Skunk under the house?
By : J. David Chapman / July 12, 2024
Probably my favorite thing about the real estate industry is the diversity of people and projects that necessitate involvement and engagement. I recently had a great example with a call from Jennifer Thornton, our Visit Edmond Director, asking me to help identify locations for specific filming scenes for a movie being filmed in Edmond. I immediately met with director and writer Rick Walker, who was making arrangements for the movie called “Masterpiece”.
You may recognize Walker’s name. He has been making films for 25 years, however many Oklahomans probably know him as a long-time morning host of KATT 100.5 FM. My first thought when Jennifer called was the possible economic impact the movie could have on our businesses in Edmond and surrounding cities in Oklahoma and I strove to find perfect locations to keep them in Edmond.
Edmond is certified a “film-friendly” community by the Oklahoma Film + Music Office, which identifies it as being committed to supporting requests from television and movie production teams. I wanted to fulfill that commitment.
After getting the requirements of several locations for filming from Walker, and a couple of calls to my business partners, we firmed up locations for filming a crime scene requiring a historic-looking home, emergency vehicles, and plenty of room for staging actors, lighting, and equipment.
We had just purchased a property in downtown Edmond that had a large steel building attached to a beautifully-restored historic home. According to Walker, the property was perfect for filming the movie.
A funny “Okie” story. I met the crew a couple days before the shoot at the location. I opened up the home before their arrival and was greeted with a terrible skunk smell. The crew was from all over the country. Upon arrival, the crew looked at each other and said “David, what have you been doing in here?” – an obvious reference to smoking marijuana. I said, “no, there’s been a skunk in the area or under the house.” They looked at each other again thinking “silly naive Okie – we know marijuana when we smell it”.
Fast forward to the night of the filming just as the producer said “Action”, a skunk ran right in front of the camera in the scene, necessitating a immediate “cut” and restart. I suspect the “naive Okie” got the last laugh on that marijuana smell.
Dr. J. David Chapman is Professor of Finance & Real Estate at The University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu)