Location Manager Discovered Keene While on Hunt for Good Coffee

Keene is known for its picturesque New England beauty, its quintessential autumn and its wider-than-average Main Street, but without its coffee, the city might never have been chosen as the iconic setting for "Jumanji." Dow Griffith, the film's location manager, will return to Keene this weekend for the 30th anniversary celebration, joining Actor Bradley Pierce and Prop Master Dan Sissons at Shadow and Soul Emporium on Sunday, June 22, at 1 p.m., to share their memories and experiences while working on the film three decades ago. From his home on an island overlooking Puget Sound in Washington, Griffith retells how he got his start as a location manager. He had always wanted to work in film and has a background in cultural anthropology and documentary filmmaking. Griffith was working on a documentary in 1975 when some of the members of his crew decided to jump ship to work on a film with legendary director Brian De Palma. "Come along," they urged, "we need a location manager." Griffith was hired and given on-the-job training for his new role, although he had done similar work on a smaller scale for documentaries. On a Thursday, he was sent out to scout locations, and on Saturday he had to show them to De Palma, he recalled. One of the scenes was a high school hangout and the location Griffith suggested was all glass, perplexing De Palma, who rhetorically questioned the choice. Griffith took it literally, though, and walked him through the possible camera shots and angles, impressing De Palma with his vision for the scene. "He understood that I was thinking like he would," Griffith said. "We had a lot of fun. It was a great learning experience." That film was "Carrie" and Griffith was hooked. He went on to manage locations for epic films such as "Proof of Life," "The Bourne Legacy," "Tropic Thunder," "The Chronicles of Riddick," "Sleepless in Seattle," "Alive," "Arachnophobia" and "The Color of Money." He's worked with names like Steven Spielberg, Steven Soderbergh, M. Night Shyamalan, John Hughes and Martin Scorsese. And, of course, there was "Jumanji" director Joe Johnston, who was on the cutting edge of computer animation in 1994, Griffith said. He credits Johnston's work and "Jumanji" as an interesting early step in the evolution of computer graphics and AI technology in filmmaking. But all of it would never have happened in Keene if Griffith hadn't been on the hunt for a really good cup of double-dry cappuccino. He started scouting for a location in April of 1994, giving him four months until filming was set to start in July, he remembers. He traveled up and down the East Coast, from Connecticut to Bar Harbor, Maine, looking for that perfect rhino stampede location. "I love exploring," he said of his process. "I love the search." He considered the West Coast, too, but nothing was just right so he kept looking. He even spoke to the film commission of New Hampshire, but they never mentioned Keene. Until the day one person told him that there was a shop in Keene with really good coffee that might meet his cappuccino craving. That coffee shop was Brewbakers, and it had just opened on Main Street the same year. The cappuccino was "splendid," Griffith said, and when he stepped back out onto the front steps and looked to his left, there it was. "I said, 'Wow, this is where we should film,'" Griffith recalled. "It was one of those aha moments." And so began the second leg of being a location manager, which involves negotiating the permits and paperwork, coordinating legal documents and meeting with townspeople, like the mayor, the chamber of commerce, the parks and recreation director and the police chief. He has fond memories of the relationships he built with recently retired City Clerk Patty Little, who was his main point of contact with the city, and the owners of Mirandah's Verandah, Robert and Tere Clarkson. "Everyone was very helpful," he said. All the affected businesses had to be brought on board and communicated with around filming needs, like the removal of signs. Plus, he had to arrange space for every department to do their work and their accommodations. "Then the circus arrives, and we start filming," he joked. At that point, he becomes a troubleshooter and a liaison between the film crew and the location to discuss daily changes. Filming is the busiest time, he said, adding that everyone gets no sleep and never finishes a meal. He recalled one moment during filming when Little asked him if Robin Williams would be open to accepting the gift of a key to the city. Griffith told her that he would ask, and Williams enthusiastically embraced the idea. "He was amazing," Griffith said. "He said, 'Tell me where to be and when.'" Then, when the circus leaves town, it's his job to make sure everything is put back together perfectly, leaving the location as good as they found it. Griffith received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 10th Annual Location Managers Guild International Awards (LMGI) in 2023, honored for his career that spans more than 65 motion pictures with locations across the world. While he says that he believes himself to be retired (he stopped working during the pandemic), he's open to working again with friends if they need him and says there's always the possibility that he could take another project. Thinking about the "Jumanji" anniversary has brought back a lot of memories and he's looking forward to reconnecting with the people he met while working in Keene. "For me, it was a wonderful experience," he recalled. "It was so serendipitous and to discover all of the lovely people that lived and worked there was so nice. It was a perfect movie project."