SISSONVILLE, W.Va., Jan. 10 Some parents are upset that their middle school was used in a West Virginia Lottery commercial, but substitutes were brought in for their children.
Sissonville parent Kimberly Parsons said she saw a film crew when she visited Sissonville Middle School for a parents meeting, The Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette reported Thursday. When she learned that the crew was filming John Adams Middle School students, she was upset.
"It didn't have to be my child, but it should have been some of the students that went to school there," she said of the student-actors.
Bill Hogan, the filmmaker for the public service announcement, said, "We were in an unusual situation," and had to get creative because of a snow-day shortened week.
He said he couldn't be assured that Sissonville students would have the needed permission slips in time for the filming. Students from John Adams school had them, so he brought the kids to Sissonville as a "standby measure."
Sissonville students, however, were filmed later in some outdoor shots. The commercial was shot to show how lottery funds were spent.
Copyright 2008 by UPI
