The Pok-A-Dot is such an iconic location local filmmaker Andy Rich decided to shoot a scene on Saturday morning for a film he and a team of other local filmmakers are putting together for a film festival.
The festival, the 48-Hour Film Project, gives filmmakers just 48 hours to write a script, film it, edit it, and submit it to the contest.
The project can't begin before the Friday night of contest weekend because the team leader must receive two genres the filmmakers must choose from, the two characters that must be included, their professions, a prop and one line of dialogue that must be in the script.
This is the sixth year Rich's team has entered the contest. They've previously made the Top 10 and been nominated for awards.
The Buffalo-area winners will be screened at an international film festival, Filmapolooza, at a location to be announced in 2025. Selected films from that festival will be screened in a special exhibit at the Cannes Film Festival in France.
"Every year, the film gets a little better," Rich said.
Rich likes filming in Genesee County.
"The thing about Genesee County is Genesee County has that feeling of comfort," Rich said.
He was grateful to Tim and Phyllis Beers for allowing the team to film a scene at the Pok-A-Dot.
"It feels like a place that everyone has been to wherever they are in America," Rich said. "It feels like places in small towns all over America."
You can view the 2019 entry here.
Previously: Le Roy actor offers opportunity, tools of the trade in free workshop
Photos by Howard Owens
