Published: 9/30/2017 3:10:05 PM
ORANGE — It may have been inevitable that the production crew shooting a Stephen King-inspired online series would want to film in a cemetery.
And that’s exactly what will happen one day next week, when those involved in “Castle Rock” set up shop in Central Cemetery to shoot a funeral scene. The Orange Cemetery Commission met with “Castle Rock” assistant location manager Peter Gonzalez near the cemetery’s Civil War monument on Thursday and voted unanimously to grant permission.
Hulu, a subscription video-on-demand service, has ordered 10 episodes of “Castle Rock,” an original suspense/thriller. Castle Rock is a fictional town in Maine, King’s home state, that the writer has used in much of his work. According to Hulu, the town has been featured in “Cujo,” “The Dark Half,” and “Needful Things,” as well as the novella “The Body” and other short stories. Some filming takes place in Orange and the rest is done at New England Studios in Devens. A teaser for the series can be viewed online at: hulu.tv/2rBi7hF.
“Castle Rock” crews started working in town around the beginning of August and are expected to visit periodically until January 2018. Some filming was conducted near the downtown intersection on Thursday.
The production company will pay for a town employee familiar with cemetery maintenance and terrain to be present for the filming. Gonzalez said loss-of-production compensation can probably be arranged. He said a $1,000 filming fee will also be paid. Interim Public Works Superintendent Joshua Knechtel said there are no funerals planned for Central Cemetery in the near future.
Gonzalez also said the names of tombstones will not be seen by the series’ viewers.
“We’re going to respect everybody’s privacy,” he said. “We’re going to be respectful as possible. This is a cemetery and we don’t plan to do anything that’s going to dishonor anybody in any way, shape or form.”
Cemetery Commissioner James Cornwell said he also belongs to the Trustees of Soldiers Memorial, which got a grant to repair the Civil War monument, and requested the production company make a donation if the monument is used in the filming. Gonzalez said he can probably make that happen.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 258. On Twitter: @DomenicPoli