We’re all familiar with the notion of coupons. Whether they’re bits of paper clipped from the weekend newspaper or codes procured from some website or another, coupons are a significant part of our consumer culture. Everyone recognizes that tiny thrill that comes with paying less.

But when couponing is pushed to its extremes, things can get a bit … strange. Shoppers developing methods to maximize savings, winding up with rooms filled with groceries and other goods, all in pursuit of that thrill.

And some people are willing to go even farther.

“Queenpins,” the new film by writer/director team Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, draws its inspiration from a real story of coupons run amok, an international scheme that made its masterminds millions of dollars, all from exploiting those seemingly innocuous slips of paper.

It’s a heist story, a caper story, yes – but it’s also a story about the lengths to which we will go in order to feel empowered, to feel as though we have some agency in the direction our lives take. It’s a charming and occasionally goofy story about female friendship wrapped in a pink-collar criminal enterprise, led by a dynamic and talented cast.

'The odds of me composing a symphony were one in a hundred thousand. It's never been done before like this.' Alby Hurwit, composer, retired radiologist.

Sometimes you get a second chance in life. In 'Lifecasters,' a new film for PBS from executive producers Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, the duo behind 2009's award winning documentary 'The Way We Get By,' we meet three very different people who attempt to beat the odds and realize their true purpose later in life.

Creators of 'The Way We Get By' looking to depict life in Aroostook County

BANGOR - The husband and wife duo responsible for the award-winning Bangor troop greeters documentary 'The Way We Get By' are once again letting their creative juices flow. Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly are putting together their first scripted film about life in Aroostook County. It's called 'Blue Potato.'

"It's a coming of age drama that takes place during the fall potato harvest in Northern Maine, and it centers around two teenage boys entering their senior year in high school," explained Gaudet.

It's an idea the couple came up with after all the support and positive reactions they received from Maine businesses and residents following the release of their documentary.

"We were talking about what we should do next and that we should find another story in Maine. My brother posted some photos of the potato harvest on Facebook and I told Gita, 'Look at these, they're so beautiful,'" said Gaudet. "So we drove up there and thought it would be a great setting, but we didn't want to do another documentary. We wanted it to be scripted."