EASTPORT – A West Coast film crew that descended upon this seaport community last month to make a made-for-television pilot movie is spreading around a whole lot of Hollywood gold.

The cast and crew, which will total more than 100 people in another week, has proved to be an economic gold mine in what otherwise would have been another bleak Down East winter. They are in the city to film “Water’s Edge.”

Businesspeople here remember the past few years when from January to May they were barely able to eke out a living. Not this year. Now the streets are filled with people and SUVs. Every vacant building on Water Street either has been rented as part of the movie set or turned into office space for the crew. Every motel room, vacant house, apartment and bed-and-breakfast that has rooms with a private bath has been filled. And there is an energetic buzz in the city.

Rand Castile, a retired museum director, who has lived in San Francisco, New York and Tokyo, returned to his family home in Eastport several years ago. He recalled the years when Eastport was an economic treasure-trove.

“In the 1950s, when I started coming here, every shop on Water Street was filled on Saturdays, and you couldn’t get a parking spot. People were walking about the street, and everything was wonderful and prosperous,” he said.

Then in the 1970s, Eastport, like the rest of Washington County, stumbled into an economic abyss that the county never has recovered from. But for the next few weeks, Eastport is the East Coast production site for Final Stretch Productions, and once again the streets are as busy as those days in the 1950s.

On Wednesday, Castile was absolutely buoyant as he walked along Water Street, stepping around Ryder trucks filled with furniture and props that will be part of the movie set. Parking was catch-as-catch-can because of all the rented SUVs the movie people were using. People were hurrying everywhere, some carrying props, others hammers and saws. The production crew office, located in the Berman Mall, was abuzz with people and ringing telephones.

Castile hopes the pilot will lead to a television series. “We hope they stay here because they are employing everybody,” he said.

At the Waco Diner, a popular downtown eatery, owner Nancy Bishop said she signed several release forms to allow the company to film the exterior of the building. “They will let me know when I get my contract, if they want to use the interior. They are more than welcome to do that,” she said.

Bishop said she has owned the Waco for the past four years, and she admitted that winters usually are lean. “They are long and they are harsh,” she said. But because of the production company her revenue in March doubled what it has been in the past. She said she expects the same for April. “They are spending a lot of money,” she said.

The company has been generous. The word on the street is they are paying $2,000 to rent some of the houses and buildings, and extras are being paid anywhere from $75 to $250 for a day’s work. In order to attract enough people last Saturday, casting director Karen True of Saco held a casting call and more than 700 people responded. They were photographed and asked to sign releases.

In addition to the extras, several people have been told they will have acting parts. One of them is Waco waitress Rita Norton, who is known for her keen sense of humor and quick repartee. She said the casting company approached her. “They just told me I had a part in the movie,” she said. She said she did not know what role she would play. Asked if she liked the idea of being a movie star, she relied dryly, “Is that like being a millionaire?”

Owen Lawlor, who owns Motel East, said all his motel rooms are booked for the next few weeks. He said he appreciates the extra income. “February and March are normally two of our slowest months. Normally it is quiet and very peaceful. Now it’s busy and very peaceful,” he said.

Lawlor had nothing but praise for the film crew. He said they have been respectful and courteous and wonderful guests. He said they not only have stimulated the economy, but they also have been an inspiration.

“There is an optimism this year,” Lawlor said. “Normally it’s a draggy part of the year when nothing much is happening, but you are seeing a lot of smiling faces in town.”

Jim Blankman and Greg Pugh are busy in Blankman’s woodworking shop, Wood, Wheels and Wings. He said they’ve been asked to build some of the props that will be used in the movie. But the real bonus for him has been the interest the Hollywood folks have shown in the skateboards and scooters they make in Blankman’s shop. The inlaid wooden skateboards cost $250 apiece.

“Things were pretty poor here as far as I am concerned in my business, until this came along,” he said. “They are into skateboards because they are all from California where skateboards are in. When they walk into the shop, they are blown away.”

Phyllis Siebert, who at one time served heads of states and governors when she worked as a chef at the Blaine House in Augusta, has been hired as a contract caterer. She and her business partner, John Miller, will serve lunch and dinner for more than 100 movie people at the Eastport Lobster and Fish House, which has been closed for the winter.

As a result of the large contract, Siebert said, she has hired several local people who will serve or work in the kitchen. She said she plans to introduce the film crew to a lot of Maine products, including wild blueberries and Atlantic salmon.

Nancy Raye, who operates Raye’s Mustard on Route 190, several years ago opened a gift shop and small restaurant next to her mustard mill. She said that last year at this time, Eastport was “deader than a doornail” but not this year.

“It’ has been a great spring. It is so neat to have Water Street filled with people walking around, lights and activity. I keep hearing comments from folks who grew up here saying, ‘It hasn’t been like this since I was a child,'” she said.

Although there is a lot of speculation about the movie plot, mum is the word around town. Raye said everyone who has been hired by the production company to work behind the scenes as a carpenter or stagehand has signed a nondisclosure form.

Brenda Booker, who has owned the Inn at Eastport for the past 11 years, said several members of the film crew have been staying at her bed-and-breakfast. She said it has been a profitable year not only for her business, but also for her husband, Bob, a computer expert who has been hired to set up the film crew’s computers and install telephone lines. She said he also was asked to sign a nondisclosure form, promising he would not reveal any part of the movie.

“I can’t even squeeze [information about the pilot] out of him,” she said with a chuckle.