‘Champ’ movie starts filming in Port Henry’s Bulwagga Bay

PORT HENRY, N.Y. (WCAX) - Lake Champlain’s lake monster, Champ, has had many sightings over the decades, but now he’ll be seen on the silver screen.

Richard Rossi is co-creator of “Lucy and the Lake Monster,” a new film being shot last week near Port Henry in Bulwagga Bay. Filming will last the next four weeks in various locations, turning a lakeside cabin into an enchanted house of folklore. “It’s going to be the home of ‘Poppa,’ my character, the grandfather, and Lucy, his granddaughter,” Rossi said.

Lucy is an orphan who lives with her grandfather. She will be played by 8-year-old Emma Pearson of New Jersey, “It’s been really good and really fun,” Pearson said.

The film follows the book “Lucy and the Lake Monster,” a fictional tale of Kelly Tabor’s life as a little girl living in Crown Point on the search to find the Lake Champlain sea serpent, Champ. The entire film will take place on the shores of Lake Champlain “This is actually the place where a lot of eyewitnesses have seen Champ,” Tabor said.

The small crew will be working day and night to capture each scene and then the editing work will begin. Rossi said post-production work will bring Champ to life for viewers. “Special effects will create Champ because the whole goal is to find Champ and to see Champ,” he said.

They didn’t want to give too much away but their hope is to have the film ready by next year and offer local screenings. They say the story has a deeper meaning than just a search for a sea monster. It offers lessons on life and hardships. “I think people relate to that basic story but there are a lot of spiritual allegories,” said Rossi.

Tabor says she thinks the story will offer a message to kids. “A lot of times nowadays kids are going through anxiety, stress, loss grief and so there are things in the book that will help the kids as they are ready that may be reading with the same problems Lucy was going through,” Tabor said.

They say they hope Lucy and Champ’s story will turn into a multi-book and movie series.