Down East ‘postcard’ coming to MPBN

    Madawaska Lake may be about as far from Down East Maine as a person can get and still be inside the state, but that hasn’t deterred Crown of Maine Productions from capturing this wild and windswept region on tape.
    And although the film was shot on location more than 200 miles from the film company’s base camp, the post production of “Postcards From Way Down East” was truly an Aroostook County effort.
    “Because of the complexity of the show,” said producer Brenda Jepson, “I needed help with the editing and with the DVD authoring. I knew just who to go to — my two former students, Josh Archer and Tom Gray who went straight to work at WAGM after graduating from my video class at Caribou Tech Center.”
    Archer of Mapleton, who directs the news at WAGM also was glad to assist. “I hadn’t worked on a documentary since being in Mrs. Jepson’s class in high school, and I had forgotten how different it is to really take more time over the editing.”
    Another key player in the effort was Bill Duncan at Madawaska Lake. Duncan does all of Crown Of Maine Production’s design work — their DVD covers, Web site and point-of-sale materials.
    “I can’t believe that living in this rural place there are so many talented people,” said Jepson. “When I had a film company in London, I couldn’t find a designer as talented as Bill Duncan and here he is living just up the road from me — a few camps along at Madawaska Lake.”
    These talents will be showcased soon when “Postcards From Way Down East” premieres on Maine Public Broadcasting Network during pledge week in December. The hour-long DVD, will be shown on Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 10 p.m. and again on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 9:30 a.m.
    Previews of the program, including a segment on Raye’s mustard who makes a mustard called “Aroostook Gold” from County mustard seeds, already have been shown to help generate statewide interest in the show. MPBN also will be running a “teaser” of the program and announcing air dates in the run up to transmission.
    Jepson, who has roots in Down East, Maine produced the program with her husband, Alan, through their Crown Of Maine Productions Company, filming from Hancock to Calais.
    A volunteer producer for MPBN for 26 years, Jepson said she is honored her program has been selected to be shown during pledge week. “I am also pleased that County folk will have a chance to see the show. There are close ties between Aroostook and Washington counties — some people we know here have gone Down East to rake blueberries and some Down Easters have come here to pick potatoes.”