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TV and movie actors Jesse Plemons, shown here, and Tania Raymonde will be in Las Cruces from Wednesday through Dec. 14, filming Hatching Max by New Mexico State University graduate student Anna Pattison.

LAS CRUCES - Faces you may recognize from big and little screens will be in Las Cruces from Wednesday through Dec. 14, filming "Hatching Max," by New Mexico State University graduate student Anna Pattison.

"Jesse Plemons and Tania Raymonde and J.D. Hinton, as well as local singer Cooper Ayon will be featured and I'll be directing," said Tony Award-winning playwright Mark Medoff, a founder and fellow with NMSU's Creative Media Institute for Film & Digital Arts (CMI).

When they were both 13-years-old, Raymonde and Plemons starred in Medoff's award-winning 2002 film, "Children On Their Birthdays," based on a Truman Capote story.

Raymonde has gone on star in films such as "Wild Cherry." Her TV credits include roles as Alex Rousseau in "Lost" plus appearances on episodes of "The Forgotten," "Crash," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Cold Case," "Bones," "CSI," and "That's So Raven."

Plemons' credits include appearances on TV's "Friday Night Lights," "Varsity Blues" and "Gray's Anatomy."

Veteran singer, songwriter and actor J.D. Hinton's credits include "Windrunner," "Galazina," and TV roles in several popular series, such as "Adventures of Young Indiana Jones," "Dynasty" and "Falcon Crest."

"J.D. was one of my composers on 'Children,'" said Medoff, who hasn't worked with Plemons or Raymonde since "Children On Their Birthdays" was filmed nearly a decade ago in Las Cruces and Midwestern locations.

"Hatching Max" is a CMI project.

"The team behind the camera will

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be a combination of professionals and students," Medoff said.

Pattison's script was the prize winner in Medoff's MFA creative writing class in screenwriting.

"I'm still a little shocked. It's a fantastic opportunity," said Pattison, 26, a native of Mustatine, Iowa, who is working toward a graduate degree in filmmaking from NMSU.

"It has funny moments, but I'd describe 'Hatching Max' as a drama, about a single man in his 50s, who lives alone after his wife and daughter have long since moved away. He's a photographer who sells pictures he's taken over the Internet," Pattison said.

He befriends a young expectant mother and becomes a father figure to her, offering her emotional support and a home.

Medoff said most of the filming here will be at a private home and a grocery store and coffee shop in Las Cruces.

S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at (575) 541-5450