Michael Lawrence: the Season of Darkness will be showing in Exeter NH on September 22nd: stayed tuned for more details. I am so, so proud of this particular movie - the cast, crew, and energy are just so spot on. Be sure to check it out and check out the book page on this site and on IMDb while you're at it!

Last weekend, we began filming "The Dinner Party" and what a crazy rush it's been! After all the prep-work and a few last minute challenges (including having to find a new costumer five days before the first shoot!), we've got some footage in the can and a few awesome pictures like the ones below. Check them out and stay tuned - the best is yet to come!

​Fortunately, I really love this kind of thing. Research like this makes the past come alive in ways a text-book can't quite touch. Movie-making, too, allows us to remember that our ancestors were, at the end of the day, people just like you and me, trying to make a go of things and learning, working, laughing, fighting, and loving along the way.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to find out whether lemons would have been available in New Hampshire in May of 1906...

I don't know about you, but when I think about film making and directing, the first thing that comes to mind is an image like this: 

You know, being all cool. wearing black shirts and jeans, making big decisions, and, best of all,dramatically pointing beyond a glamorous person, like so: 

And, in truth, there is a lot of that fun stuff going on during the actual film shots. But what I always, always, always, ALWAYS forget it is how much work it takes to actually get to the set. You have to find (or write) the script, convince other people that it's awesome, recruit your cast, cast your crew, scout your locations, find/buy/build your props, costume your characters, storyboard, schedule, rehearse, re-story board when your location changes or your rehearsal changes the pacing of the scenes, arrange for make-up artists, hair-stylists, stuntmen, camera people, sound equipment, music accompaniment, artists for the credits, etc, etc.

When you're doing an historical piece, like The Dinner Party, every task takes on second and third dimensions: do the locations look like the period or can they be made to? Will that couch work for 1906 or do I need to figure out how to get it out of the living room we'll be filming in? Is the prop period appropriate? Will the costume rental place allow me to plaster one of my actresses with eggs? Can you call an Irishman a potato-eater or is that not a thing? What sort of dress would a wife wear when instructing her maid in the middle of the day? What sort of jewelry would she wear? Would a New England family start a dinner gathering with an aperitif? Should the make-up artist use eye-liner on the ladies? What sort of hairstyle would the maid wear? And where on earth can I lay my hands on a western saddle?

In short, in order to get to this:

...you have to get through this, first:

Which isn't to say that prep-work isn't fun, because it can be a blast! (Especially rehearsals - you never know what's going to come up in those.) And it's not like I'm doing this alone, thank goodness (and thank Terry Traynor, also producing and running crew), because there are many many hands at work in all of this. Prep-work is where the magic really begins. As fun and cool as it is to be on set, making dramatic motions with your hands, it's what you did leading up to the shoot that really matters in whether your films is a fun, artistically fulfilling project or not. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a Film-Project To-Do list as long as my house waiting for my attention...

One of the best parts about film making is, as I may have mentioned before, all the cool people that you get to work with. Another fun part is all the place you get to go in search of locations, props, costumes, vehicles, etc. When you're working on a no-budget film, you can't afford to have things made for you, so you have to improvise, be creative, beg, and borrow. 

Yesterday, I got to go to Hackmatack Playhouse in Berwick, ME, to look at costumes for our upcoming movie The Dinner Party. Located on a beautiful farm, with rolling fields framed by pine trees, it looks like a set out of Anne of Green Gables - except for the bison, milling about in the far field. Yes, Hackmatack is also a bison farm - how awesome is that?

The stage is located in an enormous barn and there's a refreshment stand that boasts of selling coffee along with the usual theater goodies. The costumes were stored in another wooden equipment shed. Autumn Allen, our leading lady for The Dinner Party, helped me sort through decades worth of dresses, suits, hoop-skirts, and outfits from every era, which Hackmatack generously allowed other theaters and filmmakers to use. The Edwardian period is pretty tricky to outfit (it's a very distinctive period), so every article of clothing helps. What didn't help was seeing the gorgeous Medieval outfits that they had on the rack: they just revived my long-dormant desire to write a an Ivanhoe movie... something I'm pretty sure the owner of Narrow Street Films would have fit over at the mere suggestion. (An Edwardian period piece on a no-budget film is one thing... but a movie involving castle sieges and jousting tournaments and knights in full armor? Yeah...)

