COEUR d'ALENE - An independent film with some big-name actors is scheduled to be shot in the Coeur d'Alene area in July and August.

The movie, titled "American Romance," is going to be a thriller in the style of brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, who have made notable films "No Country For Old Men" and "Fargo."

"American Romance" producer Crawford Anderson-Dillon, of Hub Media, said Thursday, "We genuinely want it to feel like a community project."

He said part of the film's workforce will be made up of North Idaho professionals. Some will be tied to the local nonprofit organization Northwest Independent Film Video Entertainment Society, known as kNIFVES (pronounced "knives").

Anderson-Dillon and director Zackary Adler were in the Coeur d'Alene area last week scouting locations.

"This film has some extreme conflict and extraordinary characters," Adler said. He has directed other independent films, including "I'm Reed Fish," which came out in 2006.

Adler said North Idaho "blends itself very naturally to the world we want to create."

Anderson-Dillon, of London, is familiar with the Coeur d'Alene area because his mother has been living here for several years and he often visits. He said he had been keeping it in mind for a film.

The producer and director also are in the middle of the casting process in Los Angeles. There will be seven main characters in the film, and it will likely include some well-known actors, they said.

"American Romance" will be writer Wes Laurie's first produced script, Anderson-Dillon said.