Eva Coo film stars get first look at project’s progress
‘Roadhouse Coup’ filmmaker treats Rotary, stars to sneak preview
Filmmaker Lori Bailey treated Cooperstown’s Rotary Club to three preview clips of her upcoming moving, “A Roadhouse Coup,” filmed entirely in Otsego County and on track for a September 2022 release.
“We’re just about done with shooting the film,” she told a full house of Club members during its March 8 meeting at the Otesaga Hotel. “I’m doing this in ‘docudrama’ style so we’re working hard on the editing. Soon we’ll be done with a feature-length film; I’m looking at an 80-to-90-minute piece when we’re done.”
The film depicts the true story of Eva Coo – the local brothel owner convicted in 1935 of killing Harry “Gimpy” Wright on Crumhorn Mountain Road, tried and convicted in Otsego County, then executed by electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in June 1935. Local dignitaries and residents fill the scenes, with notables like Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh, Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek, Otsego County District Attorney John Muehl, and retired state Senator Jim Seward all taking starring roles.
The Rotary meeting was their first chance to see clips from the nearly-finished product.
“Together we’ve made something very special, something to be proud of,” Ms. Bailey said in introducing the clips. Responding to a question about the use of local actors, she said, “I’ve used