CARMEL WILL star in a feature film about betrayal, the seedy and profitable world of international art forgery, and the age-old battle of good vs. evil. Shooting is slated to begin this month on director/producer Lawrence Roeck’s “Carmel the Movie.” A town native who has worked in film for years, including the past six years with Clint and Dina Eastwood on philanthropical documentaries, Roeck told the city council about his plans Jan 6.

“It’s a pleasure to address the council,” Roeck said. “Last time, I was 14, and Dirty Harry was in office.”

Roeck, whose credits include five internationally distributed snowboarding films when he was 19 and a Dave Matthews video that hit No. 4 on MTV, has also worked on commercials and feature films.

Roeck said it had always been a dream to focus on Carmel and then launched into the film’s story line about a 15-year-old art prodigy abandoned in a local hotel by his heroin-addicted mother.

“He breaks into a home on Carmel Point and, in the basement, discovers a half-finished art forgery,” Roeck said. The boy finishes the work and finds himself “lured into the world of international art forgery by a crooked art dealer.”

A talented painter, he’s tempted by the easy money, and then he meets one of Carmel’s old-school artists who hearkens from the town’s Bohemian days.

“She finds out about this boy’s plight — that he needs to learn about artistic integrity,” he said, adding that the story is “a metaphor for this town,” and its struggles to remain true to its roots.

Roeck said the full-length film will be entertaining and “an economic boon for the town.”

Roeck raised the money for the project and pitched it around Hollywood. Carlos de los Rios (“Playing Mona Lisa”) wrote the screenplay, and Lee Caplin (“Ali”) is executive producer. Lauren Bacall, Hayden Panettiere (of the TV show, “Heroes”), and Scott Eastwood — former Carmel Mayor Clint Eastwood’s son — have agreed to roles. Dina Eastwood will play a social worker.

“I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the world of Hollywood and these artists wanted to come and be in our little picture,” Roeck said.

But he also requires some lesser known actors.

“We do need some extras,” he said. “When you do a small, independent film, it’s great to have free extras.”

With permits and insurance in hand, Roeck told the council he is ready to begin shooting and will spend his first day, Tuesday, Jan. 27, at Carmel Mission. He and his crew will shoot scenes throughout town six days a week for four weeks, and they are coordinating with Carmel Police Cpl. Steve Rana to arrange street closures and tackle other logistics.

Location manager Peter Newfield pledged to canvas residents and business owners to advise them of the timing and location of filming — “which will be most of the town from day to day, for full and half days,” he said. “The key is to get information out there so we don’t surprise people.”

The group will try to minimize impacts on parking and will strive to not take up too much space at a time, he said.

After Roeck finished his presentation, Mayor Sue McCloud said the city offered offices at Sunset for the film crew and, she hopes the distributor will agree to stage the premiere in the theater at Sunset Center.

Considering the film concludes in that very place, Roeck said, “that would be a great thing for the worldwide press to latch onto.”