DAVID ANDERSON
A Creator and Curator of the Arts
story by JENNIFER BROWN-CARPENTER
photos by @sksignsdesigns | SK Signs, Designs & Marketing
David moved to the Lowcountry from Omaha, Nebraska, as a Navy transplant. His first duty station was at the Naval Hospital. They moved him to Charleston, and then he was shipped overseas for about 2.5 years. He came back to Charleston, and when he got out of the Navy, he got his first job, doing paste-up and layout for a city magazine. He did that for close to a year before they gave him the assignment to go to a movie set in place of one of their still photographers. Instead of giving David the still photography job on set, they put him to work in special effects. The special effects truck had him build and make several things. He was hired at a flat rate. That was his first job in the business. It was 1985, and the film was Made In Heaven, starring Timothy Hutton and Kelly McGillis.
After moving all over the place while filming Made in Heaven, David continued to work on additional sets in the film industry, mostly working with special effects or set dressing. He worked as a set dresser for ten years.
David worked on almost every film that was shot coming down the East coast, especially the jobs in the Lowcountry. While he didn’t work on The Big Chill or The Great Santini because of his later start, he did work on Forrest Gump, The Prince of Tides, and Separate But Equal. He also worked on countless smaller shows, like Paradise.
When Forrest Gump was filming, David started working for a man named James Passanante. Jim was a painter and hired David to do work in paint shops and on sets, like Midnight in The Garden of Good and Evil and The Gingerbread Man. David worked as a set painter for about another ten years and did several odd jobs in the meantime. He did some Cadillac commercials and worked on a few Disney projects.
He worked on the 1991 Disney movie, Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken. He didn’t think that anyone ever saw the movie, but said, “that he’s been pleasantly surprised with how many people call it one of their favorites.” For that film, he made a shooting gallery. “It required ducks and moose and other little targets that went on a bicycle chain across the scenic backdrop. It was about 18 feet long and 12 feet high. Unfortunately, it wasn’t used in the movie at all, besides a panning shot with the shooting gallery in the background,” he recalls. Then about 15 years later, he was watching the Super Bowl when he saw his shooting gallery pop up in a commercial during half-time. It was a full shot of his shooting gallery, but by the time he was going to tell someone, it had disappeared from the screen, and he hasn’t seen it since.
He stayed in Charleston for a long time doing films. He came back to Beaufort and met his wife, Lorrie. She was working for the Beaufort Gazette at the time. In 1996 when they got married, he was working on a movie called White Squall. Lorrie worked on the set with him for about a week before she decided she would leave the movie business up to her husband.
The last film David worked on was The Patriot. He and Lorrie wanted a change from all of the traveling and long days. “It’s kind of like joining the circus.” There was no way to build a marriage with the demands of the job. David knew he was only going to advance so far unless he moved to New York or Los Angeles and join one of their unions.
Three and a half years ago, David and Lorrie opened up NeverMore, a book and vinyl store in downtown Beaufort. They keep a variety of different types of books: first editions, rarities and lots of children’s books, which are popular. They try and hand-cultivate their picks. They aren’t like a Barnes & Noble—they handpick their books and usually know something about everything they’re currently carrying. They like to cater to specific, individual needs when people come in.
They are teamed up with Type & Ink, which sells vintage, rare posters. The owner Scott Sonic currently owns the building that NeverMore exists in on Craven Street. David and Lorrie are the caretakers of the building and sell the posters along with their books.
David recently worked on the movie Stars Fell on Alabama that was filmed here in Beaufort. The film is directed by V.W. Scheich and stars James Maslow and Ciara Hanna. David is the art director for the film. The original plan was to shoot the film in Alabama, but because V.W. had lived in Beaufort and had worked with David on several projects, they decided to shoot the movie in Beaufort instead.
They gathered a film crew from Savannah, Beaufort, and Charleston. They story-boarded all the sets in a 3D program called FrameForge 3D. They covered everything thoroughly before they began filming, and knew exactly what needed to happen. This was necessary because it was a fast shoot in Beaufort, only two weeks long. With the help of Ron and Rebecca Tucker of the Beaufort Film Society, they were able to secure location film permits for their sets. The city of Beaufort was cooperative and helpful throughout the whole process.
They plan to shoot a couple of days in February 2020. Post-production will take about 6-8 months, and the film should be completed by this summer. They hope to screen it out of competition at next year’s Beaufort International Film Festival.
Throughout this process, the people of Beaufort have shown amazing support, even donating their homes to house some of the cast and crew. (Special thanks to Tim Lovett, Bill and Gail Bardenwerper, Ralph and Barbara Rader, Chris and Laurie Benson, Charles Tumlin, and Mary Flynn).
David and Lorrie have been going to the Beaufort International Film Festival for as long as it’s been running. They go to all the events and try and help out when they can. For the last three years, they have thrown a party at NeverMore bookstore on Craven for all the filmmakers to attend. The Film Festival is a great way to get Beaufort on the radar of filmmakers, who wouldn’t visit otherwise, and helps boost the economy of every shop in the town, so David views it as a win for everyone.
David and Lorrie have two daughters and five grandchildren. Take the time to visit them at Nevermore, a lovely store, with soothing music and beautiful books. And make sure you keep an eye out for Stars Fell on Alabama.
