Getting to know the people involved in the Maine filmmaking scene over this past year, I’ve been struck — and impressed — with the supportive, interconnected nature of that community. In the credits for project after project, there are the same names, different jobs. An actor in one film doubles as director, writer or “thanks to” on five others.

Or more, if that name is Erik Moody.

If you’ve seen any Maine-made film in the past few years, you’ll recognize Moody: tall and lanky, with a youthful handsomeness seemingly made for indie leading-man status. One local director calls him “the hardest-working man on the Maine film scene,” but Moody himself demurs, preferring “one of the hardest-working. Maybe

Still.

Here’s a rundown of (some of) what he’s been up to in the last few years:

• “Up Up Down Down.” Leading man in Allen Baldwin’s indie romantic comedy. “We made that over two and a half years. It screened at the KahBang film festival. I hope Allen puts it out soon,” Moody says.

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“Ragged Isle.” Co-lead in Barry and Karen Dodd’s upcoming Web series. “Anytime you’re working with people who just invest their entire lives, financially and otherwise, it’s special,” he says.

“Damnationland.” Moody was involved in three of the seven Maine-made shorts in this horror anthology, starring in one, and involved creatively in the others. He also played a corpse.

“A Bounty for Susannah.” Acted and helped make this the winner of the 2010 “48 Hour Film Project.” “It’s going to be screened at the Miami International Film Festival,” Moody says. “If it finishes in the top five, it’ll screen at Cannes.”

“Forensics: The New Voices.” “I did this when I was in Los Angeles a year ago,” he says of the Web series. “It paid gas money, but was a great bunch of people.”

“The Earthworm Miracle.” According to Moody, he heard about it on Craigslist and auditioned over the computer. “It’s an audio screenplay the director hopes to turn into a feature,” he says.

And that’s just for starters.

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Coming up, look for Moody in:

“Vacationlanders: The Unorganized Territories of Maine.” It’s a Web series about the motley souls who stay behind when Maine is split off from the rest of the country.

An episode of the Web series “Willard Beach.”

The lead in an upcoming feature from local filmmakers Nick Poulin and Luc Pola.

“Club 86,” a Lewiston-set ensemble comedy radio series.

Plus, a role in Good Theater’s upcoming production of “Bedroom Farce.”

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• Oh, and he does commercial voice-overs for VIP and Killington Resort.

Man, and I just write this one little column.

Moody, who’s back in Maine after that L.A. sojourn (“You need a lot of money to live out there,” he says), has both enthusiasm and perspective on the Maine film scene.

“Even here, some people are just in it for the ‘cool factor,’ ” he says. “You live and you learn. But at this point in my life, I feel excited and optimistic about how I’m handling myself and how this town is handling its projects. I’m so appreciative to so many. They know who they are. …

 

Dennis Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Portland.

 


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