Film crews, UFOs? Just another day at LMCS

School, town may be site of sci-fi series ‘The Manor’

By Osei Helper | Manor Ink

Livingston Manor, NY – In July, a “spec trailer,” a type of short film for “pitching” a film idea to a network, was created. Producers Nico Martinez and Luke Nieves plan to use it as a pitch to Netflix and other networks near the end of September. Now, what’s so important about this? Well, their proposed series will be titled “The Manor” and if picked up by one of the networks, it will be filmed right here in our little hamlet. What’s it about?

“It’s a bit like Riverdale meets M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Signs’,” said Martinez, referring to a 2002 sci-fi thriller about UFOs.

The story of “The Manor” centers around a group of high schoolers and how their lives are affected by UFO activity in the town. The idea was sparked by an experience that Martinez had in New York City. It shifted her world view more than a little and gave birth to the alien activity story idea. “We sort of wanted to pull from real experiences that people have had,” said Nieves.

The pair did lots of research and found out that there have been many reports of UFOs and alien activity from people in the Catskills. As for the location, Martinez and Nieves, thought immediately of this hamlet. Though they currently live in New York City, they resided in Livingston Manor for five years, still have a house here and have always wanted to do a project in the Catskills. Throw in some local UFO accounts, and they had a pretty solid argument for shooting the series right here in town.

Filming on location

The spec trailer itself was filmed in two locations – here in Manor and at Tri-Valley Central School in Grahamsville. The process of getting permission to film outside Livingston Manor Central School was a bit challenging, but thanks to Martinez’s connections with Tri-Valley (she taught there during the years they lived here), the pair were able to get a certificate of insurance and permission to film outside LMCS.

If the series does get picked up, Martinez and Nieves are hoping to be granted access to the inside of the school as well. Going into full production would be helpful to the town by not only creating a multitude of jobs, but by increasing tourism to the area.

While they’re hoping for Netflix, the pair will be pitching “The Manor” to a multitude of networks, and since many networks don’t allow submissions without an agent, the producers had to find one. “There are many networks and producers that do not accept unsolicited material, so we’re really blessed that we have the right people ready now,” Martinez said.

Multiple episodes planned

Martinez and Nieves are planning to have nine episodes for the first season of the show, and are hoping to ultimately produce as many as four seasons. Because the development of “The Manor” is only a season deep, they’re open to a variety of storyline possibilities. They even have plans for another series drawn from Martinez’s experience as a Latina immigrant living on Long Island called “The Islanders.”

If everything goes as planned, the producers will be able to share the beauty of our hamlet worldwide while benefitting the town economically. So for the sake of the Manor, let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope for the success of “The Manor.”