A start–up video and film production company in Hancock has begun pre–production on a full–length feature film to be shot in the Copper Country.  ABC Ten’s Keweenaw Bureau Reporter Rick Allen has the story.

These actors are taking part in their first rehearsal for a full–length movie being filmed in Houghton, Baraga, and Keweenaw County. The film is being made by Early Spring Productions in Hancock, a new company that was formed with the help of the MTEC Smartzone.

Featuring all local actors, the story follows Meda Paavola, a half–Finnish, half Native American woman trying to find love and her own identity in a multi–cultural world. By bringing together talent from both the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and Finnish actors, the film is already working to bridge the racial divide.

Early Spring hopes this will be the first of many films to be produced in the local area, providing jobs and opportunities for residents in the Copper Country. Filming begins in September and the movie’s film festival debut is planned for early 2014.