Location scouting has been, for me, the most overwhelming part of this process we call pre-production. However, I am finding it quite rewarding in many ways too. We have an interesting dynamic because we are not a student film trying to get by guerilla style, and we do not have studio funding. So conversations with business owners or individuals who have a location we might be interested in shooting at oftentimes are a lot of explanation with a dead end, or even when they are willing and sometimes encouraging, we run into issues like availability, sound and traffic.
One location we can not do without is our Mayberry (though our town has a different name). Knowing there are little strips of 'small town Main Street' throughout the Denver area, Patrick sent me in search of just the right one. We have cast and crew coming in from all over Denver and surrounding areas including Colorado Springs and Fort Collins. So part of what I wanted to do was find a site that was as centrally located as possible. What I should have done was- start with the obvious. After hours of weeks of calls and driving and gas tanks of scouting and searching online, I finally asked Patrick to come up to where I live in the city of Louisville. But could it be this obvious? Could our location be right here? After driving through downtown Main Street and around the surrounding residential area he called me and confirmed what I was hoping - we had found our Mayberry.
The most beautiful part of any small town, like this one, is not the buildings, but the people. And there is certainly a civic pride I get to enjoy when I walk into a business and tell them about JIMMY SAID and ask to shoot in their parking lot or outside their storefront and they say "Sure, what's the movie about?" Or, "that's fine, just let me know when you need me to be there."
My first burst of encouragement was when I met with Tom MacKenzie, a local realtor. The business he showed me unfortunately would not work for what we needed. But instead of getting in his car and leaving, he walked me down the street and pointed out other possibilities and even put me in touch with a couple of other people he thought might be able help us with finding our locations.
Since then, I have also had the pleasure of meeting Robert at Umberto's. They actually have a hearse on their lot! How cool is that? And there is Henry who owns, well, Henry's. Many of the businesses you will see on our partners page as things continue to develop, and I assure you there will be many of their names in our 'Thank Yous.'
But I have to share the introduction that inspired me to finally post a blog amid all the craziness and details I need to be tending to. Today I walked into Hank's Model Trains and met Hank. He said it was no problem, he would be happy to let us shoot on his property. And then he smiled and said, "You won't believe this, but I used to be a DP for Walt Disney. Yep, I used to shoot the News Reel for the Mickey Mouse Club show. But that was before you were born." Then with a laugh he went on to tell me how he used to film stories in Europe about little kids and how much he enjoyed it until he was let go when there were budget cuts. He became an engineer and transplanted to Colorado with Ball Corporation and then retired and opened up his model train shop in little old Louisville.
There are times when I think I should sell my car or something so I could afford to pay someone else to handle finding our locations, but then I get to meet someone like Hank and am glad I did not give up on my search for Mayberry.
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