July 1st, 2009 - ANOTHER FEATURE FILM TO BE SHOT IN CAMDEN - Village Soup

A German film crew was in Camden this week, preparing for a Fall shooting of a major television movie to be shown in Europe.

The movie will include three ports of call for a cruise ship: Martha’s Vineyard, Camden, and Mt. Desert Island. No cruise ship will actually be located in the harbor.

More than 25 million people are expected to see the finished show. That exceeds the number of people who see some major films in the United States.

The film, titled “Indian Summer” is part of a series that is an outgrowth of the popular Love Boat TV series shown from 1977-1986.

The “Dream Boat” series is one of the longest running series on German TV. That version started in 1981, at the height of the popularity of the American show. But it has maintained strong ratings with over one billion viewers in the last 27 years.

Plans for the movie have been a long time coming. Last summer, production manager and television producer Frank Buchs set up office at the Whitehall Inn, from where he did preliminary scouting for the film. This week, Buchs joined famed German producer Wolfgang Rademann, directors, and location staff at the Whitehall Inn.

From there, they visited Camden Harbor and Mt. Battie, where they took numerous location photographs. And, despite drizzle and fog, they plan to go ahead with production in the Fall.

The plot and story line is still being fine tuned.

Executive Producer Rademann has been with the long running series since its inception in Germany. Now living in Switzerland, he has been described as the “inventor of television specials” and is considered the dean of television production in Germany.

The movies are 90 minutes long and are shown without commercial interruption.

The film is described as being family entertainment with adventure, romance and comedy. The series generally take viewers to exotic and beautiful destinations throughout the world. Unlike the U.S. version of Love Boat, which was mostly filmed in studios and on the backlot, the German series is always filmed with attention to these locales.

“We have already seen more German tourist traffic in the early part of this season than in the past,” reported Whitehall Inn owners Greg and Sue Marquise.” So we believe this type of exposure for Camden bodes very well for local businesses next season.”

The creators of the show describe it “as the most noble sort of escapism, to tempt the viewer for 90 minutes into the world of luxurious travel, to the most exotic locations, the most exciting cities, the most dramatic landscapes in the world.”

Camden is known as a location for many films including its most famous Peyton Place (1957) and Stephen King’s Thinner (1996), both filmed at the Whitehall Inn.. Additional films in this area include: In the Bedroom (2001), Casper (1995), Captains Courageous TV remake (1977), and Carousel (1956).