By Lynn K. Pershing, President
You’ve seen the icons associated with film-making before, the clapperboard, film reels, director chairs, the familiar verbal call outs for ‘lights, cameras, ‘ACTION’, but have you ever considered what all is involved with ‘making a movie’?
A lot of people!
We know the usual players; Actors writers, and Directors, But there are so many other critical jobs involved in making a movie. There are five major categories in the Film Crew positions alone; 1) Production, 2) Sound, 3) Art, 4) Stunts, and 5) Caterers, each with multiple sub-positions requiring up to hundreds of people dependent on the size of the project (www.nofilmschool.com)
Critical to a movie plot/story is the physical background setting for a movie. Location provides experiential visual information without needing any words. That visual cue sets the tone for the story giving dimension and meaning to the movie script.
One of those critical, behind-the-scenes persons in the Production category is the Location Scout.
Scout Andy Langton of Salty Pictures, Inc, Salt Lake City, identified two neighboring houses with appropriate physical characteristic in Yalecrest for filming a movie based on the “Amber Brown” children's book series.
Director/writer/producer Bonnie Hunt confirmed the site location was chosen because it looks so much like where she grew up in Chicago-large tree-lined streets with cozy family homes. In further conversation with her and four of her film crew staff, she asked about the K.E.E.P. Yalecrest signage in my front yard.
I shared that Yalecrest is a 100-year neighborhood on the National Register of Historic Places and that K.E.E.P. Yalecrest is a 501(c)3 whose mission is to keep educating and encouraging preservation of the neighborhood, which includes minimizing demolitions and mega-mansion new construction replacement.
They were pleasantly surprised, agreeing that mega-mansion replacement is destroying many fine American neighborhoods and that emblematic "everyday America" neighborhoods like this should be saved and protected. Two of the local film crew quipped that they had previously lived in Yalecrest and sold their homes to persons who promised not to demolish the original home to build a mega-mansion and are pleased the new owners have kept their promises. The director emphasized that "lovely neighborhoods like Yalecrest are an important source for staging movies and encouraged further educational work to protect it."
A gift of $2,500 was donated to K.E.E.P. Yalecrest from the property owner of the filmed home who negotiated the donation with High Sails Production Company. It’s re-affirming to have Yalecrest appreciated for its lovely house architecture and large tree-lined street setting by residents, visitors and the film industry.
Neighboring property owners to the film site are thankful for the well-organized and managed notification of filming days and times and the consistently friendly, polite and respectful use of property and accommodating to our life activities. It's been a good experience and we are grateful to the family who encouraged the generous donation, and to Andy Langton at Salty Pictures Inc. and film crew for their courteous, respectful use of our properties and street.
The K.E.E.P. Yalecrest Board is honored and grateful for the recognition of this great neighborhood and the generous donation to continue our efforts to protect it.
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