Piscataquis County sheriff’s logo gets movie role

DOVER-FOXCROFT – The Piscataquis County Sheriff’s Department is ready for its close-up, Mr. DeMille.

Sheriff John Goggin told Piscataquis County commissioners on Tuesday that he had given permission to Whisper Productions Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to use the department’s name on police vehicles in a feature film that is set partly in the fictitious town of Welsham in southern Piscataquis County.

The movie, “Whisper,” is about an ex-convict and his three friends who kidnap an 8-year-old boy and take him to a remote cottage in the dead of winter. They later learn that the boy, who plays mind games with them, has special abilities.

Piscataquis County was selected because of its proximity to the U.S.-Canada border, according to Lisa Ragosin, product placement and clearances coordinator for Whisper Productions.

The Boston screenwriter “wanted it to be just far enough in Maine to be close to the border,” she said Tuesday during a telephone call.

“I think most of us here feel kind of flattered that they picked us to represent the law enforcement in the film,” Goggin said after the meeting.

When Goggin received the telephone call earlier this month from Ragosin requesting permission to use the department’s name, he said no, fearful that it might contain pornography.

When Goggin received a copy of the script, the names of the actors, and photographs of the vehicles to be used in the film bearing the department’s name three days later, however, he changed his mind.

The movie, which is anticipated to carry a PG13 rating, features John Holloway of “LOST” and Dule Hill of “West Wing.”

The film is being produced by Gold Circle Films, which also produced “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “White Noise.”

Goggin said the department would receive no compensation for the use of its name, but he did ask that his department be considered when the company disposed of the new GMC vehicles used in the film.

He said that Ragosin pointed out that the vehicles may be disposed of in a bidding process, and if so, she would notify Goggin.