HUNT FOR THE CARMEL SLAYER IS FINALLY COMPLETED!!!

READ BELOW FOR THE RELEASE DATE

CURRENT NEWS

August 5th, 2007: The showing went great, with a larger than expected crowd showing up to review the film. WABI-TV5 ran the story all weekend long, giving us more airtime that we ever expected. We are running behind due to high demand, so if you ordered a DVD, please give time to get the duplicates made. The donations that we received were enough to cover the cost of the high school rental. I'll be posting the story that TV5 aired when I have just a bit more time to compress it for online viewing!!

Thanks for all you support, and we'll keep you posted when we start to shoot the next short film.

Old news:

July 10, 2007: I just spoke with Mike Dow from KISS 94.5, and we are going to be on-air July 20th at 7:30 on WVOM and 7:55 am on KISS with pre-release interviews. Listen in to hear the details of the release party slated for July 21st 2007 at the Hermon High School. Also watch WABI TV-5 for an upcoming follow-up story from Sharon Pelletier.

June 19th, 2007: It's completed! We have a date secured for the Hermon High School, July 21st, at 1 pm. Donations will be accepted at the door to cover the cost of renting out the High School. Bring anyone you'd like, however I do recommend not bringing anyone under the age of 13. It does show some graphic violence, so if you are offended by this, or you would rather your child did not see this, please use appropriate discretion. DVDs will be available at the door for all who participated or donated time and services. If you would like to purchase a DVD after the release party, please contact Connie Graves (Carmel Historical Society) at 848-7468 or Julia at the Carmel Town Hall at 848-3361. Price is $17 per DVD, with $3 of each sale going to the Carmel historical Society.

Thanks to all involved, including, but not limited to, Kevin and Windy Keith, Mark Rediker, Jessi Clement, Carmel Historical Society, Town of Carmel, Town of Hermon, Town of Levant, Seafood Galley, Carmel General Store, and all of those who helped by securing locations, acting, writing, running to the store for beer or water, or just plain lended a hand in the production process. Thanks again, and I'll be seeing some of you on my next shoot titled "5 Days". This is slated to start production somewhere around January 2008.

April 8th, 2007: We're back online now, and ready to start the duplication process. Once we start getting duplicate DVDs made up, then I'll schedule the auditorium time at the Hermon High School for the private screening. I'll post times and dates when they become available, so check in frequently to find out when "Hunt for the Carmel Slayer" will be showing!

11-23-2006: The final cut is complete, but we have yet to add a "Directors Commentary" to the ending to explain the ironies and similarities that may be of interest to local people. We hope to be shooting this 10 minute segment this Saturday, November 25th. After it is shot, it shouldn't be more than a couple of weeks to cut it down, and add it in to the final cut.

Chris Gagnon and Sarah Theriault-Cotton from AngrySun Productions (based in Old Town, Maine) have done a remarkable job producing the soundtrack to this movie. Sarah is a student at NESCOM (New England School of Communications) and has definitely earned her vocal credits on this one. Chris is the owner of AngrySun Productions, and continues to sign local bands to his resume. These 2 show that volunteering doesn't have to be boring!!

January 15th, 2006: After nearly 8 months of work, the rough cut is finally done. We have set a deadline of January 21st for the narration, then we will hand off the finished piece to Chris Gagnon of Old Town to create the soundtrack, with a final cut deadline of February 11th. We're still in the process of negotiations with A&E Networks to air this on the History Channel, so keep checking back for more info.

This has been an immense "labor of love", so to speak, and we have learned a great deal from all that has happened. We have learned that you can get far by simply asking. I now know to check the mics EVERY time we shoot and not to rely on what you hear in the headphones. It's better to have someone else listening to the audio, while I focus on shooting. I've learned that I can't effectively do everything myself, and that having a production assistant on any shoot makes a world of difference. I've learned that you can never have too much footage, and it's better to overshoot, than to have too little. I now realize that I can't write the script, do the research, coordinate the shoot times, make all the calls to the actors (who, might I say, put in well over 120%!), facilitate the media promotions and public relations, and keep the website updated, while still working 40+ hours at my daytime job.

So a huge thanks go to all that helped out, keeping the onlookers off the set and quiet, Matt for writing some amazing stuff, even though he was dropped part way into this project, Melissa for pulling off some last minute script memorizing and performing unlike any other 11 year old girl ever could, Dennis for shooting at a moments notice and for boosting my creative side, Mark for giving pointers on white balancing under tough lighting, Kristina for writing some remarkable scripts, Jessi, Leigh, Steve, Kevin, Windy, Allen, Connie, and Justin for providing some much-needed comic relief, along with some great acting, The Rudnickis and the Smalls for the use of their houses, Penoscot Probate court and the Honorable Judge Woodcock for the use of the courtroom, Chip for the use of BMHI, all the folks at the Manna House for the use of the old Beal College/City hospital/City jail, Carmel General store, The Seafood Galley in Carmel, The Gotts for believing me, Hands of Hope and Ophelias for costumes, Carmel Elementary School for hosting our Casting call, Marvin and Connie Graves at the Carmel Historical Society, Maine State Archives for going above and beyond in finding "lost documents", Julia at the Carmel Town Office, WABI TV5, WVII TV7, the Bangor Daily News, K100, KISS 94.5, and countless others who gave (sometimes until they bled!) to make this movie happen.

