A year and a half ago, our shop was handpicked as the set for a high production Spielberg Project coming to AppleTV+. The episode was just released and is streaming now!

The Amazing Stories Episode, “The Dynoman and the Volt” starring the late Robert Forester, directed by Susanna Fogel and lead executive producer, Steven Spielberg, tells the story of a young boy and his grandfather as they are transformed by the arrival of a mysterious ring ordered from a comic book 60 years ago.

The main character, Joe Harris, played by Robert Forester, loved working at a local wood shop creating furniture. The “Amazing Stories” production team needed a quaint, wood shop with a lot of character as a backdrop for the many scenes of Joe Harris woodworking. The Georgia, Rustic Trades shop nestled in the small town of Flowery Branch, Georgia was the perfect place.  View the episode now on AppleTV+.

Actor Robert Forester, playing main character Joe Harris.

How We Landed The Role

The production company scouted us out after stumbling across our website on Google. They looked through our website and social media where they found photos of our shop. Thinking it could be a fitting environment for the episode, they contacted us to set up a walkthrough. The production company visited our shop with the Director, Producer, and Cinematographer to scout the location. They confirmed Rustic Trades was a perfect fit and everything started moving forward!

During the pre-filming stage, their team came out to mock up sets and to walk through the scenes in person. Following that, they brought a group out to build part of the film set right in our woodshop.

Filming Days At Our Shop

Filming consisted of two very long days in our woodshop. Rustic Trades founder Clay Adams, production director Josh Lavigne, and a few craftsmen were asked to be featured by acting in the episode. “It was surreal,” Clay Adams recounts his experience on set, “We showed up for filming and there we were, acting a scene with Robert Forester, who I knew from Breaking Bad.”

When asked about the filming process, Clay said, “Seeing the amount of crew it takes to shoot a major production film was a surprise to me. I counted almost 50 people there at one time, all crammed in and around our little woodshop.  The crew staff were so unbelievably friendly and grateful. I was visiting with the writer of the episode, Peter Ackerman, talking about the film only to discover he was the writer of my kids favorite movie, Ice Age! What an experience! ”

Production crew inside on the Rustic Trades shop floor filming.

Production crew inside on the Rustic Trades shop floor filming.

Craftsman Zach Bush reflected on his perspective of the experience, “From the moment we stepped off the shuttle the first day, I can say we had a great time, both on and off set. The Amazing Stories staff did an awesome job at guiding us throughout the show. From the designers picking out our outfits to the crew directing us when the cameras were rolling. Offset we filled our time with talking with crew members, playing guitar, reading, telling jokes and enjoying the seemingly endless supply of food. I would do it again in a heartbeat!”

Production crew filming a scene outside of the Rustic Trades shop featuring our delivery truck!

Clay, Rustic Trades Founder, dressed and ready for filming while other team members were being fitted.

As Josh Lavigne, Rustic Trades production director, recounted the filming experience, he mentioned “Unless you’re in the movie industry you really have no way of knowing how much time and effort goes into the end product. From sending out the location scouts, to having the director walkthrough and map out each shot weeks and months in advance so no detail was overlooked.  They put so much effort and collaboration into making things exactly the envision them. Then, after all the weeks of prep and planning for a couple days of shooting, and only 5-10 minutes of actual footage. It was definitely eye opening for how much actually goes into filming!”

When asked his biggest takeaway, Josh said he will always remember “How down to earth and kind the cast and crew were. From talking with the actors on breaks to sitting in ‘video village’ watching them film, everyone was extremely kind. At one point, one of the assistant directors said, ‘I don’t care where you are or where you want to stand as long as you’re not in the way when they yell action!’  It was really a great experience and I am really excited that Rustic Trades and our crew was able to be a part of it!”

Wardrobe set up outside of our Rustic Trades shop for all cast members.

Rustic Trades Furniture Team Members: Clay, Zach, and Chad speaking with the episode writer Peter Ackerman!

For the remainder of the episode, you can find our team building in the background. Once the filming finished, the production team quickly tore down the set and packed up their equipment. We were amazed by their diligence as they were out of our shop in one day!

Being selected to be a part of Episode 3 of Amazing Stories was an honor. It was an incredible experience our team will remember forever! The episode was directed by Susanna Fogel, written by Peter Ackerman, and edited by executive story editor Chinaka Hodge. Watch the episode now!