drive thru tree

The “Chandelier Drive Thru Tree” is located in a town of population 315: Leggett, California, home to some of the largest coastal redwoods in the world. Those driving north to Humboldt or out of state exit the 101 and pay $5 for a drive through the tree. But what is it like to live in a town with one school, a used clothing store, a post office — and a world famous Drive Thru Tree? We took a crew last spring and found out. The "Drive Thru Tree Movie Project" is an experiment in non-fiction filmmaking, in which 5 crew members lived and breathed in a small town for a short while, reporting back on what they saw and felt. Our story will be released as a series on YouTube in 2015. Follow this page for blog updates about the series, interviews, and BTS photos and video of our journey.

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CREW INTERVIEWS! GLENN - CO-PRODUCER

Welcome to the fifth installment of our “meet the crew” series! Today we’re talking to Glenn, all-around production crew-person.

What made you excited to work on the project? What was your role?Glenn: Right, so I guess the first thing that drew me to working on this film was it's fearless leader, Becca. She came up to me one day (we lived together basically) and asked if I would accompany her to the redwoods to film a documentary about a tree. I was skeptical, of course, but I didn't have any other plans, so I tagged along. I had no idea what sort of experience I was in for. As for my role, I spent a lot of time filming B Roll (Like, shots of leaves and close up rack focus on signs.) and providing sassy commentary that I think Hunter enjoys while he edits it out.

What is your favorite memory from production? My favorite memory from the trip would have to be when our friends from back home showed up and decided to camp with us. We went on forest hikes through the redwoods, we carved spears out of twigs and stone, and we walked in the river and made a collection of stones that were all the colors of the rainbow. That was a fun time.

What was your favorite spot we visited? The river was definitely my favorite spot. I'm from a place with lots of water (New Orleans has the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain, several swamp lands and nearly 24/7 rain) so when I saw the river I had no reservations about getting in. Worse case scenario, I get wet and have to change. Best case scenario, I become one with the current and find myself swept away to a magical river bank where goblins and nymphs help me find my inner beauty. At least, that's how I imagined it ending.

What's your favorite kind of tree? To be perfectly honest, my favorite kind of tree is the Southern Live Oak. The large bending branches that are perfect for climbing, and the hanging spanish moss that give it an element of surprise. I can recall several afternoons spent hopping from branch to branch of the big oaks in New Orleans City Park and then swinging down to enjoy a snack in all the shade and comfort the tree provides. No tree could compare… but I guess redwoods are pretty ok.

What's making you happy right now? Right now i'm mostly kept in check with watching Broad City, eating chinese takeout from this new place I love, and playing old video games I forgot I had. I also occupy my time with Hunter and Becca and a few others, trying to make more videos, and that's making me pretty happy.

Where can we find you on social media? I have an instagram but it might be too risqué - @homoganjan

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CREW INTERVIEWS! SEBBY - PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Welcome to our fourth installment of our "meet the crew" series! Today we're talking to our awesome production coordinator, Sebby.

What made you excited to work on the film? What was your role?

Sebby: I was just the chaffeur. JK! I did do all of the driving (9 hours straight there and back) but yeah I basically did whatever I could to make the trip happen that wasn't related to filming or social media-ing or all that. I made mac n cheese for everyone one time. I was excited to work on the film because I had been with Becca on a prior trip where we both first encountered Leggett and the Drive-Thru Tree so I was looking forward to exploring it more. As someone who has only lived in CA for about 3.5 years I try to do as much exploring and familiarizing as I can with my somewhat new surroundings, but it's so easy to get stuck in Los Angeles and forget just how much more there is to this state. So, this was a chance to see a completely different side of it.What is your favorite memory from production?My favorite memory is when we went to the big redwood forest. We ran down humongous fallen trees and tried not to touch the ground at all. I felt like I was a true elf. While we were there we also goofed around in this giant tree that had a hole in it. Glenn and I tried to hide and scare everyone else but it didn't go exactly as planned. There's also a little bit of footage of Becca and I having a pretend fight and Glenn popping out of the hole to ambush us. Oh and also, when I woke up from a big nap where I was too exhausted to go on the first trip to Confusion Hill and Becca had bought me a wild chipalope stuffed animal. I love her (the chipalope). Ok I love Becca too.

Favorite spot we visited?There was this other Drive-Thru Tree that we obviously had to check out, and I really liked that one (I feel like a traitor) but even more than that I liked these little tree houses they had there. Like they were actually trees that were on the ground and hollowed out and made into clubhouse like things. Also I have a strange fondness of Garberville and its grocery store. Favorite kind of tree?I like weeping willows and I don't know, oaks? Maples? I love big strong trees that make you feel some type of way inside. I like trees change in the fall the most. And trees that hang over streets touching the trees on the other sides and making a big canopy.What's making you happy right now?Umm I'm happy right now because it's currently cloudy and kinda chilly here in Los Angeles and we don't get a lot of that. And I miss it.Where can we find you on social media?moon-bruise.tumblr.com

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CREW INTERVIEWS! LILY - CO-PRODUCER

Welcome to the third installment of our "meet the crew" series! Today we're talking to Lily, all-around production crew-person.

