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Locals Produce TV Show ‘Hush Point’

There are a slew of dramatic shows for people to pick from when they switch on their televisions, but two local residents are offering an alternative. Blake Donovan and John J. Cacioppo, co-creators of the show Hush Point, have created a local-access-based show focusing on the shoreline and seeking to create a realistic portrayal of the residents living in the area.

Hush Point is a drama that takes place in a local shoreline town. In the first episode, a body is found, shaking up the local community and revealing things about characters in the community. As the show is designed to progress, more about each individual character’s backstory is revealed and by the end of the first season, viewers will know the identity of the killer and how all characters are linked—or not—to the crime.

The show is the brainchild of Donovan and Cacioppo. Cacioppo came up with the idea for the show years ago, but teamed up with Donovan, a recent Guilford High School graduate, a little over a year ago to bring the show to life. Donovan said the show stands out from what viewers might usually see on television when it comes to character development and a general sense of reality within the characters.

“The main reason why this show is so different is because we are keeping it grounded to what people are actually experiencing,” he said. “We don’t have any extraordinary characters, so to speak. Everybody in the show is just a regular person. The average American is going to be able to look at these characters and they are going to be able to relate to someone.”

Both Donovan and Cacioppo said the idea of the show is to take on some big issues while keeping the program grounded in reality.

“We touch upon a lot of struggles that people go on nowadays,” said Donovan. “If we can offer some advice to that situation, whether we have been there or if we know people who have been there, and we can offer some kind of words of wisdom that we can add to it, we are going to go ahead and do that because we are going to try and make all of our scripts and lines as meaningful and as powerful as possible so that people can really feel something.”

The show airs on local access channels across the shoreline and operates with no budget. Cacioppo said the team relies on more than 20 volunteers, which can be challenging at times.

“No budget can be a hassle at times because things would be easier in a lot of aspects if we did have money, but it is kind of more rewarding,” he said. “It is harder, but we are still getting it done.”

Volunteers include actors and support staff, but Donovan said local business along the shoreline have been a great support as well. The crew has shot in numerous locations including the Branford library and Ballou’s Wine Bar and Restaurant in Guilford for various scenes.

“That is also how we promote small businesses and local business,” said Donovan. “Wherever we go, we make sure we get outside shots of the establishment and their logo. We try to do as much as we can because they are helping us out and we like to do the same.”

Both Donovan and Cacippo have put thousands of hours into the show. The first episode has aired and the second in a six-season arc is coming to TV soon, but Donovan said he and Cacippo hope to soon reach a larger audience.

“To help the most amount of people, after all of the work we have put in, we are aiming to sell the show,” he said. “We have been very blessed to be meeting with a handful of different studio heads. There was one in New York and then a few that were local here in Connecticut and we are going to continue to reach out to people and seeing where we can take this show because we have no intention of keeping this small.”

Hush Point is available on multiple cable access channels across the shoreline and can also be seen on the show’s YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtTphBzdxkc.