Mary Madaus, 8, right, records her brothers Patrick, 13, left, Colin, 10, right, and teammate Samson Dorfman, 10, center, as they film their musical Saturday in New London.
New London - Where, oh where, is the Mayor's secret office?
Apparently, in a downtown Port-O-Potty.
Or so it is in the short movie made by "Team Colin," the youngest group to ever participate in the third-annual Whaling City Film Project.
"All mayors have a secret office," said Patrick Madaus, a member of Team Colin. "Where else can the mayors do all their secret stuff?"
On Saturday, at least, the team decided the mayor would conduct secret business in a public toilet near the Parade. Group members were making it up as they went and said a lot could change between then and Tuesday at 7 p.m., when the final product is due.
Put on by Neff Productions, SECT Film and the New London Film Commission, the film project gives teams four days to produce, film and edit a four- to seven-minute movie. Each team is given a genre, a prop, a character's name and a line of dialogue to use in the movie. This year, the theme, which always revolves around a hot-button New London issue, is the city's mayoral race, organizer Barbara Neff said.
On Friday evening, the seven teams - including three that had participated in years past - were told they needed to include the names Ruby and Morris Turner (in honor of New London's first female mayor, Ruby Turner Morris, who died in June at 103 years old); the phrase, "Where is the mayor's secret office?"; and use a political lawn sign, real or created, in their film. The teams also must film at some New London location, Neff said.
The contestants picked from 12 genres, from "mockumentary" to Western or period-piece.
Team Colin, which picked the musical genre, may be the surprise team of the event. The group is composed of three siblings, the oldest of whom is in ninth grade, and a friend.
Neff said it's the youngest group to participate in the three-year history of the event. The youngest three, Colin, 10, and Mary Madaus, 8, and Samson Dorfman, 10, all attend the Regional Multicutural Magnet School in New London, while the oldest, Patrick Madaus, 13, attends New London's Williams School.
They were out Saturday morning using downtown New London as their own personal studio. From the Shaw Mansion to the train station, the pier and the Parade, the group was having a blast singing, acting and filming footage on a Go Pro video camera and the family's digital camera.
Melissa Madaus, mother of three of the four Team Colin members, said the kids had pooled their money - with a little parental help - to get the camera. They'd spent most of the summer filming and editing little movies, so when she told them about the Whaling City contest, they jumped at the opportunity.
"It's a sweet chance for them to try this out," Melissa Madaus said. "They said they'd give me a (film) credit for being the chauffeur."
Patrick, Colin and Samson, donning white shirts, jeans and sunglasses, were the actors, while Mary choreographed and filmed the production.
Colin said the group had filmed spy movies earlier this summer and that their shtick throughout was to wear suits and sunglasses, a theme they tried to continue with this project.
Their filming schedule Saturday was rudely interrupted by previously scheduled soccer games, but the group was to race sailboats on Sunday and planned to get footage while on the water.
They said they'll be ready to submit Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, a panel of five judges will view all the movies and pick a winner, who will receive a $500 cash prize.
Neff said a public screening of the films of all the contestants will be Friday at 7 p.m. at the Garde Arts Center. It's a $5 donation to get in, Neff said, and attendees will have a chance to cast their votes for the "people's choice" award. The winner of that will receive $100, Neff said.
"We're in it to win it, but also, if we don't, it's just fun," Dorfman said.
s.goldstein@theday.com
