The Boston Globe du lieu suivant : Boston, Massachusetts • 103

16 North THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE DECEMBER 20, 1998 North Shore as 'Hollywood East' Mentally retarded people find niches with caring family I 1 "i rw r- if i -V I 1 it I i py and contented. He gets into what I call a comfortable rocking," Dow said. "He does that a lot when he's listening to music, especially classical music and songs from the '50s and '60s," Dow related. "Don't ask me why. I can't explain it or figure it out, but whenever the Red Sox are on, he laughs.

He i (mm DDOW Continued from Page 13 watch TV, and even articulate a "Hello" once in a while. On a wall in Dow home are dozens of photographs of people with special needs who have been cared for by his sisters and himself over the years. Dow, who had for decades provided overnight and weekend respite care for people with mental retardation who were staying with his sisters or nieces, eventually decided to share his home, built in 1748, on a longterm basis. "I was just lucky enough to be there when Doug needed help," said Dow. "There's a lot of satisfaction in knowing that you're helping someone.

The rewards are a lot of small things, like watching him have his breakfast and then smile with something there that tells you he's ready to face the day," Dow explained. Doug, he said, does not have to be conversational to communicate his needs. He motions with a cup when he wants water and he expresses his dislike for carrots by picking them out of a meal on his plate. "I can sometimes sneak them in by mashing them up with something else, but if he recognizes a carrot, it's out of there," said Dow. Doug lately has taken a liking to reggae, said Dow, because the driver of the van that transports him and others to day care is from the Caribbean and plays that style of music.

"You can tell when Doug is hap-. Region a hot ticket for movie makers By Diana Brown GLOBE CORRESPONDENT Davidlee Willson thought it was a crank call. On Dec. 2, the Saugus screenwriter answered the phone in his Boston office and was told that his first film, "The Autumn Heart," was one of 16 selected out of 900 entries to premiere next month at Robert Redford's prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Utah. "It's really huge, especially if you look at the road we've taken," said Willson, who also starred in the movie with actresses Ally Sheedy and Tyne Daly when they filmed last year in the Saugus neighborhood where he grew up.

Production offices were set up in his parents' basement His friends and neighbors cleared out their living rooms to create makeup, costume and dining areas for the 70-person film crew. His sisters on whose lives the film is based even came by to watch filming around Saugus, Marblehead, Winchester, Needham, Cambridge and Boston. "It was a total leap of faith and leap of heart and suddenly Sundance called and said you're one of 16," Willson said. Over the last year, the North Shore has become something of an East Coast Hollywood. Several major films have been produced here, including "The Love Letter," shot in Rockport and Gloucester last summer by Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks Productions and starring Kate Capshaw, Ellen DeGeneres, Tom Selleck and Thomas Everett Scott.

Willson is flying to Utah in hopes of landing a large distribution deal for his film, "The Autumn Heart." Warner Brothers film company is scouting sites in Gloucester to film "The Perfect Storm," a bestselling story about a Gloucester fishing crew lost at sea. "Next Stop, Wonderland," a critically successful film about the randomness of finding love, was shot last year in Revere and Boston as a "valentine to Boston," said the film's director, Brad Anderson. Lynn brothers Frank and Joseph A. Ciota screened their film, "The North End," at the 1997 Boston, Montreal and Santa Barbara film festivals to favorable reviews. "There's definitely an appeal to the North Shore," said Robin Dawson, executive director of the Massachusetts Film Office and a Rock-port native.

Not the least of which is the look of the ocean, lobster boats and cedar-shingled houses on the big screen. But Dawson said the cost of union labor is also less expensive on the North Shore as compared to New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Acclaimed films such as "Good Will Hunting" and the much-antici- PI Partners in The Film Cellar Lisa pated "A Civil Action" both filmed around Boston also draw attention to the area. Last year, Dawson said, feature film productions generated $101 million in the Bay State, Massachusetts best year yet for film deals. While shooting "The Autumn Heart" in October and November last year, the region's seasonal splendor also made for good filmmaking.

"We had peak-season color," Willson said. "There's a certain vibe even from the houses. You can only pick that up with the real thing." But Willson also wanted the film to reflect his own life here. "It's my world and the world I grew up in," said Willson, who also appeared in the films "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Pariah." Although fictional, "The Autumn Heart" is a story he wrote three years ago about a family of three sisters and a brother whose parents divorce and later become reunited. Willson grew up with three sisters, but his parents never divorced.

"What I wanted was a thought-provoking movie," Willson said. "Regular people in our everyday lives have really amazing lives. I wanted to put that up on the screen." The film's director, Steven Maler, said the movie has an honest, simple feeling because it was made locally. "It was so fun to be in Will-son's neighborhood because people love him and they were all too willing to open their doors," he said. 1 Mae" Schiller, Kelley McMahon, Davidlee For Maler, a Tennessee native, and the rest of the crew, producers Marc Chabot of Winchester, Lisa Schiller of Newton and Kelley McMahon of Connecticut, this was their first film.