Back to the project at hand: thanks to Hackmatack's generosity, we have a good start towards costuming our cast and I've discovered a bison farm and a new place to go see some shows. While some people may see no-budget films as daunting and more work than they're worth, the challenge is its own reward - and the by-products of discovery, creativity, and new acquaintances are the diamonds in the rough.

I am super lucky and awfully blessed to be surrounded by awesome and talented people. One such group is Narrow Street Films, the company started by my brother. Thanks to all our projects - and my brother's knack for throwing together a reel - I now have an awesome new acting reel! Check it out and let me know what you think! 

Dear Barbara Broccoli,
There have been some disturbing talk going on around the internet. Specifically, people have been saying that it's time for a female James Bond. 'Its time to show men that women can do what they do!' I think is the rallying cry. Women are cool. Women can fight. Women can shoot. Women are Dr. Who. It's time James became Jane!
Look, I know we're all supposed to jump on this bandwagon and wear the pussy hats and hold the Feminist Banner high in honor of our (reportedly) oppressed foremothers, but I can't. I just can't. In the name of all the bad feminists out like me, I beg of you: please, please, please, don't take my fantasy away.
I know, I know. You're going to say I have the narrative wrong. 'It's a guy's fantasy, not a woman's,' you'll chide me. 'James Bond is for boys.'
'If that's so,' I'd reply, 'then why did you hire Daniel Craig and put him in a tux? Because guys are the ones fantasizing about that?'
James Bond isn't supposed to be politically correct. He isn't supposed to get with the times. He isn't a form of social commentary. He doesn't have a backstory (or a consistent one, anyway), he doesn't age (unless he's Roger Moore, but if you're Roger Moore, age doesn't matter), he doesn't slow down, and he doesn't get tired. He's a fantasy figure in a fantasy world. He is what a lot of guys would like to be, true: handsome, debonair, irresistible to women, and always ready with a gun, a smart remark, and a cool car. 
He's a guy's fantasy, yes, I get that. But he's ours too.
You see, for most women, life is... well, kinda dull. We go to work. We buy groceries. We work out and pick up the kids. We pay bills and talk to friends and occasionally go out on the town. And while life is generally good, it's also mundane. Regular. Boring. And sometimes, we just want a hunk in a tux with a gun and an Aston Martin to swoop in and take us away on an adventure. 
I know, I know. You're going to say something like, 'That's horribly backwards, Killarney. Women are strong and self-assured. They don't need a man to save them.'
Of course we don't. We are strong. We are smart. We can save the day and frequently do. But, frankly, it gets tiring. Sometimes it's nice to have someone else do it. Especially if that someone looks like Pierce Brosnan or has an accent like Sean Connery or smiles like Timothy Dalton or can beat the tar out of seven or eight bad guys with his bare hands like Daniel Craig...
Sorry, got distracted there for a minute. Where was I?
Oh, right, so the point is that, yes, women can save the day. And, yes, its cool to have action women in movies. Charlize Theron, Michelle Yeoh, Michelle Rodriguez, Zeo Saldana are all talented, fierce, fun women to watch. Rogue One was awesome. Atomic Blond looks like a blast. Wonder Woman was, in my opinion, the best superhero movie since the second Captain America movie. And lest you forget, these films built on others that came before it: A New Hope, Alien, and Silence of the Lambs all feature strong women who, in one way or another, save the day.
We can do it. I get it. But sometimes we women just want someone else to do the dirty work. And sometimes we want that person to be Roger Moore on a remote island, saving a girl (who is really a stand-in for us) from a man with a golden gun.
Is that really too much to ask?
Yours sincerely,
Killarney

​Name: Dr. Klugman
Position: Coroner
Category: Investigator
Played By: Robb Buckland

