Television drama series plans season premiere in Windham

By Ed Pierce

If success is the result of hard work, opportunity and talent, Justin Fortin has all of those and more.

Cast members of the television series 'Hearts
of New England' gather after filming a scene
for the show at Windham Billiards on April 6.
The third season of the series, which is based
in Maine and features local actors, will
premiere with a special 'Meet the Cast'
party at Smitty's Cinema in Windham
this summer. SUBMITTED PHOTO 

Fortin is the creative mastermind behind “Hearts of New England,” a television drama based in Maine and filmed using Windham locations with an all-New England cast. The series is about to debut a third season on Amazon Prime later this year and has drawn rave reviews for its authenticity and depiction of life in the Pine Tree State.

“Hearts of New England” is created, written, and directed by Fortin and he also stars as a soldier who returns to his Maine home after serving in a war, only to become embroiled in a war at home as he learns that his father is deeply connected to the mob. He’s also caught in a love triangle between characters played by Caitlynn McCauley and Kris Salvi, and it seems like his quest for peace in his life turns out to be a never-ending war.

Married and the father of five children, Fortin was born in Lewiston and attended high school in Poland. He started acting professionally in 2016 after auditioning and landing a role in the film “Paper City Burnout.” In 2018, Fortin came up with the idea to create “Hearts of New England” produced by his company Maine Event Films. He has also appeared in leading roles in several other films and has directed a vampire film called “My Co-Worker is a Vampire.”

When not filming “Hearts of New England,” Fortin works as the Assistant Director for Shaw’s Supermarket in Windham and formerly worked for the Windham Walmart as a manager.

“We film in Windham all the time. Local businesses here in Windham have been very good to us,” Fortin said. “Filming here honestly feels like returning home. I have lots of friends here between the Walmart in Windham that I previously worked for, and the Windham Shaw’s I currently work for.”

Those familiar with Windham and areas throughout the Lakes Region will recognize many locations used in the television series. Previous seasons included filming at sites around Sebago Lake including at beaches in both Windham and Raymond, and a scene at the Windham Barber Shop on Roosevelt Trail.

“Most recently we filmed a mob scene at Windham Billiards,” Fortin said. “We also filmed a scene at the Pat's Pizza in Windham that will be airing in the Season 3 premiere episode.”

Many of the actors appearing on “Hearts of New England” are ones who’ve done theater and community plays before and over the years, the cast has grown from six speaking roles in the first season to dozens now.

“But in filming year-round as we do for this series, a lot of people have jobs and it’s tough to get them during the week,” Fortin said. “We try to film whenever we can and accommodate their schedules.”

He says the third season of the series will bring in some new additions to the cast who will be helpful to the show.

“Recently I recruited one of the most talented actresses that I know from New Hampshire, KJ Traynor. I also recruited three women to play detectives in Caral Rose Dubois, Kayla Fanum, and Megan Salisbury, as well as adding actors Adam Griswold and Corey Wells and expanding David Wells' role as Mickey. They all bring something special to the team,” Fortin said.

According to Fortin, the “Hearts of New England” series has been very popular with Maine viewers since its inception, originally airing on Great Falls TV on YouTube, and now has found a nationwide audience when it was selected to air on Amazon Prime in 2023.

“I’m glad we are still standing, especially after COVID,” Fortin said. “A lot of productions fell apart during that time, but I refused, and we managed to make it happen. I would have never thought the show would win over 160 awards or that I would be a 91-time award-winning filmmaker. It’s very rewarding to see the progression of starting with five people to now working with close to 200 people. There is nothing more rewarding than watching the progress from Season 1 to Season 3 because there is so much more experience now from when we started, making it much better.”

A total of five seasons of 10 episodes each are planned for “Hearts of New England.”

The length of time required to complete an episode of the series depends on several factors.

“It varies on how complex the scene is because we don’t film in episode order, we film based on the people and location we have on said days,” Fortin said. “Technical stuff has gotten a lot better. Especially with the addition of Christopher Fyfe. He is a genius, and the show transformed night and day with his expertise. Filming in Maine is good because most businesses are very supportive, especially right here in Windham. The biggest thing that can be problematic in Maine is the weather. It can be nice out, and then it snows but we’ve worked around that pretty well.”

