Two whirlwind summers in a row--2022 and 2023--and I'm ready for a little down time. The film is still in a holding pattern as we apply to film festivals. We do have other news that I can't release publicly yet, but we are making progress. So I got in the car and took a drive, not knowing where I'd end up.

I ended up down in Bristol, first at Shaw's Wharf, which is closed for the season.

How to describe the smell of a fish wharf in Maine:

It's like your cat's breath, off and disturbing, but you crave it. It's the decaying smell of shellfish with an underbloom of salt and a hearty blast of fresh sea air. Like something dying, but you want to drink up its gasping last breath. This is a scent familiar to people who've lived with trauma; it's off putting to those who haven't.

I kept going until I got to Pemaquid Point, which was delightfully uncrowded on a Thursday afternoon.

The lighthouse of course is what people come to see, but I like all of the furrowed ledges of metamorphic gray rocks running down to the sea.

Sometimes when you don't feel like doing anything, the best thing to do is to get in the car and drag yourself to some place beautiful.

And take a rest.

Photos ©Kay Stephens

When I wrote the book back in 2002, I included the Maine Lobster Festival calling it "Lobster Weekend" in several pivotal scenes. Little did I know that in the summer of 2022, we'd be filming scenes for this book, adapted into a feature film with..you guessed it..the Maine Lobster Festival as a third character in the background.

Last August, we began pre-production with cinematographer Michael Tedford, director/producer James Khanlarian and myself front and center at the Festival filming b roll and the Great International Crate Races...that is..until a thunderboomer came out of nowhere and began to douse the crate races. We were working with a $100,000 camera and had to get out of there...fast! Still, we managed to gather enough behind the scenes footage along with the crate races that appears about 10 seconds in the film.
Fun fact: we had to de-age some of the signs at the festival as the book/film is set in 1993.
Fun fact: Shannon Kinney appears in two seconds of the film as she welcomes a crate racer to the end.

Later in the summer, we blocked off an entire day of shooting in Rockland and our set designers had to "re-create" a section of the Maine Lobster Festival for one scene in Gilbert and Adams Central Park (next to police station). Here's a blog post with more photos from that day.

Alec Wirth, nephew of actor/writer Billy Wirth (The Lost Boys). Alec plays the son of antagonist lobsterman, Dale Fogerty.
Fun fact: the giant inflatable lobster behind them was a last minute addition. Since I'm a journalist and did a story on the food truck Mac Attack who had the lobster, I walked down to the harbor and asked if we could borrow it for our scenes for a few hours.

Although The Ghost Trap deals with scenes depicting the struggles and unseen wars between rival lobstering families, it is, at heart, a tragic love story.

In rehearsal, going over lines. Here, Zak Steiner, who plays the lead character lobsterman Jamie Eugley, has an animated conversation with his girlfriend Anja, (Greer Grammer) who lives with a traumatic brain injury.

A laugh between scenes. Zak jokes with Sarah Catherine Hook (First Kill), who plays Happy Klein, a free-wheeling schooner boat First Mate. Sarah Catherine is a new friend and a welcome distraction for Jamie, but he worries, will it go too far?

Stay tuned I will be attending the Festival for three events this year:

1. August 3. To support the #SaveMaineLobstermen campaign, on Thursday, Aug. 3 at 11am in the North Tent on the Festival grounds at Harbor Park in Rockland, Maine, a panel will discuss the plans to support the Maine lobster industry and the families who make their living on the water. I'll be there as we screen the trailer for the first time in front of the press and to talk a little bit about how real Maine lobstermen (not actors) were integral to making the movie.

2. August 3. Following that, (around noon, I'll be in the Marine Tent, signing limited edition copies of The Ghost Trap ($16.95 credit/$17 cash) til around 4 p.m.

3. August 6. The International Great Crate Race is a crowd favorite at the Maine Lobster Festival! This year's event, held Sunday, Aug. 6 at 2pm will be announced by the hilarious Emily Dillon and covered live by FOX ABC Maine. I'll be there talking about the book & film. Watch the livestream starting at 1:30pm Aug. 6: https://bit.ly/3O7IGqW

Stay tuned to our New page because we will have more announcements to come!

The Lobster Pound in Lincolnville and Bonnie's Place in Rockport both carry signed copies. The Ghost Trap is is also back in stock on Amazon for a limited time before we redo the cover. (Do authors a favor and buy new--never used from third-party sellers on Amazon or else we never earn the royalty.) We'll soon have a space at Maine Micro Artisans' newest retail location in the Bangor Mall starting August 1.

