A new Mayberry comes to life in Apex

APEX -- If the pictures in John Demers' mind come to life, the newest thing in family "edutainment" television could have an Apex address.

The producer and actor has long viewed the bucolic setting around Apex's main drag on Salem Street as a potential backdrop for a TV show.

Then Demers and his wife, Michelle, had kids. Then the New Hill resident survived a life-threatening illness.

Buoyed by a need to make a show he could watch with his kids without being embarrassed, Demers worked through his illness two years ago and "The Rusty Bucket Kids Club" was born.

"I've watched this community grow and watched this interesting mix of people come back," says Demers, co-executive producer of the show with his wife. "It just seemed a natural place for the show and a festival. Apex is family-friendly. It's so supportive of the arts. That's really what compelled me to put it together."

The first two episodes of "The Rusty Bucket Kids Club," set in fictional Peak City, will be the main attraction when Demers' other brainchild - the first Peak City Film Festival - kicks off Friday.

Jerry Mathers, who played the title character in the 1950s sitcom "Leave it to Beaver," will receive a lifetime achievement award at the festival's opening gala at Apex's Halle Cultural Center.

The festival will premiere 20 new family-friendly films and shorts over three days at two sites. It attracted entries from all over the U.S. as well as Australia, Germany and South America.

"Next year we can say it's an 'international' festival," Demers says. "Wow, we're international!"

J.C. Knowles, known as the Ambassador of Apex, plays the Peak City mayor on the show.

"It could really put Apex on the map as a local filmmaking area if it got picked up," Knowles said.

"I think we will [see the impact] of having the show here," says Pam Thorpe, who owns the real Rusty Bucket with her husband, Mack. "But the news is just starting to get out. Our regular customers all know. They're all very excited."

Demers says a North Carolina company is interested in helping finance broadcasting of the show, set to begin in February.

Apex face

"The Rusty Bucket Kids Club" features the Peakssen kids, Roxanna and John Coleman -- played by Demers' children Roxanna and John Coleman -- who live in Peak City.

Most days they hang around downtown at their grandpa's shop, The Rusty Bucket. Set at the real Apex store of the same name, the two kids help promote the town and its shops and run a Web site -- it's a working site: www.TheRustyBucketKidsClub.com.

They learn from Grandpa Peakssen, played by former WRAL anchor Charlie Gaddy, that they have a special ability to travel back in time on a local steam train called Steamy, played by Engine No. 17 at the New Hope Valley Railway.

Peak City town manager Nate Weever, played by another ex-WRAL personality, Mark Roberts, and his foster son Miles, played by Apex 10-year-old Akin Williams, are also featured in the show. Director Kevin Robert McDermott found Akin at an Apex Community Band rehearsal waiting for his mother.

McDermott shot liberally around downtown Apex at The Rusty Bucket, the Peak City Grill, the Peak City Pharmacy, Anna's Pizzeria, All Booked Up, and the New Hope Valley Railway.

Even Riley the dog is from Apex.

In the premiere, Roxanna and John Coleman visit a 15-year-old Abraham Lincoln.

"It's like National Treasure meets the History Channel," Demers says.

Demers and McDermott, who wrote the first two scripts, blurred the line between Peak City and Apex.

Apex's motto is, "Apex, the peak of good living."

Peak City's motto is, "Peak City, the apex of good living."

Being able to immerse the show into the town allowed them to keep costs down. All the people involved slept in their own beds at the end of shooting days, done over two busy weeks in October.

"We really had a lot of fun with that and wondered how we could make good use of that," Demers says.

First-time actors

Very few of the actors on the pilot had experience delivering dialogue.

"But even the actors with little experience, I could not have asked for more from them," McDermott says.

Fayetteville's Scott Taylor, 17, stars in the premiere as a 15-year-old Abraham Lincoln. Taylor, who has appeared in commercials for ESPNU and AT&T, shares Lincoln's lanky frame and dark hair and his background being home-schooled.

"Up until a year and a half ago, acting was just a dream," said Taylor, who also is McDermott's production assistant.

McDermott came out of a two-year retirement to work with Demers and the cast. The Hollywood veteran has 27 years experience as writer and director of short films, video and stage productions such as "The Miracle Project," a documentary on autism and the theater, and "A Dog and His Boy," an award-winning documentary.

He also served as acting coach on feature films such as "Kindergarten Cop," "Free Willy" and "Little Rascals."

If the series is picked up, McDermott envisions bringing together local actors for workshops to form an ensemble to fill various roles on the show. It would mean more work for local actors.

"People here warm my heart," McDermott said. "They couldn't be more helpful, cooperative. It feels a little like Apex has the attitude of 'Let's put on a show.'"

Demers hopes the show manages to fly against the Hollywood trend of targeting narrow age groups. The show features actors from the ages of 5 to 79. Demers also hopes keeping costs low attracts roughly 25 stations eager for cheap, good programming.

"We're attempting to show society that television programming needn't target a certain age," Demers says. "We want people to start learning about our history's greatest adventurers when they were young."

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