Andy Thomas, a documentary filmmaker who has also been a part of such major children's movies as "Up," "WALL-E," "Ratatouille," "Cars," and "Finding Nemo," quickly toured Hazlehurst and Brookhaven with Copiah County Cultural Affairs Director Janet Schriver in order to get a visual on the area and begin a brainstorming process that has unbounded potential, Schriver said.

"They came in and were kind of looking at the region, because they're obviously interested in the blues, but they also consider our cultural history to be very rich," she said. "Andy does documentaries, but I'm not sure that's all he's interested in doing. I think there's some interest by some folks in Hollywood in some economic development here."

Schriver said the main draw of the area, of course, is the almost legendary life of blues great Robert Johnson, who allegedly sold his soul to the devil in order to be the greatest blues musician who ever lived.

But Schriver also took the filmmaker and his team, which included Charles Ray, who was the art director for "The Godfather," to Brookhaven to do a quick run-through of the Mississippi School of the Arts.

"I drove around Hazlehurst and told them some stories, then we came to Brookhaven, and I could tell they were sorely impressed," she said. "It was clearly evident that Brookhaven has put out effort to try to make their community a nice one and I could tell they were very impressed. It's so clean, it's a nice town, and it feels very solid."

Schriver said the fervor and haste of the trip did not detract from Thomas' consideration of the area for future projects.

"He's supposed to be back in touch in two weeks," she said. "I don't know what comes of it yet. They were just coming in and looking so they can have a visual image of what's here."

And as far as the talk of economic development, Schriver said the group was tight-lipped up front.

"Right now we're at the brainstorming part, and they're tossing around a few names, but it's in such the beginning stages, we just don't know what's there yet," she said.

In the past, the Johnson legend as well as the culture of the Hazlehurst and Brookhaven area have brought other big names to town, including "Ray" screenplay writer Jimmy White, acclaimed blues musicians Rocky Lawrence and Rory Block, and world-renowned guitarist George Winston, who have all visited in the last two years.

Schriver said in the end, any positive publicity for the area is a plus, but her main goal is to help reach children through the arts.

"My interest has always been with working with using the arts to work with kids, and Andy Thomas has some interest in that too, because he has seen it really work," she said. "We're not only looking at the blues aspect, but how the rich blues culture here, the history of the area and all those things can tie in where they can help kids."