PAYSON — Downtown Main Street could have been mistaken for the happiest place on Earth Tuesday as production crews filmed scenes for a Disney TV movie.
Salty Picture Inc., the production company that filmed "High School Musical" and "High School Musical 2," began shooting parade scenes on Main Street in Payson for "Hatching Pete," a television movie that will air on Disney Channel. According to an Internet ad calling for movie extras, filming started Feb. 24 in the Salt Lake area.
Mayor Burtis Bills said it only seemed logical crews would choose to film in Payson.
"Being a Disney movie," he said, "they wanted a bright, happy place."
Salty Pictures representatives approached Payson officials about shooting a portion of the movie in January, said Amy Hickman, a business licensing retention expansion specialist for the city. She said a company employee lives in Spanish Fork and suggested the company use downtown Payson as the set for a parade scene.
A location manager took a look at some pictures and quickly agreed.
"They said it was charming and quaint," Hickman said.
Representatives from Salty Pictures and Disney did not return requests for comment.
Before filming began Tuesday, work crews gave Main Street a makeover in preparation for its television debut. They gave some businesses a fresh coat of paint, planted flowers and put a new sign on the shuttered Gingerbread Bakery.
The crowd was slim when filming began around 6:30 a.m., but it grew to around 300, Bills estimated. Heather Davis, an employee at Willow Creek A Home Decor at 10 S. Main, took a break from work to view the spectacle. She described the scene as a typical parade complete with floats, bands and cheerleaders — except for the fact they had to do several retakes.
"It was fun to see," she said. "It's never this lively on Main Street."
Davis didn't recognize any actors on the set, although she said she thinks she's seen one on "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" — a Disney sitcom about identical twins living in the Tipton Hotel, according to www.imdb.com.
"I watch it all the time," she said — with her kids, she added.
Hickman said "Hatching Pete" is a coming-of-age tale about a boy who moonlights as mascot for his high school. She said filming will continue today, Thursday and Monday, weather permitting.
Salty Pictures Inc. is the company that produced "High School Musical" in 2006 and "High School Musical 2" in 2007; both were filmed at East High School in Salt Lake City. According to imdb.com, those Disney Channel movies netted premiere viewerships of 7.7 million and 17.6 million.
E-mail: jdana@desnews.com