Trevor Morgan, who was in Jurassic Park III, The Patriot and ER, the TV series, and Douglas Spain, who appeared in the HBO special, Band of Brothers, 12 Angry Men and the TV series, The Practice.

"It's about the magic and the indifference of the ocean and it's also about the best and worst parts of being a teenager," Menides said.

During the eight friends' last summer vacation together, one of them is the victim of a mishap — and the others are hit with a new dimension of respect for the ocean.

Besides the beach scenes in Bonita Springs and at Mackle Park in Marco Island, the film also will be shot at Fifth Avenue South and the Skate Park in Naples.

The movie has been compared to two classics with similar stories and themes: The Big Chill and American Graffiti.

Douglas Lloyd, one of the other producers, said earlier that he believed Still Green would be a box-office success.

"We actually already have major distributors that are looking at the movie and we haven't even made it yet," Lloyd said. "It's worth the hurricanes. It's worth the sharks."