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Indie film “Grassroots” filming on the Hill next week

Remember a book called Zioncheck for President?  Authored by Phil Cambell, Zioncheck was about Campbell’s real life experience as an ex-Stranger writer, who became a campaign manager for Grant Cogswell (another ex-Stranger writer), a 2001 challenger to then Seattle City Council Member Richard McIver.  Of Zioncheck, Seattlest found it “funny, sad, informative and awesome”.  In 2007, Campbell announced that Zioncheck had been optioned for a film by veteran producer/director Stephen Gyllenhaal (best known for his feature film “Losing Isiah”).  At the time of the announcement, Gyllenhaal announced his intention to film in Seattle:

I want to film in Seattle because that’s in keeping with Zioncheck, too. Seattle is a beautiful city, and there’s a lot going on there. The music and the progressive politics are important to this story.  And I do not want to come to Seattle and try to overwhelm the city with a film production — I’ll let the city overwhelm the film production. It’s a more creative way to work. It’s a partnership.     

The Zioncheck project is now called Grassroots and will be filming around 310 East Mercer between midday 6/27 and late night 7/2.  Here is the text of the posted notice regarding the shooting on location:

GRASSROOTS.  True story.  A short-tempered, unemployed music critic who likes to dress as a polar bear thinks he can harness the power of the people to ride the monorail to political victory in Seattle.  And he’s right.  Almost.  Remember Grant Cogswell?  In 2001, political unknown Grant Cogswell decided he must take down Seattle City Councilman Richard McIver.  Based on the memoir Zioncheck for President by Phil Campbell, the story follows Grant on his grassroots campaign to realize only one dream: an elegant monorail gliding silently above the city’s wet streets.  GRASSROOTS is a character-driven comedy about the power of the people and the virtues of standing up for what you believe in.  Against all odds.

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