LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!
Filming of movie planned for island
BY MARY LANCASTER INDEPENDENT WRITER
If all goes well, at the end of this summer or in the early fall filming of a movie called "Tides of Summer," based on Nantucket will begin locally with plenty of chances for islanders to become extras in the production.

Written by Scott Simonsen, the story won the 2006 Nicholls Fellowship Award for an unproduced screen play. The prestigious honor was given to Simonsen by the Academy of Motion Pictures over nearly 5,000 other entries. Scripts that have previously been awarded and went on to become blockbuster feature films grossing more than $3 billion include "Erin Brockovich," "The Ring," and "Air Force One."

This coming Daffodil Weekend, Simonsen will be in 'Sconset to meet the public along with his director Trevor White and producer Tim White of Star Thrower Entertainment. They will be accompanied by Nantucket's Susan Beaumont, who founded Viewfinder productions in 1984 to help facilitate accommodations, locations, models and actors needed for catalog and magazine shoots, TV productions and films made on the island.

"Tides of Summer" revolves around 18-year-old Californian, Benjamin Wolfe, who has just graduated from high school and spends the summer on the island with his grandfather, Darby Wolfe. The Wolfe family traces its island roots to the whaling era and all of them lived on Nantucket until Darby's son decided to move to the west coast for a different lifestyle. Benjamin grows up lacking knowledge of his family's background and is invited here by his grandfather, who has not seen him in six years. Darby fills in all the historical gaps and helps the young man learns a love of the sea and sailing that he never knew before. The story includes elements of fear, suspense, love, happiness and a rediscovery of family bonds.

Simonsen grew up on the east coast though he now lives in Los Angeles. He said that between his college undergraduate and graduate studies he worked as a tutor on the Cape, but had one Nantucket student he commuted to assist over that summer.

"I realized Nantucket was an unbelievable place that was kind of a throwback, not just historically but in the way people acted," he said. "The extension of humanity was unbelievable to me. When I was there it felt almost surreal - the sense of history, the people, the light, the smells - like a memory imprinter."

When Simonsen moved to California he began writing stories geared to film, but some were rather dark in nature. His agent suggested he write something that made him feel happy, and it was not long before he understood that he wanted to create a story about Nantucket that would somehow incorporate his past impressions.

"Kind of like what happened to me," he explained. "It's basically a love letter to Nantucket."

Simonsen used a variety of research sources including books about the island, which also brought in many personal contacts. Last here in November 2007, he spoke with people at the Nantucket Historical Association, in coffee shops, at the high school, with selectmen and one day, for several hours, at The Brotherhood restaurant.

"When you told people what you were doing they were really forthcoming," he said. "We want the community to be bettered for [the film] and not leave any footprints. My dream is to shoot it on Nantucket and premiere it on Nantucket. We really want to get the support of the island for this film. We want people to be in on it when it's started. We are trying to be transparent from the beginning to the end. It would be great to have some of the [real] selectmen play the selectmen. The story is about the community."

Trevor White, who also lives in Los Angeles, said he, too, grew up on the east coast and was attracted to the screen play because it is a coming of age story about a young man in a seaside environment. He is looking forward to having islanders meet the key members of this movie, which he anticipates may take 35 days to film, and perhaps not entirely on Nantucket.

"We are just excited to be doing a movie there," he said in a phone interview.

"They want to be true to Nantucket, represent it well and know that the island is happy with the work that they are doing," added Beaumont. "They don't want to disturb

anyone." I