What made you excited to work on the film? What was your role?  Lily: Oh man, I don’t remember when, but my dear friend and previous co-documentarian (for a gem of a “documentary” about “lucid dreaming) Becca Grumet came up to me and said “Hey… I’m going to NorCal to shoot a documentary about the Drive Thru Tree [which I’d heard a lot about], you wanna come with?” I’ve been wanting to head north to the redwood forests for a while, so I thought, what better way to spend spring break of my senior year, than to do some film work with a group of chill friends and acquaintances?

I served as as the “cam op/sound/co-producer” person, aka I was basically a catch-all for all technical related components of the film — though the main thing I ended up doing for much of the shoot was taking BTS photos of the production. Also, catching the flu. What is your favorite memory from production?We went down to this river behind the place we were staying and hung out shooting film, doing testimonial. Becca, Quyen, Sebby and I walked down together, I think?, and I remember catching this one photo of Becca. She’s not in focus, but it’s an utterly enchanting photo otherwise.

Yeah, going into the river and freezing my ass off and shooting some video confessionals. That was cool.And what was your favorite spot we visited?The river! Also, the Avenue of the Giants — my parents have been there before, and most of the parks in that area, so it tickled me that I was actually doing something for spring break that they’d approve.

What's your favorite kind of tree?Um, I’ve been drinking a lot of mulberry tea recently so, mulberry trees? You can also spin silk off of the worms that like to eat their leaves! That’s not very cute though… Dogwoods too. The house I lived in growing up had a dogwood that eventually took over the yard. I thought it was ugly at the time, but I miss that house.What's making you happy right now?I’m digging the chillier weather! Now I can dig out my “winter” wear. Also, “Gravity Falls” is this super charming animated show I’ve been watching lately. As far as anything else, I went to see Sky Ferreira at the Belasco Theater recently and have since been jamming hardcore to her album “Night Time, My Time.”Where can we find you on social media?http://twitter.com/llnmnhttp://meplusone.cohttp://moonshinegirl.wordpress.com

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CREW INTERVIEWS! HUNTER - EDITOR

This is the second post in our “meet the crew” series! This week we're talking to our amazing film editor, Hunter. 

Hi Hunter. Who are you? What are you working on? I'm Hunter. Human of Earth. Right now I'm mostly a freelance editor. I guess that's how I make money. I've done a handful of music videos and commercials, I'm finishing up a feature, and this doc of course. I'm curious, I like to try a lot of different things, mostly artistic. Recently I dove head first into history. But it's hard to focus on all those things - except editing. That's where I can focus. 

What is it about our project that made you excited to edit? I fell in love with the stories and the adventure. Becca and the team captured so much heart from one tiny place and then shared so much of their own heart. I may be biased because trees are my spirit being, but the more I work on the project the more I fall in love with these redwoods. It has this whimsical quality that came from both the people of Leggett and the team. 

What is your favorite "scene" you've worked on so far from the footage? Glenn's River Adventure, hands down. But also Billie's story of the 2 trees. 

What's your favorite kind of tree? Any one I can climb...also giant redwoods. 

Can you recommend any good documentaries? My favorite TV Show is Human Planet. Some documentaries would be Man on Wire, Grizzly Man, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Baraka, Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry, The Act of Killing.

How do you make such amazing playlists like the ones here? Haha I love music and since I stopped playing music regularly, I needed a new way to interact with it. 

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CREW INTERVIEWS! QUYEN - CINEMATOGRAPHY

This is the first in our "meet the crew" series where our production crew reflects back on the trip + other thoughts. We'll be talking to our post production crew as well!

What made you excited to work on the film? What was your role? Quyen: Cinematographer. I was excited to work on this project because it was a chance to get out of Los Angeles for a little bit and technically, it was a fun challenge to design our mobile film unit!

What is your favorite memory from production? Wow, I'm terrible at picking favorites, but what I remember quite fondly is how creative we got with food: mac-n-cheese quesadilla anyone?

Favorite spot we visited? The giant forest!

What's your favorite kind of tree? I don't pick favorites with trees, I love all of them but I tend to think a lot about the ones that are still alive after being set on fire or struck by lightning.

What's making you happy right now? I'm using the skills acquired in the forests of NorCal to camp at the most southern national park in the world (that's not Antarctica) in December!!!

Any links? Social media? You can follow my Chilean blog and journey to the southest I've ever been at ya-tu-polola.tumblr.com

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BTS clip from the car ride to Leggett!

