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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 22, 2019)
‘SeAsIdE’ dRaMa, tHrIlLeR dEpIcTs tHe NoRtH CoAsT BY EVE MARX A long the North Coast and in the Portland Metro area for 18 days, fi lmmakers captured the fl avor of the coast. The marquee reads “Sea- side,” the movie, which debuts Aug. 20 and will be shown at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, at the Times Theater & Public House in Seaside. Oregon native Sam Zalutsky directed the Gravitas Ventures production, star- ring Ariana DeBose, Sharon Washington, Matt Shingledecker, and Steffanie Leigh in a revenge thriller that explore the tension between people’s surface behavior and the confl icting thoughts and impulses bubbling up inside us all. “The movie takes its inspiration from the Seaside area, which is very dear to me,” Zalutsky said. The fi lm shoot lasted 18 days, including three days in and around Portland, on the coast — including Manzanita, Arch Cape and Hug Point — and Seaside. “It was so great to shoot in this area, not only for the incredible natural beauty, but also for the welcoming reception we got from everyone,” he said. “Everyone was so supportive. Half the people we talked to were artists themselves. It was so fun.” The story follows Daphne (DeBose), who moves in with her boyfriend, Roger (Shingledecker), when he inherits his child- hood beach house. The two decide to start a family and a new life, but when they run into a local woman who works at the arcade, Daphne realizes Roger hasn’t been completely hon- est about his romantic past. Now Daphne must risk everything to fi ght for her relationship, and her life. Zalutsky said he had “so much fun” making “Seaside.” “I hadn’t made a movie in Oregon before, so it was just incredible to be able to do that in my home state with friends and family around,” he said. “My dad came to the set one day to watch, which he hadn’t done before, so that meant a lot to me.” Zalutsky credited his “fantastic crew” of producer Alyssa Roehrenbeck; cinema- tographer Phil Anderson; sound designer Quentin Chiappetta; and editors Maeve O’Boyle and Jordan Montminy. Jordan 20 // COASTWEEKEND.COM Beswick and Simon Max Hill cast the fi lm; the music is by Megan Diana McGeorge “We had great support from Tim Wil- liams at the Oregon Film Commission,” Zalutsky added. Family members donated houses in Arch Cape, including his own family’s home. “You couldn’t ask for a more gor- geous place to fi lm.” He said it was a thrill to shoot in one of his favorite childhood locations, Funland! in downtown Seaside. “They were so welcoming and nice,” Zalutsky recalled. “We shot on the beach. We shot in the Seaside police station. It was amazing! We would never have the money to shoot in these places in New York. It just wouldn’t have been possible.” Zalutsky relayed that for a couple of scenes, including the most dramatic ones, they shot in a large cave at Hug Point. “I wrote the script with that cave in mind, but then didn’t even think that a cave on the coast might have complica- “Seaside” the movie will be shown at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, at the Times Theater & Public House in Seaside. tions from the tides,” he said. “So we had to schedule those scenes really carefully, haul a bunch of lights and other equipment from the parking lot to the cave, and make sure we did it all within the few hours we had before high tide.” While the scenes “look amazing,” he doubts he will ever shoot in a “tide-depen- dent” cave again. “Seaside” was a “micro budget fi lm,” he said. “We raised a portion of the budget from a small group of investors, my husband and I put in some money, we got a lot of in kind donations from vendors in Portland and the Coast, a lot of donated locations, and we also did a Kickstarter campaign to fi nish the movie.” The score was created by Megan Diana McGeorge, a Portland musician who cre- ated the “Piano, Push, Play” series in PDX. “Seaside” is getting a digital release from Gravitas Ventures; you can check it out at iTunes, bit.ly/seasidethemovie If You Go “Seaside” 8. p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22 Times Theater & Public House, 133 Broadway St., Seaside. View and purchase the movie on iTunes: /bit.ly/seasidethemovie Alyssa Roehrenbeck Director Sam Zalutsky talks with cast at Funland.
