DECATUR - It took two days for the Decatur Police Department to learn what Hollywood time was all about.

When the crew for the movie "The Informant" began filming in the city in May, the police department learned that two hours in Hollywood time can actually be equivalent to 14 to 16 hours.

"Hollywood time is, they'll call you and say, 'We need officers at six o'clock in the morning tomorrow, and we're going to start shooting shortly after that for a couple of hours,' " said Sgt. Greg Spain of the Decatur Police Department.

"Well, you have officers there at six o'clock in the morning, but they don't start shooting until 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning. And before you know it, the couple of hours have then turned into a 14-hour day."

When time wasn't the issue, the police department was working to accommodate the movie crew, as well as be respectful to the people in the community.

"That was a juggling act," Spain said, "but for the most part, we did a good job."

It was a time-consuming and sometimes last-minute effort put forth by the men and women of the Decatur Police Department with "The Informant" star Matt Damon, cast and crew in town. The officers mostly worked traffic and crowd control at the set, with two to maybe six officers on duty at a time.

Spain acted as liaison between the police department and the film crew, supplying officers when and where they were needed. He would go through a list of about 30 officers to see if they were available.

Spain had no idea what to expect from the whole experience, but he was rather pleased that no problems arose.

"At times when (Damon) would do his impromptu autograph sessions, then we would stand by and keep him from being overcome by overzealous fans," Spain said. "People were very nice and very respectful to him. (They) waited their turn. And in turn, he was very nice with the people."

Damon and other cast members also were friendly to officers working on the set.

Spain called co-star Scott Bakula "a super-nice fellow" for sitting and talking with the officers during breaks, and he recalled a "friendly verbal exchange" with Damon, a Boston Red Sox fan, about the 2004 World Series. Spain is a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, who were swept by the Red Sox in the series.

Having access behind the scenes and watching movie magic wasn't the most exciting part of the experience for Spain, he said. The moment came the last day of filming.

"Soderbergh and the producers and a couple of his other people come up to us, and they said, 'We understand this is our last day of working with you guys' ? so they shook our hands and thanked us for the help and the professionalism," he said. "To me, that was the icing on the cake, because we realized at that point that we had done a good job. We served the citizens well, and we served the department well."

Spain said he continues to stay in contact with Damon's bodyguard and speculated that Damon and Bakula still are sporting the Decatur Police Department shirts and hats they gave them.

"When it was over with, it was a sigh of relief," Spain said. "But by the same token, there was kind of an emptiness.

"It was an experience. It was an interesting two weeks. It was a long two weeks ? but life goes on."

The tables were turned for Shirley DeClerck of Moweaqua when "The Informant" film crew made a stop at the restaurant she worked at. They filmed at Moweaqua's Hog Trough Too restaurant, where the employees of the restaurant became extras in the film.

"We sat at different tables at the restaurants, like we were the customers," DeClerck said. "They filmed from the northeast corner of the restaurant. (The scene) showed Matt Damon with his secretary ? discussing business. We weren't able to hear much because of where we were sitting."

DeClerck said the scene was shot in a half hour and that she got to meet, take photos and get an autograph from Damon, which she plans to give to her grandson in the service, who is currently home from Afghanistan.

Upon telling her family of her experience with the movie, DeClerck said her family was excited for the "once in a lifetime opportunity for mom."

"It's a lifetime opportunity you'd never thought would happen to you," she said, emphasizing her age of 73. "I may not be in (the movie), but I was there when they filmed it, and that's good enough."

Good things come to those who grant last-minute favors to film crews. Just ask Jennifer Weekley of Decatur.

Noticing "The Informant" film crew filming in her neighborhood one day, Weekly decided to keep her distance as to not interfere with the filming, but she was soon approached for a favor regarding the film.

"There was a ring of the doorbell, and I answered the door expecting to see someone asking for my daughter to play, but, to my surprise, it was a gentleman asking what year of truck I have," she said in an e-mail.

After telling him it was a 1986 Ford, the man asked to use the truck in the movie.

