April 12, 2004
Two thumbs up | Bethel restaurateur Cathi DiCoco says movie catering is good for business
By Brendan Hughes
The Twelve Dogs of Christmas, an independent kids' film that recently began shooting in the Bethel area, is Cathi DiCoco's fourth movie. She doesn't have a dressing room, though, and she won't be appearing at your local cineplex anytime soon. Instead, DiCoco stays behind the scenes for her job preparing two home-cooked meals a day for the more than 100 members of the production's cast and crew.
DiCoco, who owns Café DiCoco's Market Bakery and Café DiCoco Restaurant in Bethel in addition to her DiCoco Catering, began working on movies after a chance encounter with a talent scout in 1995. "A guy came in from New York City, and he was looking for some locations to shoot movies," she says. "He would come in and have lunch and sit and chat about how cool Bethel is." The scout was looking for a big house available for filming, so DiCoco put him in touch with a friend whose home near Bethel fit the bill. Later, she says, "I called him up and left a message on his answering machine that I wanted to cater if they should decide to come to Bethel." The producers hired DiCoco for the picture, The Myth of Fingerprints, in April 1996, and a new line of business was born for the Bethel entrepreneur.
After working on The Myth of Fingerprints, DiCoco registered with the Maine Film Office. The tiny state agency ˆ it's staffed by just two people ˆ hooks up movie producers with local production companies and vendors like DiCoco Catering. Since DiCoco registered, production companies have tapped her for three more movies, including the Oscar-nominated In the Bedroom, and a number of advertising and photo shoots.
DiCoco serves breakfast for The Twelve Dogs of Christmas cast and crew ˆ minus the dozens of dogs recruited for the picture ˆ at 4:30 a.m. in Bethel's Masonic Hall. The schedule is precise, dictated by union rules. "The last person in line has 30 minutes to get back on set, and it's six hours between mealsˆ It's so important that you're there absolutely on time," says DiCoco. In addition to the odd hours and tight schedule, movie catering is labor-intensive. DiCoco, along with three or four temporary employees who she calls on just for movie work, prepare, transport and serve every meal ˆ "I'm shopping constantly," she says.
Despite the tough schedule, DiCoco says her food has won rave reviews. "When we arrived the other day" ˆ for dinner, or as the movie types call it, "second meal" ˆ "and we had chicken cacciatore with pesto linguini and fresh salad and homemade garlic bread, they freaked out," she says. "They're just not used to getting homemade food."
Movie catering is a big money maker for DiCoco, especially when it comes in March and April, the end of the busy winter season in Bethel. "It's a lot better than just wondering if you're going to have a dining room full of people," she says. DiCoco is paid on a per-person basis, with a guarantee of at least 60 people at each meal. Her fee runs $5-$15 a head, depending on the size of the movie's budget, but it's the volume that makes catering movies profitable. "If you called me up and said, 'I need dinner for 50 people tonight,' I couldn't do it this cheap, but because I do it five days a week for 32 days, I can give them a better price on it and make it up in the volume," she says.
DiCoco doesn't have any movies lined up after The Twelve Dogs of Christmas finishes shooting sometime this month, but she plans to continue her work in show biz. With her Café DiCoco Restaurant shut down for the summer off-season, DiCoco will concentrate on her bakery and market as well as teaching cooking classes and catering weddings. "We take [the movies] one at a time," she says. "This one came in and we decided to do it because we could. It puts money in my pocket."
DiCoco, who owns Café DiCoco's Market Bakery and Café DiCoco Restaurant in Bethel in addition to her DiCoco Catering, began working on movies after a chance encounter with a talent scout in 1995. "A guy came in from New York City, and he was looking for some locations to shoot movies," she says. "He would come in and have lunch and sit and chat about how cool Bethel is." The scout was looking for a big house available for filming, so DiCoco put him in touch with a friend whose home near Bethel fit the bill. Later, she says, "I called him up and left a message on his answering machine that I wanted to cater if they should decide to come to Bethel." The producers hired DiCoco for the picture, The Myth of Fingerprints, in April 1996, and a new line of business was born for the Bethel entrepreneur.
After working on The Myth of Fingerprints, DiCoco registered with the Maine Film Office. The tiny state agency ˆ it's staffed by just two people ˆ hooks up movie producers with local production companies and vendors like DiCoco Catering. Since DiCoco registered, production companies have tapped her for three more movies, including the Oscar-nominated In the Bedroom, and a number of advertising and photo shoots.
DiCoco serves breakfast for The Twelve Dogs of Christmas cast and crew ˆ minus the dozens of dogs recruited for the picture ˆ at 4:30 a.m. in Bethel's Masonic Hall. The schedule is precise, dictated by union rules. "The last person in line has 30 minutes to get back on set, and it's six hours between mealsˆ It's so important that you're there absolutely on time," says DiCoco. In addition to the odd hours and tight schedule, movie catering is labor-intensive. DiCoco, along with three or four temporary employees who she calls on just for movie work, prepare, transport and serve every meal ˆ "I'm shopping constantly," she says.
Despite the tough schedule, DiCoco says her food has won rave reviews. "When we arrived the other day" ˆ for dinner, or as the movie types call it, "second meal" ˆ "and we had chicken cacciatore with pesto linguini and fresh salad and homemade garlic bread, they freaked out," she says. "They're just not used to getting homemade food."
Movie catering is a big money maker for DiCoco, especially when it comes in March and April, the end of the busy winter season in Bethel. "It's a lot better than just wondering if you're going to have a dining room full of people," she says. DiCoco is paid on a per-person basis, with a guarantee of at least 60 people at each meal. Her fee runs $5-$15 a head, depending on the size of the movie's budget, but it's the volume that makes catering movies profitable. "If you called me up and said, 'I need dinner for 50 people tonight,' I couldn't do it this cheap, but because I do it five days a week for 32 days, I can give them a better price on it and make it up in the volume," she says.
DiCoco doesn't have any movies lined up after The Twelve Dogs of Christmas finishes shooting sometime this month, but she plans to continue her work in show biz. With her Café DiCoco Restaurant shut down for the summer off-season, DiCoco will concentrate on her bakery and market as well as teaching cooking classes and catering weddings. "We take [the movies] one at a time," she says. "This one came in and we decided to do it because we could. It puts money in my pocket."
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