LEWISBURG- Central Pennsylvania was up on the big screen in Lewisburg. Friday night, a locally made film entitled The Lost Within was shown at an advance screening at The Campus Theatre. Cast and crew turned out to see their work and show their support to writer/director Steve Gibson and the film’s producer, Jessica Paquin.
The film centers on a journalist who is independently writing a book about the lives of shut-ins and those who hide out from society. As he seeks out individuals for interviews, he meets a mysterious woman who lives in a motel. As his interest in the peculiar woman evolves into obsession, he begins to unravel her hidden past and her dark secret.
The Lost Within was filmed at various locations including parts of Sunbury, Mifflinburg, Milton, and areas near Lock Haven. The film’s writer and director Steve Gibson explains why he chose to film in these local areas, “I love this area for the creative people that are here. We’ve made friends with a lot of artists and photographers and creative types. You wouldn’t expect them to be all in one place, especially here, but we found them. So they’re a huge inspiration.”
Gibson says that he writes based on accessible locations, “I write scripts around locations that are available to me. I’m not going to write something in New York unless I know I’m going to be in New York. So everything here, I would write about the bookstore, or about the theater, or the bowling alley down the street. So they would have to be someplace we could easily get into.”
The Lost Within stars some local talent, and also cast special effects and makeup artist RJ Haddy, who was a contestant on two seasons of the SyFy channel’s show Face Off. Along with having an acting role in the film as the motel manager, Haddy also provided makeup work for the movie.
Producer Jessica Paquin discusses his work on the film, “We met him at a convention, made very good friends with him, and then when it came time to do the script, we had (a special baby), and so he designed and created this little guy for us, which is great, and it also turned out that RJ had a flair for acting. He auditioned for the part and just completely wowed us.”
This is the second locally made film by Gibson and Paquin of the Fist-In-Post production company. Their first movie, a horror film entitled The Feed, was made in 2010. It was shot mostly inside The Campus Theater and is available on DVD as well as on streaming.
So what’s next for The Lost Within? Producer Jessica Paquin says that they plan to enter the film at film festivals around the world. (Ashley Thomas)