Friends, family and coworkers are very supportive of the show, Fortin said.

“It’s funny because they often say they can barely recognize my character. My persona in the show is very different from the real me,” he said. “This series has a very good following in New England. I always wanted to act and started as a kid doing skits with my best friend Joshua Harris, but I got my first real opportunity in a movie called ‘Paper City Burnout’ and since then I’ve been grinding. Filming is my happy place. None of which could be done without my amazing behind the scenes team of Christopher Fyfe and Stephen Conicelli.”

Maine Event Films has booked Smitty’s Cinema to debut the Season 3 premiere episode on the evening of July 19. The show will start at 7 p.m. and cast members will be on hand at 6 p.m. to meet the public and fans. It is open to the public, and tickets are currently on sale on Eventbrite. Tickets can also be purchased on the Maine Event Films Facebook page.

“The public should attend to support all New England especially considering 80 percent of our cast is Maine talent,” Fortin said. “They will see people they know and businesses they've been to or restaurants that they’ve eaten at. It's a good way to support the arts and meet a lot of local talent. The show is on the rise and in the future, you will want to say you attended this premiere and got to meet all these talented people.” <

Amazon Prime adds television series filmed in Lakes Region

By Ed Pierce

Justin Fortin’s dream of having his television drama filmed in Maine and using an all-New England cast to finally reach a much larger audience has come true. Amazon is currently airing the first season of “Hearts of New England” and will also add the second season of the series sometime this summer.

A television series filmed at locations in and around the
Lakes Region of Maine is now airing on Amazon Prime.
Shown in a scene from Season 1 of the 'Hearts of New
England' series are, from left, Caitlynn McCauley, Justin
Fortin and Kris Salvi. COURTESY PHOTO 

Fortin hopes that eventually Amazon will show all five planned seasons for the series that he created in 2018 and has been filmed at locations around Sebago Lake, including at beaches in both Windham and Raymond and scenes at various Lakes Region locations such as at the Windham Barber Shop on Roosevelt Trail and at other places in Maine.

“People across Maine have been very good at letting us film at their locations, especially at restaurants,” Fortin said. “We’ve been fortunate to be able to do that in the Lakes Region and in Auburn and Oxford.”

An actor, model, writer, and producer, Fortin owns Maine Event Films, and said that many of 70 to 80 cast members and production crew for the television series was found through local theater groups.

“Many of the actors are people who’ve done theater and community plays before,” he said. “But in filming year-round as we do for this series, a lot of people have jobs and it’s tough to get them during the week. We try to film whenever we can and accommodate their schedules.”

According to Fortin, the “Hearts of New England” series has been very popular with Maine viewers since its inception, originally airing on Great Falls TV, which can be found when subscribing to Maine Event Films on You Tube. But that audience will grow substantially as more viewers watch the series on Amazon Prime, which is nationwide.

Married and the father of five children, Fortin was born in Lewiston and attended high school in Poland. He started acting professionally in 2016 after auditioning and landing a role in the film “Paper City Burnout” and came up with the idea to create “Hearts of New England” several years later. He’s also had leading roles in several other films and has directed a vampire film called “My Co-Worker is a Vampire.”

He currently is employed as a benefits specialist at Unum and films “Hearts of New England” when he can fit it into his busy schedule.

Whatever he’s doing with the television series though is working and it has connected with audiences, picking up 119 IMDB awards so far and the production has been honored as a selection for film and television festivals in more than 50 different countries and in many different U.S. states.

“We plan on having the world premiere for the third season of ‘Hearts of New England’ next March in Windham at Smitty’s Cinema,” Fortin said. “They have hosted the premieres of the first and second seasons there previously and the reception we’ve received there has been great.”

So far, a total of four complete seasons of the series have been filmed, but only two have aired on You Tube. Episodes for Season Five of “Hearts of New England” are currently in the process of filming.

As far as being added to the Amazon Prime lineup goes, Fortin said that he’s thrilled to have the Maine series to be included among the shows that the network airs.

“It’s certainly a much larger audience for ‘Hearts of New England’ and something we’re very grateful for,” he said. “They’ve made it so viewers can watch the entire first season in one setting without commercials.”

By mid-July, the second season of the series is expected to air on Amazon Prime with subsequent seasons to be added eventually and available for viewers and subscribers throughout the U.S. and Canada.

“Hearts of New England” is about a military veteran, played by Fortin, who comes home to Maine trying to find peace from war but shortly after his arrival back home, he’s reminded that his father is connected to the mob. He’s also caught in a love triangle between characters played by Caitlynn McCauley and Kris Salvi, and it seems like his quest for peace in his life turns out to be a never-ending war. <

Second season of ‘Hearts of New England’ series to premiere in Windham

By Ed Pierce

The second-season premiere of the television series 'Hearts of
New England' will debut at Smitty's Theater in Windham at
6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27. Much of the show is filmed in
and around Windham and the Lakes Region.
COURTESY PHOTO

Creativity has been the calling card of Justin Fortin since he first chose to become an actor and his dream of creating a television drama filmed in Maine using an all-New England cast became a reality in 2018 with the premiere of the first season “Hearts of New England.” Now Fortin is ready to unveil a second season of the show filmed locally and it will debut at a special event at Smitty’s Theater at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27 in Windham.

The series airs on Great Falls TV, which can be found when subscribing to Maine Event Films on You Tube. The first season of “Hearts of New England” drew reviews from critics all over the world for its authenticity and Fortin is aiming to sell the series to a major network once he completes five seasons of filming.

“This series has awesome talent from throughout New England,” Fortin said. “People who watch the second season are going to recognize local businesses and many of their friends and neighbors in the background of scenes.”

A lot of the filming for the second season of “Hearts of New England” was shot at locations around Sebago Lake, including at a number of beaches in both Windham and Raymond, and a scene was also completed at the Windham Barber Shop on Roosevelt Trail.

“Hearts of New England” is created, written, and directed by Fortin and tells the story of a soldier returning home to Maine from serving in a war, only to become embroiled in a war at home as he learns that his father is connected to the mob.

Using local talent, Fortin’s cast has grown from a total of six in the show’s first season to now numbering about 20 to 25 speaking roles for the second season.

Gathering the cast for filming again after the end of the first season proved to a significant challenge for Fortin.

“It’s very hard to film a series because you have to get actors to come back,” he said. “For a feature film or a short film completed in a few weeks that's one thing but getting everyone back for a series is much harder.”

Fortin, who owns Maine Event Films, said a lot of the series cast and production crew was found through local theater groups.

“Many of the actors are people who’ve done theater and community plays before,” he said. “But in filming year-round as we do for this series, a lot of people have jobs and it’s tough to get them during the week. We try to film whenever we can and accommodate their schedules.”

According to Fortin, the second season of “Hearts of New England” is much improved over the first one, which featured 10 installment episodes and last aired original episodes in July 2020.

“This second season is so much better because the cast is in sync having worked with each other for a while now and really knowing their characters,” he said. “The performances for this new season are 10 times better.”

He also said viewers of the second season of the show are in for a major surprise this year.

“We’ll throw a curveball at people and a big finish that people won’t be expecting,” Fortin said. “They won’t expect to see this coming.”

Married and the father of five children, Fortin was born Lewiston and attended high school in Poland. He started acting professionally in 2016 after auditioning and landing a role in the film “Paper City Burnout.”

He works as a manager at Walmart in Windham and films “Hearts of New England” when he can fit it into his busy schedule.

Whatever he’s doing with the show is working. It has been honored as a selection for film and television festivals in 50 different countries and in five different states, including in Reno, Nevada, where the first season of the show was awarded “Best Relationship Drama.”

Fortin and the cast have recently gotten back together and are now filming a third season of the series at locations in Windham and other sites in the Lakes Region.

“The project is 100 percent funded and investment is pretty good,” he said.    

The public is cordially invited to attend the local premiere at Smitty’s on Oct. 27 and many of the actors in the cast from both season one and season two are planning to attend the red-carpet event. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at Event Bright.

“It’s going to be a really good time,” Fortin said. “We’re hoping that many people will come out and support local talent. We feature many people from the area in our filming. There are not many premieres in Maine, so this one is going to be special.” <