MGM-TV production transforms Frelighsburg to a rural Maine town for 10-event series
Anyone going through Frelighsburg at the end of August and into September, especially the OLF, might get a shock with all the English only signs that have a strong hint of the New England seaboard. Don’t be fooled. It’s only temporary while a 10-part series, made-for-tv movie starring “Grey’s Anatomy” alum Patrick Dempsey (alias Dr. Mcdreamy), along with Ben Schnetzer, Damon Wayons Jr., and Virginia Madsen is in production.
According to resident Susan Muir, “The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair” is the talk of the town and has townsfolk very excited. With street names like “Magnolia on the Row” and buildings being identified as “United States Postal Service,” “Jake’s Hunting and Fishing,” “Clark’s Diner” “Somerdale Boat Repair Shop,” “Somerdale Elementary School,” and “Somerdale Town Hall” it might be confusing but amusing navigating the picturesque village built along the Rivière des Brochets (Pike River). It is not easy to pinpoint just who is part of the production crew and who is not. Don’t be mistaken when the road signs indicate directions to Bethel, Augusta, Farmingham, Brunswick, and Camden, and cars of the period sport Maine license plates.
Produced by MGM Television and directed by Jean-jacques Annaud, “The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair,” is a wildly popular novel written by Joël Dicker, and the murder mystery published in 2014 has recently been adapted for the screen. According to a review by Alice Gregory of The New Yorker, the book has been less well received in the US than in Europe.
Over two million copies of the book that is translated into 37 languages have been published. It has won several prestigious awards, including the 2012 Grand Prix du Roman de l’académie, and according to Variety Editions in 2016 it surpassed Dan Brown’s “Inferno” on the European best-seller lists. “In May, it was finally published in America by Penguin Books, which printed a hundred and twenty-five thousand copies. It was the largest deal in the imprint’s history.”
It is said in many reviews that “The Truth About The Harry Quebert Affair” brilliantly skewers small-town life, the publishing industry, and our cultural obsession celebrity and scandal.” The Swiss born author who has spent much of his life in the United States is considered one of the most dynamic new voices in fiction.
While this is the first television production for director Annaud, Dempsey will assume the lead role as a literary icon who finds his life upended after being indicted for the murder of a girl whose body was found on his property.
Although Gregory scathingly touts it as a “sort of novel you recommend to a grieving friend or coworker out on jury duty — somebody with temporarily disabled critical faculties trying to forget who or where they are,” Annaud, the director of the series, feels that Joel Dicker’s exquisite thriller has captivated a worldwide audience with its complicated tale of love and lies. And Steve Stark, MGM’S president of television production and development, says that he is “thrilled that this first class ensemble cast led by Patrick Dempsey and the incomparable director Jean-jacques Annaud, get to bring this provocative page-turner to life.”
“’The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair’ was the ideal project for my first American television venture,” Annaud said in a statement. “It is a rich and nuanced novel set in a small New England town and has all the elements for a classic mystery. Having MGM (and producers Tarak Ben Ammar and Fabio Conversi) as my partners has given me the ability to assemble a formidable cast and a talented crew. Their enthusiasm for Harry Quebert is equal to my own.”
The production is also being filmed in the Montreal area. For now it is not known when Epix will broadcast the series.