Film project brings students and pros together

By on Monday, June 26th, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

COLLEGE PLACE – Fifteen film students from Walla Walla University worked with 18
film industry professionals on the production of a short film last week at the Dayton
Historical Depot, including other locations around the Walla Walla Valley and just
outside Milton-Freewater. The short, “Color of Threads,” is a period piece about five
women who moved to the Walla Walla Valley in 1909, looking to start new lives for
themselves.

“The film focuses on the concept of showing love rather than hate, and how that affects
the lives of others around them,” Walla Walla University Director of Marketing and
University Relations Aaron Nakamura said.

The short film is directed by Richard Ramsey from Nashville, Tennessee and is being
produced by Walla Walla University. Josie Henderson, an alumna, started writing the
project in 2019. Actors in the production are a mix of local and out-of-state talents.

“The project is being used as an educational experience that will expose our film
students to a professional film set,” Nakamura said. “For this production, students have
stayed on campus for two weeks into the summer, and they earn internship credit.”

Nakamura said the Dayton Historical Depot was selected for a specific train station
scene and that a passenger rail car was brought all the way from Olympia to be parked
at the depot specifically for that scene.

“The film is considered to be a proof-of-concept piece with the hope that a bigger studio
would pick it up and develop it into a full series later on,” he said. “Ten episodes have
already been written.”

Photo of “Color of Threads” cast members via Dayton Chamber of Commerce