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$5.00
FILM, VIDEO, INTERNET AND DIGITAL PRODUCTION IN WESTERN CANADA
Sex, Oil & Cowgirls: Behind the Scenes of THE WILD ROSES
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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009 $5.00 CDN PUBLICATION AGREEMENT #40006834 DISPLAY UNTIL FEBRUARY 28, 2009
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CONTENTS
16 WILD AT HEART In her diary on the making of The Wild Roses, a CBC series about sex, oil and cowgirls in modern Alberta, executive producer Amy Cameron looks back at the day she first heard about the idea, the day the CBC decided it would work as a series and the best day of her life.
20 WRAP 08 It was a strange year, one that saw the dollar move more than 25% and once miserly Alberta become one of the more generous western provinces.
24 SUPPLY ON DEMAND Western Canada’s producers have traditionally counted on the goodwill of successful rental companies. The companies have been known to reduce prices, give complimentary equipment and even put together funding packages in an effort to get movies made.
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PRODUCTION UPDATE
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BITS AND BYTES
10 BEGINNINGS 12 BEHIND THE SCENES 14 QUESTION AND ANSWER 15 EXPERT WITNESS 29 LEGAL BRIEFS 30 FINAL EDIT
26 PLAYING AT ANOTHER LEVEL Alexandra Raffe had worked hard to get the animation/live action series Zixx: Level One and its successor Zixx: Level Two on the air. When it came time to produce a third season she felt a new look would be in order and brought in a newly minted Vancouver company called Digital Alchemy to play with the veterans at Thunderbird Films and Rainmaker Animation.
ON THE COVER: SARAH POWER AND MICHELLE HARRISON STAR IN THE WILD ROSES. ABOVE: THE WILD ROSES. AMY LALONDE AND SHAWN ROBERTS. PHOTO: ANDREW BAKO REEL WEST MAGAZINE IS A WHOLLY OWNED ENTERPRISE OF REEL WEST PRODUCTIONS INC. IT EXISTS AND IS MANAGED TO PROVIDE PUBLICITY AND ADVERTISING THAT SUPPORTS THE GROWTH OF THE WESTERN CANADIAN MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY. PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER: SANDY P. FLANAGAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR: IAN CADDELL. ASSOCIATE PUBLISHERS: RON HARVEY, PAUL BARTLETT. SALES: RANDY HOLMES. ART DIRECTOR: ANDREW VON ROSEN. PHOTO EDITOR: PHILLIP CHIN. ASST. ART DIRECTOR: LINDSEY ATAYA. REEL WEST MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED SIX TIMES PER YEAR. SUBSCRIPTIONS CANADA/US. $35.00 PER YEAR (PLUS $10.00 POSTAGE TO US). REEL WEST DIGEST, THE DIRECTORY FOR WESTERN CANADA’S FILM, VIDEO AND TELEVISION INDUSTRY, IS PUBLISHED ANNUALLY. SUBSCRIPTION $35.00 PER YEAR (PLUS $10.00 POSTAGE TO US). BOTH PUBLICATIONS $60.00 (PLUS $10.00 POSTAGE TO US) PRICES INCLUDE GST. COPYRIGHT 2009 REEL WEST PRODUCTIONS INC. SECOND CLASS MAIL. REGISTRATION NO. 0584002. ISSN 0831-5388. G.S.T. # R104445218. REEL WEST PRODUCTIONS INC. 101 - 5512 HASTINGS STREET, BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, V5B 1R3. PHONE (604) 451-7335 TOLL FREE: 1-888-291-7335 FAX: (604) 451-7305 EMAIL: INFO@REELWEST.COM URL: WWW.REELWEST.COM. VOLUME 24, ISSUE 1. PRINTED IN CANADA. CANADIAN MAIL PUBLICATION SALES AGREEMENT NUMBER: 40006834. TO SUBSCRIBE CALL 1-888-291-7335 OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.REELWEST.COM. REEL WEST WELCOMES FEEDBACK FROM OUR READERS, VIA EMAIL AT EDITORIAL@REELWEST.COM OR BY FAX AT 604-451-7305. ALL CORRESPONDENCE MUST INCLUDE YOUR NAME, ADDRESS, AND DAYTIME TELEPHONE NUMBER.
