PROVIDENCE — A new romantic comedy starring Seth MacFarlane, creator and voice-over performer for the animated The Family Guy series, and Nora Dunn, formerly of Saturday Night Live fame, will start filming in Wickford, East Providence and Cranston in October, the state’s film office announced Monday.

Steven Feinberg, executive director of the Rhode Island Film and TV Office, said the good news is that — besides helping to bring the successful comedy actor back to Rhode Island, where he earned a master of fine arts degree from the Rhode Island School of Design — the film Mistaken Identity should generate both jobs and publicity for the Ocean State, directly and indirectly.

The first taste of that should come as early as Saturday when LDI Casting conducts an open casting call from noon to 3 p.m. for people who want to be in the film. Casting agent Anne Mulhall said the film not only needs people for the many background scenes, but also has a particular interest in getting some clowns — happy or sad — a high school band for a parade scene and some people in their 40s to play “rock band wannabes.”

Those interested in signing up should bring a portrait to the temporary production office at 275 Atwood Ave., Cranston, in the old Cranston police station across from the Stop & Shop.

“We are excited to have this independent comedy anchored here in our Ocean State,” says Feinberg, who described the film as following the exploits of a young man who is wrongly accused of being a notorious serial killer as he disastrously attempts to woo the girl of his dreams.

Feinberg said that the 25-percent tax credit that the state provides for filmmakers who spent at least $10 million in making a film — which has come under fire from some members of the legislature — was a key component in bringing the Los Angeles-based production company to Rhode Island rather than Connecticut or Massachusetts.

It didn’t hurt that John Santilli, local line producer for the film, grew up in Rhode Island, or that Kenn Macrae, the Australian-born producer, decided that the state had the best locations after he visited earlier this year.

“There has been an unfortunate feeling in Rhode Island that we don’t need to be providing tax credits. People don’t seem to realize the positive effects, not only in the direct and indirect creation of jobs, but the fact that it helps to promote tourism. These films will be out there, in DVD in perpetuity” Feinberg said.

In addition to MacFarlane, who will play a supporting role in the film, Mistaken Identity will feature such actors as Joel David Moore, who was in Avatar and Transformers, and Tracie Thoms, who appeared in Rent and The Devil Wears Prada.

MacFarlane is perhaps best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy and American Dad! but he has made guest appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live. In 2006, he appeared in a live reenactment of a scene from the Family Guy episode “Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High” on the Fox comedy show MAD tv.

In the process of putting out a new animated series, The Cleveland Show, MacFarlane recently signed a deal with Fox Broadcasting reportedly worth $100 million which, if true, would make him the highest-paid writer and producer in television history.

rdujardi@projo.com