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Cover-story package published in Seattle Times online on July 12, 2025
and in Pacific NW Magazine of the printed Times on July 13, 2025
A directory of made-in Seattle movies
that feature the downtown waterfront
By Clay Eals
Looking for a tabulation of made-in-Seattle movies, including those that zero in on the waterfront? You’ve come to the right place.
Above — for the first time, I believe — you will find the first attempt to catalog such feature films and spotlight those that use the waterfront as more than window dressing.
I tried to make this database expansive. It encompasses lists of films made in Seattle, from several online sources, including:
What is “waterfront”? I define it as any part of the Seattle harbor touched by Elliott Bay, including being set off by the downtown skyline or piers, the north-side parks and trails, the south-side docks, Port of Seattle cranes and containers and the Harbor Avenue side of the West Seattle peninsula.
Color coding:
- Red means the waterfront is important to the development of plot and/or characters.
- Blue means the waterfront appears but in a minor way, mostly in shots establishing that the film is set in Seattle.
- Green means the waterfront is not — or not likely — present. Green also applies to films I was unable to view and evaluate.
“How can it be seen?” This column indicates the best free or low-cost ways to view a film, and it includes video links for most entries. These may not be the only ways to view a film, but they were the ways I quickly found and used to compile information in short order. In many cases, I viewed or skimmed the entire film, but for some I was able to view only a trailer or isolated segments. Also, if you search for a film online, be sure to add the year it was released so you won’t wade through other films with the same or similar titles.
Abbreviations:
- YT = YouTube
- SPL = Seattle Public Library
- KCLS = King County Library System
- aka = also known as
“Can’t find” indicates that I could not locate a physical copy or an online file to view and evaluate the presence of waterfront scenes.
“Not likely” means that I was not able to see parts or all of a film, but that there likely are no waterfront scenes based on what I was able to learn of the film’s content from IMDb and other sources. For instance, if it is about a different geographic area, there would be no desire to show a recognizable Seattle waterfront. Or if it is a period piece, it would be impossible to film a period waterfront scene.
These categorizations are inevitably subjective. If you have information about a film that differs from what appears in this database, especially if you can verify it with a link or physical media, please contact me at ceals@comcast.net, and I will be happy to consider alterations!
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