Vincent Kartheiser in The Dandelion
Movie crew takes over nearby school
By Marina Piatt
Argonaut Staff
Many people�s dreams are conceived in high school. This summer, the dream for two men was born near Endicott High.
Long-time friends Mark Milgard and Robb Williamson brought a crew of big city folks to the little town of Endicott, Wash., determined to make a movie. It took a month of traveling around Washington and part of Canada before they decided on a location.
�The fields just started getting more and more beautiful� as they drove through the Palouse, co-producer Williamson said.
They decided to do most of their shooting in Endicott, with a few days in Spokane, Troy and Genesee, among other locations.
The Endicott High cafeteria acted as a makeshift command center while the crew shot at a house a few blocks away. A silver catering truck, �the best caterer on the West Coast,� according to its operator, sat just outside, ready to feed the 50 or so people working most days.
Two air-conditioned trailers were parked nearby, a place for the actors to escape from the 100 degree heat between shots.
Inside, the cafeteria was mostly empty. A few long tables were folded up and pushed into a corner. On one wall, there was a glass case filled with clippings from the school�s history. �Whitman Co. Crops Contest 1st Prize 1942,� proclaimed a banner adorned with stylized stalks of wheat. It looked like every cafeteria, left unused over summer vacation.
But across the room sat two racks filled with twice as many clothes as most people own.
�It�s all for sale, a dollar for anything you want,� a woman said as she walks out to the hallway.
Across the back of the room, there is a counter where you would usually expect to hear the sounds of dishes clinking and requests for hamburgers or salad. Instead, the chatter from hand-held radios broke the silence as crewmembers talked back and forth.
Some days, townspeople came out to watch the festivities. After all, there had never been a movie filmed in Endicott before.
�It was fun watching the people of Endicott break out their lawn chairs and picnic blankets to stay up late and watch us work,� said production assistant Kianna Hail, a UI student majoring in Visual Communication. �They were very good about staying quiet for us and are just a fun bunch of people.�
This is Milgard and Williamson�s first experience with movie making, too. Milgard, who is directing, is taking a break from working at his family�s window installation business. Williamson is a musician.
�Mark really wanted to make a movie, so he asked me to help,� Williamson said. It has been about two years since the two sat down to write the screenplay for �Into the Sun.� �We took our time, and everyone responded really well,� Williamson said.
Williamson described the story as a heavy, dark coming-of-age story about a teen-age boy named Mason. Mason, played by Vincent Kartheiser of the WB television show �Angel,� has his search for love complicated by a car accident that kills a close family member. His girlfriend, Danny, is portrayed by Taryn Manning, who had a supporting role in the 2001 movie �crazy/beautiful� alongside Kirsten Dunst.
Filming wrapped July 17, just a few days behind schedule.
�It�ll probably be another one and a half to two years to see it through,� said Williamson.
He and Milgard hope to get the finished film into as many film festivals as they can. �Sundance, all the major ones,� Williamson said.
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