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PRODUCTION UPDATE
What’s coming. What’s shooting. What’s wrapped. Shaw Still MOW King Vancouver producer Kirk Shaw is still the undisputed king of the local television movie scene. Although Shaw and his Insight Film Studios have been involved in several features, inlcuding Battle in Seattle and Blonde and Blonder, and series
designer, Crystal Remmey as production coordinator, Kirk Johns as location manager and Brant McIlroy as special effects coordinator. Desperate Escape saw Shaw sharing executive producer credit with Jeff Schenck, with Hartley as coproducer, Scott Matthews as asso-
MAGGIE Q STARS IN KING OF FIGHTERS
like Painkiller Jane and Blood Ties, he has no equal when it comes to the making of TV films. According to the BC Film Commission’s November list Shaw was an executive producer on all four MOWs that called Vancouver home in November and early December. The list included Resistance, Desperate Escape, The Wedding Dance and Tornado Valley. Resistance also saw Jeffery Lando and Tom Berry serving as executive producers, with Breanne Hartley as producer, Mandy Spencer-Phillips as line producer and production manager, Neil Fearnley directing, Michael Balfry as DOP, Brian Davie as production
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ciate producer, Jamie Goehring as line producer/production manager, George Mendeluk as director, Anthony Metchi as DOP, Renee Read as production designer, Alison Stephen as production coordinator and Phil Pacaud as location manager. Tornado Valley had Tim Johnson and Shaw as executive producers with Shaw producing and Michelle Samuels as line producer/production manager. Andrew Erin directed, Todd Williams was DOP, Monika Choynowski was the production designer, Annie-Claude Langlois was the production coordinator, Tom Hoeverman was the location manager and McIlroy was
special effects coordinator. The Wedding Dance, the story of a small town dance instructor who is at a crossroads in her life, having recently lost her mother in the middle of planning her wedding, has Johnson and Shaw and Jean Aboudader as executive producers, David Rempel and Hartley and Scott Matthews as producers, Chris Bruyere as line producer/production manager, Mark Jean directing, Mathias Herndl as DOP, Paul Joyal as production designer, Adam Gowland as production coordinator and Terry Hayes as location manager. Feature films calling Vancouver home in November and December included Damage, the story of teenage girls who must choose between justice and family loyalty. Jack Nasser was the executive producer, Tara Cowell-Plain was producer/ production manager, Jeff King was the director, Tom Harting was the DOP, Tony Devenyi was the production designer, Barbara Chisholm was the production coordinator, John Wittmayer was the location manager and Rob Paller was responsible for special effects. Leaving in mid-January is King of Fighters, which tells the story of five warriors who venture on a journey to stop an evil corporation from taking over the world. The executive producers are Jim Seibel, Bill Johnson, Gary Hamilton, Jeff Abberley and Julia Blackman. The producers are Joseph Chou, Tim Kwok and Bobby Sheng, the line producer is Deboragh Gabler, the
director is Gordon Chan, the DOP is Arthur Wong, the production designer is Jill Scott, the production coordinator is Stacey Harris and the location manager is Abraham Fraser. Here until the end of January is The Hole, which sees two brothers uncovering a mysterious hole in the basement of their new home, one that appears to be a supernatural portal. The executive producer is Gary Walters, the producers are David Lancaster, Michel Litvak and Vicki Sotheran, the director is Joe Dante, the production designer is Brentan Harron, the production manager is Donald Munro, the production coordinator is Tricia Leigh, the location manager is Jamie Lake and the special effects coordinator is Darren Marcoux. Television pilots calling Vancouver home in November and December included The Farm and Shattered. The Farm had Ilene Chaiken and Rose Lam as executive producers with Chaiken directing, Robert Aschmann as DOP, Ricardo Spinace as production designer, Kim Steer as production manager, Tim Smith as production coordinator and Peter Pantages as location manager. Shattered had Hugh Beard and Debra Beard as executive producers, with Debra Beard producing, Bobby Roth directing, Greg Middleton as DOP, Ian Thomas as production designer, Charles Lyall as production manager, Sheenah Main as production coordinator and Ritch Renaud as location manager.
