EVERETT — Film producer Lacey Leavitt remembers having a crush on Chris Pratt during her freshman year at Lake Stevens High School.
While Pratt went on to stardom in television and movie roles, Leavitt has garnered attention for her work as well.
Leavitt, 32, will be the star of opening gala Friday during the Everett Film Festival at the Everett Performing Arts Center.
Her film “Lucky Them” will be screened as the main event at the gala and Leavitt will lead a question-and-answer session after the showing.
The Everett Film Festival had its start in 1997, dedicated to highlighting the strength, humor and creativity of women through provocative and entertaining films, said festival director Teresa Henderson. Over the years, the festival broadened its view to embrace films made by women and movies offering insight into the lives of women.
Growing up, Leavitt was one of those quintessential bossy girls — smart, organized and goal-oriented. Her leadership skills blossomed at the University of Washington where she learned while working on her classmates’ films that she was good producer material.
“I studied comparative literature and enjoyed writing. I’d always wanted to be involved in creating or telling stories,” Leavitt said. “I thought about being a journalist and even had a summer internship at The Herald.”
After college, Leavitt was introduced to someone who offered her a job as a producers’ assistant in New York. The movie was the art-house comedy-drama “The Squid and the Whale,” by Noah Baumbach and Wes Anderson, starring Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney.
“I was so lucky,” Leavitt said. “I obtained great insight and knowledge on that project, learning a new language that didn’t make sense until we were making the film.”
After returning to Seattle, Leavitt made the documentary “Blood on the Flat Track: The Rise of the Rat City Rollergirls.”
“I fell in love with roller derby and the women in the Seattle area who do that sport,” Leavitt said.
At some point, while working on short films and for the Seattle International Film Festival, Leavitt met the independent film director Megan Griffiths.
“I had seen her debut film, ‘First Aid for Choking,’ from 2003 and remembered that I liked it, and she liked it that I had seen it,” Leavitt said. “We became good friends and collaborators.”
Leavitt served as a producer on Griffiths’ narrative shorts “Moving” and “Eros” along with features “The Off Hours” and “The Catechism Cataclysm,” which were shown at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
Griffiths’ “Lucky Them” was filmed in King County and stars Toni Collette, Thomas Haden Church and Oliver Platt and debuted at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival.
“We knew we could make it well here,” Leavitt said of making the film in Seattle. “The script called for a waterfall. It had to be Snoqualmie Falls. Seattle gets to play Seattle in the movie, and basically it’s a love letter to our area.”
The crew was pleased with the cast, too.
“Toni Collette was amazing. She embodied the character in an amazing way.”
Her character is a music critic sent by her editor to find her rock-icon former boyfriend. She is rough around the edges, sarcastic and, ultimately, deep, Leavitt said.
“And Thom (Haden Church) hasn’t had a role where he’s got to be this good since ‘Sideways.’ It was great to let him improvise.”
Also in the film is a cameo by a real movie star, who “was a real treat. You have to see the movie to know who it is, but I will say I haven’t seen this man play someone so authentic.”
Leavitt also was a producer on “Laggies,” a new romantic comedy starring Keira Knightley, Chloe Grace Moretz and Sam Rockwell, and shares the executive producing role with Griffiths for “The Greens Are Gone,” a drama starring Catherine Keener, Anton Yelchin and Kaitlyn Dever, still in post-production.
“I have been fortunate in my career thus far,” Leavitt said. “But it’s also been hard work.”
Leavitt said she would like to stay in Seattle.
“It’s really imperative right now that the state get some film incentive legislation in place,” she said. “Until then, I am happy that Snohomish County and Everett are welcoming to filmmakers.”
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gfiege@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @galefiege.
Film festival details
Everett Film Festival is Feb. 20 and 21 at the Everett Performing Arts Center, 2710 Wetmore Ave. The schedule is 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday. For more on what is playing during the festival, as well as the gala party and the happy hour, go to www.everettfilmfest.org. Tickets for the full festival, including the gala, are $50, or $40 for seniors, students and military. Call 425-257-8600.
Schedule
Feb. 20 — Gala, 6 p.m.; Welcome, 7:15 p.m.; “Bottle” animated film, 7:20 p.m.; “Trouble with Bread” short film, 7:30 p.m.; Break, 8 p.m.; “Lucky Them,” feature film, 8:05 p.m.; Q &A, 9:45 p.m.
Feb. 21 — Welcome, 1 p.m.; “Bachelorette, 34” short film, 1:05 p.m.; “Flicker in Eternity,” short film, 2 p.m.; “David and Goliath,” starring Billy Burke, formerly of Everett, 2:15 p.m.; Break, 2:35 p.m.; “Fixed” at 2:45 p.m., about human enhancements; Q &A, 3:45 p.m.; Happy hour and food from Everett restaurants, 4:05 p.m.; “1,000 Times Good Night,” feature starring Juliette Binoche as a wartime photojournalist, 5:30 p.m.; Break, 7:30 p.m.; “Lost Luggage,” short film, 7:40 p.m.; “Sweet Dreams,” short film, 7:50 p.m.
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