May 2, 2016 — NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — A $20,000 Maritime Heritage Grant is going to be used to produce the orientation film for the fledgling New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, according to Executive Director Laura Orleans.
She told The Standard-Times it was the full amount the center sought from the the Maritime Heritage Program, which is part of the National Park Service’s Park History Program. “We got the full amount I was flabbergasted,” Orleans said.
Tentatively titled,“Resilience: The Story of New Bedford’s Fishing Industry,” the film will be produced by local filmmaker Kevin Kertscher, whose Big Ocean media is located on lower William Street near the Whaling Museum.
The plan is to have the film ready to roll in June 2017.
The heritage center is already using a $12,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. It is paying to digitize all the materials being brought in by private parties to build a digital library for the center, which is opening June 25 at 39 Bethel St.