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Carnivore Days Actress and CBC Radio star SookYin Lee has turned to directing. The Short Bus co-star wrote and directed Year of the Carnivore, which r e c e n t l y wrapped principal photography in Maple Ridge, B.C. Sp oke sp erson Kate Perkins said SOOK-YIN LEE the film tells the story of Sammy Smalls (Cristin Milioti) a 21-year-old who works as a
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store detective for a food market. Perkins said that when she catches shoplifters she delivers them to her boss (Will Sasso) who beats them up so they never re-offend. When she falls in love with an unemployed musician (Mark Rendall) who says she doesn’t have the sexual experience to be in a relationship with him, she blackmails the shoplifters into giving her sex lessons. The film is produced by Screen Siren Pictures’ Trish Dolman and co-producer Kryssta Mills in coproduction with Film Farm producers Simone Urdl and Jennifer Weiss.
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Called to Judgment An original science fiction web series about a group of post-apocalyptic survivors searching for an elusive entry into paradise premiered with a multi-site launch in October. According to co-star/producer Taryn O’Neill, a Vancouver Film School graduate, After Judgment “re-imagines” experience and glimpses into a grim future. O’Neill says the web premiere marks the debut of the first season, which will be handled by Toronto-based OUAT Media. According to O’Neill, the show was created by writer/ director Michael Davies and stars an ensemble cast that includes Joel Bryant, herself, Stephanie Thorpe and Tim Halling. She says Bryant plays the lead role of an ex-priest who leads the rag-tag band of strangers on the journey. “I’m ecstatic that we were able to bring this awesome mythology to life for Sci Fi fans everywhere,” says Davies. “We’re living in a society that’s facing some intense challenges, so we’re telling a ‘what if ’ story and giving our audience an opportunity to create a community around our world, as only the web allows us to do.” O’Neill says the first season of sixteen 4-minute episodes was independently financed and produced by Davies’ Captain Films banner in association with Ultimatum Entertainment. REEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
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The 11th Annual Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth unspools from February 20 and 27, according to festival director Venay Felton. Felton said the deadline for submissions is February 6. “A new program of films made by youth, the Young Filmmakers Showcase, will be in the spotlight,” she said. “The films will be selected from online submissions to our website, www.r2rfestival.org.” Felton said filmmaker Bruce Vancouver Sweeney is one of the jurors of the Young Filmmakers Showcase Award, which carries with it a $500 cash prize. Felton said other festival highlights will include the German film Red Zora, which tells the story of the fourteen-year-old leader of a gang of orphans who face down their opponents and No Network, from Iceland, directed by Ari Kristinsson. She said local productions include John Bolton’s short, Valentines, and Peg Campbell’s What Your Mother Should Know. Felton said the festival will also be awarding the Edith Lando Peace Prize and a $500 cash award for the film that “best utilizes the power of cinema to further the goal of social justice and peace on earth.” Spokesperson Helen Yagi said the festival includes a comprehensive school program complete with a guide for educators, as well as weekend screenings and events for families and young adults. She said workshops will be held at the Roundhouse Community Centre.
