By Emma Bouthillette
Staff Writer
What were one cameraman, two actors and 10 extra people doing in a jail cell designed for one prisoner? Filming a movie, of course.
On July 26, the cameraman filmed the actors in a jail cell for a scene in an upcoming movie, “27 Down,” a screenplay Kennebunk resident Steve Hrehovcik, 69, co-authored with Haverhill, Mass. resident John Depew.
Hrehovcik said the cell echoed when the actors spoke, so they crammed 10 people into small cubicle not to be included in the scene, but to absorb sound and reduce the echo.
Now “semi-retired,” Hrehovcik said this year is the most exciting in his life with writing and art.
This past December, Hrehovcik teamed up with Depew to create the screenplay currently being filmed in various Massachusetts locations, as well as Kittery Police Station.
The film is described as a mystery thriller, in which Det. Ben Stone of Boston gets involved in a hit and run investigation, with scenes around Boston and a fictional town called Canada, Maine.
“The idea behind the title – “27 Down” – uses a crossword puzzle as a metaphor of the problems in life,” Hrehovcik said. “We wanted Det. Stone to have some sort of quirky thing, and the idea of crossword puzzles fell into place. It works out well, and uses puzzles throughout. The answer to 27 down eventually reveals the mystery of the story.”
While this isn’t the first screenplay Hrehovcik has written, it is the first to be produced, and  he said there was an extensive search to find places to fit the scenes in the screenplay.
“There was a scene at a gas station in Massachusetts, and the owner of the gas station knew this person with a cottage on the lake. That’s how we got the perfect cottage for another scene. For this one, I called the Maine Film Commission and town halls. I first called Kittery because it is closer for the actors in Massachusetts. We went to see it, and it was just ideal,” Hrehovcik said.
He said Kittery Police Chief Edward Strong’s office, decorated with a mounted deer head, was perfect for the scene with the movie’s detective. He said the police department provided assistance during filming.
Hrehovcik said the scene in the Kittery Police Station is the last scene filmed in Maine.
He said filming in Massachusetts should be finished by the end of August, post-production by the end of the year and in theaters early 2009, assuming the movie is picked up by a distributor.
“When I create and write, I portray my characters honestly so they are believable and people can be interested in them. I first want people to be entertained and then surprised with the twist and turns,” he said.
Hrehovcik’s journey to Kennebunk began nearly 40 years ago, when he was studying for his masters degree in theater at Catholic University in Washington D.C. He met his wife, who was also in the theater program and they eloped while still in school.
In 1970 the couple moved to Kennebunk. Hrehovcik said he was hired to fill a position at the Kennebunkport Playhouse and at the end of his first season, he and his wife decided to stay in Maine.
Since then, Hrehovcik said he has had several career shifts between theater, advertising, art, television sales and packaging design.
“I’m a rounded person and hopefully that makes me a better writer. Everyone views life in a certain way, through their years of experience and problems to overcome. Things can work out if you work them out,” Hrehovcik said.
In his writing, he attempts to create believable and compelling characters, which are funny and earnest, he said. The characters come from his experience and view on life, and things for them always work out, he said.
Hrehovcik is in the process of promoting his screenplay titled “Heart and Soul.” It hasn’t been picked up for production, but he said he hopes his work with Depew and his involvement in the Maine Film and Video Association and the Maine Film Commission will help move that process along.
“Heart and Soul” is more of a romance, he said. The characters in the story are all intertwined and the story takes place in iconic Maine spots [L.L. Bean, Merrill Auditorium and Portland Headlight].
He said the main plot focuses on a frustrated salesman who falls in love with a fed up concert pianist.
“Love triumphs in the end. That is my view of life – love does triumph,” he said.  
Hrehovcik refers to himself as “a man of checkered background.” Besides writing screenplays, he writes freelance articles and owns Kennebunk Art Studio. He specializes in pen and ink drawings of buildings, but also can be commissioned for people or pet portraits, scenic views and caricatures.
Hrehovcik said he contributed a piece of his original artwork titled “When I Grow Up,” to the August exhibit “Saluting Small Town America” in Kennebunk.
The exhibit includes work from local artists inspired by Norman Rockwell’s original paintings. He said “When I Grow Up” was inspired by Rockwell’s “Looking Out to Sea.”
Rockwell’s “Looking Out to Sea” is an image of an old man and a young boy on a dock, looking out to sea. Hrehovcik said he imagines the old man is telling the young boy sea worthy tales. In his own art, he said the boy gazing at the ocean is dreaming of the day when he is old enough to sail the open ocean.
“I love art that tells a story, especially for art to relate. Usually if it is optimistic, I relate to it better,” Hrehovcik said.