Maler, who works mostly in the theater, and Willson met while doing the play "Suburbia" a few years ago and later formed the company The Film Cellar, which they literally ran from Willson's parents' basement. The company is now based in Boston. "We're really just so thrilled. It's been such a long process," Maler said. For "Next Stop, Wonderland," director Brad Anderson said, "The idea was to make a film that featured Boston but also out of the way places," such as Revere Beach, the Wonderland dog track and the Wonderland MBTA station.

The film's title was inspired, in part, by a ride that Anderson took on the MBTA while writing the movie two years ago. "The title was so full of different meanings," he said. Visually, he said the filmmakers wanted to feature Boston as a city on the water with strong ties to aquatic life, so they filmed at the Aquarium and Revere Beach. The film's premiere was in Revere. Anderson, who lived in Boston for eight years, teamed up with Lyn Vaus, who also made Boston his home for a while, to make their first film, "The Darien Gap," in 1996.

Also shot in Boston, "The Darien Gap" really gets a chuckle out of them," Dow said. "And just like anyone else, there are days when things bother him. He might be a little down or frustrated or angry but he's never violent," added Dow. "But there are a lot of other times when he's on the couch with the cats, Harley and Gremlin, keeping him company, and you won't see a more content person. That gives me a lot of happiness," said Dow.

People like Dow who provide specialized home care are paid room and board as well as a monthly tax-free stipend. Medical bills and transportation costs are paid by the state, explained ARC's Grimaldi. Those who would like to become involved in specialized home care should expect a thorough background check, home inspection, training sessions before taking in a person, ongoing group sessions, and home visits by agency members, according to Grimaldi. Anyone seeking more information about home care for people with mental retardation and other disabilities can contact Grimaldi at North Shore ARC's Danvers headquarters at 64 Holten St. Telephone 978-762-4878.

The next concert is Jan. 17, 2:30 p.m., at the First and Second Church, corner of Marlborough and Berkley streets, Boston. Tickets are $15; $10 for" students. Rosen is a graduate of the Curtis School of Music in Philadelphia and has been a violinist and keyboardist with theBSO since 1972. He performs a solo piano recital at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge on Feb.

13 to mark his retirement from the BSO after 26 years. Call 978-363-5704. Sparhawk artists take look at history 4 1 he Arts Through Histo-I ry," a free exhibit of the JL works of students at the Sparhawk School in Amesbury, is on display at the Firehouse Center in Newburyport through Jan. 4. Call 987-462-7336.

(Sis) rs NightDaf Willson, Steven Maler, Marc Chabot. went on to the Sundance Film Festival. "Next Stop" also went to Sundance last year and was picked up by Miramax Films, which distributed it nationally. "Part of the appeal and much of the talk at Sundance was that the films there were not your typical urban New York stories. They were films from other places," Anderson said.

"The past couple of years have been pretty productive for the whole Boston film scene. I think it's more based on the reality that independent film is catching on all over," said Anderson, who is working on a horror film and a romantic drama that he may film in the Boston area. The Ciota brothers also are making movie waves with their film, "The North End," which is now playing in Italy after premiering in Revere last spring. Joseph Ciota wrote the love story three years ago about a young filmmaker making a documentary on changes in the neighborhood when yuppies move into the North End. His brother, Frank, who directed the film, shot entirely in Boston's North End, said they hope it will be distributed to wider audiences soon.

"In the last few years, people have gotten more interested in film," Frank Ciota said. He believes independent filmmakers are discovering the Boston area like musicians flocked to Seattle a few years ago. "Massachusetts, in general, has always had a pool of talent," he said. DARTS Continued from Page 13 Montserrat, in Beverly, is an independent, residential college of art and design. Chamber music for the love of it Jerome Rosen of West Newbury, a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is in the second season of presenting a chamber music series.

"We don't have a big budget We don't have a board of trustees or a development office or a marketing department," Rosen said in his brochure. "But we do have a lot of fun playing chamber music with and for each other and for you." The "Music for the love of it" series features Rosen on piano and violin, joined by other members of theBSO. CD i Jfem 1 it A The Restaurant Serving Dinner-Spm to 1 0pm Featuring: Soup, Salad, Entree Dessert O7oce of Entree: Roast Prime Rib, Chicken Florentine or Stuffed Filet of $29pp The Banquet Facility Dinner Dancing Featuring "HORIZON" Bar Opens 7pm- Dinner Served 8pm Fruit Cup, Salad, Entree Dessert Choice of Entree: Roast Prime Rib or Baked Stuffed Shrimp, (Complimentary $55pp w3l Reservations Required 978-927-5200 134 McKay Beverly, MA. Santa's Castle at Stone Zoo Stroll through New England's most dazzling holiday light show Slighligbts! Free gift for each child Tuesday, 121 and 128 Ice carving demonstrations every 9fonday fWondays and Tuesdays 10 off gift shop merchandise (photos not included) Encourage your children to read a newspaper every day. Who knows, one day they could reach the top of the charts' November 26 through January 1st (Closed 122598) Adults: $3.00 Children: $2.00 Under 2 Free For information: (781) 438-5100 (NofefOur animals will be the reindeer.) presented by mum 1 1 1 1 1 sponsored by I COT TO SEC ITI -Jon Bon Jovi, MusicianActor.