State's come-hither scenery often co-stars in car ads

It's a bit of an open road for car commercials in Washington state.

Washington's film-friendly and pretty-picture environment has drawn 10 auto-advertising productions to the state so far this year, including the makers of a car commercial that's to be filmed on Interstates 90 and 5 this afternoon.

Doug du Mas, a location manager and scout who specializes in car ads, says the topography of the state and Seattle are the drawing cards. "The look is pretty spectacular. It's a beautiful city."

Washington is one of a handful of states that doesn't charge film crews a fee to use the roads.

"We don't have a law on the books that allows us to charge these guys," said Jamie Holter, communications manager for traffic for the state Department of Transportation (DOT).

Other states, such as Idaho and Oregon, charge a fee to use their roads, but in Washington, the only fees are for permits and staffing.

According to Holter, the Chevy Malibu commercial now being shot in the state costs just $800 for DOT expenses, although the cost of getting help from Washington State Patrol troopers will range from $3,500 to $4,000.

Filming car commercials requires a number of permits, depending on the locale. For example, permits are needed to use roads or to film in a park.

If filming is done on state or federal highways, state troopers must be called in to direct traffic, escort film crews and perform related duties. It costs about $50 an hour per officer and 34.5 cents per mile for their mileage.

Trooper Greg Pressel, who staffed a car-commercial shoot several years ago, enjoyed the work.

"It was excellent. I loved it," Pressel said yesterday.

A high-end car commercial can cost $500,000 to $1 million. Running packages, or shots of different cars driving on different kinds of roads that are given to dealers to make their own commercials, cost $300,000 to $400,000.

Washington's scenic landscape — wheat fields, ocean, mountains and the lunarlike desert east of the Cascades — provides a wide variety of backdrops for advertisers.

Seattle resident du Mas, 49, stumbled into the business more than 20 years ago. As the son of a college professor whose family moved every few years, du Mas was brought up scouting new environments.

State road officials said today's closure was chosen as a time that would have the least impact on drivers.

"People will not have to wait any longer than 10 minutes," said Holter. "Seattle drivers get to use the roads first."

Sarah Anne Wright: 206-464-2752 or swright@seattletimes.com