Category: Pre-Production

Highlands Historical Society Greenlights Film

Posted on by Kyler Boudreau

Highlands, North Carolina

It’s not every day you stumble across an Appalachian town situated at over 4100 feet above sea level! But such is the case for Highlands, NC. At this elevation you escape the bugs and heat and enjoy a plethora of wildlife including bob cat, black bear, otter, fox, coyote and even the elusive black panther! Old journals from the 19th century speak of the panthers when their numbers were great. Now only the occasional fortunate individual happens across one in their path.

The Elizabeth Wright Prince House

The Prince house, located near the center of town at 524 N. 4th Street is a historic gem. It’s the oldest remaining house built in 1877. The Elizabeth Prince house is part of the Highlands Historical Society’s Historic Village and serves as a living history museum with period-appropriate furnishings with another museum located adjacent to the building.

The history on the Prince home is rich. You can visit the Highlands Historical Society website to get the detailed information and view photographs dating back to 1913! In brief summary, Frank and Annie Wright bought the house in 1913. Their second child, Amelia, was born in the home. Just three years later Frank died at the age 35 of typhoid fever from a contaminated well. Frank’s brother, Jim Wright, acquired the house in 1919. Elizabeth Wright Prince (sister of Jim) transformed the home into a boarding house in 1935.

Reckoning Granted Permission to Shoot

In 2022 Kyler Boudreau reached out to the Highlands Historical Society to inquire about shooting a few scenes of an independent film called Reckoning at the Elizabeth Prince House. Kyler and his wife Sandi moved to Highlands as full time residents in 2021. Their upcoming film is set in the 19th century North Carolina mountains and tells the story of a young girl who must stand up to an outlaw that killed her parents. More on Reckoning.

Kyler and two members of the Highlands Historical Society board met at Calders Coffee to discuss the details. The board graciously agreed to allow us to shoot at the Elizabeth Write Prince House! What an incredible gift that will transform the production value of our film.

A massive thank you to the Highlands Historical Society for granting access for our film. And thank you for preserving treasures locations like this for current and future residents to take an accurate, nostalgic view into the past. If you haven’t visited this museum, it’s time to change that! The Prince house is located directly across the street from the gas station and just down the road from First Citizens Bank.

When production ensures we’ll post an update here on the progress of the film!

Reckoning to Shoot at Whitewater Equestrian

Posted on by Kyler Boudreau

Sapphire, NC

The opening of Reckoning has two men on horseback investigating a couple loan cabins. We posted in the local Highlands, NC Facebook group to see if there were any kind souls with horses. What we didn’t expect was the generosity of Whitewater Equestrian!

Keryn not only agreed to the shoot, but graciously gave us a tour of his operation. Not only do they have horses and beautiful Appalachian trails and streams, but a cabin originally built by none other than Daniel Boone! Keryn also took us to an ancient path cut deep into the forest floor that bore the feet of traveling Seminole Indians. They would disfigure trees to point others in the right direction—some of these tree trunks still remain!

We’re blown away by the kindness and generosity of the people in Western, NC! And a final bit of good news: Keryn has also agreed to be in the film! We’ll put up a post during production to show him in action. Until then, if you have the hankering for a good time on horseback, you now know where to go.

Find out more about them at: https://www.funhorsebackriding.com/

Cashiers Historical Society Supports Local Film

Posted on by Kyler Boudreau

A crucial pre-production task for any film is location scouting. Reckoning is our first film to shoot in the Highlands/Cashiers area. We moved here as full time residents in the fall of 2021. Though it’s our first time to live in North Carolina, my grandfather was born near Marshall, NC. So in a way I’m returning to my roots. Not only do we love the area and the towns of Highlands and Cashiers, we’ve been blown away by the kindness of locals eager to help in our endeavor to shoot an independent film.

Reckoning is a 19th century tale set in the town of Little Cataloochee. Before moving to the area, location scouting was underway and the incredible Cashiers Historical Society was put on the hopeful list. The great news? We visited the location and spoke with Sandi Rogers who thrilled us with a “Yes, you can shoot here.” WOW! What an opportunity.

Sandi kindly showed us around. There are remarkable buildings on the property. The Zachary-Tolbert House, Colonel John’s Cabin, the School House…and more! The grounds are open to visitors all year with certain events like apple pie baking, summer camp and more!

There are also wooded walking trails that lead to points of interest like the Tolbert and Zachary Springs, the Tolbert Rock, and an early privy. They’ve even discovered pottery, square head nails and Civil War-era coins.

The grounds are beautiful and this place is hands-down worth a visit. Just grab a coffee at Bucks and then maybe 3 minutes down the road you’ll find yourself at this amazing place. Or check out their website for more info: https://www.cashiershistoricalsociety.org/

We’re so grateful! Reckoning will be all the better thanks to the Cashiers Historical Society.