The film features (from left) Kay Allmand, Mark Moede, filmmaker Holly Erskine and Joel Kersebet.
The Emissary, a film made by Door County residents Holly and Tim Erskine, is a lighthearted thriller involving dairy, nature, mindfulness, Big Energy and a Polish spaceman — the titular emissary — who’s racing to find a rogue generator before it explodes, taking all of the county with it.
Door County’s natural splendors are fully on display, including the shores of Lake Michigan in Newport State Park. But the film was also inspired by the couple’s love for sci-fi. Both Tim and Holly are science-minded; Tim’s a mechanical engineer and an inventor with more than 60 patents — including one for the top-selling IV catheter in the U.S. — while Holly teaches chemistry. The pair moved to Door County from Utah in 2007.
The Emissary (99 minutes) grew out of a 22-minute short film, The Curse of the Tainted Cheese Curds, released in 2010. It took approximately five years to make; most of the work involved post-production matters like sound mixing and computer animation.
According to Holly (who also appears in The Emissary), the effort involved in the movie’s computer-animated sequences “is a story unto itself.” When they began the project, they approached the studio that created the special effects for Life of Pi, asking what it would cost to animate nine seconds of water. “They came back with around 80k, so we gasped for a while and then decided we could do it ourselves,” says Holly.
The Erskines built a custom studio in their home to create the animation and ensure the movie would be released in 5.1 Surround Sound, the optimal setup for home cinemas. They also built a model spaceship, which is tucked away in the couple’s garage; after the shooting it ended up as beer and cat food storage.
The Emissary premiered at the 2015 Green Bay Film Festival and was screened in Madison at the Threshold on Atwood Avenue on Jan. 13. It is slated to appear at the Door County Film Festival Feb. 17. The filmmakers are seeking additional screenings in Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago. They are also pursuing making The Emissary available as part of on- demand video services. It is available on DVD through The Emissary website and at several retail locations in Door County.
These days, Holly is also writing a novelization of The Emissary. She says she is working on it as fast as she can, but isn’t making any promises about when it will be finished. The book will feature cover art and illustrations from Door County artist Ram Rojas.
