PORT TOWNSEND — Water Street was turned into a film set Wednesday as a Seattle crew taped footage for a Washington State Lottery television commercial, the second of two shot on the North Olympic Peninsula this week.
The 30-second commercial filmed by a crew from World Famous of Seattle will be part of the “Dream Bigger” campaign, which encourages players to set their lottery sights higher than big-ticket items like houses and cars.
“After 12 weeks of planning and thinking and concepting and building, this is the day that makes it happen,” said Brea Stevens, a business manager for Cole & Weber, the lottery’s advertising agency.
“There will be a couple weeks of production wor,k and it will be on the air on Jan. 15.”
Agnew Grocery & Feed at 2863 Old Olympic Highway outside of Sequim was the site of filming Tuesday.
That commercial, planned to air in February, used motorcycles in a plot kept secret until it airs.
The Port Townsend ad, which has something to do with horses, will promote a new Powerball structure that greatly increases a player’s chance of winning a million dollars, according to state lottery marketing director Jean Flynn, who was present at both shoots.
“We need to communicate that to everyone in Washington state who plays Powerball,” Flynn said.
“We don’t know where they all are, so we are going to do it in a variety of ways, from in-store materials, radio, TV and online.”
Stevens said Port Townsend was chosen because it had the right flavor and “could be anywhere in Washington.
“It has the same downtown look of many of the towns around the state and has some great architecture.”
Jessica Urgo, a copy writer for Cole & Weber, was on hand for any necessary script rewrites, but since the commercial doesn’t have much dialogue, she spent part of the day thinking up new lines for the “Dream Bigger” campaign.
“You think of winning $200 million, and it’s an unfathomable amount,” Urgo said.
“But you don’t have to spend it on a car or a house,” she said.
“You can make a plane out of bacon or anything you want.”
Other ideas that were pulled out of the cold Port Townsend air included personal Sherpas and yak races.
The 20-member crew was on the street at daybreak and began shooting sequences at about 9 a.m., with actor Rhyan Schwartz walking down the street both alone and leading a miniature horse supplied by Glenda Cable of Sequim.
Police auxiliary personnel rerouted traffic as needed, and pedestrians were asked to stay out of camera sight, though that became more difficult as the business and shopping day began.
Background bystanders could make it into a shot, so signs were posted if people didn’t want to be photographed, stating that anyone who meanders into a shot “expressly authorizes and permits use of his or her name, voice or likeness . . . for all purposes throughout the world in perpetuity without limitation and without compensation.”
Cable was on hand to care for her horses, Tex and Q.T., who look enough alike to alternate in the shots with Schwartz.
Keri Gorman, an animal handler with the American Humane Association, was on the set in close proximity to the horses at all times to monitor any potential mistreatment.
The presence of a handler on all sets where animals are present is required for any film shoot using union labor, Gorman said.
“Whenever there is an animal on a set, we are there,” said Gorman, a Portland resident who recently rustled rats for an episode of the TV series “Grimm.”
“Although this will be an easy shoot because there is no running around or chase scenes.”
________
Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew contributed to this report.