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A Vancouver-based production company is turning back time to tell stories about some of North America’s most iconic TV shows. Force Four Entertainment Inc. announced recently that it will be launching a second season of Tube Tales: TV’s Real Stories, on TVTropolis in January. According to executive producer John Ritchie, each half-hour episode features three separate ‘real life’ stories about a different TV series and features interviews with the producers, writers, and actors who played pivotal roles in the production. He says this season’s cast includes The Bionic Woman’s Lindsay Wagner, Will and Grace’s Eric McCormack, St Elsewhere’s Ed Begley Jr., Battlestar Galactica’s Grace Park and Spin City’s Richard Kind. REEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
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Second Season Blessings The APTN series Mixed Blessings will be adding new cast and crew for its upcoming second season,
according to spokesperson Helen Yagi. Yagi says the half hour comedy, which was created by Vancouverbased producer Ric Beairsto, will have Passchendaele co-producer Francis Damberger directing and
Copyrights Examined A documentary that examines the concept of copyright in the era of file sharing, will air this spring on Canada’s Documentary Channel. According to spokesperson Lindsay Namiache, the documentary film RiP: A remix manifesto has, as its central protagonist, Gregg Gillis, the Pittsburgh biomedical engineer who moonlights as a “mash-up artist rearranging the pop charts’ DNA with his incongruous, entirely sample-based songs.” Namiache said the film looks at “the robber barons and revolutionaries squaring off across this new frontier” with the film journeying from “the control rooms of Washington to the favelas of Brazil.” She said the show examines the complexities of intellectual property in the digital era, and includes interviews with Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig,
Restaurant Woks An Edmonton restaurant will get to star in the third season of Food Network’s Family Restaurant. According to spokesperson Tanya Tweten, the Lingnan Restaurant has been serving Chinese food to Albertans for 60 years. Tweten says the new season focuses on the Quon family and follows in the footsteps of the first two seasons, which featured the Psalios family and its Greek restaurants. Executive producer Margaret Mardirossian says she is confident viewers will also fall in love with the Quons. “They have a refreshingly genuine sense of humour about work and family,” says Mardirossian. “There really is nothing like this on TV.”
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will add North of 60 co-star Michelle Thrush to the cast. The series, which is shot in Alberta, looks at a blended family living amidst the oil boom. Yagi said the second season of six episodes started production last July in Edmonton and Fort McMurray. The show stars Gary Basaraba and Tina Lameman as the parents and Clare Stone, Jesse Frechette, Emma Ashbaugh, Griffin Powell-Arcand and Allen Belcourt as their children. Yagi said the show is produced by Beairsto, Ron E. Scott and Drew Hayden Taylor and written by Beairsto, Hayden Taylor, Graham Clark and Penny Gummerson. culture critic Cory Doctorow, Brazilian musician and former Minister of Cultural Affairs Gilberto Gil, and Jammie Thomas, a single mother who was successfully sued by the Recording Industry Association of America for illegal downloading. Namiache said the film was written and directed by Brett Gaylor, the creator of the video remix community OpenSourceCinema.org and the web producer of the HomelessNation.org. She said he is a founding instructor of the Gulf Islands Film and Television School. It was produced by Mila Aung-Thwin, Kat Baulu and Germaine Ying Gee Wong, with Daniel Cross, Aung-Thwin, Ravida Din and Sally Bochner as executive producers. Mark Ellam was the DOP, Gaylor and Tony Asimakopoulos were the editors and Olivier Alary was the composer. “Amy Quon is energy incarnate,” says Tweten, “and she bowls over the guests with her hospitality. She is a congenial dictator who bosses everyone in the family. Kinman Quon is serene in comparison. As owner of the establishment he always tries to keep things on track, he is the calm in the storm, steadfast and dependable no matter how chaotic things get. Their children, 25-year-old Miles and his sister Mandy are proud of the Lingnan’s legacy and love all their faithful fans. However, they are determined to drag the old haunt into the 21st century.” Tweten says the third season of Family Restaurant starts January 8 on the Food Network.
