Most people wouldn’t appreciate being told their village is the perfect place for a zombie invasion. Then again, Jordan isn’t like most villages.
Part of South Main Street in the village of Jordan was closed to traffic Sunday to allow filming for the zombie horror flick “Germ,” directed by Syracuse University professor John Craddock III. The movie takes place in a small town where a satellite crashes to Earth and brings with it an alien virus that releases human’s most primal urges — like cannibalism — and turns them into zombies, said SU student Devon Stewart, who was working on the film crew. Stewart said the film is about halfway done, and crews also shot in Highland Forest in Fabius and Truxton. Jordan is the only village to be used in the movie.
One of Courtney Rile’s many hats with the production of the flick is scouting locations, and she said that of the several locations that were contacted to host filming, Jordan was the only municipality to respond. Which means not only a boost in local business during filming, but a possible long-term impact as local production companies come to know Jordan as a film-friendly village. “I think one of the reasons they picked Jordan is all of our buildings are pretty authentic, of course it’s a sleepy little village they don’t have to pay half a million dollars to film in,” Jordan Mayor Dick Platten said. But Rile cited Platten as one of the reasons the village was chosen.
“The mayor was really helpful,” Rile said. She also noted the police and fire departments and “Linda [Boehm] and Cindy [Meixner],” for their help. Production Manager Dan Campis agreed.
“This would not have been possible without the cooperation of the village of Jordan,” Campis said. “They’ve been super supportive.” All cast members hail from Central New York, Campis said, including the zombies.
A release date for “Germ” has not been set.