Making this film has turned into a labor of love. God knows we don’t make films for the riches 🙁
I personally am making this film because Hazel’s death and her connection to Twin Peaks give me an opportunity to look at deeper psychological dynamics through the lens of a cold case murder. This kind of storytelling intrigues the hell out of me. And, exploring these dynamics by way of a cold case murder is a great recipe for an engaging film. Don’t you think?
Just asking the question, “Why did the Hazel Drew Murder case get dropped so quickly?” underscores the bigger issues at stake. The answers to these issues have been one by one revealing themselves and will continue as we dive deeper into this project.
This fascinating mystery and its connection to the 90’s television series Twin Peaks is available to for streaming now.
WHO KILLED HAZEL DREW
WHO KILLED HAZEL DREW
WHO KILLED HAZEL DREW
WHO KILLED HAZEL DREW
Please take a moment and view this short video. In it I address:
- When will the Hazel Drew film project be complete?
- Where will it premiere?
- How’s the project coming along?
- How is Hazel connected to the Twin Peaks television show?
Please help me promote this film by sharing it with your friends. If you would, please write to them and tell them what you like about it. This will make a big difference.
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Video Transcripts Below
John: Okay. Roll carriage, action, eyes back forward. Hey guys, John Holser here. I want to give you an update on where things are at with the who killed Hazel drew film project. I also want to share some exciting news about this film’s premiere and I’m going to fill you in at the end of this video. Now, for those of you who don’t know, in 2017 this became world news Hazel’s murder and her double life inspired the Twin Peaks character, Laura Palmer. And since then my friend Amy and I had been working hard to bring this story to the big screen.
John: We’re making a big-screen production at a fraction of what the cost of a studio film would be. I want this to not only be a cold case murder investigation but a journey back in time. Now, last spring, Michael Swantek and I did a writing retreat, So if we hook them with all the salacious stuff, teasing stuff, et cetera, in the hook, I feel like we then had time to set the scene of her environment in 1908 So we’re going to ask the questions here and then hopefully by the time we get done, we will answer those questions. After that, act one came together relatively easily.
Mark Marshall: This is the road, she would have been walking up. This one here. Supposedly going to her uncle’s houses, but everybody thought. Now she’s in Victorian clothing and this is all really rough dirt road here and somewhere in this area here where she was seen picking berries and then we’re coming up on an area where as a hook right here, this is what they consider it a hollow, and this is where Smith and Gundrum. We’re coming down the mountain.
John: Act two, on the other hand, created some challenges.
Mark Marshall: That’s correct. What happened in between all that. Frank could’ve changed the story so many times that even the investigators shook her head.
John: No, I’m in the middle of this editing and we’re in act two and I’m struggling to figure out just how to keep it interesting and tell the story. So you know, it’s like looking through for diamonds in the middle of the mud as you’re trudging through it just, you know, can mentally feel a little tiring. It was obvious that act to needed more visuals. So once I realized this, I wasted no time. And with the help of my father in law, we built two shooting sets. One set would be in 1908 office for district attorney Jarvis O’Brien.
John: The second set would be a bedroom for Hazel. This would be the bedroom that she lived just prior to her murder. The footage from the shoots would help us get to know Hazel, dive deeper into her double life tears.
Hazel: Dear Hazel, I take my pen in my hand to write and let you know the place you occupy in my thoughts. In addition to the reenactment shooting, we spent a significant amount of time at the Rensselaer County historical society with Kathy Sheehan, looking for records and photos that would help us understand what it might have been like to be an ambitious, beautiful young woman growing up in a wealthy city run by powerful men.
Tom Carroll: Arguably, the best way to describe Troy accurately in this period is to call it The Silicon Valley. The 19th century.
Michael Barrett: The money that was rolling to this town is astonishing. You’ve heard the stories, I’m sure of Mame Faye and the red light districts here,
Kathy Sheehan: People equate her to Belle Watley from gone with the wind that she had this glamorous bordello right on sixth Avenue. It’s back between the police station and Union Station.
John: I also did an interview with author Jack Casey. Jack focused on Troy’s political corruption and how this played a role in the Hazel jewel case and to put our minds back where Hazel drew was with this horror of having to worry about engaging in sexual activity, getting pregnant and ruining your life. I mean, that was a real, real worry that she had during the autopsy. With there being any evidence of her having an abortion.
John: Now the question that everybody is, is when will this project be done and where are we going to get to see it? Well, I’m happy to announce that Who Killed Hazel Drew is going to premiere at the Troy Music hall. I can’t commit to exactly when except to say sometime next year. One last thing. Do me a huge favor and share this video, this link with your friends and family, but don’t just share it. Take just a quick minute and tell them why you’re excited about this film. Making an independent film is a large and daunting undertaking. Your interest and your support have been what’s keeping me going? So I really do need your help. Endorse this project and share it with others. A few words from you. We’ll make a huge difference.