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BITS AND BYTES Vision-Impaired Get Access A channel for the vision-impaired launched in early December across Canada. Called the Accessible Channel it is owned by the National Broadcast Reading Service (NBRS) which was granted a license by the CRTC in July of 2008. “People shouldn’t be excluded from media just because they are visionimpaired,” said NBRS chair John Capobianco. “NBRS was created two decades ago with a mandate to enhance media access for millions of vision-restricted Canadians. The Accessible Channel will take things a step further to ensure everyone is included”. Spokesperson Rob Trimbee said that on the current basic cable TV set-up, people with vision loss who want to “access description” must change the audio settings of their televisions to S.A.P. (Secondary Audio Programming). “This process can be difficult,” he said, “if not impossible, as it often works through a series of on-screen menu prompts. He said the Accessible Channel’s “open format” makes description available on the primary audio setting and the only soundtrack provided is the described track. He said the Accessible Channel will
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also provide closed captioning for 90% of its program schedule, which is in compliance with current CRTC regulations.
Scriptapalooza Taking Submissions The 11th annual Scriptapalooza Screenwriting Competition is looking for scripts from western Canadian writers. According to spokesperson Terry Wills, submissions are read by over 80 top production companies and literary agencies. He said the first place winner, chosen by Scriptapalooza, receives a $10,000 grand prize. Scriptapalooza staff will promote the semifinalists and finalists for a full year after the winners are announced. “Now in its eleventh year, we have an unsurpassed track record: over 30 scripts
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optioned, many scripts sold, two Lifetime movies made, even Emmy winners, and the list goes on,” said Scriptapalooza co-founder Mark Andrushko. “I started this competition knowing that although everyone has a story to tell, there isn’t always someone listening. I’m delighted Scriptapalooza has helped talented storytellers get heard by the most respected and influential people in Hollywood.” Wills said companies participating in the competition include Disney, Miramax, Big Light, Lawrence Mark and Bender-Spink, among others. “Scriptapalooza,” he said, “offers what even the largest grand prize could never buy: a guarantee that an ‘unsolicited’ script will be read by leading Hollywood decision-makers. In many cases, the Scriptapalooza scripts are optioned or even bought outright by enthusiastic production companies. Wills said the early bird deadline is January 7 and has an application fee of $40 while the regular deadline is March 5 ($45) and the final deadline is April 15 ($50.)
Cimarron Getting Game Cimarron, a US entertainment marketing agency with over 180 agents, has announced it is expanding into the videogame market with C4, a new division specializing in the marketing, packaging, and advertising of AAA-title gaming software. A spokesperson says that the division will have “all the resources of a traditional agency and a top-to-bottom knowledge of the videogame industry in order to create emotionally resonant ad campaigns, establishing personal connections between brands and gamers everywhere.” C4 president Matt Stainner said the company has already completed work on marketing Activision’s new AAA-title, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, developed by Treyarch which, he said, was released on October 21to positive reviews: “As a strategic content developer and marketing agency, we get under the hood of a game and we figure out what the emotional core is, what will truly attract gamers to the brand. That’s our edge,” said Stainner. “Yes, we have a great team of professionals that have worked on the biggest titles on the planet: World of Warcraft, The Sims, Resident Evil. Though C4 just launched, we’re already working with the biggest publishers in the business, and the Spiderman title is a big part of our coming-out party. By tapping into the subconscious core of a franchise like this one, we’re really going to change the way the audience looks at your brand.” Stainner said that US consumers spent more than $17 billion on videogames last year, and that a PricewaterhouseCoopers study projects that number at over $30 million globally for 2008, with a compound annual growth rate of over 10%.
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Canadian Wins Kodak Competition A Canadian filmmaker was one of four winners at the recent Kodak Filmschool Competition. According to Kodak, the winners included Aonan Yang from the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema at Montreal’s Concordia University and Devendra Golatkar from India, Mateo Soler from Uruguay and Amparo de Miguel Viguer from Spain. Kodak said Yang’s film Singularity focuses on what happens when computers become superior to human in-
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telligence; “This is the first time that a Canadian student has won the Kodak Filmschool Competition,” said Gaston Bernier, Sales Manager, Production for Kodak Canada Entertainment Imaging. “We’ve always known that Canada produces some of the best filmmakers in the world, and this competition shows just how strong our film schools and students are on the international stage.” A spokesperson said that each winner will receive a trip to the 2009 ClermontFerrand Short Film Festival in France where their films will be presented in the Kodak Short Film Showcase.