Whew! We did it. The final scenes wrapped on Saturday, 11/5.

Seen here in a friendly moment between rivals in the bar Churchie's is Jay Huguley (Paul) and Kip Weeks (Ev Fogerty), James Khanlarian in the center, Zak Steiner (Jamie Eugley), and Alec Wirth (Russell Fogerty)

Here's a scene in the convenience store with Zak and I think, Tim Peper (Neal Ames) judging by his super creased golf pants.

The last scenes of the week were on a sailboat for the scenes between Jamie and Happy. James and Zak hanging in the background here.

Here's Sarah Catherine Hook (Happy) getting ready for a scene.

Greer got a lot of her final scenes done early in the week. Here's her picture wrap (taken from her IG story) on how Zak and the crew surprised her with a bouquet of roses.

Stay tuned. We're now officially in post-production and a lot has to still happen behind the scenes, including editing, composing, and working out some distribution details. As far as my book, it is still awaiting a new print run, and you can go a long way to ensure we get more copies available by going to my publisher Leapfrog Press and putting in a pre-order.

These photos are all courtesy Davison Locksley, an actor who portrays the lobsterman Chuck, a friend of the gang. He took a bunch of photos while on set. You can find him on Insta @davisonlocksley_gmail

We have a whole new film crew whom I haven't met, but I hear they've been excellent this week!

Lucinda Jenney plays Jeannie Churchill, the widow who owns Churchie's. we ended up combining some characters and re-destributing some dialogue so Lucinda plays a much larger catalyst in the film than the book. Hey, she can slap down a PBR like the best of 'em.

And here's James. I'm loving the lighting in these scenes and also that it takes place in a dive bar. That was  the early '90s in Maine. No cell phones. Girls in the '90s just showed up in jeans and t-shirts.  Just a free afternoon to wander down to the pub, meet up with random people, play some pool (badly) and chug some beers. Good times. I think we capture this pretty well in these scenes since the story takes place in 1993.

Rack 'em Zak. Zak Steiner seen here looking very much like every fisherman who every picked up a pool cue I've ever met.

Sarah taking her turn. Were they playing eight ball or nine ball? Just hung out with a professional pool player yesterday and showed him this picture. "She's holding the cue a little too high" is what he had to say. C'mon man! It's Sarah Catherine Hook! She looks cute patoot in this scene. Shout out to our costume designer Steph. We've had a lot of discussions this summer what a schooner girl looks like. They nailed SC's look.

Stay tuned as we get more photos from on set. So excited to go into post-production!

Zak, Taylor, Greer, and Sarah Catherine are all back on set this week filming the pickup shots, which are the additional scenes filmed after principal photography has ended.

James took some photos in between shots. (At least I think they're called shots. Takes?) Here's SC looking too cute, while behind her Zak is on his phone (in his Moody's hat). To the right is Gracie Lacey, an actor in the film, (who worked on set this summer with us in Maine) who plays a new character named Audrey.

Hey, Hey, Tay! Taylor Takahashi reprising the role of Thongchai, Jamie Eugley's best buddy. So, for a number of reasons (location issues, actors' schedules), we had to do these pickup scenes in L.A. In the book, the scenes in Churchie's (the local bar everyone hangs out in) was based on the look and feel of The Black Harpoon in Maine. Here's a story about the place I did nearly 10 years ago. Logistics determined that some of the scenes in the original script had to change. For example, the scene at the over-the-top mansion in Camden where Jamie, Thongchai, and Carey go to a party has now been replaced with Churchie's.

A first look at Churchie's. A number of scenes take place in this bar. They flew Tim Peper back out to L.A. to reprise his role of Neal Ames. Jay Huguley (Paul) and Kip Weeks (Ev Fogerty) have also come back to finish up filming.

A cool monitor shot. Sarah Catherine and Zak setting up pool shots in the first encounter between Jamie and Happy.

Zak and Sarah Catherine. Churchie's is now where Jamie and Happy meet for the first time (instead of the mansion party) which totally makes sense because I used to see the schooner bums come into the local dive across the street all of the time on their days off to drink some beers and play some pool. Happy is unlike anyone Jamie has ever met--she's as tough as a fisherman, cute as a button, and absolutely uninhibited by life, a complete counterpoint to his own circumstances.