​(Excerpt from the book)
​​
The coroner was sitting on one of the five chairs that lined the wall, a clipboard in hand.
“Lawrence!” he called, when Lawrence lifted his head from his examination. “You look like something the cat dragged in.”
Dr. Klugman had worked in the state coroner’s office almost as long as Lawrence had been a cop and his signature caustic wit was legendary among his peers. He was a big man, with a shelf full of awards achieved through various martial arts competitions. He was thorough, competent, and unflappable, though his humor was not always in the best of taste. Lawrence often thought that his tactless front was Klugman’s way of keeping sane in what had to be an emotionally trying job.
Lawrence nodded wearily and rose to his feet. “I feel like it, too.” He gestured. “What have we got?”
“A dead woman.”
“I can see that.”
Klugman grinned, then turned to the victim, placing his hands on his widespread knees. “It’s impossible to determine what she died of here, but whatever it was, it wasn’t a pleasant way to go. You can see here, where her back is arched and the distension of the jaw line. Horrendous agony.” He grinned when Lawrence shuddered. “We are feeling skittish today..”
​

Robb Buckland is an actor, stuntman, martial artist, and Army Veteran. He's a veteran of over 40 years in martial arts, holds master level in multiple styles, has been awarded the title Kyoshi (teacher of teachers), and his expertise has lead to numerous film, TV, and magazine appearances. He founded Fearless Family Martial Arts and directs a stunt team for area film makers. He has also appeared in Narrow Street Films' Not That Guy and The Man Who Wasn't Tex Magru.

​

Name: Bridget Madden
Position: Student at Noble College, aspiring singer, Emma Gagon's ward
Category: Suspect
Played By: Calico Traynor

(Excerpt from the book:)
Calm, calm, Bridget. Calm.
She yanked out her phone, pulling up Colin’s number as she swore under her breath.
Men! They never get back to you, even when it’s important.
She sent him a quick, stinging reminder, and slapped the phone impatiently onto the counter. Closing her eyes, she took several deep breaths, then opened them and looked into the mirror. Large, dark eyes stared back at her from beneath long lashes. Her hair, black and glossy, was pulled up in a messy bun. She had dressed with more than her usual care this morning, selecting a salmon colored blouse to highlight her olive skin and high-heeled boots to disguise her short stature. She was slim and delicately featured, with an active mind and a temperament that reminded those who had known him of her father, a man Bridget had never met.
She stared at her reflection and the thought flashed through her mind before she could stop it: Is this really the face of a star?
The thought snapped her out of her reverie and she shook herself, thinking fiercely, You can’t afford that kind of thinking, Bridget, not today of all days.
She had to go out and rehearse and she knew that the act of singing would be soothing. Still she lingered in the bathroom, touching up her lipstick, checking her phone. Emma would be coming by the rehearsal today, bringing some woman with her. They’d want to talk and Bridget could not afford that. She had been carefully avoiding Emma for the past few days. All she needed was a few more hours to do what she knew had to be done.
You can’t interfere now, Emma. I can’t let you.
A string of piano chords rang merrily throughout the hall. Arlene was growing impatient.
Bridget took one last look at herself in the mirror and thought, This is the face of a woman who knows what she is doing. And no one, especially not Emma, is going to stop me...

Calico Traynor is an actress, history buff, and office manager who has worked on and off with Narrow Street Films since she was five years old. She's also worked on her own film projects, including a homage to the classic TV show Perry Mason. She now works at Narrow Street Films full time as an office manager, social media guru, and all-around wrangler.

Name: Emma Gagnon
Position: Professor at Noble College
Category: Victim
Played By: Susan Sanders

(Excerpt from book)
Then Harry gestured to the phone in her hand. “You’re a popular woman tonight.”
Her stomach clenched and suddenly Emma became alert. She swiped to open the phone, praying that her features were schooled enough so that Harry could not see the fear.
He can’t know. He’d never understand and he wouldn’t stand for it.
But it had to be done. Of that, Emma was sure.
It was as she had suspected; eight calls and a barrage of text messages, each one more insistent and panicky. They were all from the same person, all starting from early this evening, all doubtless about the same subject.
So, Emma thought. She got my message. Maybe this will work out after all.
She looked at her watch. It was too late for conversations tonight, even if she could manage it without catching Harry’s attention. Tomorrow would be soon enough.
She started typing, We’ll discuss it when I see you tomorrow…
She willed herself to be calm and reasonable in her response but she could not shake the feeling that she was getting in way over her head.

