Press - Pandora's Box

1-7 September 2000: A look Inside ‘Pandora’s Box’ in The Octopus, Champaign, IL


Photo Caption: The main cast of ‘Pandora’s Box’ (from left): Margaret Olson as Catalina; Virginia McCreary as Zarconia; Kali Smith as Diyara; Jacob MacLeod as Turlo; Nina Samii as Zarina; and Chris Hutchens as General DeCarlo.

A Look Inside ‘Pandora’s Box’
 by Chad Marshall

You just know it’s going to be one of those days when you find out you’re the chosen one. One minute you’re going about your daily routine as a Druid priestess; the next, Zarina, the not at all nice daughter of the dying empress, has ordered your arrest and execution for religious treason against the Empire. And – as if this wasn’t bad enough – the wicked princess has also had her dark minions slaughter your people, forcing you to flee into hiding in the enchanted forest under the protection of an outlaw band of rebels.

And some people bitch when the copier gets jammed.

Yup, finding out you’re the chosen one is pretty much like opening a Pandora’s box. And that’s probably while Champaign collegiate Eleanore Stasheff, 21, titled her new, locally-filmed television series Pandora’s Box. The program debuts Thursday, Sept. 7, at 6 p.m. on PCETV Channel 6, the Parkland College station.

Stasheff, a cinematography major/mythology minor at Southern Illinois University, has been making her own movies and TV shows for five years with her production company, Starlight Productions. As writer and director, she has made nine feature-length video movies and a previous 12-part miniseries for PCTV called Destiny.

“It all started in a cornfield,” Stasheff said, explaining the birth of Starlight Productions. “A group of friends and I were playing a choose-your-own-adventure type game one night and were having so much fun we thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could get a video camera and make out own movie?’ Ever since then we’ve been making movies and we just can’t stop.”

Pandora’s Box, which began filming in June 1999, is thus far Stasheff’s grandest project with 23 half-hour episodes.

“We never realized it would go on for a year and a half,” Stasheff said. “We thought it would be over in a month. Originally, it was only supposed to be five episodes, but we all had so much fun shooting it we decided to go on to 10 episodes. Then 12. Then 14. And on and on until we got to 23 and said no more.”

A mixture of science fiction and fantasy, Pandora’s Box is set in a post-apocalyptic world, approximately 800 years in the future. A hundred years from next Tuesday, a horrible, devastating nuclear war – quickly followed by a series of horrible, devastating natural catastrophes – plunges the surviving members of the human race into a Dark Age where technology is shunned. Seven centuries later, humanity begins to emerge from these dark times to rediscover technology. It’s here – as modern and medieval meet, as bullets battle blades and horses hurry from Hondas – where the action takes place. What was American has now become an evil empire, ruled by the tyrannical empress Zarina. But the American ideal of liberty is kept alive by a group of freedom fighters led by the Druid priestess, Diyara: the chosen one.

“I’ve seen a lot of movies about the future and it’s always bothered me that people assume technology will get better and better, increase and move forward,” Stasheff said.

“But, if you look back at history, it doesn’t always work that way. A lot of the time technology will increase to a certain point and then a combination of factors will plunge the world backward, like with the fall of Rome. So I wrote it that way. That’s the great thing about fantasy, you can do anything you want with it – there’s no limits to pure imagination.”

And it seems there’s no limit to how much you can do with very little if you really want to do something. Equipped with only a video camera (named “Horatio”), a tripod and a passion for storytelling, Stasheff and a cast of 63 area actors – ranging from 3 to 56 years old and recruited from every grade school, middle school, college in the area and beyond – Starlight Productions undertook and accomplished an impressive task.

“It’s amazing what you can do with very little money but a lot of people who are willing to give up some of their time and energy,” Stasheff said. “And with some community support. I was amazed how much the community was supportive.”

Several local businesses in and around Champaign let Stasheff and her crew film most of the series’ major locations in their places of business. Allerton Park and the conference center in Allerton Mansion serve as palace and palace garden scenes. The Virginia Theatre serves as the rebel base. The Bread Company and Mike ‘n’ Molly’s let themselves be taken over for tavern scenes. And the list goes on.

Considering the budget Starlight Productions had for Pandora’s Box – none – the first episode, “Shattered Dreams,” is fairly impressive. The costumes are very well made and suit the premise of the show; many of the shows are framed excellently; and the actors’ lack of experience is more than made up for with their enthusiasm and the obvious appearance of the fun they’re having.

Many local businesses have supported these young artists by letting them film in their establishments. Now it’s the rest of the community’s turn to be supportive by simply tuning in and checking out Pandora’s Box.