Carpenter enjoys movie roles

Before Bill Baynham started Baynham Wood Products Co. and his teaching career, he worked on the first of several feature film sets.

"I started a long time ago with a Don Johnson film called 'Sweet Heart's Dance'," he says.

"This was filmed in Vermont and they needed a few carpenters to build real buildings on the set. I was a natural fit for the film because it was a union production."

Baynham was a union carpenter with the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Jointers. The film union is The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada.

"My local is IATSE 481 Studio Mechanics, which covers New England," he says.

Baynham spent five months working on the Chevy Chase movie, " Funny Farm," also filmed in Vermont.

"One of the first projects I did in my new shop was the kitchen for the film, ' The Good Son,' with Macaulay Culkin," he says. "This was shot in Massachusetts. I never actually worked on location, but only built and shipped the kitchen."

He also brought his carpentry skills to " School Ties," with Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck; " What Lies Beneath," with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer; " Me, Myself & Irene," with Jim Carrey and Renee Zellweger; " Meet Joe Black," with Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins; and " The Crucible," with Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder, which was filmed on Hog Island off the coast of Essex, Mass.  

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georgelausch

George Lausch was a staff writer and editor for FDM and CabinetMaker magazines. He wrote feature and news stories for the magazines.