Annie threw another “girl’s night in” party, so I got the chance to catch a late-night showing of Thank You for Smoking. The film was quirky and thought-provoking, et cetera, but what I relished most about it was its on-location filming in DC. A fictitious research and lobbying group, the Academy of Tobacco Studies, is set in a building that is, in real life, the Department of Energy (my day job!). The DOE site in DC is a massive group of structures that houses thousands of federal and contractor employees. I think it was the movie’s intent to imply that the entire building belonged to the “Academy of Tobacco Studies” — in reality such agencies could make do with — perhaps — 1/100th of the floor space of the Forrestal building complex. (more production notes)

Some of the bar scenes looked like they could have been filmed at the Caucus Room, but the end credits mentioned the Hyatt Regency as a location. I don’t know for sure… A particular scene in the offices of The Washington Probe featured a row of cubicles with nameplates on each. The first nameplate I saw happened to be my mother’s first name and maiden name. Far out.

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