Marin Hinkle's summer plans

("snipped" from the article, "Chagrin Falls author brings moviemaking home and to Hiram" by Clint O'Connor)

The novel is personal, sensitive and lovingly evokes its time period. Not surprisingly, it is set in Chagrin Falls, where Lax grew up, went to high school and lives today. But his quest to address those questions he has been asking for 30 years will not end on the printed page.

Today in Hiram, filming begins on the movie version of "The Year That Trembled." Directed by Jay Craven, who also wrote the screenplay, it stars an ensemble cast of young actors that includes Meredith Monroe from "Dawson's Creek," Marin Hinkle from "Once and Again," and 18-year-old model-actress Kiera Chaplin (niece of Geraldine Chaplin and granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin). Also on board are veteran screen and TV stars Fred Willard, Martin Mull and Henry Gibson.

The film is being produced by Lax, 48, and his nephew, Tyler Davidson, 26, for their Chagrin Falls company Novel City Pictures. It is a small-budget project (about $1.25 million), financed by local private investors, and will be shot during a tight, 28-day schedule at Hiram College (acting as Kent State University), and in Chagrin Falls and Garrettsville (both masquerading as "Chestnut Falls.")__The Plain Dealer (May 29, 2001)