Lights, camera, action in Lake Oswego

New Jennifer Aniston movie is being shot in the local area

By Nicole DeCosta

The Lake Oswego Review, Nov 1, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Vern Uyetake / Lake Oswego Review

Lake Oswego resident and actor Taylor Jahn, 24, holds up a pay stub voucher from his day of filming on Jennifer Aniston’s movie “Management,” which recently filmed in the city, as well as at several locations in West Linn. Jahn spent three hours on a Spider Ride at Oaks Amusement Park for a scene and got paid $100. Aniston is one of his favorite actresses.

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Glossy pictures of Jennifer Aniston ripped from magazines look worn and tattered.

Lake Oswego resident Taylor Jahn, 24, isn’t all that embarrassed to show his sweet spot for the film and TV actress – she’s much of his inspiration for beginning a career in acting. So the pictures, testaments to Jahn’s admiration of Aniston that have gone with him from high school and to his college dorm room, will accompany him to Los Angeles as he takes a shot at starting a film career of his own.

But first he got a taste of working with his idol close to home.

“She seems like a person you could be friends with,” Jahn said.

Over the past few weeks many film enthusiasts in Oregon have had a chance to come face-to-face with their favorite “Friend,” as she is filming her upcoming movie “Management” in the Northwest, including filming sites in Lake Oswego and West Linn.

Also starring Steve Zahn, the film is about Aniston – a traveling art saleswoman – who tries to shake off a flaky motel manager, Zahn, who falls for her and won’t leave her alone, according to The Internet Movie Database.

Stephen Belber – who was nominated for an Emmy in 2002 for writing “The Laramie Project” – wrote the film. This is Jahn’s first feature film.

Renaming Oregon

Oregon is depicted as three different cities in the film – Portland is Baltimore, Md., a house in West Linn and downtown Oregon City is Aberdeen, Wash., and Madras will represent a small town and motel in Arizona.

Jahn was by Aniston’s side, well sort of, for a day of filming Oct. 11 at Oaks Amusement Park in Portland. While Aniston’s character chatted with Zahn – smoking fake cigarettes – Jahn whizzed by on an amusement park ride in the background – for three hours.

“Yeah, I felt sort of sick after a while, but it was worth it,” Jahn said.

Amid a sea of extras, Jahn volunteered himself for the long stint on the Spider Ride.

“I wanted to make the most of the day. Every time I went around the corner, the camera was right there,” he said of the scene with three other main extras.

He later got to talk with Aniston briefly when he had an appearance walking through the park.

“She seems to really enjoy what she’s doing,” Jahn said.

Even though he got paid about a $100, Jahn said the experience was valuable because it, “took out the glitz and glamour (of filming),” he said. “These are just normal people doing their job, who happen to make movies.”

“Management” is touching the lives of many local professionals, with different specialized talents.

When filming Oct. 23 on Peets Mountain in West Linn, “Management’s” morning catering truck got stuck in the snow driving over the Cascades and couldn’t make it to the set in time, said Darci Robertson who works at the Footpath Café in the Willamette area.

So, she – and her business partner Krysta Kelley with Catering by Caprice that operates out of the cafe – quickly whipped up 125 breakfast burritos along with quiche and delivered it to the set.

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