Who's that? Only our favorite Key Makeup and SPFX person! Hanging out with Taylor again.

And where's Greer you ask? I don't have a photo of her on set, but here's her own shot of the crew. She and Zak started out the week on a very long day of shooting at the convenience store where Anja takes on an internship to try and broaden her social and motor skills, three years after her brain-injury.

Here's more of the convenience store--and yes, this L.A. store could totally be in Maine. Look how quaint it is!
I'll try and get more photos this week so stay tuned!

Heyyy, looky here. It's Xander Berkeley and Sarah Clarke (who played Maynard Eugley and Donna Eugley in the film).

Xander and Sarah invited me down to a little gathering they were holding at the Cornish Inn (a cozy, sweet inn they both own) to hang out with other writers and filmmakers for an evening. As the founders of Picture Maine, they are invested in growing Maine's film industry and to boost the current incentives that Maine currently offers. (You can see my past article for Pen Bay Pilot on that here.) 

By the way, this is Xander behind the bar making me a specialty gin cocktail made from Luxardo, which we decided to call the "LuxSharknado."

And here is the luscious spread that Xander personally made for his guests including smoked bluefish, smoked salmon, caviar, gourmet crackers and cheese.

Met some great people last night. Pictured here is Mark Selbo and his wife, Jule Selbo, a novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. Her latest book, 9 Days, a crime novel, featuring female investigator Dee Rommel, is just out!

Time for a selfie. Standing with the very cool Amanda Bowers, an Emmy-nominated producer, part of Phiphen, an independently owned film and television production company. Center back is Patrick Roche, a freelance producer of Gesundheit Media and to the right, Sarah.

What a beautiful October evening--about 72 degrees--and the bright fall colors on the trees. Standing here with Jule, Molly Conners, founder and CEO of Phiphen, Xander, and a really cool guy I met, president, founder of Mast Landing Brewing, Ian Hayden Dorsey.

Xander mic'd up, standing with Erin Ovalle, host of Maine Life, a production company in Portland. Erin came up to do a segment on Maine and  the filmmaking community.

All the guys from Mast Landing Brewing, who were on hand to support the night's initiative. With Amanda to the right. Love that beer!

To Maine friends! Cheers!

The crew welcomes the boats back to the docks after finishing the last scenes in Maine.

The pictures say it all. This is after three-and-a-half weeks of intense filming days for cast and crew (although the producers and I were all-in starting in June, so for us, it's been all summer!) This moment is after 12 hours of getting the last boat scenes in. Fridayyyyyyy!

We had an impromptu party in the parking lot and then it was off to The Myrtle to have some beers and sing some karaoke for the cast and crew for our Maine wrap party.

Now, what's next you ask? Stay tuned, we still have about six more days of filming that needs to commence in L.A. where there are more resources for interior scenes, such as the hospital scenes. The cast and producers are all taking a brief break before driving or flying back, but our story isn't over yet! Some of our favorite crew will be back on set to finish the scenes. We still have some cast surprises in store for you and I've asked everybody to send me photos so we can continue this blog until the filming is complete. For now, enjoy the photos. If there are any copies left, buy The Ghost Trap at local bookstores (it's on backorder on Amazon) or stay tuned to my upcoming in-person book signings, as we post more photos/videos on Facebook and TikTok and Instagram, so please follow!

In another spotlight of the crew of The Ghost Trap film, I present to you Rebecca Myshrall, our Unit Production Manager/Craft Services Queen.

Becca, who is from Portland, had the unenviable task of navigating all of the restaurant/takeout businesses in the Midcoast. Because the weather and tides dictated so much of where the shoot was going to take place, she often less than 24 hours' notice on where we'd be the following day.

"Basically, I was catering and craft services, which is essentially two positions rolled into one," she said. "I didn't really know where to get meals for 28-30 people until I got here, plus we had to have vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free, dairy-free and soy options."

It's really unfortunate that the bill to incentivize movie productions in Maine was turned down by the Maine legislature this year, as I wrote about in a PenBay Pilot article because our production gave a serious economic boost to Midcoast AirBnbs, hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, etc.

Becca said she utilized a lot of Rockland restaurants including Rosalind Thai in Rockland, which was a big favorite among the crowd, along with Oceanside Deli. "They were fantastic," she said. "We loved their pizza.  "We also used Rock City Cafe and Home Kitchen Cafe." When we filmed in Northport, she used Dot's in Lincolnville and Stone Pizza in Northport. And in Camden, she said the crew really enjoyed BOWA (Best of What's Around) "They were great."

