ABOUT

DOWNEAST is an experiential story that unfolds over the course of a year-and-a-half in the small lobstering village of Prospect Harbor, Maine. It observes the closing of the last remaining sardine cannery in the United States, which shut down in April 2010. A few months later, Boston-based entrepreneur Antonio Bussone purchased the plant, hoping to re-build a lobster processing facility and rehire the laid-off sardine workers (most of whom are women over 65 years old). Antonio's troubles begin on the first day he arrives to Prospect Harbor during a town-hall meeting as local politicians oppose his vision of rebuilding the factory. Undeterred, Antonio moves forward, determined to build and operate one of the first lobster factories in the United States.