Action and Adventure in Rustic Cutchogue
Evildoers of Long Island, beware! A small band of heroes has arrived to thwart your dastardly plots in the new TV and web series, The Tyme Chronicles, which has begun filming on the East End.
The Tyme Chronicles is an action-adventure series, directed by Max Chance, which centers around two friends, Justin Tyme and Freddy Orknott, who leave their careers in military Special Ops to create a covert organization called Heroes 4 Hire. The show’s creator Doug Phillips stars as Justin Tyme, award-winning actor J.D. Daniels plays his best friend Freddy and Jennifer Ellis is Nicko Tyme, Justin’s wife and Freddy’s sister.
“It’s like Mission: Impossible meets Indiana Jones, meets a beautiful family component,” said Alison Caiola, the show’s writer and executive producer. “We’re all fans of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Mission: Impossible, and we didn’t even know that Max loved that whole genre, or that Doug loved that whole genre, but we all came together,” Caiola said.
“It’s great, because like Raiders or the great entertainments—you have sort of fun, tongue-in-cheek sequences, and then you also have some very engaging character drama,” Chance said. “These are great actors, and Alison’s provided some great script material,” he said. “They’re really able to get into some genuine character and human moments that will take us into some new territory for what this genre has seen before.”
The show’s trek into new territory extends beyond the genre, however, as the producers have decided to set and film it on the North Fork. “At first we were going to do it in California, but we love where we live, among the farms and the vineyards,” Caiola said. “I moved back from L.A. a few years ago, and I’m looking around one day and I said, it’s so beautiful here, why shoot anywhere else?”
Much of the first episode has been filmed in Cutchogue, at Peconic Bay Winery, as well as homes in Southampton and Smithtown.
“This is not the first time we’ve been used as a filming location, but The Tyme Chronicles, they were really fun folks,” said Jim Silver, general manager at Peconic Bay Winery. “I hope they use us as a regular location,” he said.
“Everybody’s opened their arms to us,” Caiola said. “It’s a win-win for everybody. They get their signage out, and we get beautiful places to shoot. Even the extras are from the North Fork.”
“It didn’t seem like there needed to be any other place that this could be shot,” said Daniels. “Being here, and talking to the people, and taking in all of the great things that the North Fork has to offer has really been kind of a blessing to me.” Daniels grew up in Mineola and Greenwich Village, but now lives on the North Fork. “Even though our characters deal with danger and the possibility of death in every episode, they also have a tight family unit, and this is really a good place for it, because it has that down-home, relaxed feeling.”
Family is a crucial aspect for the show, both in terms of the characters as well as the production team. They’ve known each other for many years. “It’s a family within a family, which really does make it so much easier,” said Caiola, who also happens to be Daniels’ mother. “Max, the director, was a dear friend of J.D.’s for many, many years, and we just welcomed Jen [Ellis] into our family and she just kind of fit right in.”
“I feel like I’ve known them all for years,” Ellis said. The feeling seems to rub off on the show’s guest stars, as well. “Any guest star that comes on, they say please write me in, because they all love that family atmosphere,” Caiola said.