Zombies take over New York Mills for indie thriller shoot

Zombies shuffled through Main Avenue in New York Mills, turning a familiar downtown block into the set for Joel Trujillo’s indie survival thriller Darkness of the Dead. The makeup, movement and crowd of onlookers gave the town a rare kind of visibility, with cast members and local volunteers joining the production as it moved through Otter Tail County and nearby west-central Minnesota.

Trujillo told the zombies to make each movement their own while avoiding the stiff-arm pose tied to Frankenstein imagery, a small but revealing detail about how closely he wants the film to control its look. The director explained his vision to the crowd as dozens of zombies moved through town on Thursday, June 4, giving Main Avenue the kind of cinematic scene that usually exists only on a screen.

The New York Mills shoot was not a one-day novelty. A casting call for the project was held in town on April 9, and reporting in late March said filming was expected to begin in late May or early June. Another report said zombie extras were sought for June 1-5, signaling a short but tightly planned regional production schedule.

Darkness of the Dead was set to film in New York Mills, Wadena, Staples, Perham and the Otter Tail Lake Region, giving the project a footprint that stretched well beyond one downtown. JFT Film Productions said the film was in pre-production and that casting had been finalized before the June shoots began.

For New York Mills, the payoff was more than spectacle. The production brought residents into the process as volunteers and extras, and it put the town’s downtown in front of a regional film crew. For a small community, that kind of participation can mean local pride, new connections and the possibility of being part of future creative work.

Trujillo’s work also carries some momentum of its own. JFT Film Productions says he writes, directs and develops original films, and the company says it was built on a love of independent filmmaking and creative freedom. Earlier profile material said he had filmed ten movies and won two Telly Awards, while the newer reporting describes Darkness of the Dead as his 12th survival thriller.

In a county where most headlines are more often about schools, roads or public safety, the zombie shoot offered something different: a downtown that briefly became a film set, and a small town that helped a larger creative project come alive.