photo by Stephanie Croston: Mitchell Lyon runs into Pac 'N' Save Discount Foods during a scene from Carts, a short film written by Monte Bainter of Seward.

by Stephanie Croston

    There were more lights, cameras and action in Seward's Pac 'N' Save than normal March 12 and 13.
     The cast and crew of Carts, a short film by White Box Films in Lincoln, was filming Carts, a story about chances and choices.
     Monte Bainter of Seward, the film's screenwriter, said they had looked at three other grocery stores before settling on Pac 'N' Save. The space at the front of the store gave the crew plenty of room to set up its cameras and lights, he said.
     The store continued normal operations while the cast and crew worked. Paul Mueller, Pac 'N' Save manager, said everyone was very courteous to his employees and customers while they were filming.
     Bainter has known Greg Kubitschek, White Box Films cameraman, for quite some time. Jason Nabb is the film's director, and the three were looking for a short film to shoot while they had some down time from other projects.
     When they first started talking about the project, they had no script. Bainter had some ideas, and one weekend, he wrote Carts. He said the script for the 10- to 14-minute film was written in about six hours.
     The cast includes Mitchell Lyon as the young man, Lindsey Hall as the young woman, Melissa Lewis as the checker, Connie Dillow and Philip Heckman.
     According to the website, whiteboxfilms.com, the film is due to be released sometime in April.