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Movie Making in Lackawanna County: “The Paragon Cortex”

Filmmakers with strong local ties have been busy shooting a new movie. Newswatch 16 got an inside look at the making of the independent film shot in the Scranto...

Filmmakers with strong local ties have been busy shooting a new movie.

Newswatch 16 got an inside look at the making of the independent film shot in the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre areas called "The Paragon Cortex."

Amidst the massive collection of automotive parts at Global Truck and Parts in Archbald film crews prepared to shoot a pivotal scene for "The Paragon Cortex."

The final battle between the hero and the villain was shot at the local business.

John Kilker is the writer, director and producer of this comic book action flick.

He's also a Scranton native.

"It meant a lot to me to be able to come back and produce a movie here," said Kilker. "Both to be around my family, but then also to return a lot of that credit, that good will that people gave me, helping me along the way."

In the movie the main character, played by actor Nick Coleman, develops super powers, but can only use them in the confines of his home.

"The idea behind this film is, what would be the ultimate geek conundrum? And to me it would be to have all the super powers you could possible want to have, and not be able to use them," explains Kilker. "To be able to be the super hero, and not be able to be the super hero."

It took crews about a month to shoot the low-budget film, which was paid for entirely by local, private investors now it's off to post-production.

They're hoping to have a finished product this fall and then show it at an independent film festival.

Producer Christian Huennebeck is from Germany and now lives in Scranton. He said it's refreshing to work in a place that's not over-saturated with film-making.

"These are fresh minds and you can still work with them without having to run into certain walls that are put up immediately if you tried the same thing in Los Angeles, for example," said Huennebeck.

Locals may recognize several locations in the film, including Stirna's Restaurant in North Scranton, Comics on the Green, a comic book shop in Scranton, the Times Shamrock building in Scranton and Blu Wasabi, a Japanese restaurant in Dickson City.

"I'm just excited to see what it'll look like on the big screen," said Joseph Van Wie, the line producer and unit production manager. "Scranton come to life, it'll play a character in the movie because independent films don't get the luxury to use the locations we have with our budget."

Producers said they hope to premier "The Paragon Cortex" in the Scranton area.

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