LAPUSH – A model dancing on a grand piano in the surf, a bed made of driftwood, and the stunning beauty of Rialto Beach – that’s one way to sell clothes.
About 60 cast and crew members used rugged Rialto Beach, which is in the Olympic National Park and is 68 miles from Port Angeles and a few miles north of LaPush, as the backdrop for Tommy Hilfiger Corp. advertising still shots last week, with the crew finishing up on Friday.
The shoot began on April 6, according to a permit issued by the park to Industry Productions of New York, which did the work for internationally known clothing designer Hilfinger, whose corporation is also based in New York.
Models and crew members stayed at motels in Forks, including the Forks Motel and the Pacific Inn.
“I got to go down there and watch one day,” said Laura Decker, owner of the Pacific Inn.
“They made a bed out of driftwood – the frame was out of driftwood and they put the box spring and mattress on top of it – and it looked so beautiful.
“They also had a grand piano on the water and a girl was dancing on it.”
The piano, later discarded, wasn’t a fully functioning piano, said Mike Higbee, a park ranger who oversaw the shoot for Olympic National Park.
“It looked like the husk of a piano,” he said.
“It wasn’t a good working one.”
Although they had a few curious onlookers, Higbee said, most people took a peek and went on with their exploration of the park.
“They didn’t get in anyone’s way and people still had access to the beach,” said Higbee, who supervised the first few days of the set up for the park.
The group’s prop list included lighting equipment, a heater for one of the tents, a cello, a love seat, a large framed mirror, a dining table and chairs, a steamer trunk, books, cocktail glasses and candles, among other items.
“They had a lot of stuff down there,” Higbee said.
More than half of the Forks Motel’s 73 rooms went to the company.
The last time Terry Gross, manager of the Forks Motel, remembers such a large production coming to town was when a company made an IMAX movie years ago.
To shoot photographs at Olympic National Park, groups must pay a fee.
Industry Productions put down a $10,000 deposit, which was to be returned after the beach was cleaned up, according to the park permit.
The company cleaned up the beach and contracted with a group to pick up the trash from the parking lot.
“I stayed there until it was all gone, and then when it was all gone and cleaned up, I left,” Higbee said.
A $250 per day photography fee was also included in the permit.
The group “filled up the town,” Decker said.
“They stayed at local establishments ate at the restaurants, and from what I’ve heard were graciously received,” Forks Chamber of Commerce director Marcia Bingham said.