I can't tell you how it felt when I saw this coming together the past couple of months, but it certainly felt like I had accomplished something magical. Not too many people get to fulfill their dreams, and this is mine. Even if a major network doesn't purchase it, it will still be a success and will sell locally throughout Maine. Again, I just want to say Thanks to everyone involved that I couldn't mention due to space and time, they still deserve a million dollar paycheck! We'll be looking for these same people again when we do our next movie. Rock on Carmel!!

Sincerely, JD Blaine

January 8th, 2006 : We have just posted our "behind the scenes" image gallery. Click here to view some photos taken during the 6 month long shoot that will be "Hunt for the Carmel Slayer" when it's finished. If you would like to keep copies of these images, feel free to copy and paste them. However, since these images are copyrighted 2005 by JD Blaine/CineVid Productions, please drop us an email to let us know you would like to copy them for your own personal use.

Also check out www.mainefilm.net, as we will be posting trailers and previews for this film, and posting updates to keep everyone in the loop. Please check here first, as we have been fielding a LOT of phone calls daily, and this takes up valuable editing and shooting time.

Again, a BIG thanks for all involved, and we'll make sure to include as many people as possible in any promotional events that we participate in. Check back soon, and thanks for stopping by!

We've been invited to be on the Mike and Mike radio show sometime next week, so listen in and hear the story of how this project got started, and where it's going to go from here. Besides, it's an all around fun show to listen to! Special thanks to Mike Dow, of the Mike & Mike show!

2 of the last 3 shoots went well, with Jodie Osgood lending a hand as Production Assistant. Jodie came back up from New York City with lots of experience, and was eager to lend a hand. She helped out with keeping everything flowing seamlessly, and made sure while I was directing and shooting, that everything was in place and the scene looked authentic. Many thanks to Jodie!

We're still panning out the final shoot, but finding the right place is getting difficult. This is the "Coroners scene", with only 2 actors, and light scripting. As soon as we get the 2 actors coordinated, we'll post the info on the date. More to come!

 

We are finally down to our last 2 of 3 scenes to shoot. These will be shot on December 11th, and include the arrest scene, and some minor interrogations with the Stevens family. This has been a long process, for all involved, and we would like to thank everyone who participated in the making of this movie. If I could work on it full time, it would have been done months ago, but our daytime jobs take precedence.

As soon as the last piece is shot, we will begin work on the narration and final cut. We anticipate that this will be finished by late January/early February, and when completed we will send out the appropriate emails, and make all the phone calls to let everyone know it's finished.

So far, we have 2 photojournalists, myself and Dennis Witham, enlisted to handle this documentary. Our Historical researcher is Wendy and is hard at work with local historians Marvin and Constance Graves in the investigative portion.

SHOOT SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST 7TH AND 11TH

We will be shooting 4 scenes in the next 2 weeks, 2 on the 7th, and 2 on the 11th. The shoot on the 7th includes the "family scene", depicted the morning of the murder and sets the tone and reasoning for Naomi going to the store alone. The 11th will inlcude a shoot at BMHI, depicting Sherman Grays past admission to the Mental Hospital, dating back to around 1907.

Actors are still needed, so if you are interested in playing a key speaking role, please visit our booth at Carmel Days, August 6th in Carmel Maine.

For those who would like to read the story as it appeared in the newspapers, click here to download the PDF file. (Courtesy of the Carmel Historical Society/Constance Graves)

CARMEL DAYS PARADE

We will be hosting the Carmel Historical Society float for the Carmel Days parade on August 6th 2005 at 10am. Keep an eye out for us, and you will able to meet some of the cast and crew of "Hunt for the Carmel Slayer". CineVid Productions will have a table setup after the parade at Carmel Days for about 2 hours so that you can meet the cast and crew and find out more about the production of this made-for-TV-movie. While you're there, ask Mark for his autograph!!

CASTING CALL WAS A SUCCESS!!

The casting call was a huge success due to local radio stations WKIT-100.3 and WBZN-107.3, The Seafood Galley, The Carmel Elementary school, Town of Carmel, WVII TV-7 and the Bangor Daily News. A lot of hard work went into promoting this event, and we would like to thank those involved for believing in us! The casting call netted over 100 participants, and we were able to fill almost all of the characters' roles.

The running list of characters that have been filled so far are as follows:

Naomi Mitchell - played by Jessi Clement

Sherman Gray - played by Mark Rediker

Sherrif Estes - played by Kevin Keith

Courtroom Lawyers - Mark Beckwith and Steve Este

Evelyn Mitchell - Leigh Clement

 

more to come!