The Project
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This project began when we sailed into Belfast Harbor last September.
Ruth and I had both left our jobs in order to spend six months sailing the Maine Coast.
We were looking for a film project as we sailed but only had a loose idea in mind.
We actually shot a few scenes as we went along but we were not ready to commit.
Film concepts are great fun to think up at sunset over a glass of wine, but in the morning a film requires a bus load of hard work.
And how do you support yourself while working on it? We knew it when we saw it.
Leaving the raft on the public beach and walking ashore, Belfast was different!
Both lifelong Mainers, we thought we had been everywhere.
Then we both realized we had never been to Belfast before- we had always seen the sign and driven past. The first thing we noticed was that it was very “boater friendly”.
We sailed in… the harbormaster got us on a mooring and we had a great place to row in and park a car. Next we noticed the friendliness!
Sure, most people in Maine are friendly, but in Belfast there was just something different… then the surprises started coming in successive waves.
Admiring the beautiful old main street buildings we were saying…
‘my god Belfast still has a downtown! there is a real hardware store, a diner, not one shoe store- but two, and two toy stores! What town has a toy store anymore?’
I’m not going to mention the restaurants on Main Street because I believe a good town begins and ends with eating options that don’t break the bank. I’ll just say Belfast is king. End of subject. We ended up staying the winter and became very interested in turning our romance with Belfast into a story we could share.
As a film maker I had met Mike Hurley at the Colonial Theater and was smitten with the idea of making something cinematic and local for his beautifully restored Church St. movie theater. But eventually it was Ruth, an educator with lots of service learning experience who came up with the idea that would make the project viable. She thought of partnering with a school and making the film with students.
We started on the script with only that in mind. A film. But what is a film in 2008? Everyone watches stuff on their computer most of the time. So from the start the film idea was a media project and when we thought about it… it was a campaign to get the word out about Belfast. Not as an ad campaign but as an internet radar blip for people already looking for something special and targeted to people interested in education, films and great places off the beaten path!! (now there’s a demographic!) Belfast, a place for people already looking for something different.
It all started coming together when Ruth met Jon at Toddy Pond School (who makes video’s with his kids every year) and we rolled up our shirt sleeves and started to write the first pages of the idea.
We poured over town economic studies and tried to find out what the Belfast area needed. We researched blogs and regional internet web sites, took notes and formed a proposal. We had also met a comedic writer and a wonderfully talented artist, Bob Ryan who just kept us going and laughing as we went. The first script began taking shape in the cold of winter on Ruth’s 28 foot boat at the town dock. What better place to write! (She has a great stove.) The script begins with a teacher in a classroom asking the kids simply to name some facts about Belfast.
We have come a long way. The project has grown into something we are really proud of and look forward to sharing. I say proud because it’s something that is going to be fun… but also something with a purpose beyond entertainment. This is the information age and if we harness some of the fun and get it in the right places, people are plenty savvy enough to find out where the party is…. !
Belfast!! On the radar!!
So here we go. We’ll start filming in the next few days and get our hands dirty. We can’t fail because we have the best bunch of kids and it’s all about them. Belfast has been very kind to us since we first sailed in. When the film opens this July/August (still not exactly sure!) you’ll see for yourself !!
Thanks, Ruth and Caleb