The Poet
Written and Directed by Erin Enberg
Director of Photography Mark Hensley
A vampire moves to the city to follow his dreams of becoming a poet -
with the help of a vampire hunter posing as a real estate agent.
with the help of a vampire hunter posing as a real estate agent.
The Poet Trailer from Erin Enberg on Vimeo.
The Poet is a short film, based on a longer script I wrote called Rock N' Roll & the Immortal Soul. The film was initially made for the invite-only event 'Damnationland,' a showcase of 'dark films' that premiered at the State Theater in Portland, Maine to 800 people and then played in various theaters for the Halloween season.
Although that event promotes 'dark films' I set out from the beginning to stay true to my vision of the film being "light, beautiful and sweet"--and it just happens to be about a vampire.
Although that event promotes 'dark films' I set out from the beginning to stay true to my vision of the film being "light, beautiful and sweet"--and it just happens to be about a vampire.
This was the first time I had ever done a Kickstarter campaign. We became a Kickstarter Staff Pick, and successfully raised $4500 with 106 backers. This was an enormous boost to the production, as my vision for this story involved many different locations in Portland and elsewhere, an hour and a half away.
The wardrobe was also extensive, mostly for Erik Moody's character Drake. You can see some of his various outfits and the color scheme I tried to utilize throughout the film. Erika J. Wilson's character, Jennifer Herald, had a much more subdued color palette until the end according to her character's emotions. Crickett Cote and Jenny Anastasoff helped fulfill this vision, along with the Maine State Music Theater's costume collection.
Red was a major color I wanted throughout the film, as you can see in Drake's wardrobe, but also in the set design. My influences stylistically and emotionally were American Beauty, Velvet Goldmine, Little Miss Sunshine, Nosferatu (original and the Werner Herzog version), The Royal Tennenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom and Dracula. Gretchen Petrone who did set design and Mark Hensley, the Director of Photography, captured my vision perfectly. I had worked with Gretchen before on Arabel so we have a great working relationship. Mark Hensley's cinematography style was exactly what I wanted for my story and he was absolutely fantastic to work with.
Music was also a big part of the film. In the longer version, Drake wants to be a musician and in 2010, I did a live, staged reading of the full screenplay at SPACE Gallery in Portland, ME (you can see more about that here). I asked local musicians to either contribute one of their songs or write a new one for my story. Dominic Lavoie wrote the song City Mouse and it became a central part of this film. His other song 'Van Dyke Brown' with the band ShaShaSha became the cast and crew's theme song as I played it so many times during that scene we couldn't stop listening to it later (and have vowed to make a music video for it).
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Check out more stills and behind-the-scenes below!
The Poet
Starring
Erik Moody
Erika J. Wilson
Written & Directed by
Erin Enberg
Director of Photography
Mark Hensley
Set Design
Gretchen Petrone
Editor
Tadin Brown
Original Score
Michael McInnis
Wardrobe
Crickett Cote
Produced by
Gene Trussell
Diane M. Martin
Assistant Director
Andrea Nilosek
Production Manager
Jenny Anastasoff
Assistant Camera
Charlotte Warren
Gaffer
Tadin Brown
Dean Merrill
Grips
Andrew Painter
Corey A. Rich
Sound
Andrew Nelson
Sam Rappaport
Production Assistants
Caroline O’Connor
Camille Howard
Hair & Makeup
Jessica Morse
Nikolina Trajanoski
Claire Noonan
Nicole Cox
