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October 29, 2013 12:45 PM
Ryan Cultrera brings Orson Welles back to the air waves
Ryan Cultrera of Small Town Pictures grew up just across the bridge from Portsmouth in Eliot, Maine and went to Marshwood High School. After studying filmmaking at Emerson College, the 24-year-old calls Hollywood home. He's back in Portsmouth right now, however, to present "War of theWorlds," "And listen around the radio with my family, just like families did 75 years ago." You see Cultrera is the force behind the airing of "War of the Worlds 75 Years Later" on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. Tune in at Portsmouth Community Radio at 106.1 FM or online at www.portsmouthcommunityradio.org. Here are a few questions with Cultrera.
Who is involved in this project?
The actors involved: I will both be directing and starring in Orson Welles' role as the narrator and professor Pierson. It also features Ian Cardoni, an actor featured in most of my films as well as Clear History for HBO, as Carl Phillips (the unlucky reporter who is first to the scene) and The Stranger. We also have Ari Wilford who is currently on Broadway with "Once the Musical" as the announcer. Michael Padvoani and Ethan Hoyt are the other two announcers. We have Erwin Cusack as Mr. Wilmuth, owner of the farm where the first Martian crashes. We have local comedian and actor Shawn Curley doing his best FDR voice as the the secretary of the interior. We have Bob Harris as the military captain and Joe Dion as General Montgomerry Smith. We also have Ed Fahey as the policeman, Seamus Towle, Chris Gaskell and Jason Tebbetts as the gunners, Dan Lance as the commander, Phil St. Pierre, Jon McConnell and John Swasey as the Operators.
Why are you doing this project?
I have always had huge respect for Orson Welles and his work, especially his "War of the Worlds" broadcast. I first learned of the broadcast and its history in high school as Halloween approached and I was hooked. I was fascinated and curious as to how a radio broadcast could have panicked the nation like that. And then I went and listened to it, and I understood. We were a tense, pre-war nation at that point in time, and this broadcast sounded so real, so of course it was the tipping point for many people. I even found out that my great grandfather helped broadcast the original to Portsmouth back in 1938 at WHEB.
Since first hearing it, I have listened to it every October and have always dreamed of taking on Orson Welles' position and directing my own version of it. I tried several times in college to present a re-creation of it with my college radio but had no luck. Once I graduated, I decided to take control of every aspect of it and finally get it done. The recording process took me roughly a year to get every last sound effect and voice over. I am very proud of how it came out, and am excited that I finally get to pay tribute to the original "War of the Worlds" on the 75th anniversary (we even have the same date and time slot).
Who has been helping you at WSCA?
The initial response and interest in my project came from Damon Thomas. He heard about my project last Halloween (we had a bit of a "trial run" on Internet radio) and proposed that we air it this year for the 75th anniversary. He has been very supportive of it ever since. I also have help from John Lovering (the host of Audio Theater) and Steve Diamond for tech aspects.
What's your next step?
The next step for me is to put our posters up for the project (featuring two original drawings of the Martians attacking Portsmouth by Kate Begin) all over Portsmouth and the Seacoast, as well as prepare my final cut of the broadcast for the station and get Portsmouth ready for the invasion on Halloween eve!
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