TV crew to stage WWII film in Colfax

Downtown Colfax is going all 1940s for three days next month at the hands of a Japanese television station here to film a TV mini-series.

Up to 100 Japanese filmmakers out of Los Angeles and New York City will fly into Spokane to film for three weeks on locations around Eastern Washington.

A major Japanese company, Tokyo Broadcasting System, plans to shoot a 10 hour, five episode docu-drama mini-series depicting the Japanese interment camps in America during World War II.

It will be broadcast exclusively on the Tokyo Broadcasting System for Japanese viewers.

The crew on May 8 and 9 will decorate the facades of most Colfax businesses between Upton Street and Spring Streets along Main Street. Filming is set for May 10.

“They said it would be drapery or panels. They would not be attached to the buildings with anything permanent,” said Rod Bacon of Pullman, local production assistant working freelance for the production company.

Farmhouses on the Palouse, the University of Idaho and Spokane were all chosen by High Field Entertainment, Inc. (a company collaborating with Tokyo Broadcasting System), for shooting locations. They will also be filming inside the Imperial Chinese Cuisine in Colfax for a 1940s depiction.

Three farmhouses on the Palouse were picked for their portrayal of rural America in the Depression era.

Crew members will be fixing portions of the exterior of the homes to reflect the time period.

Long-time Palouse farmer Gary Kendall has lived in his 1917 farmhouse for 60 plus years. His seven-room house with the wraparound porch was picked as ideal for several scenes.

Bacon worked as a stage manager for the Beasley Coliseum for more than 20 years. By coincidence, he was put in touch with the movie’s location manager Mike Wygant of Seattle to scout locations in Eastern Washington.