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the return of tree!

well, hello there! it's been a short (as in, long-ish) while since we posted about the film, but that's because we were doing very exciting things! such as... most of us graduated from college for one, then slowly found our footing in Los Angeles over a long, hot summer.

now as we approach Thanksgiving I can't help but think about a year ago, when I sat around my aunt's kitchen table in Sonoma, telling her about my first trip to Leggett, and made the decision to embark on this project.

we were off to Leggett and shooting 4 months later, and now here we are seeing the first cuts. and friends. FRIENDS. they are very exciting.

I'm also excited to announce that the project will be released in a couple different formats, available in short non-fiction "webisodes" online, and then strung together as a short doc for potential festivals and screenings.

more updates to come, and yes, eventually some video!

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"how i spent my spring break" -- reposted from 3/20/14

it's true, i've spent the majority of this year as a director.

an executive director, that is.

but for the last 6 days i got back to my roots as a film director, on this crazy little thing called the Drive Thru Tree Movie Project, an endeavor i threw together pretty last minute starting around Thanksgiving. i was sitting in my aunt's house on a trip with my friends, telling her the story of the last trip i'd been on to Sasquatch! Music Festival, in which we'd passed through one of the three famous drive-thru-trees in Leggett, California. and suddenly it hit me, that i had to go back.

because we'd only passed through. literally through a tree, but also the town of Leggett, and i knew there was more. we just had to stick around long enough to find out.

boy did we find out.

i've always known of my love for stories, but this project was a sort of culmination of what i've been trying to do for a long time with my storytelling, and also a way to push myself out of my comfort zone a bit. it was an extremely relaxing project while at the same time a tough/stressful one, in that i was directing a crew of close friends, and throwing myself blindly out there into an unknown world much different than Los Angeles, hoping, praying, we would reel something tangible back in to bring back to the editing room.

i've also been struggling recently, personally and creatively, and to immerse myself in a completely different environment even for a few days brought me more joy than i would have ever thought.

for those who don't know very much about the project, five of us immersed ourselves in Leggett (pop. 315) for four days, interviewing the townspeople from everywhere to the K-12 school to the gas station to the owners of tourist attractions like Confusion Hill, the Legend of Bigfoot, and of course the Chandelier Drive Thru Tree. very few people said no to talking with us, and i was continually floored with the openness of Leggett-ers and their kind hearts.

it's hard to go into details, as i don't want to spoil the film, but i will truly always remember this trip and this experience because of the mark the people and scenery of Leggett left on me, but also perhaps the mark we left on them.

the owner of our motel resort, Billie, after seeing us for several days including our hour-long interview on Leggett and her connection to the enormous redwoods occupying her land, asked me one evening as i went to return some towels in the office: "I have a question for you," she said. "How do you feel in the redwoods?"

she told me she'd been thinking about our interview, and her love for Redwoods River Resort, and had gone back to read some of the guestbooks from the cabins, to soak in the thoughts and emotions from those who had passed through. she said she felt like she was making people happy. "I think you're awesome," she told me, and i told her "I think you're awesome too."

i'm so thankful to my crew and to everyone who made this project possible, and i can't wait to put the pieces together to show the film.

i used to think i was done with directing films, in that i wanted to focus on writing and my various programming positions, but at least for this project, if directing means an experience like this one, i would be down to do it again in a heartbeat.

sometimes you just have to jump in blindly, and you'll find the awesome.

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Founders Grove crew portraits 

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Guess who's back in LA!!! - Lily

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the fourth night

we've been in Leggett for a bit now, and i can honestly say i'm so sad we're winding down to our last day. i feel like we've only scratched the surface of this amazing area. today we started in downtown Leggett where we were excited to mail some postcards and Drive Thru Tree hats to our Indiegogo supporters. we spoke to Dave, the local gas station attendant, and Ruby, the secretary at the k-12 Leggett Valley School. after that was lunch at the Peg House Grill, and back to Redwood River Resort to meet Billie's son and daughter-in-law. they suggested we check out the tomb of Minnie Stoddard Lilley, which was just across the street at Confusion Hill. the owner of the land, Doug, echoed their recommendation and agreed to interview with us tomorrow. after that, it's back to the tree for some last shots and hopefully an interview with one of the owners. i also forgot to mention i've made friends with the Redwood River Resort cat, who sleeps on a little bed around the front office. i'll definitely be sad to leave her too. -Becca

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drive thru tree crew photos -Becca

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drive thru tree portraits

-Becca

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Becca, Quyen and I took a walk on a post-apocalyptic bridge and it was pretty cool. - Lily

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Shots from today's foray into downtown Leggett and local food establishment The Peg House :9 - Lily

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the tree

spent most of today at the tree before our river adventure (below). talked to some amazing people, families, couples, and found not only did they all have a positive experience with the tree but the redwoods seem to make everyone feel better somehow, maybe lighter, like the routine of their regular lives are lifted for a short second once they see something that much bigger than them. there's something more and more lovely about Leggett each day. -Becca

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hiking down to the river from our motel, interviewin' each other... just around the river bend. -Becca