This article is no longer available on the Lebanon Daily News website. Below is a complete copy of their article. We would like to thank the Lebanon Daily News for their generous coverage of The Creek.

Filmmaker plans to shoot second movie in county
By ANDREA JOHNSON
Staff Writer
Lebanon Daily News

The independent movie The Creek, created by Cedar Crest High School graduate Erik Soulliard, was released to DVD recently. Shown in a still frame from the thriller are actors (from left) Melissa Rhoads, Tim Jesiolowski, Kathryn Merry, Nancy Soulliard, Dave Foster, Brian Jesiolowski and Erik Soulliard. (Photos courtesy of Erik Soulliard)
Lebanon County must have that certain something filmmakers like Erik Soulliard can appreciate.

Riding the success of the independent movie thriller “The Creek” that was filmed here last year, Soulliard plans to come back in the fall to Jonestown to shoot his next project, “12 Bells.”

Sure, maybe this 1992 Cedar Crest High School graduate’s adoration for the county is biased because he’s a native, but the county does have a wide array of scenery that comes in handy when shooting a low-budget film.

“I think Lebanon has a broad appeal,” he said. “There’s a nice variety of architecture, a city atmosphere and great farmland.”

Since the DVD release of “The Creek”
The Creek, recently released to DVD, was created by Erik Soulliard, a Cedar Crest High school graduate who plans on returning to the county to film his next movie 12 Bells.
on Oct. 28, Soulliard, of Clifton, N.J., said the movie has been well-received but requires a considerable amount of time for promotion and marketing. The DVD has sold out on Internet sites Blockbuster, Best Buy and Overstock, but moving the 3,000 copies of the DVD has proven to be a time-consuming challenge.

Fast forwarding through 2007 to present day, Soulliard has done everything to garner support from a sold-out premiere showing at the Allen Theatre in Annville, to a meet-and-greet for the DVD release at Pop Video in Pine Grove on Halloween, to working the film-festival circuit where the movie won the 2007 Best Horror Feature at the Illinois International Film Festival.

“We’re just pushing the movie as much as we can,” he said. “You realize now, ‘OK, I made this movie, it seems like people like it, but then, how do I get anyone to know about it?’ That has been my mission.”

Soon, Soulliard will be able to shift his focus on his next thriller and shoot scenes in the Jonestown area, including the third floor of Creter’s Guitar Shop at 19 W. Market St., where he also recently directed a music video for local band Shift Seven for the release of its new album “1.5 Days.”

The budget for “12 Bells” will be in the $500,000 to $1 million range, a huge jump from “The Creek,” which had a budget of $25,000.

“The plot is also much more ambitious,” Soulliard said, adding that the film is the first in a trilogy.

Residents of an apartment building vanish without a trace, one-by-one as they walk through their front doors. As they find themselves transported to a dark warehouse, the story begins to unravel as they realize a shut-in neighbor holds the key to their escape.

“‘12 Bells’ is much darker and is more of a thriller,” he said. “I’m really excited because it’s a lot bigger to tackle.”

Soulliard said Indie-Pictures, the distributor for “The Creek” is giving him a letter of intent for the distribution of “12 Bells.” Soulliard likes to keep things local and even hires locals for his film crew including “The Creek” special effects artists Justin Harrell and Michael George, and score composers Tim Jesiolowski and Andrew C. Strauss. Now, he’s looking for nearby investors for the new project.

Hoping to keep building on the success of future film endeavors, Soulliard and his wife, Nancy, a graphic artist and graduate of Northern Lebanon High School, want to “create their own jobs” so they can move back to the county but still do what they love.
“I love the area, I love the people, and hopefully, we can move back and make lots of movies here,” he said.

AndreaJohnson@LDNews.com

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“The Creek” may be purchased through online retailers listed on http://www.thecreekmovie.com.

To preview the movie “12 Bells,” visit http://www.12Bellsmovie.com.

Shift Seven CDs may be purchased on http://www.ShiftSeven.com.

Visit http://www.annubisproductions.com to view other Soulliard projects.