Way back in early days of 2016, Jon Davis sent me and my brother this theme, saying, "I think this might work for your mystery movie."
It was love at first listen for me - actually, I listened to the file so often while filming Michael Lawrence that I would wake up in the middle of the night with this theme running through my brain. And I still love it.
Have a listen and leave a comment with some love for the talented Jon Davis!

Name: Samantha Harris (Pen name SJ Harris)
​Position: Best selling author of thriller novels, guest lecturer at Noble College
Category: Suspect
Played by: Christie Devine

Samantha Harris is a successful, attractive, and accomplished 42-year-old mystery author who obtains her inspiration for writing from her past experiences and traumas. Traveling from her home state of California to be a guest lecturer at Noble College, she thought it would be nice to visit her alma mater... until the ghosts of her past return in full force.

Married to her second husband, who seldom plays a significant role of support, the light of Samantha's life is her 15 year old son, Matthew. As the situation grows dark and the body count rises, it will take everything Samantha has to protect him from the knowledge which could surface during their visit to New Hampshire.
​
All Samantha is now and was then have clashed... And when circumstance meet opportunity, the events of the past, for better or for worse, will be unveiled.

About Christie Devine: Christie is a New England based actor from Boston who accidentally discovered her love for acting in 2013. Since then, she has expanded her knowledge of acting, developed her respect for the craft, taken many informative classes and workshops and gratefully put a large number of miles on her car. Nothing makes Christie happier than being on set and having a group of amazing and professional people collaborate for a common love. She has been cast in a number of feature films, short films, web series and commercials... All of which have led her to an experience she needed to have or someone she needed to meet. Christie enjoyed the experience of playing author, S.J. Harris in "Michael Lawrence" and she looks forward to the bright future opportunities that await her in acting career.

Name: Thomas Atkinson
Position: Bookstore owner and alumnus of Noble College
Category: Suspect
Played by: Chris Dubey

Thomas Atkinson could have been anything he wanted. Why he chose to end up a semi-reclusive owner of a bookstore in the middle of Portsmouth is anyone's guess. But while Thomas might seem inconsequential, he's connected to all the major players in the case: he was Emma Gagnon's friend, Sarah Hopper's employer, Prof. Stewart's former student, he helped produce Bridget Madden's concert, and his relationship with Samantha Harris might best be described as intense. Thomas Atkinson may not seem like a big player on the world's stage, but in this case he has made himself a person of interest.

In the days leading up to the release of the new Narrow Street Films movie, Michael Lawrence: the Season of Darkness, we'll be showcasing one new character every two weeks. Get to know the cast and try to guess whodunnit!

Name: Michael Lawrence
​Position: Homicide Detective
Played by: Dan Dovidio

​Detective Michael Lawrence is a career policeman with a stellar reputation, a loving family, and a good future ahead of him - that is, until his life is upended by an accident that left his daughter in a coma and his wife in a state of grieving. Now, months into his ordeal, he's called upon to solve the murder of beloved Emma Gagnon, a woman who harmed none and loved all. Michael is drawn deeper and deeper into the case and finds himself sympathizing with Emma's bereft husband, Harry Gagnon. As the body count rises and the case takes on new and disturbing twists, everyone including Michael is beginning to wonder: has the consummate professional finally lost perspective?


Dan Dovidio is a martial artist, actor, musician, stunt worker, and fight coordinator. Trained in Boston, MA, Dan has appeared in theater productions like Murder in Hell's Kitchen and Guys and Dolls, and has appeared in many film and TV productions. He runs his own martial arts studio and appears frequently in Narrow Street Films productions.