Action! Commercial filmed in Hermon

HERMON – After closing on Thursday night, the aisles of Danforth’s Down Home Supermarket were filled with cameras, the bathrooms had turned into dressing rooms and an employee break room was transformed into a makeup studio.

Shannon Bond, the store’s assistant bakery and deli manager, spends most of her days at the supermarket pulling fresh-baked pastries out of the store’s hot oven, but late Thursday night a makeup artist was refreshing her lipstick.

Trucks filled with camera and lighting equipment rolled into Hermon on Thursday, the beginning of a two-night television commercial shoot. About 15 area residents, including Bond, were chosen to appear as extras in the commercial, which was filmed after store hours from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. Thursday and Friday.

“I found out about the commercial about two weeks ago,” Bond said. “I was just joking around when I said, ‘Hey, I want to be an extra.'”

The commercial is for the newest World Harbors Inc. product, Buccaneer Blends, an all-natural line of five barbecue and two steak sauces. World Harbors, an Auburn company, partnered with Farmington-based Insyt New Media to coordinate the Hermon shoot, the results of which will be viewed in approximately 109 million households on national cable networks such as ABC Family, ESPN Classic, Lifetime, Oxygen, SpikeTV and TLC. The commercial will air this spring and summer.

World Harbors already has a Caribbean-style theme, so the new line’s pirate mascot was a natural fit, especially since men tend to break out the aprons when it’s time to barbecue, said Kyle Gregory, director of marketing for the Auburn company. Danforth’s grocery store was a perfect location choice because it is large, well-lit and Maine-owned, he said.

Dick Danforth, owner of the Hermon supermarket, which opened in December, said the commercial had caused a buzz in town, but he was just happy to help out a fellow Maine business.

“My first reaction was it was pretty neat,” Danforth said. “I never thought something like this would be done in Hermon. I figured it would be nice for the town, especially since it’s not a common thing to happen in the state of Maine.”

Sherri Therrien, 33, of Otis left her kids at home with her husband Thursday night so she could participate in the filming. Therrien crosses the screen pushing a Danforth’s shopping cart as the first scene opens with the lead cast members walking down aisle two. Bo Jespersen of Augusta and Desi Van Til of Portland were chosen as the husband and wife shoppers at casting calls in Farmington and Portland, while Trey James Meader, 5, of Bryant Pond acted as their pirate-enamored son.

The 9 p.m. start was far beyond Trey’s 7:30 p.m. bedtime, but his mom, Kirsten Meader, said she would allow it just this once. His principal at the Crescent Park School in Bethel also blessed his brush with Hollywood by writing a note indicating his excusable absence. “I am aware and fully supportive of Trey’s filming obligations,” Kirsten Meader recited with a chuckle.

Trey’s first yawn surfaced around 11 p.m., and once the first scene wrapped up he was nestled in his mother’s arms ready for a quick nap until his next required appearance.

Nick Criss and Sara Curtis left their 2-month-old daughter, Kierra, home with Grandma while the two tried the movie business. The Dexter couple served as extras during Thursday night’s filming, but it wasn’t the cameras that made Criss anxious. As soon as the 20-year-old sat down in the makeup chair, he grew antsy and felt compelled to tell everyone in the room it was his first experience with facial powder.

“He’ll probably jump right in the shower as soon as he gets home,” Curtis said with a laugh.

trobbins@bangordailynews.net

990-8074