Becca definitely ran into her share of challenges. One of our film mornings started insanely early--4:30 a.m. and happened to be Labor Day, September 5, so, literally nothing was going to be open at that hour. Except for Moody's Diner in Waldoboro, a 45-minute drive away. "Moody's has been quite wonderful--they start at 6 a.m. but they were able to make us breakfast sandwiches even earlier, which was really sweet," she said.

Dunkin Donuts in Camden was "the only reliable Dunkin' I found in the area," she said. Not everyone appreciated an order for 30 people so early in the morning. With staff shortages everywhere, and stressed restaurateurs/businesses trying to cater to the summer tourist traffic, it's totally understandable.

Now, let's talk about the timing. According to film production rules, the craft services person is required to have meals ready to be served a half hour before the official break time. (Rules stipulate that cast and crew are fed at the beginning of the shoot and every six hours thereafter, on the dot. This meant driving sometimes an hour and a half round trip just to get the meals ready each day.)

"You also have to have snacks and drinks available throughout the entire day or night," said Becca. Then, on top of that, she tried to source different flavor profiles and types of food (Thai, Continental, Californian, etc.) so that the cast and crew would not get bored with the variety.

We already covered in an earlier blog post the night Becca's car was used for a driving scene, then promptly died an hour before she was supposed to get a BBQ going--oh--and in the pouring rain. So, we raced to Hannaford Supermarkets (also a place we sourced from a lot) in order to get the food to crew and cast on time.

"I'm going to miss this crew," she said, despite all of the challenges of her job. "We all just got along fantastically; usually there is a dynamic [on a film set] that presents a problem, sometimes people's egos, but with this crew, we hall had the same level of professionalism. I'm really going to miss the people and this makes me want to get more work in Maine and Massachusetts."

Stay tuned as we post more photos/videos on Facebook and TikTok and Instagram, so please follow!

While the boats were out filming, I took a few moments to chat with Jena Morgensen who works in the Hair/Makeup department under Dept. Head, JoJo Proud for The Ghost Trap.

Originally from Chicago, Jena moved to L.A. for makeup school and got work in the industry, where she has been ever since. "I wanted to be in a lab and sculpt prosthetics, which I still do today, but I went on set one day and kind of got sucked into it," she said.

Given that the film is set in a fishing community, the makeup for the women needed to reflect the real-life aesthetic. In other words, this wasn't going to be a lot of fake tans, fake nails, with a lot of heavy makeup.

"The biggest thing we do when we get the actors in the chair is to make sure they have sunscreen, make sure they have that sun-kissed look," she said. "For Greer and Sarah Clarke (playing Jamie's mom, Donna), we had to put on a little mascara, just so it shows up a little. Other than that, we just used a pretty natural palette."

"With Zak, we just did a little glow-up on his skin; it was pretty easy. I think he was only in the chair for about 10 minutes each time," she said. "But as the film goes on, post-Anja's injury, we make him a little more tired-looking with bags under his eyes."

Jena's favorite medium to work with is prosthetics, which she usually does for creatures and monsters, along with blood-rigging (fake blood)--but luckily we didn't have any of that!  She got to show off her skills with Taylor Takahashi's character, Thongchai. The end result of her work is so cool, that I won't reveal it here--you'll have to see it in the movie!

"This is the fun part, the reason why I'm here," she said. "Taylor was a trouper--he'd never been in prosthetics before, and sat with me for about two hours." Her biggest challenge (as noted in a previous blog) was if anyone touched Taylor while she was applying her artwork. After I gave him a supportive pat on the shoulder, Jena looked at me like: "Uh...do not touch." But that was nothing, compared to Zak. "Zak was my biggest challenge," she joked. He literally went up to Taylor and shook him by the shoulders like in a fun, joking way, while I was putting a lip piece on Taylor and it got slightly messed up, so I turned it into a stitch. I was about to put a piece of paper on Taylor's chest that said: DO NOT TOUCH."

This is Jena's first time in Maine and she has been here almost a month. "I love it here, the greenery," she said. Everyone has been ridiculously nice. I don't know what I was expecting, like if it was going to be a New York vibe because it's east coast, or small town vibe, but everyone has been super curious about the film and super nice. Plus I love the spookiness of Maine. I need to come back in the fall."

Stay tuned as we post more photos/videos on Facebook and TikTok and Instagram, so please follow!