EVERSON - Will Lesh might not know all the plot twists in the psychological thriller "Side Effects," but he can be sure of one thing: The boats are going to look good.
Lesh is the owner of Everson-based Tippecanoe Boats, which makes wooden model sailboats and kits, and he handmade the boat that is featured in the film. The main character, played by Rooney Mara, gives the boat as a gift after seeing people sailing the boats at a pond in New York's Central Park.
"I'm really excited to see it," he said of the movie, which came out Friday, Feb. 8. "It's rewarding after 30 years of building boats to be noticed in larger ways."
The prop manager from the film contacted Lesh last March, after searching the Internet for the right boat for the movie.
"They called and said they needed three boats in a week and a half," Lesh said. "Being the type of person I am, I always say 'yes.'"
They decided on a 27-inch model that would look proportionate with Mara's slight frame. They would need three copies of the boat for different scenes in different locations. Lesh didn't have any on hand, so that meant he had to build the boats by hand on a tight schedule.
"We had this big dash to get the three boats finished in time to ship them off to New York before scenes started filming," he said. "It meant setting alarm clocks and getting up at 1 in the morning to do the next step. It was quite the around-the-clock, pressured building process."
The prop manager also wanted a variety of the boats for the scene when Mara sees them sailing at Central Park and gets the idea for the gift.
"He wanted really classic, beautiful wooden boats sailing in the pond," Lesh said.
So Lesh contacted Tippecanoe owners in New York City to apply to be in the scene. Fifteen people were chosen to be extras, sailing their boats on the pond as Mara looks on.
Because Lesh rented the boats to the production crew, he was able to get them back - and in good shape - after filming was finished. He sold two of the boats but still keeps one, which is lucky because the prop manager needed to use it again only a month ago to shoot a new scene of Mara buying the boat at a store.
Tippecanoe owners from all over the world get in touch with Lesh frequently to let him know how much they love their boats. It makes him feel good every time he hears it.
"Seeing them on a big Hollywood screen," he said, "that'll be another reward."
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To learn more about Tippecanoe Boats or to order one, go to modelsailboat.com.
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