Hair by Kong
Heidi Bea White Vanity Hair Studio
Special FX Makeup
Eric Anderson
Post Production Sound Design
Michael McInnis
Colorist
Tadin Brown
Specialty Props
David Stoddard
Wooden Stakes
Art Bodwell
Vampire Scarecrow
Misty Gaynor
Gun Wrangler
Mark Flanagin
Drake’s jackets provided by
Maine State Music Theater
Poetry by
Cecelia Moody
City Mouse written by
Dominic Lavoie
Zombie written by
William Ethridge & John Fountain
Cast
Drake
Erik Moody
Jennifer Herald
Erika J. Wilson
Vampire Hunter Boss
Jenny Anastasoff
Blood Donor Benefit Announcer
Lady Zen
Vampire Hunter Colleague
Tia Dibiase
Vampire Couple
Kelly Enberg & Navid Ahadzadeh
Drake’s First Reading Extras
Tessa Cavendish-Góes
Jake Hammond
Allison Kelly
Dani LeBlanc
Cornelia Pomegranate
Vanessa Romanoff
Emily Weston
Thea Wyatt
Emily Young
Drake’s Fans
Ben Howard
Alyssa M. Rojecki
Adrian Wong-Ken
Thea Wyatt
Drake’s Driver
Michael Tolley
Blood Donor Benefit Extras
Brian Chick
Susan Flaherty
Elizabeth Freeman
Pete Haase
Valerie Irish
Ian Jones
Lauren Jordan
Michael Kimball
Sharon Krueger
Kat Loef
Christian Matzke
Conor A. Quinn
Ann Tracy
Dwight Wilcoxson
Children of the Night
Rene Johnson
Keyson Jones
Tess Van Horn
Marjolaine Whittlesey
Music:
“Song in the Sunshine”
Written and performed by Zach Jones
www.zachjonestunes.com
“Some Other Day”
Written and performed by Zach Jones
www.zachjonestunes.com
“Van Dyke Brown”
Written by Dominic Lavoie, performed by ShaShaSha
www.shashashamusic.com
“City Mouse”
Written by Dominic Lavoie, performed by ShaShaSha
www.shashashamusic.com
“Motherbird”
Written by Dominic Lavoie, performed by ShaShaSha
www.shashashamusic.com
Special Thanks
Sarah Richards, Sheila Flanagin, Kelly Enberg, Navid Ahadzadeh, Tom & Donna Goodrich, Michelle Souliere, David Meiklejohn, Possible Studio, Fiona O’Grady,Tia Dibiase, Kevin and Posie Gillespie, Sidney Flanagin, Mark Flanagin, Bull Moose Music, the Producers of Damnationland, One Longfellow Square.
This film was made possible by the following people:
Roni Strout, Catherine Schmitt, Through the Door Productions, Jenny Anastasoff, Daniel Noel, Shael Hawman, Tobias Fleischer, Sean Martin, Nick Callanan, John, Mark Flanagin, Kathryn Perry, Helen Peppe, Suzanne Strempek Shea, Jesch, Gene Trussell, John Grounds, David Rooker, Leska Tomash, Fred Greenhalgh, Adrian Wong-Ken, Danielle LeBlanc, Jennifer Moore, Marjolaine Whittlesey, Steve Underwood, David Miller, Corey Norman, Chris Gorman, Joe Quinn, Dave Habeeb, Kyla Rowe, Angela Still, Den Roberts, Tim Rhys, Diana Choksey, Will Ludwigsen, Andrea Danielle Eshelman Levin, Diane Baringer, Jen Mayberry, John Thurston, Elizabeth Freeman, AVI Labs, Elizabeth Searle, Peter Jacobs, Amanda Painter, Audrey McGlynn, Sherwin Young, Robert E. Stutts, Jonathan Grassi, David Meiklejohn, George McQuilken, Tony Hartford, Judy Jones, Sarah Davis, Linda Van Vranken, Joey Morrissette, Sarah Thomas, Tadin Brown, Dan Currier, Krystal Kenville, Alison McMahan, Donna LaNigra, Michael Kimball, Soy Forde, Sokhean Jonathan Ouk, Andrea Nilosek, Nathan Cyr, Nicole Barna, Art Bodwell, Maggie Olin, Eric Bosarge, Kelly Enberg, Deborah Williamson, Ann Tracy, Marisa Polk, Michael McInnis, Kathryn Smith, Jonathan Blood, Diane M. Martin, Diana Stewart, Donna McFarland, Rik O’Neal, Zach Jones, Jody Clark, Jim Mentink, Mark Ireland, Donny Chavez, Mark Magee, Mary Jewett, Barry Dodd, Linda Sienkiewicz, 19image Productions & Jillian Major, Paula DeBoard, Joseph Carro, Misty Smith, Sheila Flanagin, Gary Robinov, Paul Kirsch, George Dalphin, Meghan Sinoff, Cadi Atchinson, David Enberg, Tom Brown, Jim Wickey
Filmed in Casco & Greenwood, Maine
and in Portland, Maine at:
Bull Moose Music
The Green Hand
Homegrown Herb & Tea
One Longfellow Square
Possible Studio
This film is dedicated to David Enberg