Long before they played at a theater near you, remember when GOOD WILL HUNTING and NEXT STOP WONDERLAND were shooting in a neighborhood near you? This month, Imagine profiles two independent features currently shooting in New England: CLICK, a Hampton Beach, New Hampshire-set comedy directed by Scotty Dugan, and SERIAL INTENTIONS, a "serial killer thriller" written and executive produced by and starring Mark Grant.

CLICK

On September 30, nearly two thousand fully clothed people ran maniacally into the water at Hampton Beach. No, the air and water temperatures hadn't suddenly and unseasonably reached a comfortable 85 degrees. In fact, they were searching for a mysterious "love bug" rumored to be spotted in the water there that enables one to find the amour of his/her dreams. If this sounds a tad surreal (even for New England!), keep in mind this is only the shooting of CLICK'S central scene.

First-time director Scotty Dugan has been shooting second unit photography around New England this autumn. According to Dugan, the crowd he assembled at Hampton Beach is now "the largest scene ever filmed in the state." Extras from all over the region showed up for it dressed in costumes as diverse as firefighters, graduation outfits, and escaped convicts. As many as eight hundred of them arrived as early as 7:30am. Even a paraplegic arrived, eager to be part of the crowd, rushing toward the water in his wheelchair, and Dugan was able to devote a shot to him. Dugan and his crew captured the entire scene on Al Gauron's deep sea fleet and signaled, with safety flares, the massive crowd to begin its rampage on the water.

CLICK focuses on a photographer capturing the story of the "love bug". Dugan himself once worked as a sports photojournalist for The Boston Herald and The Boston Globe in his mid-20's. His inspiration for CLICK, which he also wrote, is, "Write about what you know about, (and) photography is my bag, " he says. Dugan moved to Los Angeles and eventually formed his own PR company, Dugan and Story Productions. He set CLICK in Hampton Beach as a homage to the summers he spent there as a teenager.

To his crew, Dugan brings Director of Photography Bob Schoenhut, best known for shooting the buffalo hunt sequence in DANCES WITH WOLVES. Dugan met Schoenhut in LA years ago and when Schoenhut introduced himself to Dugan as a still photographer, they discovered that they had a common bond. When Dugan told Schoenhut the idea behind CLICK, Schoenhut was intrigued. Dugan says, "Nobody's really captured the spirit of photography (in a film) before," and notes that Schoenhut, with his love of classic films and master shots where "actors get to act" will bring something to CLICK that most of "today's DP's aren't even approaching."

He adds, "virtually all the beach, water and ocean scenes (of CLICK) will be shot in New England." Although a few minor roles have been cast (such as Dover resident Mike Walsh as the photographer who captures the Hampton Beach mania), Dugan will cast most roles next spring and principal photography will start shortly thereafter. His casting "wish list" is diverse: Drew Barrymore, Tom Green, prop comic and Hampton Beach fixture Carrot Top, SURVIVOR and New Hampshire native Jenna Lewis, local comedian Tim Sample, and many others.

SERIAL INTENTIONS

Mark Grant is mostly keeping mum as to what SERIAL INTENTIONS is about. He will say that it is a "serial killer thriller" in which state police played by himself and Christy Scott-Cashman investigate "a murder in a small Massachusetts town while slowly realizing that they are practically next to the killers the whole time." He adds that the plot has a real twist to it and that he's spilling it constantly.

Directed by Brad Jacques and produced by Gregory Lording and Kelly McMahon (who produced THE AUTUMN HEART and Slamdance winner NIGHT DEPOSIT), SERIAL INTENTIONS was shot throughout the Bay State in Newton, Burlington and Andover (among other locales) over a twelve day period in September and October. Among those contributing their talents to the project are composer/scorer Grant Molloy-Smith, Director of Photography Matthew Wagenknecht, 1st AD Napoleon Palmer (who has worked with SQUEEZE director Robert Patton-Spruill) and Associate Producer Patte-Anne Ardizzoni, who, according to Grant, was integral in pulling the shoot together.

Grant has spent much of his life between New York, LA and his native New England acting in films, stage and television. Somewhere along the way, he developed an affinity for writing. He says, "it's beyond wild" to see one of his screenplays transformed from the page onto film (his first to be filmed) and adds, "Typically, I write at 4:30 in the morning, when I'm not blocked. So, to see these characters come to life, to see them appear through a casting call is beyond cool."

SERIAL INTENTIONS was originally meant to take place in New Hampshire. However, Grant found the bulk of his crew and available locations to the south. In fact, while scouting for a locale to a shoot a woods scene, he unexpectedly came across an ideal place‹his own backyard in Andover. "I was puling out of our driveway, and (from) across the street, out of the corner of my eye, I saw my own backyard, which I never thought of (before)" he says. Like many of SERIAL INTENTIONS' other locales, this one was discovered and secured as early as one day before shooting commenced.

One of the most profound moments in shooting SERIAL INTENTIONS came at an sequence shot at The Palace nightclub in Saugus (where Grant worked as a DJ for 15 years). Grant describes it as "a controversial scene between the two lead characters and the separatism between them. However, when we filmed it ... it became more about my character taking her (Cashman's character) under his wing." The emotional impact of the scene was such that, according to Grant, one by one the fifty or so extras in the scene came up to him afterwards and declared it their favorite in the film.