Familiar faces and places around Pahrump will be shown in one movie that premiers at the annual CineVegas Festival at the Palms Resort next week. "Vegas:Based on a True Story" was filmed back in 2007.

The plot of the film, directed by Amir Naderi, revolves around a dysfunctional family in which a boy named Mitch, played by Zach Thomas, is trying to keep his parents, who are former compulsive gamblers, together. The father works at a tire shop, the mother is a waitress at a diner.

The scene shifted from Cathy Leach's mobile home on West Bell Vista Avenue to a mobile home on East Street just south of Irene's Diner, where the couple began digging in the yard after getting a tip about loot buried there from a casino heist.

Leach was a member of the Guns n' Garters gunfighter group, where she used the alias "Miss Scarlett."

Other familiar scenes include shots of Mom's Diner, Irene's Casino, The StageStop Casino and a scene at Pahrump Valley United Methodist Church that involved a number of local extras.

Some of the local cast included Walt Turner, who played a bad guy (and was co-producer); Benjamin Weil, who played detective Quinn; Alexis Hart, who played a classmate of the boy and Leach herself, who was filmed as a waitress at Mom's Diner.

Turner is a Pahrump resident who plays a Billy Idol "dealertainer" -- a combination dealer and entertainer -- at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino. Turner had a part in a previous short film shown at CineVegas and acted in several shorts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Nancy LaScala, who plays the mother in the movie, has a list of credits as an established Hollywood actress including a role in the 1998 science fiction thriller "Species II," as well as "In The Cut", a remake of "Stepford Wives" and the popular television sitcom "Melrose Place."

Turner said Pahrump residents may want to consider attending the 1 p.m. matinee June 14, as many moviegoers buy the ticket package to see all the films and like to view the premiers. "Vegas: Based on a True Story" premiers at 3 p.m. Thursday, June 11 in theater two. Admission to just this movie is $10.

CineVegas starts Wednesday and lasts through June 15. A locals ticket package good for all 16 movies and panel discussions, the opening night premier party, all seven official parties and admission to CineVegas headquarters for happy hour is $150 -- promoters say it's a $250 value.

The movie will be part of the section of the film festival called "Diamond Discoveries," featuring the best, new independent films available for U.S. distribution.

So when will the movie be premiered in Pahrump?

Turner said when it's been picked up for distribution.

"It hasn't been picked up for distribution yet," he said.