PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Drury High School alumnus Nick Burchard is back behind the camera with his newest film, "The Ghost Light," this time in the historic Colonial Theatre with a plan to start production in the fall. 

 

This short film follows high school theater geek Winnie who has a horrible experience during an audition due to her stage fright. 

 

Feeling defeated at the end of the day Winnie is helping her teacher clean and flicks on the "ghost light" and starts to hear the voices of ghosts doomed to purgatory in the high school auditorium. 

 

A ghost light is a bulb left on to ensure safety when someone is working in a theater late. This safety feature has accumulated a lot of superstition over the course of its history. 

 

According to Playbill some argue that "it's function is to chase away mischievous spirits" while "others insist it lights the way for the ghosts that are said to inhabit virtually every theatre, keeping them happy and contented."

 

In Burchard's film one of these ghosts, Esper, teams up with Winnie in the hopes to save her from the same fate while also getting the help he needs to move on to the afterlife. 

 

"What we're really aiming for is to create a project that is pretty universal. You don't have to be a theater person to relate to the characters in this film," Burchard said.

 

"This is an underdog story, and really explores the idea that anyone in any stage of life can achieve their goals with a little bit of help."

 

Burchards has teamed up with the founders of 10 out of 10 production company Kewan J. Harrison and Edward Soto to bring this story to life. Harrison was the cinematographer on Burchard's last film short.

 

Burchard was inspired to write this in 2020 during the lockdown because of the pandemic. 

 

"I remember thinking about all the empty theaters and my friends  who were pursuing musical theater as a career, it made me sad to think about theaters being empty," Burchard said. 

 

"I became obsessed with the image of it. It's a liminal space in a way, a place that is usually full of life and people was suddenly closed off." 

 

The preserved architecture that the Colonial Theatre has had during its lifetime with each tenant is one of the factors that influenced Burchard's decision to film there. Its history and preservation relates to the film's theme "of not being forgotten, and becoming who you were always meant to be."

 

Not only that, Burchard had the opportunity to perform on the Colonial stage in youth theater productions with Berkshire Theatre Group.  

 

"A lot of friendships were made there. We're really lucky to live in a place with so many great

stages ... but something about the Colonial Theatre in particular grabs me," Burchard said.

 

"Now I want to clarify that nothing is set in stone yet about the final shoot, and we have to

raise quite a bit more in order to achieve our goal but it was really exciting to film our promotional video there!"

 

Currently he is in the pre-production stage. What this entails is almost "anything that you can think of that needs to go into a production before it starts" including funding, scouting for locations, renting equipment, casting, and more. 

 

He recently launched fundraising on Indiegogo and has already received 9 percent of the $40,000 flexible goal. 

 

Those who donate receive perks including shout outs, original art, stickers, and credits in the final film. 

 

Following production, the film will be screened in festivals all over the world. This production is a big step for him as a director, he said, because it is much longer than his previous work "The Uncredited" and he hopes someday soon to make it into a full-length feature film. 

 

"The Uncredited" was filmed in Dalton and North Adams last year and has been screened at film festivals including The Mile High Horror Film Festival in Colorado, The New York Shorts, and most recently the Tokyo International Short Film Festival. 

 

"I really want to make the point that none of this was  possible without the cast and crew and the generosity of our supporters, indie film is a labor of love and we really felt the love on that one! It was a fantastic project in terms of networking," Burchard said.  

 

Check out our other article on "The Uncredited" here.