Cass Based Film Allows Film Maker To Pay Homage To His Families Homestead

Cass, WV – Although he grew up in Pennsylvania, film maker JT Arbogast has fond memories of childhood visits to Cass in Pocahontas County.

“My whole family is from the Pocahontas County area” he says. “My mom is born and raised in Cass, and her parents, my grandparents Jack and Dess Cain had a grocery store there, and had a life and raised a family. It’s the place that’s always been home for us. I have written a screen play and we are now producing a movie called Angel’s Perch that’s going to shoot there in September.”

Arbogast says the other attraction for him is what he calls the magical beauty of West Virginia, and Pocahontas County, in particular. His family history also heavily influenced his screenplay. He gives a synopsis of the story line.

“It’s very much inspired by my grandmother and her battle with Alzheimer’s” he says. “The story line deals with a young architect who’s living in Pittsburgh, who is called home to assist his grandmother into an assisted living facility. What’s supposed to be a quick two-day under the radar trip home turns into something a lot more than that when he can’t really bring himself to do it. He’s forced to deal with his own sort of painful memories that are holding him back from moving forward in his life.”

He says he wants the story to reflect the positive aspects of living in West Virginia and as a celebration of the life he knew growing up.

Arbogast says they got a huge funding boost for the movie via Kickstarter.com, a website devoted to raising funds for various arts projects. They exceeded their initial $25,000.00 goal by more $7000.00. Although very experienced as an actor, this is Arbogast’s first foray into producing a film.

“I’ve produced a lot of theater” says Arbogast. “I moved out to LA [Los Angeles] about two years ago and once you make the move to LA, you kind of shift gears a little bit; that’s where it is.”

“I will always love theater; there’s something really magical about being in a space with an audience and having that experience. But film is forever. Once it’s been shot and put on a film, it’s something that’s going to be passed down; and it lives well beyond you.”

Arbogast says there will be a number of opportunities for local talent to get involved in the filming process.

“We hope to be able to use some local musicians because there’s a lot of sort of traditional bluegrass that’s woven throughout the script” he says. “And there’s going to be plenty of opportunities for people be involved in a lot of different ways both on camera and off. So check out our website, which is www.angelsperch.com; there’s a spot on our website to sign up or for our mailing list. But yeah, we will absolutely be using as many as we can.”

Arbogast will be playing one of the roles in the movie, but he’s being mum about who they have in mind to play the role of the grandmother. He’s hoping to come back in June to begin the casting process. If all goes well, they’ll return in September to begin filming.