TWILIGHT FILMING AT LAPUSH CANCELLED

By Chris Cook - Forks Forum editor

LaPush is out as a location for filmmakers creating a movie version of the best-selling, Forks-set book “Twilight.”
A crew of eight surfers cast as extras in the film by a Portland casting company received word Thursday that the filming was off, Frank Crippen, owner of North by Northwest Surf Co. in Port Angeles said in a call to the Forks Forum.

The Forks Chamber of Commerce also reported cancellation of a block of 30 rooms reserved for the Twilight cast and crew at Pacific Inn in Forks.

The movie company was slated to arrive on the West End in late April to film a scene at First Beach in LaPush featuring Bella and Edward, the two lead characters in the film.

Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke flew up to the Quillayute Airport outside of Forks in late January in a small plane with the film’s director of photography and location director. They walked off a scene where Bella and Edward walk atop a large fallen beach log near the mouth of Lonesome Creek.

Earlier, location scouts had toured Forks High School and took numerous photographs of the high school and its grounds.
Instead the Twilight production crew went with the brick-faced main building at Kalama High School in southwest Washington.

Principal filming is being done in Portland, with Kalama about 35 miles away. Reportedly, the beach scene is being filmed at Indian Point on the Oregon coast.

Reports from Port Angeles had teenage Twilight fans on the lookout for a film crew in the port city last week. However, the teens likely misread a report of Port Angeles filming on the Internet, with filming taking place at a substitute for Port Angeles at an Oregon or southwest Washington location.

During her January visit to LaPush, Hardwicke told the Forks Forum that Oregon was chosen for filming due to financial incentives from the State of Oregon. The director – who directed “Lords of Dogtown,” “The Nativity Story” and other feature films – said she would have used Forks if Washington state had offered similar support.

Stephenie Meyer Day
A planning meeting for the annual Twilight-themed Stephenie Meyer Day, set for Sept. 13, was held on Thursday. Meyer is the author of the best-selling  book series, and Sept. 13 is the birthday of Bella, the main character in the books. Inquiries from dozens of fans are coming in regarding the celebration, Marcia Bingham, the executive director of the Forks Chamber of Commerce, said at the meeting. Proposed additions to the annual event include a beach bon fire, a prom based on the dance described in Twilight, Twilight readings, a blood drive, a birthday party at Tillicum Park and more. Bingham said over 1,000 Twilight fans are expected to travel to Forks for Stephenie Meyer Day.