SOUTHERN GOTHIC, a six-part digital series written by
Mark Anthony Gutmann, saw the light of day in July 2004 and carried through June
2005. It blends the flavor of the Old
South, its warts and all, with the South's starried tradition of supernatural intrigue.
High School students from
Hudson County Schools of Technology in
North Bergen, NJ, and a score of local actors offered their services to bring SOUTHERN GOTHIC from script to screen. I take full responsibility for the low-grade production values and special effects, but with a budget of just $7,
000, we made the most with the limited technology.
I'm in the process of revising SOUTHERN GOTHIC as a novel, my third.
If I can ever find a sympathetic agent who'll take me on and then the hurdle of getting the book published, maybe you'll be able to read it sometime.
Best,
Mark Anthony Gutmann
hollywoodscribnenj@yahoo.com
In
Yacob County,
Virginia, the bastion of fire-eating secessionists,the stalwart, ironfisted
Colonel Thomas Mosby rules unofficially. Now, however, the Colonel's control seems to be slipping, as slaves and free men alike have "taken to seeing bogies" in the fields and on dark, desolate roads. The apparitions prove unlike any run-in-the-mill manifestations:
Union and
Confederate soldiers battling to the death a full year ahead of actual war! Even the Colonel's eldest son,
Buford, a former sheriff turned town drunkard, has spied the specters, which drive poor Buford to the breaking
point.
Buford's younger brother,
Clayton, a progressive-minded attorney, doubts that supernatural events have been besieging Yacob County. Only when his sister, Cecile, the youngest of the Mosby clan, and her traveling companion,
Stella Bernam, encounter paranormal goings-on during their homeward journey does Clayton change his tune.
Meanwhile, these eldritch incidents draw
Vermont bookseller and occultist
Walter Snopes to the Old South to investigate. He questions an eyewitness to the specters, Ben Loosh, a gentle by nature slave to the Colonel's rival, distiller Abe Vickers, but Ben turns tail at the mere mention of the supernatural.
Despite his good intentions, Walter finds himself the object of anti-Yankee sentiment, as when beady-eyed
George Matewan threatens to shoot him "full of buckshot" if he ever sets foot in Matewan's
General Store again.
While Yacob County hosts an otherworldly cavalcade, those in bondage continue to suffer the indignities of their lowly station. The rebellious, all-too curious for knowledge
Charity Holmes rails against the defeatism of her ilk, secretly reading books until her mother,
Lucinda, a kindly servant to the Mosbys who walks with a prominent limp, arrives at their shanty after a day of backbreaking work in the cotton fields. Lucinda scolds her child, striking violently at her when Charity sasses her unabashedly. Despite the generational gap, mother and daughter love each other unconditionally. Lucinda even rewards her only child with a present, a new dress, which Lucinda buys with money that she earns from sales of her homemade votive candles. Unbeknownst to Charity, her curiosity will soon lead her to a mysterious cave on the outskirts of Yacob County and a discovery that holds a preternatural secret from time immemorial, an eldritch find that will shape her very destiny and those of the citizenry of Yacob County.
"I'm posting this six-part series (shot in 2004 and 2005), which talented and selfless students from
High Tech High School and
KAS Prep High School, both housed at Hudson County Schools of Technology, helped make possible, not to mention loyal
and gifted thespians from the greater metropolitan area of
New York and
New Jersey," says Mark Anthony Gutmann, creator, writer, and co-producer of SOUTHERN GOTHIC. "
Without the help of these students, these actors, and the vision of
D.H. MacAulay, the producer of SOUTHERN GOTHIC, none of this would be possible."
THE
CAST
Steve Schmidt .............Colonel Thomas Mosby
Jason Liebig ................Clayton Mosby
Brian Elder .................. Buford Mosby
Terri Wright ...............
.. Lucinda Holmes
Michelle Thomas ......... Charity Holmes
Bradley Custer ............ Walter Snopes
Linden Mason .............. Ben Loosh
Charlotte Richman ....... Cecile Mosby
Paige Lussier .............. Stella Bernam
Paul Trupia .................. George Matewan
Tony Dadika ................ Abe Vickers
Archie Page ................
Richard Loosh
ALSO STARRING
Edward Bergtold ...........
Sheriff
Patrick Egan ................
Hooper
Jack Drucker ............... Wiliamowitz
Terri Wright .................
Mrs. Shakir
Gladys Pasapera ........ Mrs. Mokurji
Chris Crespo ............... Huong
Tiondra
Fletcher ..........
Maya
Michael DeSalvo ......... Dninx
John Davis ................. Colonel's
Hand 1
Mark Calhoun ............. Colonel's Hand 2
PRODUCED BY D.H. MACAULAY and MARK ANTHONY GUTMANN
DIRECTED BY D.H. MACAULAY
WRITTEN BY MARK ANTHONY GUTMANN
- published: 05 Mar 2015
- views: 20