Nick is now shooting a crime drama film titled Meskada.

‘Fugitive Chronicles’ to begin shooting soon in region

By Colin DeVries

CAIRO – In the world of film and television, Greene County has been a hotbed of activity in the last few months.

Most recently, film crews have been swarming Main Street in Catskill, shooting the independent crime drama “Meskada,” starring Nick Stahl (Bully, Terminator 3, HBO’s Carnivale) and Rachel Nichols (Star Trek, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, ABC’s Alias).

While “Meskada” is still actively shooting around the area until early July, additional film crews will be their contemporaries in the Cairo and Durham areas.

“The Fugitive Chronicles,” a new show slated to air first quarter 2010 on A&E, held a casting call in the Cairo-Durham Middle and High School gymnasium on Saturday, looking for extras and a few limited feature spots.

According to Casting Director Kristian Sorge, filmmakers were hoping to find 30 extras and less than a handful of featured actors during the call. Approximately 55 prospective extras turned out for the casting call.

“You never know what the turnout will be for these things,” said Sorge.

Within the final hour of the casting call, which lasted from 10:30 a.m. to about 1:30 p.m., a few professional actors did appear from areas outside of the county.

Aspiring actress Heidi Philipsen, from Schenectady, appeared in the hopes of getting cast. She said she travels to New York City often for casting calls and has worked on a laundry list of various productions. Most recently, Philipsen said she was an extra in the feature film “Salt” starring Angela Jolie. During that shoot in Albany, several of the overhead arterial highways had to be closed and rerouted for the film crews.

“You got to know the highways very well during that one,” Philipsen joked.

“The Fugitive Chronicles” will be shooting primarily in the immediate vicinity of Cairo and Durham, re-enacting the true story of a fugitive on the lamb in the region.

Sorge would not disclose further details on the real-life fugitive story, but said that each episode of the one-hour show to air on A&E is based on true fugitive tales. The pilot season will feature eight episodes starting early next year.

Shooting for the show will begin June 24 and continue to July 2.

The episode is being directed locally by Ben Chanan and is executive produced by Bart Layton, Dimitri Doganis and Charles Tremayne.