ASTORIA — “Culpa,” Latin for the fusion of fault and guilt, is defined as the space between sacred and sin. “Culpa” is also the web series produced by the start-up video production company Arch Cape Studios. Based in the Nehalem Bay area, this gorilla video group was formed to tell original dramatic stories. Season one is a series of six episodes, each telling a different tale with reoccurring characters. Using mostly local casts and crews, the episodes focus on the North Coast as the main player.

Episode two, “Culpa: Edgar,” is premiering at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17 at KALA, located at 1017 Marine Drive. Refreshments will be available.

“Edgar” is a fast-paced drama about Edgar, who loves his wife, Mona, so much that “till death do us part” just isn’t good enough. After passing, Edgar has himself “dug up, cleaned up, then wired up” and hung in a comfortable corner of his old house — until he is stolen. Ronny Glasswell P.I., a guy with his own bag of skeletons, searches to find Edgar despite the old man’s dysfunctional family, a hammer wilding junkie and a retired psycho cop bent on revenge. No good deed goes unpunished as Ronny soon finds out.

Arch Cape Studios was formed in 2013 by Nehalem resident Drew Reid. With a background in forensic animation, he brings a technical skill set as well as the curious eye of a landscape painter. Along with writing, producing and directing the first three episodes, Reid has formed a talented production team.

Wheeler resident Winston Laszlo is co-producing “Culpa” as well as acting in the web series. He plays the parts of Ken and Shawn Kepler, one a convicted pedophile and the other a retired police detective. Laszlo has appeared in several Coaster Theatre productions and has past on-air and television production experience from his work at Colorado Public Television, formerly KBDI.

“It is a unique project,” says Laszlo. “I’m very impressed with Drew’s vision and dedication to the idea that a scripted, dramatic video series can be produced locally on a shoe-string budget. I’m pleased to support the project in any way I can.”

Judson Moore, who plays the part of Norm in “Culpa: Edgar,” developed his interest in media production while studying journalism at the University of Oregon. He went on to work as a production assistant on the motion picture “Imaginary Crimes,” which was filmed in Portland and on the Oregon Coast.

Nehalem Valley organic farmer Jeff Trenary plays Ronny Glasswell, a private detective in the first two episodes of “Culpa”. Along with owning and running Kingfisher Farms, Trenary always wanted to try on-screen acting, and “Culpa” is his first gig. A recent real-life hospital stay was worked into the script and has changed the ending of episode two and the whole storyline of episode three.

Jen Flouton, Glasswell’s paralegal, is played by in-spirit local Nicole Poole. Jen is the counter force to Ronny’s chaos and bedlam in the web series. Poole borrows from her own experience as a full-time student and single mom to express the character’s pressure, responsibility and concern.

Other local talents featured in episodes of “Culpa” are Pia Shepherd, Greg O’Neill, Kerri Browne, Marleen Torian, Nula Reid, Jeff James, Starlight Frost and others. Murri Lazaroff-Babin, Jena SanCartier and Emily Welch of Portland are also featured.

“Culpa: Episode 3” is in full production with a planned spring 2015 release. The title must remain secret, as it gives away the ending of “Culpa: Edgar.” Local actor Aftyn Garvin will play the part of Amy Randle, an eager-turned-disillusioned cub reporter on a small town paper. With the help of her editor, Bev, played by the River Bend Player’s Betsy McMahon, Amy must sort out a tangled and dangerous secret.

Check out the trailer for “Culpa: Edgar” at http://culpa-online.com. You can also watch episode one, “Culpa: The Pilot” and more.