Lights, Camera, Action!

Local Hardware Store Films Paint Commercial

By Eugenia Moskowitz

When Benjamin Moore headquarters in New Jersey contacted Corinne Courtney, owner of Nailed It Hardware in Washingtonville, to be in their next nationally broadcast commercial, she jumped at the opportunity. Ad that’s when the Washingtonville Little League team her store sponsors got in on the action.

On the morning of Mar. 23, camera and sound crews converged on Courtney’s store to film her, Washingtonville Little League president Scott Davy, and the team of elementary school aged kids, all in their blue and gold baseball uniforms with team name in back, to a colorful backdrop of Benjamin Moore paints.

With lights, diffusion screens, and more expensive video camera equipment than you can shake a microphone stick at, a crew of about 15 directors and technicians set up the sound stage while a steady stream of Courtney’s regular Saturday customers quietly stepped over wires and rigging to make their purchases.

Part of what makes living in a “big small town” like Washingtonville so great, Courtney has often said, is the ability to get involved with the lives behind the people she serves. Parents and kids who are directly affected by things like store sponsorship of a team are greeted at every turn, and indeed the group of little leaguers included many that customers waved to as they passed through the store that morning. (This reporter and her youngest son personally waved at four.)

Courtney and Davy stood with the team as the filming, a long and somewhat tedious process involving getting lots of variables just right to produce what will likely be a few seconds of viable material, took place for much of the morning. If all goes according to plan, Courtney said, the commercial should air just before Memorial Day as the company’s “thank you” campaign. But also, she said, “This day of filming paints a picture of what Washingtonville is all about: the social fabric of small businesses directly involved with the town’s children. It’s what makes a small town a hometown.”

CAPTION: Nailed It Hardware’s little league team filmed on-location at Corinne Courtney’s shop in Washingtonville on Mar. 23. Along with the team, Courtney (at right) stands here with Washingtonville Little League president Scott Davy (at left) in Benjamin Moore Paint’s next nationally broadcast commercial, to air around Memorial Day. (Photo by Eugenia Moskowitz)