Christopher Jennings of La Grande, one of the producers of “Breakup Season,” speaks at a party celebrating the conclusion of filming the movie on Feb. 25, 2023 at La Grande’s HQ.

LA GRANDE — Few people will be waiting for the release of the movie “Breakup Season” with greater anticipation than Rikke and Truls Finbraten, of La Grande.

Much of the film was shot in February in the Finbratens’ home on Morgan Lake Road. The family leased their home to the makers of movie.

“We wanted to do our small part to help with the project,” said Rikke Finbraten, who also served as a volunteer for the film production, directed by independent filmmaker H. Nelson Tracey, of Los Angeles.

Rikke Finbraten worked on the set of a Warner Bros. television program about 20 years ago, so she knew what to expect. Nevertheless, Finbraten was struck by what she witnessed.

“It was amazing to watch,” she said.

Finbraten was impressed with how quickly the cast and crew bonded. The movie is about a college couple who come to La Grande over Christmas break to see the boyfriend’s family, but unfortunately they break up.

“I heard a lot of people say this was one of the closest sets they had been a part of,” she said.

So close was the cast and crew that the final day of the primary filming for the movie on Friday, Feb. 24, was emotional.

“We all cried. There were a lot of tears,” Finbraten said.

One of the most beloved characters that sometimes stepped onto the set was one who will not be listed on the credits — the Finbratens’ cat, Michael. The feline was not part of the movie but sometimes ambled on to the set, putting scenes about to be shot at risk.

Crew and cast members would start giving alarm calls whenever the cat approached the set.

“I must have heard ‘cat! cat!’ 50 times — if not more,” Finbraten said.

Those issuing the warnings did not sound irritated, though.

“Everybody loved Michael,” Finbraten said.

The shoot sessions for the movie all were 12 hours. Finbraten said the work was not tiring for her and other members of the crew because everyone got along so well.

“A 12-hour day does not seem long when you like the people you are working with,” she said.

Finbraten noted that after working together all day, the cast and crew would often socialize together for as long as six hours.

She said one of the reasons everyone got along so well was a shared sense of humility.

“Nobody had an ego you had to work around,” she said. “This was an egoless group.”

Finbraten said she was able to see the filming of all scenes except the ones involving the breakup, which were closed because of the emotional nature. Most scenes were shot in two or three takes, but there were some exceptions.

“There were several ‘one-take wonders,’” Finbraten said.

Finbraten said that in some ways her family’s home seemed like it was made to be a movie set because it was large enough to house all of the equipment needed for filming. The Finbratens’ home is named Dern Haven, an old English expression for a hidden haven.

Finbraten said she enjoyed helping host a movie production in her home so much that she’s surprised it was never on her bucket list before this opportunity came about.

“Breakup Season” is expected to come out in about a year.

One of the scenes Finbraten is anxious to see involves an argument between the characters played by Chandler Riggs and Jacob Wysocki, who are brothers in the film.

“I enjoyed their intensity,” she said. “It was almost like they weren’t acting because their acting was so good.”