MORIAH 鈥 Lori Bailey鈥檚 new 鈥淪witchback鈥 film about Moriah鈥檚 mining past is moving toward completion and she hopes for a premiere this year.
Bailey will be honored for her work at a Capital District film forum in May.
MINESHAFT SCENES
Bailey and her cast and crew are headed to Pennsylvania soon to shoot mineshaft scenes that couldn鈥檛 be done in Moriah.
鈥淪witchback鈥 is about half complete, she said.
鈥淲e shot out 50 percent of it in the Adirondacks and will now complete the additional mansion scenes and train-ride scenes in Otsego County,鈥 she said by email.
鈥淭hen we will continue on to the preserved museum mineshafts of Pennsylvania. We had no luck locating and contracting for mineshafts in Moriah this time. Seems many have become very unsafe, hard to get to and overrun with bats. So, I re-route, rewrite and reshoot. I鈥檓 pretty use to that scenario.鈥
PERIOD PIECE
Bailey is director-writer on the film, which is being financed through her Tandem Cage Productions LLC.
She said the picture is based on her family, who immigrated to America and worked in the iron mines of Moriah.
The production is a period piece set in the 1920s.
Cade Guillory, who was in 鈥淪everance Mountain,鈥 plays the central character, Michael O鈥橰oarke.
鈥淢ichael O鈥橰oarke knows he must live a doomed life in the mines if he is to survive,鈥 Bailey said. 鈥淢ichael sees and feels the injustice upon the local immigrant miners, and yet feels powerless to do anything about it. My father worked in the mines and this is his story.鈥
HONOR FOR DIRECTOR
Other actors in the production include stars Mark Valley, Jay Alan-Christianson, Lynn Valley, Deaken Bluman, Thomas Caifa, and Kyra Bradford.
Bailey will be honored at the Capital Region and Adirondack Film Alliance鈥檚 3rd-annual Film Industry Day on Thursday, May 23 at the Albany Capital Center in downtown Albany.
鈥淣otable filmmaker Lori Bailey will take part in the Female Filmmakers Take Center Stage panel, offering a platform to celebrate and explore the impactful contributions of women in the film industry,鈥 Albany County Film Commissioner Deborah A. Goedeke said in a release.
鈥淏ailey, a trailblazer in her own right, will share experiences and insights, addressing challenges and opportunities in film production.鈥
鈥淪witchback鈥 will be released on DVD and select streaming services. Two of Bailey鈥檚 other films set in Moriah, 鈥淢ineville,鈥 to which 鈥淪witchback鈥 is a prequel, and 鈥淕arrow,鈥 about the life of Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow Sr., are on Amazon.com.