×

‘NORTHBOUND’

The cast and crew of “Northbound” are pictured. The first two seasons of the series created Upper Peninsula natives Seth and Nathan Anderson, as well as producer Jason Hagen, will be screened at the Ore Dock Brewing Co. 6 p.m. Friday and the Calumet Theatre at 2 p.m. Saturday. Attendees will have a chance to catch up on the first two seasons while getting a sneak peak of Season 3 and having an opportunity to meet the crew and cast, ask questions and see props and costumes from the series. Many U.P. locales and actors are featured in the series. (Photo courtesy of Michael Johns)

MARQUETTE — If you’re looking for an opportunity to get out of the cold and watch a locally filmed and produced series that may even feature some of your friends and neighbors, the first and second seasons of “Northbound” will be shown on the big screen at the Ore Dock Brewing Co. in Marquette 6 p.m. Thursday, as well as the Calumet Theatre at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The “Northbound” series — which began as a concept project for the film “Northstar,” an in-progress film that the series will serve as the prequel to — is set in post-apocalyptic North America and tells the story of the apocalypses’ survivors, their interactions with one another and the challenges they face, all on the backdrop of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

“It’s got a lot of mystery, a lot of local talents on display and a lot of the beauty of this area on display,” series co-creator Seth Anderson said.

The events, which are part of the 2018 Series Tour, will feature a Q&A session with the crew and cast members, props from the series, sponsor giveaways and opportunities to volunteer as an extra for the remainder of Season 3’s filming, organizers said.

Attendees of Friday and Saturday’s event will also get a sneak preview of the show’s third season at the events, organizers said.

“It’s designed to (allow viewers) get in on the project so far and get a good understanding of it — not only watching the story unfold up until now — but also seeing what is coming up, because we do have some preview footage of what we shot and what’s in store after you’ve gotten yourself caught up,” Anderson said. “It’s really a great point to catch up, they’re coming in while the train is stopped.”

The group has seen the project evolve vastly since they began filming the first season several years ago, they said, and have worked in locations throughout the U.P.

“We started working in Dickinson County, around Iron Mountain, Norway and Kingsford — and that’s where I grew up, I actually grew up here in Iron Mountain — our first crew really started there then we started to expand,” Anderson said. “Then we made our first inroads up in Houghton, shot at Michigan Tech University. For the last season, season 2, we shot in Gwinn out at the old K.I. Sawyer base, which were wonderful locations for the post-apocalyptic stories.”

The crew has been glad to have the opportunity to get local communities and actors involved in the series as they’ve traveled throughout the U.P., they said.

“It’s very community-driven filmmaking. We’ve been working the with local theatre group out of Iron Mountain there, or Dickinson County Theater group and there’s just a wide pool of talent to partner with and bring into the series,” said Jason Hagen, writer/producer for “Northbound.” “And from there we’ve expanded, taken recommendations of other actors and actresses, we brought them into the series for Season 3.”

The series has used “all volunteer-based filming” and come up with many creative “do-it-yourself” solutions during the process, said Fay Mannon-Rahoi, local coordinating producer.

“You give (Yoopers) a challenge and we come up with a solution — and that’s something that Seth and Jason have seen occur over the whole process of filming,” she said.

Over the seasons, the series has grown in size, scope and financial support, they said, with the series’ locations, number of cast members and characters expanding with each season.

“We started out with 10-15 (cast members) in the first series, then in the second series, we went into 15 to 30, in series three, there will be up to around 50,” Mannon-Rahoi said.

This has tied in with the series receiving support in the form of sponsorships, which has allowed them to expand their resource base, they said.

“Because we had a complete Season 1 and Season 2 prior to bringing the series to (sponsor) Rip It (Energy Fuel Beverages) or pitching it to other sponsors within that energy drink space or outdoor space, it’s really because we had a strong Season 2 that we were able to gain the attention of that type of sponsorship,” Hagen said. “We knew with marketing Season 2 and starting the push with Season 3, we were going to have to open up funding channels beyond the traditional fundraising we did with Kickstarter.”

Hagen is glad to have the support of additional regional and national sponsors, such as Stormy Kromer, Dickies Medical, tactical brands NcSTAR and Damascus Gear, as well as raffle giveaways by sponsors, he said.

Hagen, Anderson, Mannon-Rahoi and are glad to have sponsorship support, as well as a renewal for Season 3 by Minneapolis-based distributor Seeka TV after Seasons 1 and 2 were released on the platform in October 2017, they said.

They hope their approach to the challenges of creating a series and film in the U.P. can help inspire others to do the same, they said, noting they want it to be a “vehicle to open up doors” to continue filmmaking in the area.

They strongly believe the U.P. is a great place to make films and feel the area’s strong sense of community will help the show and eventual film go far and reach many, they said.

“It’s got more story to tell and the more of the community that we have here the stronger we are — with not only just the making of it, the resources and the talent — but the way it can get out to the world,” Anderson said. “We feel like Michigan audiences here are very enthusiastic. They are our core group as far as viewership the more we can make this a community effort to put the best foot forward.”

For more information, visit www.northstarsaga .com or www.facebook .com/northstarfilm. To learn more on IMdB, visit http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4218556. Seeka TV can be accessed at https://goo.gl/DYgtcB.

Cecilia Brown can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248. Her email address is cbrown@miningjournal.net.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today