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Hauka Has Certainty Veteran Vancouver filmmaker David Hauka has completed a film that he says is “unlike anything he has attempted in the past.” Hauka, whose producing credits include Home Movie and Whale Music says Certainty is an unusual film in that it speaks directly to the hopes and anxiety of the audience. “Rather than masking memory and emotions I decided to share some of the most difficult and beautiful moments I have experienced,” he says. “The fall from innocence, the loss of grace, the death of a parent – events that change us forever and are the mark of a generation that is now slowly moving towards death. My childhood is forever linked to Kennedy, NASA and the Apollo missions to the Moon. Like so many others, the promise of that time left me hopeful in outlook and scarred by betrayal. And it was fun, too! Translating these experiences to a visual and sound form determined the shape of the film.” Hauka says Certainty is crafted from found images, archival footage from NASA and the US Department of Energy and material shot specifically for the film. “A film without words, it relies instead on image, subtitles and the stunning music of Glass, Preisner, Debussy, Apocalyptica and others. In many ways I wonder at the film, unsure of its future yet thrilled to have made it.” Hauka says that he expects to screen the film in the new year. REEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
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BEGINNINGS
Nick of Time Nick Harrison sheds light on a career of swordplay and unarmed combat that has made him a cut above.
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can credit my career and obsession with fight choreography to two major events in my life: child abuse and Star Wars. I was pulled out of a Catholic private school in Northern British Columbia during grade four. My parents were unaware of the trauma I had endured at the school since kindergarten. It was only after my mother discovered numerous bruises on my arms and legs that she immediately removed me from my tormentors and enrolled me in public school. Later that spring I went to a film that gave me the courage to cope with my abuse and carry on. It was 1977 and the film was Star Wars. The message was simple, and the idea that good can triumph over evil inspired me. I wanted to be a Jedi. Little did I know I would end up making a career out of these events. My parents enrolled me in private karate lessons to help me to defend myself and to instill a self-confidence that had been all but shattered during my sentence of private school. Back then, I was quite overweight and short and had become a favourite target of the neighborhood bullies. It was during the early years of my martial arts training that I began to seek out Kendo training as it was the martial art upon which the light-saber fights were based. That’s all I knew about Kendo and that was good enough for me. It wasn’t until I was in university that I was able to find a Kendo club. I immediately signed up and loved it. As a young adult, it was my first exposure to any form of fencing and I found an instant connection with the ancient Japanese Martial Art. I began to choreograph fight scenes with my university friends that we would stage at various events and dances around the campus in Victoria. Next, I went to England and trained as an actor at the London Academy of Performing Arts. I also continued my training as a Kendo-ka with the club at the University of London. It wasn’t long before I found myself on the British Kendo team. In Zurich I ended up with an international ranking and had to make the decision to either continue on as a professional martial artist, or finish my drama studies. It was a tough decision, but I decided to continue on with acting. I made friends with established actors such as Derek Jacobi and Alan Cumming, who were always available to offer advice. I loved the acting process, but especially loved the stage combat classes. My knowledge of movement through martial arts gave me a natural edge. I was able to train under amazing fight directors such as William Hobbes, Mike Loads, and eventually earned the rank of fight director under the British Society of Fight Directors. Upon graduation I returned to Canada to establish myself as an actor/fight director in Vancouver. It wasn’t long before I booked a fighting role on Highlander. I’ll never forget the excitement of working with Bob Anderson, and it was such a delight to let him know that I had been inspired to be a fight director because of his work in Star Wars and The Princess Bride. To this day, working with him has been one of the highlights of my career. The following year I was contacted by another fight director, Braun McAsh, to help him audition for the job of sword master on Highlander. I helped him with his fight, and was glad to see him win the job. As my reputation grew in Vancouver, I found myself in need of a larger stock of weapons. I owned three swords that I had brought back from the Allan Meek Armouries in the UK. One was a beautiful swept hilt rapier, the other two were broadswords. One was used by Kenneth Branagh in Henry V, the other was used in Mel Gibson’s Hamlet. The rapier had a cracked hilt and was in need of repair. My parents had come to visit me, and I showed my father the cracked sword hilt. He was a world-class welder, and I thought he could easREEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
