Bethlehem’s Lay introduces ‘Price of Faerie Tales’
As one of the most prolific filmmakers based in the Lehigh Valley, Bethlehem’s Brandon Lay has been in a celebratory mood lately — thanks to a flurry of upcoming projects.
His latest feature called “The Worry Doll” recently screened at the Reading Film Festival, Maine’s Sanford International Film Festival and the U.K.’s Out of the Can Festival.
And, through his Living Proof Pictures, he’s ramping up for the production of two features “A Bitter Taste of Ginger” and “A Memory of Chopin,” as well as an as-yet-unnamed short.
But, at the moment, Lay is the most jazzed about unveiling the final three episodes of his streaming series “Price of
Faerie Tales” at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24 at ArtsQuest’s Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas.
Lay will be on hand to introduce the episodes, which run about an hour each, and to answer questions afterwards.
The series, which revolves around a young woman undergoing a crisis, stars a handful of Valley residents, including Jenna McBreen from Macungie, Syd Stauffer from Allentown, James Mason and Torez Mosley from Bethlehem, and Ryan MacNamara from Catasauqua.
“I am so thoroughly excited about `Price of Faerie Tales,’ says Lay of the series, which is also streaming on Amazon. “We’ve been working on it since February of 2018, so I’m super thrilled that we’re finally putting on the final touches to it and putting it out in the world.
“We are at a really pivotal and transitional stage in Living Proof Pictures journey where sharing some of our most ambitious pieces that we worked so hard on to get to this stage and preparing for an exciting new phase with even more professional equipment and experience.
“So I’m contending with this simultaneous sensation ofI ` want to show [audiences] everything we’ve done,’ but am already anxious to show [them] what’s still to come!”
All of Lay’s projects make extensive use of Valley locations. The final three episodes of “Price of Faerie Tales” were shot at the recently closed Coffee House Without Limits in Allentown and the
Art Establishment in Bethlehem.
For area residents, one of the highlights of the series is bound to be Lay’s chronicle of the demolition of Martin Tower, which he incorporated into the storyline of episode nine.
“It was important to me to document … what was occurring in the town my production company and I call home,” says Lay. “Thousands of people filmed that event from iPhones [and] professional high-end news cameras [filmed it as well] so I knew I wasn’t going to be able to bring anything new by just going out and filming it myself with my camera.
“So I decided to incorporate it into our story through having one of our central characters witness the demolition so perhaps people now and to come will be able to relive the event from a more personal vantage point through a character living the moment.”
Tickets are $10 for regular admission, $8 for seniors and students and $7.50 for
Artsquest members. For more info, visit steelstacks.org.