Lights, camera, action
North Coast experiences a film boom
By NIKKI DAVIDSON
COAST WEEKEND
For the first time in recent history, three
separate movie productions are filming
simultaneously in North Coast locations.
Amazon Studios shot scenes for “Some-
body I Used to Know,” a romantic comedy
written by Dave Franco and Alison Brie,
last week in Gearhart and Arch Cape. A
smaller, independent crew, is quietly stag-
ing shoots at several locations in Astoria
throughout the month. The state awarded
permits to a third production, spearheaded
by Paramount Pictures, to film in October
on public land north of Pacific City and at
the Elk Flats in Oswald West State Park.
A ‘weird’ coincidence
North Coast Land Conservancy
The Amazon Studios production ‘Somebody I
Used to Know,’ shot scenes in Arch Cape this
month.
The timing of the three concurrent
productions has baffled Oregon Film, a
semi-independent state agency that serves
as Oregon’s representative in marketing and
recruiting film and television production to
the state.
Alison Brie, center in a red dress, on the set of ‘Somebody I Used to Know’ at McMenamins in Gearhart.
“It is weird. It is not typical that these
projects end up on top of each other, which
these three seem to do in the last three
weeks,” said Tim Williams, director of Ore-
gon Film. “It seems to be a coincidence.”
The Oregon film industry has experi-
enced both busy and slow periods since the
onset of the pandemic. According to Wil-
liams, the summer of 2020 saw a flurry of
activity, while film production between Jan-
uary and February was almost nonexistent.
He predicts the October filming surge on the
North Coast might have been influenced by
current industry trends.
“Our content is getting more dramatic
and more unique, or getting more moody as
we consume more and more of it,” Williams
said. “So they’re striding to find different
locations and different moods, and we offer
that on the coast.”
Billie Seeger works in the Oregon Parks
and Recreation Department to supervise spe-
cial use permits for commercial filming on
state land. She strives to balance a healthy
mix of film production with tourism.
“We don’t issue many filming permits on
the North Coast during the summer months
because most of the day-use areas they want
are already too busy with regular public
use to inundate them further with permitted
activities,” she said in an email, adding that
she typically does award the filming permits
on the coast in September and October.
State incentives for coastal projects
Williams said the burst in interest for
productions on the North Coast is exactly
what Oregon Film wants to see. A state
incentive program, called the Regional Ore-
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gon Production Investment Fund, was put
into place in 2017 to push crews to expand
their work outside of the Portland area and
boost the economies of smaller cities.
The program is specifically for produc-
tions that base themselves entirely or do one
or more production days outside of the Port-
land metro area. Productions who qualify
will get reimbursed for the cost of overnight
hotel stays for the crew. If the production is
based entirely outside of Portland, the state
offers an additional 10% in addition to their
rebate amount.
“If they’re gambling $1 million dollars to
shoot a video, if they’re shooting in Astoria,
that $1 million dollars becomes $1.1 million
dollars,” Williams said.
Impact on the local communities
Although the film production under-
way in Astoria does not qualify for the state
incentive program, some city businesses
may benefit from the visiting crew.
“While they’re here filming, it’s always
fun to see if they need something from the
hardware store, or need to buy wardrobe or
something from the shoe store,” said Regina
Willkie, marketing manager for the Asto-
ria Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce.
“It’s always interesting to see how far that
reach impacts the community, instead of just
the hotel rooms for the crew staying here.”
North Coast residents hoping for a
chance to appear in one of these produc-
tions may be disappointed. No public call
for extras has been announced for any of
the productions, however, some locals have
been given opportunities to work on the sets
through word of mouth.