Copious Notes

Lexington-based filmmaker Jason Epperson is looking for extras for a re-enactment of the Carrollton bus crash of 1988 that claimed the lives of 27 people, mostly children, and injured 34 others. The filming is for Epperson’ s movie Impact: After the Crash, a documentary exploring the aftermath of the crash, considered to be the worst drunk-driving accident in United States history.

Jason Epperson. © 2009 Herald-Leader file photo.

The crash occurred on May 14, 1988, when a pickup truck traveling the wrong way in the southbound lanes of Interstate 71 collided with a church bus filled with students and parents who had just spent the day at Kings Island. The driver of the pickup, Larry Wayne Mahoney, was intoxicated at the time of the crash.

The re-enactment will be staged in Winchester, and the call time is 9 a.m. Saturday (Nov. 10) for an all-day shoot. Potential extras are asked to dress in a style appropriate to springtime and the late 1980s. More details are available at the film’s website and on the call sheet for the shoot. The website includes a statement for parents who may be nervous about their children participating in the recreation of such a tragic event:

“We will have the children actually on the bus driving around Winchester for a few hours of the day, but have a certified driver AND bus safety teachers coming up who understands the significance and anxiety a lot of us share with this story. We will take every measure to take care of your children and be extremely careful and drive very slow to ensure safety. We are NOT shooting anything with “fire” or “explosions” and the actual re-enactment of the bus crash impact will take place on the by-pass in an area that will be blocked off by State Police. Parents are welcome to follow along for the entire shoot if you feel more comfortable.”

The movie is slated for release in the spring, coinciding with the 25th anniversary of the crash. It also comes on the heels of a recent Carroll County bus tragedy in which two pre-kindergarten children were killed when a bus overturned on Oct. 29.

Jason Epperson's entry into the Doritos/Pepsi Max Crash the Super Bowl commercial contest concentrates on mind control.

I would have posted this a few minutes earlier, but I had to go get a bag of Doritos.

Fortunately – except for my alleged diet – mine didn’t disappear like Lee Cruse’s snacks kept vanishing in Jason Epperson’s entry into the Doritos/Pepsi Max Crash the Super Bowl contest.

According to the contest website, the top three entries for each brand will be shown during Super Bowl 45 on Feb. 6. If winning entries make it into the Top 3 of the USA Today Ad Meter, they are up for some serious -read seven figures – cash. Winners will be selected by a panel of judges.

Epp’s spot features Cruse, known for his stand-up comedy and features on WLEX-TV 18, along with fellow comedian Ray Price and local theater standouts including Adam Luckey and Ryan Case in a story of using mind control to mess with the boss.

Unrequited, the feature film debut by Lexington-based director Jason Epperson and starring Twilight‘s Michael Welch, is headed to Cannes, France, and then Kentucky.

It will be screened at the Cannes Film Festival and Film Market on Thursday. It is not an official selection of the festival, but will be shown during Cannes and potentially be seen by influential people in the film industry.

Then, in June, it will have its official premiere in Lexington the week of June 14. Producer Jeff Day said the date is not settled because they are trying to coordinate schedules with Welch, co-star Sarah Habel and the Kentucky Theatre.

The movie, a suspense film about a young man who takes his ex-girlfriend hostage after his life falls apart, was filmed in Central Kentucky last summer. It was an independent production by Lucky Day Studios, co-owned by Asbury College assistant professor of communications Jeff Day and 13th District Commonwealth Attorney Tom Lockridge, with hopes to secure distribution after the film was finished.

The film has been picked up by Archlight Films, the distributor of films such as Crash, the 2006 Academy Award winner for best picture. Day says plans are to enter the movie in a number of film festivals before a general release.

I was trying to break a wide-angle addiction when I took this shot of Luther Lewis III rehearsing for UK Opera Theatre's "It's a Grand Night for Singing." But here, the14mm lens caught the majesty of Luther's voice and the moment.

When producer Jeffrey Day (left) and director Jason Epperson (right) suggested we meet at the pool of a horse farm where they would be shooting their forthcoming feature, "Unrequited," it seemed like a cool opportunity for a portrait with a little "Hollywood in the Bluegrass" feel.

This was the second year I spent covering my beat with a camera in my hands a lot of the time. As I said, last year, covering stories as a writer and a photographer is an interesting approach, because you are instinctively trying to match these images to the story you are writing in your head. Or, in the case of slide shows I put together, you are trying to come up with images that tell the story.

Here are some of my favorite shots from 2009 and the stories behind them. Over the holiday weeks, I also encourage you to look out for year end packages from our amazing staff photographers. I know at least one great Lexington arts image is in that group too.

I have to confess, one of the reasons to get out the Lexington Children's Theatre's "Celebrity Celebration" show was the prospect of seeing State Sen. Kathy Stein and Lexington Legends founder Alan Stein as Becky Thatcher and Tom Sawyer.

Shooting shows has really enhanced my appreciation for set and lighting design, and I thought these next two shots of Jennifer Parr singing "Hello Young Lovers" in Paragon Music Theatre's "The King and I" (above) and Adam Luckey in SummerFest's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (below) really showed exquisite work.