ily repair it. I was disappointed when he said the brass would be too tricky to repair. He did, however, assure me that he could reproduce the hilt in high-impact steel. A week later he presented me with an exact reproduction of the Allan Meek rapier hilt. My father was 75 at the time, and had no idea that he would continue to make and design the best swords I have ever used up until his death in 2006 at the age of 88. He started off only making the hilts, which he would fit to blades that I sourced from Del Tin and other manufacturers. Eventually, he started making the blades as well. It is impossible to find any weld marks on his weapons, and though I have broken a number of commercially made blades, none of the blades he made have ever broken. I have used his weapons in television shows and theatre productions all across the country. Although he would never admit it, my father was an incredible artist. In my personal armory, almost 200 of the 400 plus weapons I own are made by him. I have been the fight director at Bard on the Beach in Vancouver for over 10 years now. It is a position that I am proud of, and to be a part of such a phenomenon as Bard is incredible. Each year brings new challenges as a group of artists come together to be part of a family that creates magic. I enjoy the challenge of creating exciting action and training actors to use weapons they may not have used before. Over the years at Bard, I have trained actors in the use of spears, broadswords, shields, bucklers, rapiers, daggers, falchions, clubs, axes, handguns, machine guns, muskets, sabers, bayonets, longbows, cutlasses, brace, flails, warclubs, maces, switchblades, whips, loaves of French bread, and so much more. Over the years I have worked on hundreds of shows and productions. I have trained numerous actors in drama schools around British Columbia. I honestly enjoy it. There is nothing like working on a project with a group of dedicated people, eager to learn. I continue to learn each time I pick up a weapon, and from every stunt coordinator I work with. Lou Bollo and Jacob Rupp have been great mentors for me. Their exuberance and attention to detail and safety is something that I admire and have always strived to maintain in my own work. There is more to fight directing and instructing than simply teaching actors how to handle and use a weapon. A good fight director will always listen to the concerns and needs of each actor, and never impose a move on an actor reluctant to try it. A fight director has to continually train in their craft. In a sense, they must become a lifelong student in all things martial. They should know the history of each weapon they train in, the masters who taught in that time, and the beliefs and popular techniques of the day. In my opinion, a poor fight director is one who imposes a single style for every fight, and who doesn’t listen to the concerns of the actors and the production. I have no time for fight directors and actor combatants that think this way. As the British Columbia representative for Fight Directors Canada, I encounter several selftaught “masters” who claim to have the “best and only” way to stage a fight. It’s funny, but every time I teach a student I learn something more about my craft, and about myself. At the moment I am working on my PhD at the University of British Columbia. I believe it will be the first PhD in Canada on the subject of swordplay and stage combat. I have a passion to learn, and I enjoy sharing my knowledge with others. In facing my own demons, I am grateful that I’ve found a fulfilling career and that I continue to learn and grow, and that I have a lot of fun in the process. I will continue to strive to be a true Jedi, and secretly love the moments I catch my six-year old boy looking at me like I am a Jedi during our own living room lightsaber battles. 11
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BEHIND THE SCENES
Adapt & Conquer Annex Pro will do whatever it takes to keep up with evolving technology
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eeping up with the changes in technology would be a difficult task if you were trying to do it over the course of a year or two. Kerry Corlett, who founded a hardware and software reselling company called Annex Pro in 1983, says that you won’t last long if you can’t adapt well to change. “I think we have survived this long by being innovative and nimble and changing with the technology,” he says. “Annex Pro is constantly on the lookout for what is coming down the pipeline tomorrow. As a technology based company we think tomorrow as a topic is way more interesting than reflecting on the past. So the next 25 years should be very exciting.” Corlett says that in order to stay abreast of technology trends, Annex Pro invests in training, sending its staff all over North America on an ongoing basis to take seminars and certification courses offered by leading suppliers. “It costs us to send our staff to these programs but we see it as an investment in our team and we believe it ultimately improves our expertise and level of service to our customers.” It appears to be working. When a local TV series called The Electric Playground went from a weekly program to a daily show, its producer, Victor Lucas, asked Annex Pro to come up with an efficient but affordable solution that would allow the production company to store a huge quantity of HD video content and make the content accessible to editors who could then collaborate and share files. Lucas says the system Annex Pro provided was efficient and fit the budget. “We are shipping seven shows a week so if everything didn’t work properly it could have turned into an organizational nightmare. But so far the system is working really well. In fact, I think our episodes look better than ever before.” Corlett says that the company has had a strong relationship with the film and television industry since it was first founded. He says customers are involved in film and television production, animation, game development, music recording, visual effects, audio post-production and corporate media.
