We've been waiting almost nine months to make this announcement!

Posted on April 9, 2024 by Behind the Rabbit Productions

New drama/thriller starring Zak Steiner (Euphoria), Greer Grammer (Deadly Illusions), Sarah Catherine Hook (First Kill, White Lotus), and Steven Ogg (Westworld) makes its festival premiere at RiverRun on April 19 followed by Q&A with cast and crew.LOS ANGELES/WINSTON-SALEM (April 9, 2024) – Khanlarian Entertainment and MITH Entertainment are thrilled to announce the world premiere of The Ghost Trap, based on the novel of the same name by K. Stephens, on April 19, 2024 at 8pm EST followed by a Q&A with cast and crew at the highly acclaimed RiverRun Film Festival. The new elevated drama/thriller stars Zak Steiner (White Men Can’t Jump, Euphoria), Greer Grammer(Awkward, Deadly Illusions), Sarah Catherine Hook (First Kill, The White Lotus), and Steven Ogg (The Walking Dead, Westworld). James Khanlarian is directing from Stephens’ script, which is based on the book she authored by the same name, with Khanlarian Entertainment producing. The producers on the project include Peter A. Couture, Simon Fawcett, Larry Mortorff, Grammer, Steiner, Khanlarian and Stephens. The Ghost Trap is Khanlarian’s feature directorial debut. 

The cast is further bolstered by Taylor Takahashi (Boogie), Xander Berkeley with more than 200 film and TV credits to his name including The Terminator franchise, Shanghai Noon and Apollo 13, Sarah Clarke (Twilight), and Billy Wirth (The Lost Boys).

There will be a special book-signing event with cast and crew present to coincide with the film’s festival premiere at Scuppernong Books in Greensboro, N.C., on Saturday, April 20, 2024 from 2-4 pm. 
“It was such a joy to film in Maine, where the scenery and landscape create the perfect natural setting, and to have worked with such an incredibly talented cast and crew, many from Maine, North Carolina, as well as other places around the world,” said Khanlarian. “I think the entire cast wanted to move there by the end of production. Now we have our festival debut in my hometown and can’t imagine a better place for The Ghost Trap to premiere. The entire experience has come full circle and been beyond incredible.”

“This movie is not about saving the world from giant monsters, zombies, or nuclear war,” said producer Couture. “It’s about people like you and me doing real work, making mistakes and facing the challenges before them.”

The Ghost Trap, which was filmed in Maine, and has recently been completed, is based on the novel of the same name by K. Stephens. It tells the story of Jamie Eugley (Steiner), a young lobsterman struggling with the grinding responsibilities of a head-injured girlfriend (Grammer) and a mounting trap war with a rival lobstering family. Hook plays Happy, a potential love interest of the protagonist and Ogg plays the antagonistic patriarch of the Eugley family. 

“A ghost trap is a lobsterman’s wire trap that has been cut off at the surface and is lost and forgotten at the bottom,” said Stephens. “That could have been my book, published so long ago. But thanks to the producers and to my Maine lobstermen friends who believed in it and backed me up every step of the way, this film is gorgeous and gritty, featuring a culture that people rarely get to see.” 

Steiner is best known for his role in the hit series Euphoria as Aaron Jacobs. He can also be seen in supporting roles in White Men Can’t Jump on Hulu and A Hollywood Christmas on HBO Max.
Grammer is best known for her role as Lissa Miller in the long-running and critically acclaimed MTV series, Awkward. Most recently she produced and starred in the hit Netflix film, Deadly Illusions alongside Kristin Davis and Dermont Mulroney. Deadly Illusions went on to globally hold the #1 spot on the streaming platform. 

Hook recently found her first leading role in Netflix’s series First Kill, based on V.E. Schwab’s short story, which launched her into the spotlight. She stars in the eight-episode drama series as Juliette, a vampire who falls into forbidden love with the vampire slayer, Calliope (Imani Lewis). Hook is currently filming the third season of The White Lotus for HBO Max.

Ogg currently appears in BBC’s new critically acclaimed TV show Boiling Point,, based on the hit film starring Stephen Graham. Ogg is best known for playing Simon in AMC’s The Walking Dead, Rebus in HBO’s Westworld, Sobchak in another AMC hit, Better Call Saul, Pike in TNT’s Snowpiercer, and he also played Captain Howard in Apple TV’s movie, Emancipation. Ogg has a global notoriety for his role as Trevor in the video game GTA V.

We ran a contest and got some amazing talent behind what would eventually be chosen as our official poster for the movie. We discussed this poster quite a bit and why it needed to convey both the  love triangle and the danger of the lobstering feud. Plus, Dan's boat Antares made it in, so he's pretty pleased about that.

We're also sitting on some big news for the spring and summer! If you want to stay in the loop, sign up for our quick email blasts.

Signing up will let you know when about upcoming film festivals, theatrical releases, book signings, special local events, Zoom happy hours, streaming platforms, behind-the-scenes photos, and signed (by the cast and author) book giveaways! We promise to keep it short and sweet!

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!