Keith Cox

Last night many of the movers and shakers of the Willapa Bay oyster industry gathered at the Neptune Theater in Long Beach to see a film about themselves and their work. It was the culminating documentary in a four-year-long project by Keith Cox, South Bend native and movie industry professional – a documentary Keith is considering pitching to PBS sometime in the future.

“In order to do that,” Keith told me last week, “I’d have to get specific written releases from every single person who shows up on the film. I just haven’t had the time to do that yet.” No kidding. Among his ‘day job’ credits are more than 125 movies including “The Pianist,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Man of Steel,” and most recently “The Hobbit.” What it is exactly that he does is a mystery to me – maybe editing – but for the eight DVDs in his Willapa Bay Oysters” series, he did it all. It is beyond impressive.

Marta (my ‘other child’ who is visiting from California) went with us and to say that she was blown away by what oystering is all about is to understate to the max. “I had no idea!” she kept saying afterwards. In fact, as soon as the film was over and the house lights went up she walked up to several of the “stars of the show,” and told them how great they were, how hard their job looked and that she “had no idea!”

“Willapa Bay and the Oysters:

Indeed, if you have no idea of what oyster farming is all about, the film is a complete eye-opener. Not only does it explore the history of oysters on our bay (the second largest estuary on the Pacific coast) and how the industry began, the footage takes you into modern-day hatcheries, out on the beds to visit with workers knee-deep in mud, onto dredges planting mountains of oysters and into the opening houses and packing plants. Every aspect of the industry is explained by the growers and workers, themselves.

Later, while we were enjoying dinner (yes! oysters!) at the Pub, a couple of local women came in and stopped at our table to chat. They, too, had been at the Neptune. They, too, said “I had no idea!” “And,” they said, “We live here!” It was obvious that from now on they would view oysters (and oystermen/women!) with an even greater appreciation and respect.

Keith has definitely accomplished his mission – to document what is entailed in growing oysters on Willapa Bay and to convey that the end product is “more than an oyster, it’s a quality of life.” If you missed last night’s screening you will have other opportunities:  Keith will have a booth at the Pacific County Fair in Menlo August 20^th through the 23rd where the film series will be offered for sale and on Sunday, August 24 there will be screenings at the Raymond Theater from noon to 6 p.m. as well.  The beautifully packaged “Preservation Edition” 5-Disc Set (plus booklet of photos from the films) is available at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum or at www.stonypix.com.

Well done, Keith! We’ll be looking for you and your film on PBS!