Local Filmmaker works on the edge
Bangor man plans to film Stephen King short story soon

By Jim Counihan
Staff Writer

Bangor – Lucas Knight smiles when the subject of the movie phenomenon “The Blair Witch Project” comes up.  Knight, an independent film producer from Mattawamkeag and Bangor, is critical of the production quality of “Blair Witch,” but says he admires the low budget, mostly videotaped and independently produced film’s marketing and box office success.

His company, Edge Productions, is now in its seventh year, and Knight can look back on a variety of projects, produced mostly on weekends and evenings.  Knight, a 10-year veteran of public broadcasting in Maine, learned his craft at Maine Public Broadcasting studios and in professional development courses at the Maine Photographic Workshops (now Rockport College).

“I went to school to learn how to make movies at the Rockport workshops.  This was in a 16mm film format.  Lately, however, we’re leaning toward video, once again, now that there’s a new generation of digital equipment.  It’s very versatile to work with.”

One of Edge Productions’ first completed projects was Dark Currents, a videotaped soap opera-style suspense series taking place in Maine.  The series’ four or five episodes were featured on public access television stations throughout the continental United States.

It took the fledgling film company about two years to complete the series.

Knight describes Dark Currents as a great learning experience, and he and the other members of the Edge team hope to revisit the series and produce new, more technically sophisticated episodes.

Dark Currents was originally shot in the Mattawamkeag area.  If new episodes of the series are produced, Knight said, they will be filmed in Greater Bangor.

Edge Productions includes Knight and a core group of about a half-dozen friends who act, write, produce, handle media relations and more.  Occasionally Knight uses local extras in the cast or crew.

During the production of the film After the Beep, Knight said he used several locals from the Mattawamkeag area.

“Yep, we grabbed some of them right out of a bar,” he recalled.

Some of Beep’s extras landed speaking parts.  Knight recalled how some of his actors had to be convinced to participate, but once their parts were over, all agreed it was a good time.

After the Beep will be released on home video in the near future, he said.

Tim Pugliese, a member of the Edge Production team, is working on The Guide, a limited production series he describes as a “feel good” that’s a bit out of step with Edge Productions’ typical projects.

“It’s going to be a cable-access series with a deep plot,” he said.

Pugliese is a native of Ottawa, Ontario, who moved to the Bangor area about a year ago specifically to work with Lucas Knight’s Edge Production team.  When he isn’t working on video productions, Pugliese is busy at a full-time day job at Bangor International Airport.

“I had $200 in Canadian money in my pocket when I moved down,” he recalled.

An aspiring actor, screenwriter and producer, Pugliese is excited about The Guide and the company’s upcoming production of Stephen King’s “The Last Rung on the Ladder.”

“This story was in the book, Night Shift, I think,” he said.  “It’s an emotional drama about suspicious circumstances surrounding a death.  There’s a question of whether it was a suicide until the very end.”

Besides Knight and Pugliese, regular members of the Edge Productions crew are Linda Gordon, Frank Welsh, Lisa Goodness, and Chris Button.

No one is paid.

“When you’re involved in independent film production everybody does everything:  camera, acting and production,” said Knight.  “There are no rigidly defined jobs.  Everybody does a little bit of everything.”

A quality production not only depends on the skills of the actors, director and tech crew, but also on the equipment used on a project.

Knight chuckled.

“We shot Dark Currents on VHS camcorders.  These aren’t even the regular home-style video recorders anymore.”

The latest addition to Knight’s arsenal is a mini-digital video camera.  He said the camera is on the high end of current home video cameras, but costs thousands of dollars less than some of the latest professional equipment.

“I think the quality of it is absolutely magnificent,” Knight said.

Knight’s equipment also includes an older model deck-to-deck video editor, but he is in hopes soon to add a computerized digital editing deck.

The Edge Production company will be heavily involved in two new projects soon.  The first will be a documentary series called Maine Legends.  Knight said the multi-part project will take his crew all over the state looking for the most fascinating local tales – true or not.  Once completed, he hopes the series will spark the interest of his day-job employers at Maine Public Broadcasting.

Like Tim Pugliese, Lucas Knight is anxious to get started on The Last Rung on the Ladder, Edge Productions’ most ambitious project to date.  Knight said the tale isn’t vintage King horror, but may instead remind audiences of the author’s short story, “The Body,” which was made into the popular move Stand by Me.

As in Stand by Me, the story centers on two young children.  Parts are still being cast for these and one or more adult roles.

The company hoped to begin Last Rung this summer, but financing put the project on hold.

“We were going to go into production in August, but we just didn’t have enough money,” said Knight.  “In the past we wouldn’t go into production unless we had a fixed amount of money we could count on.”

The company used the Internet to try to raise needed capital for the project, with mixed results.

Knight and his crew are still optimistic about their chances of finding one or more backers for The Last Rung on the Ladder.

“It’s going to be a big project, one we’ll want to enter in a lot of film festivals,” he said.

Originally Knight wanted to film the story in 16mm film format, but now is considering using the company’s new high-end video camera.

The success of Blair Witch, also shot in video format and shown at several prestigious festivals, means many independent production companies such as Knight’s Edge Productions will be sending video projects to Sundance, Cannes and other film festivals in the United States and around the world.

Knight said he hopes The Last Rung on the Ladder will be made in time to be considered for next year’s Maine International Film Festival, held in Waterville.  The central Maine film festival completed a second successful season this summer.

Knight said he hopes Edge Productions will find commercial success with the film.  Sales of home video copes of Dark Currents may not be approaching those of Titanic, but Knight says there continues to be interest in the series around the country, which produces modest revenues.

Knight says the two years invested in producing the series reminds him of someone piecing together a quilt or crocheting an afghan.  It was a labor of love.

“If we’re lucky, maybe The Last Rung on the Ladder will take off like The Blair Witch Project, then everybody will get a share of the profits,” Knight said.  “Until then, we’re in it for the love of our craft and telling a good story.”