Documentary film team explores Snoqualmie Valley’s big ‘Twin Peaks’ era

Maybe you never watched “Twin Peaks” or maybe you have every episode and the movie on Blu-Ray, plus the books, the soundtracks, the city guide, and a costume or two carefully stashed away. Either way, if you live in the Valley, you have probably heard of the 1990-91 TV series, ostensibly set in the Upper Valley, and are familiar with its cult following.

Maybe you never watched “Twin Peaks” or maybe you have every episode and the movie on Blu-Ray, plus the books, the soundtracks, the city guide, and a costume or two carefully stashed away. Either way, if you live in the Valley, you have probably heard of the 1990-91 TV series, ostensibly set in the Upper Valley, and are familiar with its cult following.

That fan base, along with show landmarks like Snoqualmie Falls, the Salish Lodge, a stretch of Reinig Road, and Twedes’s Cafe, starred early last week in a new film coming to Netflix.

“It’s a documentary about how people connect with shows, like Twin Peaks,” said director Tracey Smith, after a cold and windy day of filming that ended with pie and coffee at Twede’s, Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Smith and her New York-based film crew spent two weeks traveling the country, filming fans in famous big-screen locations on a commission from the Muhtazik Hoffman ad agency in San Francisco. Their stops included, of course, the houseboat from “Sleepless in Seattle” and the iconic east stairs to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, better known as the Rocky Steps, from a scene in the 1980 movie “Rocky.”

“Tomorrow’s our last day here, and then we get to sleep!” an exhausted Smith said. She didn’t know when the documentary was scheduled for release.

Besides the film crew, everyone else in the cafe Tuesday afternoon was either a local resident or “just super fans” like Rob and Deanne Lindley. The Puyallup couple organizes the annual Twin Peaks Festival, and, for Tuesday, they lined up a group of show fans to take Smith’s film crew on a tour of Twin Peaks sites in North Bend and Snoqualmie.

The group included Snoqualmie residents Barb and Richard Koefod and Mary Hutter, the Lindleys, and Seattle actor, playwright and red-suited superfan Chris Mathews. His suit is beyond bright, but Mathews said it helped to keep him warm when the group was filming on Reinig Road, the setting for the Twin Peaks sign.

Also, he needed the suit for his own plays, performed at early Twin Peaks Festivals, and he’s won a few of the festival costume contests with it. His trophy, much-prized, is a small log autographed by Catherine Coulson, the “Log Lady” from the show.

As the film crew left, the superfans had one more cup of coffee, and talked excitedly about the future Twin Peaks Festival, set for July 24 to 27, 2015, and further out, the return of Twin Peaks to the small screen in 2016.

“The cool thing is that next year’s festival is already sold out,” said Richard Koefod, “and all those people will be spending time, and spending money in the local businesses.”

Cameramen and crew get their own photos taken during a day of filming in the Upper Valley. The crew accompanied a group of Twin Peaks fans visiting some of the famous filming sites, for an upcoming Netflix documentary on how people connect with TV and movies. Courtesy photo

Kyle Twede refills coffee for customers at Twede’s Cafe, as they discuss all things Twin Peaks.