Shooting Lexington Philharmonic guest conductor Mei-Ann Chen in a March rehearsal, at one point I chose a spot next to the violins to capture some of Chen's big expressions as she was exhorting the orchestra. I think my positioning really annoyed one of the violinists, so I tried to make quick work of the shot, which Chen helped with by concentrating on the violins for a moment. When Weekender page designer Randy Medema chose this shot to run with the story, I was really happy he validated my choice of locations -- apologies to the violins.

I don't think any actor ended up in front of my lens this year as much as this UK kid, Jeremy Gillett -- this would also indicate he's a really good actor who keeps getting cast. This moment was from a rehearsal of UK Theatre's "The African Company presents Richard III" in which Jeremy played the passionate Papa Shakespeare.

A few weeks before Studio Players' production of "Always Patsy Cline" opened, I went out to see Patsy, aka Heather Parrish, perform with her band, June July at Lower 48, which is now closed. It gave us a chance to see some of that Patsy spirit in Parrish, and another dimension to her music. Manning the bass is Ethan Hayen.

One of the cool things about being on the set of "Unrequited" in July was seeing some local talent I've covered for years, like sound engineer Wes Kawaja here, working with Hollywood talent like "Twilight's" Michael Welch, who Wes is wiring up.

Shooting drama, you like to get a picture that tells the story, and I thought this one did it for SummerFest's "Once on This Island." The Gods -- Erzulie (Alicia Helm McCorvey), Papa Ge (Jason Thompson) and Asaka (Tamera Izlar) -- conspire to play havoc with the life of Ti Moune (Tai-Kristin Smedley).

A cool thing about this job is when someone calls you up and says something like, "Want to come hear one of the first readings of Silas House's new play." Here, House listens as Missy Johnston reads some of his words in "Long Time Travelling."

And then, a few weeks later, you see the show on stage. In the world premier production of House's play at Actors Guild, Josiah Correll and Hayley Williams were Adam and Lora, childhood sweethearts who've grown apart in marriage.

Sad story behind this image. After an interview with Actors Guild artistic director Richard St. Peter and managing director Kimberly Shaw to talk about the theater's plans for the future, we went down to the Distillery District to see their new Manchester Street office, which was formerly Theo Edmonds' gallery. A month later, the theater lost its funding from LexArts and both St. Peter and Shaw left to pursue other opportunities.

I went out to shoot The City, a new band formerd to play fundraising gigs for not-for-profit groups, the day after Derby. Usually, the day after Derby, you want to just sit and stare out into space. But the music and moments like this one with drummer Arthur Rouse made the shoot a lot of fun.

Another cool thing about this gig is getting to go hear the new voice professor, soprano Cynthia Lawrence, rehearse with the UK Symphony.

In the UK Opera Theatre's world premier production of composer Joe Baber and librettist James W. Rodgers "River of Time," Billy the Barber (Reginald Smith Jr.) reminded Abraham Lincoln (Nick Provenzale) of his promise to end slavery.

I love getting great looks, great expressions, and Brittny Congleton delivered here, singing "A Little Priest" from "Sweeney Todd" with Alex Parker in a rehearsal for the UK Musical and Operetta Organization "A Night with Stephen Sondheim."

So, I'm heading out to interview iconic Kentucky photographer James Archambeault at his Scott County home, and my editor Scott Shive asks me to get a new shot of him. The one we had on file was more than a decade old. Photographing James Archambeault -- as one person said, that's sort of like cooking for Bobby Flay. But Archambeault was a prince about it, and meeting him was one of the highlights of the year for me.

Lexington-based Lucky Day Studios has released the trailer for Unrequited, the feature film shot in Central Kentucky last summer by director Jason Epperson and starring Michael Welch, who plays Mike Newton in the Twilight movies. The movie, which also stars Sarah Habel, is currently in search of a distributor, and producer Jeff Day says there are several interested parties. We’ll keep you posted. Meanwhile, enjoy the trailer.

They were going with the rain plan.

With just five days left to film, the cast and crew of Unrequited faced something they have not seen much of in the previous three weeks of filming the teen psychological thriller in Central Kentucky: precipitation. But that meant they could easily adjust to shoot a key interior scene between troubled Ben Jacobs and his ex-girlfriend Jessica Morgan.

This didn’t faze actors Michael Welch and Sarah Habel.

“We’ve got some important stuff to do today,” Habel, who just came downstairs in the secluded Scott County home where they have been filming, cheerfully saids to director Jason Epperson.

Unrequited is an important film to most everyone involved.

For Kentucky-based Lucky Day Studios, it will be the debut feature that they hope will show they are capable of making high quality films.

For Winchester native Epperson, it will be his debut feature after making a name for himself nationwide as the first runner up on the Fox film director series On the Lot.

For Welch, it’s a chance to take the lead after getting on many movie fans’ radars with his supporting role in Twilight, and fellow actors such as Habel also hope to turn heads with their performances in the gritty drama.

And for much of the Kentucky-based crew, its a chance to put their best feet forward as brand new tax incentives could potentially start attracting more film work to Kentucky.

“The crew senses this is something meaningful,” Epperson says. “We want to all be successful together.”

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Yesterday in the paper and at LexGo.com, we told you about Unrequited, a new movie directed by On the Lot runner-up Jason Epperson that will begin filming in Lexington late this month.

We now have word on a local casting call for the film. Auditions will be held 3 to 6 p.m. Friday at Images Modeling and Talent Agency. Click here to read the full audition notice.

The auditions will be recorded and sent to casting directors in California.