Cottonwood Update #6: Locations, Locations, Locations!

Things have really been coming together. This past week has been crazy. Everyday brings on a new challenge which is awesome because I love a good challenge. We have been doing practice shoots where we get all of the equipment and load it up and unload it and shoot at locations. I have been working with our awesome grip team. These guys have never gripped before, but are learning fast and are doing great with all of the new equipment. Check out a still from one of the test shots we did below. The guys set this up and this was their first time trying out all of the equipment and setting up a scene. Very well done.

I have been putting together a solid list of locations and have met some awesome people through the process. Above is a picture of the Happy Chef restaurant in Mankato. This is a very cool location as it is the last surviving and original Happy Chef. I contacted the owner and ended up meeting with him. He is a great guy who has actually loves film and is happy to help us out. Some other cool locations we got include an abandoned house. Check it out below.

This was a tough one to find as we needed a property where we could dig up the entire lawn. The owners graciously reached out to me after hearing about the film through the paper. They are really great people and super excited to get their childhood home in the film. There are some other cool locations I have locked down, but I don't want to give them away. Let's just say the movie will be filled with awesome locations. Myself and the entire crew have a lot of work to do before we start filming, but we are moving at a great pace. Everything is coming together better than expected and I cannot thank everyone who has jumped on board this film enough.

-Ethan Clerc