photo by: Mike Yoder

Actress Kushi Beauchamp, of Kansas City, films a scene from the film “One Eye Open," Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, outside the home of Terry and Elaine Riordan at 1613 Tennessee St. The film's director, Michael D. Coffey, is spending three weeks filming the suspense thriller in Lawrence.

Michael Coffey has been wanting to film a thriller in Lawrence for the past seven years — ever since he conceived of the screenplay for “One Eye Open.”

He found the perfect setting right away: the Ludington-Thacher House — that mid-19th century brick mansion that turns everyone’s head as they drive down the 1600 block of Tennessee Street. And he even cast some of the roles. But he just couldn’t muster the funding back then.

Now, though, he has found the means, and cameras are rolling at the historic mansion, which Coffey likens to “a co-star” in the movie.

The mansion, which is currently owned by the Riordan family, is an architectural showpiece with Tiffany glass windows, embossed leather wainscoting and solid bronze fixtures. And it’s perfect for a scary thriller.

“It’s like a maze with multiple levels and a wide variety of 17 rooms, so it has been conducive for the haunting scenes, chases, hides, etc.,” said Coffey, whose most recent film was 2021’s “Triumph,” starring RJ Mitte of “Breaking Bad” fame.

Mitte will also appear in “One Eye Open,” along with Chris Bylsma (2020’s “News of the World”), Kushi Beauchamp, Kevin Willmott and others in a cast of 13. Coffey is both producing and directing.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Michael D. Coffey views the camera capture of a movie scene Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, outside the home at 1613 Tennessee St. Coffey is the writer and director of a suspense thriller being filmed at the home and around Lawrence.

The film is about Samantha, played by Beauchamp, a recent college graduate in Lawrence who is house-sitting for her ailing grandfather and becomes involved in a “deadly cat-and-mouse game with thieves who become haunted,” as Coffey describes it.

The title, “One Eye Open,” is meant to evoke a feeling of human vulnerability, such as when we are asleep and have our eyes and consciousness closed to the world. In the film, Samantha is creepily advised to sleep with one eye open.

Coffey has loved scary movies and suspenseful tales since he was a little boy.

“When I was around 5 and 6 years old I loved to watch a TV show called ‘Creature Feature’ hosted by John Jones as Dr. San Guinary. That was my first introduction to scary movies,” he said. “Then in seventh or eighth grade I wrote my first short story, which is a scary thriller titled ‘As the Clock Ticked On.'”

Later he enjoyed watching suspense thrillers like Alfred Hitchcock movies and Stephen King’s “The Shining.” What he doesn’t enjoy, though, are typical horror movies whose main focus is gore.

He prefers an engaging story “with compelling characters that keep you on the edge of your seat with mystery and twists and turns,” he said.

Coffey’s cinematographer for “One Eye Open” is Hanuman Brown-Eagle.

“His cinematography is captivating,” Coffey said. “One of my goals is to make my movie look like a million-dollar production, and I am very pleased with what I have been seeing on set as we shoot.”

Coffey hopes to wrap up filming around Oct. 14. After that the film will be professionally edited. He then hopes to line up a theatrical release, including a local showing at Liberty Hall, and then find a streaming platform for the film.

Like most screenwriters, Coffey has several script ideas percolating at any given time. Right now he’s expecting his next production to be a romantic comedy he created called “The Funny Guy,” about a stand-up comedian with mild cerebral palsy who goes to humorous lengths to find the love of his life. He has already lined up comedian Josh Blue for the role — who, like Coffey and Mitte, lives with cerebral palsy.

photo by: Mike Yoder

The clapboard for the film “One Eye Open” is ready to start a new scene at 1613 Tennessee St. on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Erika Kjorlie-Geery, production designer, art director and props master, organizes props Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, for a gardening scene on the set of the film “One Eye Open.”

photo by: Mike Yoder

Actress Kushi Beauchamp and director, producer and screenwriter Michael D. Coffey visit on the set of “One Eye Open,” Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024.

photo by: Mike Yoder

University of Kansas students jog along Tennessee Street on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, passing actress Kushi Beauchamp as Beauchamp prepares to shoot a scene in the suspense thriller film “One Eye Open.”

photo by: Mike Yoder

Actress Kushi Beauchamp, of Kansas City, and crew members take a break on the set of the film “One Eye Open,” Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, at 1613 Tennessee St.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Director, producer and screenwriter Michael D. Coffey, Lawrence, is currently filming a suspense thriller “One Eye Open” in Lawrence. Coffey wrote the screenplay for “Triumph,” the 2021 film based on Coffey’s own teenage years living with cerebral palsy. Coffey is photographed near a sculpture at the home of Terry and Elaine Riordan, 1613 Tennessee St., where the film is largely being shot.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Crew members on the set of the film “One Eye Open” prepare a shoot Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, at 1613 Tennessee St.

photo by: Mike Yoder

The Ludington-Thacher House, at 1613 Tennessee St., owned by Terry and Elaine Riordan, who have spent countless hours and resources restoring the 1800s home, is being used in the filming of a suspense thriller written and directed by Michael D. Coffey, of Lawrence.