"He asked me if I would like to be the one to drive it down the road (in the movie scene), but I was just getting ready to leave for work, so I handed him the keys," she said. "(He) had a radio and was communicating with the crew members that were down the street. I could see a few of them looking down at him while we were talking."

"They brought it back later on that evening when they were done for the night," she said. "Everyone was very friendly, and we got a little (monetary) gift for letting the crew 'rent' the truck for the day."

Not bad for a no-day's work.

When it comes to Matt Damon, seeing him and taking pictures with him one time wasn't enough for Decatur resident Annette Collins. She had to give it another go, and Damon didn't seem to mind.

Collins first took photos with Damon on May 13, during his time in Decatur filming "The Informant." Collins went again with her mother and sister-in-law May 17 as they waited outside of Regions Bank in downtown Decatur for Collins' second encounter with the star.

"(Damon) said, 'Oh, here again,' and laughed and took another picture with me," she said in an e-mail. "Matt was nothing but nice. He was so kind with letting everyone get pictures."

Collins, her mother and her sister-in-law all took pictures with Damon. Collins then had him sign the picture she took with him May 13.

"I work for the county and had a copy of 'The Informant' check that was paid for using the courthouse and had him sign that, also," she said.

"I know he needs to do this for publicity sake, but he has taken a lot of time to let people have pictures and autographs," she said. "I think Decatur was truly impressed by the whole crew."

What happened to Joe Davies and the movie "The Informant" was something out of a fairytale, he said.

He didn't go after a role in the movie. It magically came to him.

Davies' tale begins when the casting director of "The Informant," Rich King, attended Theatre 7's production of "Death by Chocolate." King was impressed by Davies' acting in the play, so much that he offered Davies a speaking part in the film.

King then contacted Davies at home about doing a screen test for the role and spoke with his wife about her husband.

"He told her I was a very good actor. My wife said she already knew that," Davies said with a laugh. "It's good to have that notoriety."

Davies had a two-line part in the movie, as well as some competition up for the same part.

After not hearing back from King for a while, Davies gave him a call. He then would learn the sad truth.

"They said they decided to go another way with the scene," he said, "but I was then asked to be an extra in the movie."

He didn't turn them down and found himself playing a golfer at the Illini Country Golf Club in Springfield with eight other people.

"While we were there, they asked, 'Of the eight of you, how many of you can play golf?' " Davies recalled. "Only one other person besides me raised their hand."

Davies said of the two, they were then asked who could hit a long drive. He answered back that he could do it 80 percent of the time.

They gave the other man a try first, but he was unsuccessful. Davies was up next and gave the director the money shot he was looking for.

"I figure that scene will get into the movie," Davies said. "I even posed at the end of the (golf) shot."

He admitted to being disappointed in not getting a speaking part. But, he said, "It was a thrill. They treated us very nicely. It was a whole lot of fun."

Keeping a copy of the check stub from his role in the movie at his work desk, Davies said, "That's my proof that I'm finally a professional actor."

Lesa Andrick also impressed "The Informant" casting director when he attended the Theatre 7 performance of "Death by Chocolate," of which she played Lady Riverdale.

She too was later contacted about a speaking part in the film.

"(The casting director) told me, 'Whether you know it or not, you jumped through two hoops today. We really liked you,' " Andrick recalled.

Andrick, along with Herald & Review sports writer Troy Hayes, played the couple to buy Whitacre's mansion in Moweaqua.

On set, Andrick received the star treatment. She had makeup, hair and wardrobe done in her own dressing room, plus she was treated to dinner. Yet, she grew more excited over minor details recognizing her role in the movie, like seeing her name on the call sheet for the day.

"They said I would get a SAG (Screen Actors Guild) card," she said. "I was mostly excited about that."

After one rehearsal and three takes, Andrick's experience came to an end - that is, until the film comes out.

"It was fabulous," she said. "It was one of those things that were an opportunity of a lifetime."

One thing she will never forget is the words spoken to her by a person of the film crew. Andrick said she was approached by that person who told her, "You're not an extra. You're an actor."

Andrick replied, "If I had a book, that's what I would name it."

