Williams said. And it’s those odd shots that stick out to many of the ranchers who have had film crews on their ranch. Independence rancher and CCA President Mark Lacey has also had a long list of movies, commercials and television shows filmed on and around his ranch in Lone Pine, echoing the same funny experience with those not quite so familiar with ranch terrain. “They were filming a car commercial and wanted the iconic scene of the car speeding through a dry lake bed. I told them that if they drove that car into the dry lakebed it was going to get stuck. It isn’t like the dry, cracked beds in the Midwest. It may look dry on top but underneath, its mud,” Lacey said. “The director really wanted the shot, though and sure enough, that car got stuck a few yards into the lake bed.” But directors are persistent and they get things done. In addition to car commercials, scenes from the 2000 blockbuster hit Gladiator, episodes of Star Trek, GI Jane, the iconic Budweiser commercial with Clydesdale horses playing football and parts of Gone in 60 Seconds were all filmed in the small town of Lone Pine in the eastern Sierras. But it’s not just southern California ranches that have the honor of becoming movie sets. When producers look for lush forest scenes, it’s northern California ranchers they call. Whether the Ewok forest in Star Wars or the remote island locale in Jurassic Park, the ranches in Humboldt County can help suspend belief and transport views to faraway lands. It was the local chamber of commerce that put location scouts in contact with Humboldt County rancher Lawrence Dwight, McKinleyville. He’s had steel and apparel commercials, Lexus, BMW and Harley Davidson commercials and even scenes from Jurassic Park Lost World, and the incomparable, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi filmed on his and neighboring ranches. His favorite thing about filming on his ranch? The food! According to Dwight, the food tent is where he spent most of his time during filming. Actors and actresses demand top quality fare to fuel their grueling days, so for larger projects, world-class chefs are brought in to feed the crew. Actual plates and silverware are trucked all of the way out onto remote ranches to enjoy anything you could ever want, from pork chops to lobster. It’s not all fun and games, though. According to Dwight, the work of movie making is serious business. The day starts before sunrise (something ranchers are accustomed to anyway) and it doesn’t stop until the work is done (also something ranchers are all too familiar with). “Depending on what they were shooting, filming went on for hours to days to weeks for the larger projects. Lost World was six months of prep work to get ready for one week solid of shooting into the evening,” he said.
“It was incredible how organized it was. I guess it has to be with that many people and that much money involved.” Aside from just shooting a product or actors amidst generic ranch flora and fauna, sometimes, the ranchers said, the requests were slightly more involved. “One director didn’t want a fence in the shot. He wanted us to take it down. Luckily that wasn’t in the contract and needless to say we told him no,” Dwight said. Which touches on one of the most important pieces of advice that Lawrence Dwight and Mike Williams would given any rancher thinking of offering up their ranch for filming—get it in writing. “If they agree to it, in my experience they’ll do it, but if not and no one is watching, they just might not,” Williams said. “The main thing is to set the boundaries right out of the gate. Know what you will and will not allow, get as much detail as you can and make sure you know what they are looking to do.” For Dwight, it was about having his own contract. ...CONTINUED ON PAGE 20
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June 2019 California Cattleman 19