Humboldt County has played many roles onscreen, including Wyoming, Scotland, and a forest moon named Endor. So when Hollywood comes to town, they need a local expert.
"We roughly get between 20 and 25 shoots a year in the region between both counties," Humboldt-Del Norte Film Commissioner Cassandra Hesseltine tells Keith Flamer and Tom Jackson. "It's our epic redwoods, roads for car commercials - we’re really popular with those - our epic, stellar beaches, the rocky coastline, the rivers in our Victorian architecture, even the Eureka Inn was used for its Tudor-type look." With her background as a producer, Hesseltine helps visiting film crews get what they need, from catering to extras. "When Apple was here, they hired 500 background actors ... and we hope to continue to keep growing that."
Hollywood's footprint in the region is both emotional and economic. "We can have a production come to scout, spend $500 or a couple thousand - and then never come film. Or they could spend $1,000,000." But fans of a movie will visit the area for decades afterward. "People have emotional ties," she says. She says that the map of local movie locations continues to be the most popular map at local state parks. "They stole the one off the counter that was taped down!" The Humboldt-Del Norte Film Commission is adapting accordingly by opening a local film museum and launching a Return Of The Jedi-themed "Forest Moon Festival."
Today's episode of Talk Humboldt goes behind the scenes that we call home.
Transcript
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Tom Jackson:
Hi, I'm Tom Jackson, president of Cal Poly Humboldt and today is all about showbiz. So I'm with my dear friend and colleague, rock star Dr. Keith Flamer, president of the College of The Redwoods.
Keith Flamer:
It is always wonderful to be with you always.
Tom Jackson:
We're in Old Town at the Humboldt Del Norte Film Commission, and we're with the Film Commissioner, Cassandra Heseltine. Can you tell us, Cassandra, what is a film Commissioner and how did you get to be one?
Cassandra Hesseltine:
So a film commissioner is the liaison between the productions that come to the area and then the area they represent.
How I became one was, I actually worked in production beforehand and I was friends of the Film Commission. They literally had a group of people that they would call Friends of the Film Commission. And the film commission said, Hey, we have an empty spot right now, would you fill in for a couple of weeks until we can hire somebody?
And I said, okay, but just a couple of weeks. And then one day they took me to a bar and kept giving me drinks.
Keith Flamer:
That's how you do it. [Laughter]
Cassandra Hesseltine:
That's how they get it, right? Right. It was after a chamber mixer. But still, they said, ‘Hey, we really think you're doing an amazing job’.
And I'm like, ‘Listen, I get to work on bigger production and stay home and see my kids? I'll take the job’.
Keith Flamer:
Here's here's a question that is really on our minds. What does a production… how much money does a production give us?
Cassandra Hesseltine:
It depends on the production. We can have a production come scout, spend 500 or a couple thousand - and then never come film. Or they could spend $1,000,000. In the past 13 years that I've been here, it's roughly, I want to say, around 13 million total direct dollars that have come into the area for filming. That's before you had the multiplier, so it'd be more like 39 million after it went by the time it leaves, that's the impact that we feel outside dollars coming in.
When Apple was here, they hired 500 background actors - during COVID - that all had jobs and they had safe jobs. They said, ‘It was the safest place I'd ever felt, was on a set’ because of what it took to get on that set. So it's pretty amazing what it does, the unexpected. And we hope to continue to keep growing that and make it do more.
We roughly get between 20 and 25 shoots a year in the region between both counties.
Keith Flamer:
So it really makes a lot of sense to invest in film production in this county because of the return.
Cassandra Hesseltine:
And the last part that we can't quantify, is film tourism. Film tourism usually outweighs film. So, for instance, we had Return of the Jedi here. So which is why we started the Forest Moon Festival. We had 6,500 people attend the different events throughout the two counties for that, and that was for months prepping, didn't really promote it.
Imagine what will happen if we continue to go bigger with something like that. People have emotional ties, whether they're local and live here and they're proud of that, or they want to go to those film sets from out of the area.
And so that'll bring in money that now because we have the festival, we can start quantifying like how many hotels, where we booked out. ‘How many tickets did you sell to your part of the event?’ But prior to that, people coming into town, it was more like, the state parks would say ‘Your map that tells them where to go, where filming happened, is the number one map that we run out of.’ They stole the one off the counter that was taped down at the state parks.
So honestly, we don't know the dollar amount of film tourism that comes into this area because of the original filming.
Tom Jackson:
Why does someone want to come to Humboldt County and what are some of the things that lead people to us?
Cassandra Hesseltine:
Location, location, location… why do they ever leave Hollywood? If they could build the sets and they had the studios and they had everything there?
So they come here for the redwoods. Number one, it's it's our epic redwoods, roads for car commercials - we’re really popular with those - our epic, stellar beaches, the rocky coastline that we have, the rivers in our Victorian architecture, even the Eureka Inn was used for its Tudor-type look. We've dubbed as Scotland, as Wyoming, if you go inland and on a ranch… Yeah it's been amazing… I’m getting looks some getting looks… [laughs] But , I mean if you do it real tight, on a ranch, you don't know where you are.
And that's the thing, is that we're still in California. So they can get the tax incentive. We have a whole bunch of different unique locations within a small radius. And yet we still have infrastructure, we have hotels, we have restaurants. Your crew can go somewhere when they're done filming.
Keith Flamer:
So how do our local artists and actors get involved in that business?
Cassandra Hesseltine:
Yeah. So we have a casting company here run by Laura Montagne. So Redwood Curtain casting, we usually go through her.
Tom Jackson:
Film Commissioner Cassandra Heseltine. Name a word, a name that starts with, five letters.
Cassandra Hesseltine:
….Oprah?
Tom Jackson:
Oprah! Tell us about Oprah. [Laughter]
Cassandra Hesseltine:
[Laughter] Okay. So the way that I was able to finally get on Oprah was… I became one of the thriftiest families in America.
Keith Flamer:
Very creative!
Cassandra Hesseltine:
I know. It was my best friend, Stacey, who’s actually on the city council for Arcata. Stacey Atkins-Salazar. We both envied eachother's couch. She had a light-colored couch and it went better with my house and I had a dark couch and went better with her house. And so we said, “Well, why don't we swap instead of buying new couches? Why don't we swap?”
And so I went, “This is it!” They happened to be doing a show on families that were surviving that time, the 2009 era. And we're coming up with all kinds of alternatives. And so we became one of the guests that was Thriftiest Families in America… and saving money by not buying new couches.
Cassandra Hesseltine:
We did the whole swap. So that was Friday morning. By Monday morning, we were live on Oprah.
Tom Jackson:
Now, I do have a related question. You have all these opportunities. You've brought a few films to this community. Of all of them, what is the one you're proudest of?
Cassandra Hesseltine:
So I think I'm proud of all of them for different reasons. But we actually talked about this earlier, A Wrinkle in Time. I'm very proud of that one, working with somebody who Catherine Hand, the producer, and watching her on set, getting to watch her look around Humboldt and see the redwoods.
I think another proud moment in A Wrinkle in Time, was to see how diverse the set was. It was utterly amazing. It was the first time that I saw people of all colors on a set and also plenty of like women on a set, that was huge. Usually in the past it was a different equation. And so as a woman who's half-Mexican, half-white, and a woman… I was really proud of that moment.
Keith Flamer:
I learned a lot today. So thank you so much.
Tom Jackson:
Film Commissioner Cassandra Hesseltine, Thank you so much for your time this afternoon. We've learned so much about the film industry. Thank you very much.
Cassandra Hesseltine:
Thank you. I appreciate it.
