SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward was on the set of the movie 'Dreamin’ Wild' in October and she talked with KREM 2 about how the film industry could impact the city's growth.
The stars of 'Dreamin’ Wild' include some big names in Hollywood: Zooey Deschanel and Casey Affleck. It began filming on Spokane's South Hill in October. The movie features the real story of musical duo Donnie and Joe Emerson, two brothers from Fruitland, Washington.
Woodward said she enjoyed being on the movie set and being able to see the work involved in each scene.
"They were filming a scene at DoubleTree that was a wedding scene in which Zooey and Casey's character played the background music for a wedding, and it was interesting to see how much work goes into one scene," Woodward said.
Woodward said one of the best parts was seeing the number of locals in the movie.
"When a project like this comes to town, the economic impact is pretty profound," Woodward said. "There were dozens and dozens of people who were there as part of the crew, some extras, so when you think about people locally who are hired for these projects and then the amount of money that as a budget also allows for vendors, so a lot of those vendors are local businesses and really have an incredible impact to our local economy."
Woodward said she was contacted in April by the movie's producer, Gonzaga University graduate Bill Pohlad. He lives in Minneapolis but still retains connections with the community, and they came across the story about the Emerson brothers.
"He really wanted to be able to film it here and the authenticity of being able to film it in Fruitland where the brothers grew up in a farm and in and around Spokane as well, so I have been working with Bill since April making sure the city can support him in any way that we could," Woodward said.
Woodward said Spokane was also chosen to film the movie due to the number of film incentives that Washington offers with these kinds of productions.
"The project didn't get the incentives the first round, but it did the second round because they were looking at other locations to film this movie, but they ended up choosing Spokane because of those incentives," Woodward said.
She also said a new bill will be introduced at the upcoming legislative session that would increase incentives to bring Hollywood filmmakers to Spokane.
"When you think about the economic impact we had 'Z-Nation' here several years ago, five episodes of that show that were filmed in Spokane," Woodward said. "It was a $20 million impact per season and hundred of people hired per episode so really make a huge difference to the location where the production is being filmed."
Woodward said the more exposure Spokane and the Inland Northwest get with these projects, the more likely the city will entitle more projects.