John Dunn, also a Theatre 7 veteran, has had his hopes lifted only to be let down and then raised again by "The Informant" movie crew when they were filming in Decatur. He at least got a good laugh and a story out of it, he said.

Dunn was among 50-plus people waiting in the courthouse jury conference room the Saturday they shot the courtroom scenes. Everyone, including Dunn, was anticipating hearing their name called to take part in the scene.

"We had all been there a short hour when one of the film people came in and in a nice loud voice called for 'John Dunn,' " he said in an e-mail. "I've been in a number of Theatre 7 productions, so I confess there certainly was speculation on my part that I was being singled out for something of higher importance."

But the reason his name was called wasn't what Dunn had in mind.

"As I stood up and identified myself, (the film person) said, 'We need you to move your car.' So much for potential fame."

Not all was lost. When Dunn returned from moving his car, he was chosen to act as an attorney in the first courtroom scene. He said his task was to fill a seat in the spectator section of the courtroom and watch the proceedings.

"The camera was aimed our way, but of course there was no way to tell if we will be seen and, if so, whether we will be in focus," he said. "Focus was on the two defendants, so we may be fuzzy."

Erin O'Malley of Decatur made several attempts to meet Matt Damon while he was in Decatur filming "The Informant," and she called it what it was - stalking.

During the span of the film crew's time in town, O'Malley traveled to the mansion in Moweaqua, parked in the parking lot of Saint Mary's Hospital and rushed over to the Lakeview Motel, only to be redirected to the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel, all in the name of Damon.

The conference center and hotel is where O'Malley went from just seeing Damon to finally meeting and taking photos with him.

"I (also) got my picture with Scott Bakula, Melanie Lynskey and Matt's bodyguard," she said in an e-mail. "I also was standing next to Steve Soderbergh, whom I had no idea at the time who he was. But I wondered and asked who that was wearing the Stephen Decatur jacket since that is where I graduated from."

In what would look like fate, O'Malley's copy of the book "The Informant" came in the mail on the last day the movie crew was to film in Decatur. She headed over to the Macon County Courthouse to see if she could get it signed by Damon.

"So, my friend and I got our picture with him, which he looks absolutely beautiful in. I got my booked signed, and she got her cell phone signed," O'Malley said.

She added, "I must say, I have been bored now that the cast and crew are gone. It was certainly something fun, different and interesting to do in this town."

As a joke and a reminder of the experience, O'Malley bought a magnetic bumper sticker that read, "I am not a stalker."

Being that Kevin Eckhoff's hobby is seeking out celebrities for pictures and autographs, there would be no question that he would be working to track down the locations of "The Informant" film crew.

After a couple of attempts to see Matt Damon - once visiting a set in Moweaqua and another in the parking lot of the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel - he pursued on. He did, however, receive the chance to take photos with Scott Bakula and Joel McHale during filming at the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel.

He finally got his photo with Damon at the Illini Country Club in Springfield, where they filmed some scenes.

"Matt and his co-stars were set to shoot indoor scenes at the private club," Eckhoff said in his blog. "I found a spot in the parking lot to assess my chances. No sooner than I had settled in, but Matt drove by eating a bag of Doritos on the way to the front door of the club."

An hour later, just as Damon was to leave the country club, Eckhoff called out to him for an autograph.

" 'Sure, come on over,' was his reply," he said of Damon.

But it wasn't Eckhoff's first time meeting Damon. Eckhoff met Damon in 2007 in New York while he was there filming "The Bourne Ultimatum."

With the 2007 photo in hand, Eckhoff asked him to sign the photo, as well as his "Good Will Hunting" DVD cover, previously signed by Robin Williams, "and a group shot from Ocean's 12," he said.

"I honestly don't know if he remembered or not," Eckhoff said of the 2007 photo.

Claiming to have about 1,000 autographs from various celebrities he's met, Eckhoff said, "(Damon) is one of the nicest celebrities I've met."

H&R Business Editor Scott Perry contributed to this story.

The Herald & Review is looking for reports of your encounters with the film. E-mail your story to Alicia Spates at alicia.spates@lee.net.