Photo Courtesy of Sara Elizabeth Timmins

An actress and independent producer, Sara Elizabeth Timmins, 33, recently relocated from Los Angeles to Franklin County, where her parents have retired, and she's attempting to launch a feature-length film with Smith Mountain Lake as the backdrop.

If you're going to dream, the saying goes, dream big.

That's not a problem for Sara Elizabeth Timmins.

An actress and independent producer, Timmins, 33, recently relocated from Los Angeles to Franklin County, where her parents have retired, and she's attempting to launch a feature-length film with Smith Mountain Lake as the backdrop.

The dramatic comedy she envisions, "Lake Effects," tells the story of two sisters who return to their childhood home after the death of their father. She compares it to "The Big Chill" and "Fried Green Tomatoes" among other films.

But Timmins doesn't want simply to make a movie. She also hopes to record the production process for a behind-the-scenes documentary. Further, she said, the producers of a proposed reality television series are interested in building an episode on the project. She said she'd also like "Lake Effects" to draw attention and revenue to the area.

"It's important that we have a positive impact in the community," she said. "We want to really make an effect on the economic development and tourism in the area. We're going to showcase local products, local businesses, not change their names.

"The goal is really to open people's eyes, and everyone else in the country, to what Smith Mountain Lake really is."

A dream that big, with that many facets, however, doesn't come cheap.

According to information distributed by Timmins' company, Life Out Loud Films, "Lake Effects" has a budget of $1.8 million, but local commitments of lodging, catering and locations have sheared that figure by nearly 75 percent.

The film's producers are trying to raise $500,000 from individual investors, before Wednesday, so the film can start shooting in October.

"We need a certain amount of preproduction time to start negotiating with the talent and to gather all the resources," Timmins said of the self-imposed countdown.

The business plan the company is using calls for no more than 10 participants, which sets the minimum investment at $50,000.

That's a heavy load during a recession. But for the past few weeks, Timmins has raced against her deadline, giving interviews to local media and pitching her plan to potential buyers.

"If we have not met the rest of our financial need [by Wednesday], we would have to push it to 2010," she said. "But it'll happen, regardless."

Although she declined last week to say how many investors the project has, she admitted there was still a way to go. But Timmins, who also works as a motivational speaker, mostly seemed excited about the experience in general.

"This is definitely by far the greatest risk I've taken as far as jumping in to make something happen, and facing the unknown and putting all my finances and pretty much myself on the line," she declared, then rallied her inner showman. "Those are the moments when great things are done."

For more information about "Lake Effects," visit lifeoutloudfilms.com.