FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE

Fitchburg, MA – Massachusetts-based independent filmmaker Jennifer Potts announces her new feature film project: The Extraordinary World of Cecily Blinkstop. With the film currently in development, Potts is committed to filming entirely in New England, enlisting at least 80 percent of her cast and crew from the New England region, and building a crew with at least 50 percent women.

Jennifer Potts wrote The Extraordinary World of Cecily Blinkstop in 2014 as part of her MFA program at New Hampshire Institute of Art. Set in 1974 rural New England, this engaging story moves through the days of Cecily, a 7-year old girl who, following the death of her baby sister, lives in a world with no music, no color, no laughter, no love—that is, until a magical imaginary friend shows up and joins Cecily on the quest to save her family from the grief that is destroying them.

Filming is scheduled to begin during the summer of 2017. Between now and then, Potts and her producing team are committed to build awareness, raise $500,000, hire a cast and crew, and secure a filming location. Joining Potts during the early stages of this journey are Lead Producer, Jessica Killam, originally from Plaistow, NH; Marketing & Distribution Producer, Spencer Cohen, from Natick, MA; Assistant Producer, Victoria Hersey, from Milford, NH; and Luisa Piña from Swansea, MA, who is assisting the producing team now, but will ultimately be editing the film. Berklee graduate Sergio Torres is scoring the film, and visual artist Mike delGiudice from Lunenburg, MA, is creating artwork for the film and its promotion. Location Scout and Boston native, Michael Ricci, will begin a search this summer for the perfect vintage New England farmhouse that is to be the filming location for The Extraordinary World of Cecily Blinkstop.

For more information about The Extraordinary World of Cecily Blinkstop, go to www.cecilyblinkstop.com.

About Jennifer Potts: Potts is a Massachusetts-based screenwriter and film director. She is living proof that life does not need to slow down when you get to the middle. After graduating from Drew University in 1992 with a BA in Theatre Arts, she co-founded and ran Cornerstone Performing Arts Center in Fitchburg, MA, where she oversaw a small non-equity theatre company and directed multiple productions every year. In 2012, at age 41, Potts returned to school to study film/video production at Fitchburg State University, where she wrote and directed two short films and was awarded 2014 Film Student of the Year. In June 2014, Potts began working toward her MFA in Writing for the Stage and Screen at New Hampshire Institute of Art, where she wrote two feature screenplays every year. In 2015, Potts’ short film Home was selected to screen at four film festivals.

Potts resides in Fitchburg, MA, with her husband of 26 years and five children—four of whom are now in college.  www.jenniferpotts.com