INPERSON
Ushering Poe into the Spotlight
Thad Ciechanowski ’ s faithful adaptations bring Edgar Allan Poe to the masses like never before .
By Paul Glasser
Thad Ciechanowski ’ s first two film adaptations of works by Edgar Allan Poe won regional Emmy awards , and he hopes to repeat the feat with a third movie later this year .
Since 2011 , Ciechanowski , a film editor who lives in Crafton , has been bringing Poe ’ s short stories to screens in classrooms throughout the country . The first film was based on “ The Cask of Amontillado ,” and in 2013 it won an Emmy for best educational film from the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences . In 2015 , Ciechanowski ’ s adaptation of “ The Raven ” also won a Mid-Atlantic Emmy .
“ Having that statue is surreal ,” he says . “ Now let ’ s move on and go for the next one .”
Poe ’ s 1843 short story “ The Tell-Tale Heart ” will be the next installment in the series . Ciechanowski is currently raising money to finance the project and hopes to complete the film this year . “ The Tell-Tale Heart ” recounts the story of an unknown person who slowly goes insane after committing murder .
Ciechanowski is a fan of Poe and decided to bring his stories into the classroom . There were other educational films based on Poe ’ s works , but they were either poor quality or were only loosely based on the original text , according to Ciechanowski .
“ We wanted to stay as close to the original story as we could . That ’ s what differentiates [ ours ] from other films ,” he says .
Ciechanowski hopes the films will help students recognize how Poe had a significant influence on detective novels and horror stories . “ If you have ever read ‘ Sherlock Holmes ’ or seen ‘ CSI ,’ they are all influenced by Poe ,” he notes . “ Maybe Poe didn ’ t invent horror , but he took it to a whole new level .”
Students across the country read Poe ’ s stories and “ The Cask of Amontillado ,” “ The Raven ” and “ The Tell-Tale Heart ” are among his most popular works . Ciechanowski ’ s wife is a former teacher and created lesson plans and worksheets for teachers to use in
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