Defrosting from the Poconos

After filming in the Poconos for NBC/Universal's "Storm Stories" I have a greater appreciation for furry hoods, double layered socks, and my love for snow machines. The small team of cast and crew (4 actors and 3 crew members) left in a van to go to the Poconos early on Thursday morning. We were re-enacting the Dominguez family's experience stranded in upstate California last year as they were lost for 3 days in a blizzard after cutting down a Christmas tree in the woods. I played the middle daughter Lexie. Logan Sayre played my younger brother, Edwin Garcia played the father, and Marcel Torres played my older brother. The show was produced by Natalia Mironova and Bernadette Longino of NBC and Sal Malguarnera was the DP.
Thursday was a hectic day as we departed from 30 Rock at around 8:30 am and arrived in the Poconos ready to shoot at Tanglwood Ski Resort. We filmed on a private property - cutting down a Christmas tree and trekking through deep snow like the family. Later in the day we filmed a scene under a pine needle shelter, huddled together with a snow machine exhaling a blizzard of ice and snow onto us. I unfortunately was only wearing one layer of bottoms - jeans - so I really didn't have to pretend that I was freezing to death that much. The picture to the left features the team of actors huddling under a makeshift shelter of branches as the snow machine pours down on us.
On Friday we got to sleep in a bit as the crew filmed the rescue scene complete with snowmobiles and red uniformed ski slope employees. We shot a very difficult scene in a culvert (pipe under a river) in which the family attempts to sleep and fights frostbite. My character Lexie got frostbite in her toes, so we used black eyeshadow to paint my toes black. It actually looked pretty disgusting and I will post some pictures of my dead little toes soon. After taking my shoes and socks off on camera and stuggling to sit in the culvert without sliding down the side into the slushy ice that lay waiting at the bottom, I eventually lost all feeling in my toes as the camera showed Lexie's pain in discovering her blackened toes.
This "Storm Stories" episode will air on March 21st on The Weather Channel and I am so excited to see it. I had a wonderful experience working with the cast and crew and it was truly an adventure to do an entire shoot in the great outdoors. The scenery was beautiful and driving at night was an unexpected adventure with barely any lights lining the streets and complete peace and quiet. I unfortunately did not get a chance to go skiing or snowboarding for the first time, but I would love to go back to the Tanglwood Ski Resort and visit the generous owners there. Plus, they had great veggie burgers in the lodge. : )
Stay tuned for a reminder on the showtime and some additional pictures from the shoot!