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One
of several mysterious accidents that occur
in "Murder in Small Town X." Photo courtesy
of Quoddy Times Newspaper.
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Downtown revitalization, job creation
and trickle-down economics came quickly to Eastport,
Maine with the arrival of Final Stretch Productions,
a Los Angeles-based company that selected Eastport
for the filming of a pilot series call Water's Edge.
The series was later sold to Fox Broadcasting Corp.
and renamed "Murder in Small Town X and premiered
on July 24.
The economic boom started slowly
in January with the arrival of several production
members and continued with increasing numbers of personnel.
Eastport for approximately three months became the
town of Sunrise and the mock businesses that were
set up on the main street ranged from a bar to a casket
company. It is difficult to find an area business
that did not benefit from the film project. Carpenters
and electricians were quickly hired. Ryder rental
trucks were everywhere. FedEx and Airborne Express
were making frequent trips to Eastport. The motel
and area B&B's were booked for three months. The water
company was busy turning water on in buildings that
had been vacant for months or years. A local sign
business was kept busy lettering windows and vehicles.
A local bread-baking business saw a 600% increase
in business. A large summer restaurant was opened
and leased by the production company to provide meals
on a regular basis to film personnel.
For a while Eastport was Hollywood
East and the richer for it.
The reality show immerses the viewer
into a deadly game of murder and suspense in a small
New England Town. Ten investigators work to piece
together clues and interview witnesses with some meeting
the killer. The number of players will dwindle off
each week as they are killed off in the eight-part
weekly series. Many locals were hired as extras and
for Eastport residents the game is to see how many
locals and film locations they can identify.
Michael Parks who scouted various
New England towns as a potential site for the movie,
described Eastport as "visually perfect" for the project.
Eastport's old buildings, many of them empty, made
it possible to shoot scenes without displacing active
businesses. Life went on in town with very little
disruption to residents or to the film crew. Breathtaking
coastal views were a plus. With the passing of time,
it became obvious that the town had welcomed the film
crew not only as an economic boost to the community
but also as friends.
Marie Jones
Holmes is a reporter and assistant editor at the Quoddy
Tides Newspaper, the most easterly newspaper published
in the United States. For several hours one day, Holmes
was also a TV film extra. The paper published in Eastport
serves several communities, both American and Canadian.