He says Annex Pro represents all the major vendors and offers a full range of top name hardware and software. “We are an authorized reseller of Autodesk animation software, Apple professional products (including Final Cut Studio and Xsan), Digidesign and Avid professional products such as Pro Tools and Media Composer, and EditShare collaborative storage systems.” To help their customers keep up with the advances in technology, Annex Pro hosts free seminars for clients at their office. “They are like mini-training courses for our customers,” he says. “They can come in and talk to developers and vendors and see the new products that are coming available or learn tips on using existing solutions. We typically hold these events several times a month.” The customers appear to be impressed. John Christie, the Vice-President of Post-Production at Vancouver’s Paperny Films says that when you are running an in-house post-production facility with 25 editing systems it’s good to have associates who can help with product research. “If I suddenly realize I need a piece of equipment I call them up and say ‘what do you recommend?’ and they ship it over,” he says. “I am too busy to go out and shop around for this stuff, plus there are so many new products on the market to keep track of, so I let them do the leg work for me. They have never steered me wrong. I am very comfortable with their technical expertise.” Annex Pro has also taken a strong position on both environmental issues and community programs according to company Operations Manager, Kalinka Corlett. “We have implemented a green policy and are trying to be as environmentally responsible as possible,” she says. “We always switch to a sustainable product when we find a viable alternative and we make an effort to purchase from local businesses. It is something we are very committed to. We donate equipment to charitable organizations and youth programs when possible, to give opportunities to those who could otherwise not afford this technology. And we have helped bring new media and music education to children in the Vancouver area.”
Q+A cont. from page 15
shocking piece of casting. But sometimes inevitability is a good thing. Philip Seymour Hoffman was my idea. He is a guy I have known for awhile and he is one of the most intelligent people who has chosen to be an actor that I have met and I knew that he would make Meryl sweat and that I wouldn’t know what he would do. So if I didn’t know, she wouldn’t know and I thought that would make for very interesting scene work and it did. Amy came to me and said she wanted to do the part and I realized that she was a natural for it. That, together with her performance in Junebug. Viola Davis was Scott’s idea. He has been a fan of hers for awhile and we screen tested several incredible people but when she screen tested the crew stopped breathing and I respected that.” Did you worry at all that if you injected humour into the story you would have a hard time taking the audience back to the drama? “I have a sense of humour and as a storyteller I am trying to lead the audience somewhere. So you start off with people who have a preconceived notion of what a nun is and you give them a nun who hits kids. I don’t fight that. I don’t say ‘you are wrong.’ I start the audience where they are with that nun and then by degrees they start thinking maybe she is not a devil and maybe I don’t understand this person as well as I thought I did. The same is true with humour. There is absolutely no problem with having an audience enjoy what is comic about this experience and you have to find ways of not crossing the line. You hope your sensibility is true enough that what you find funny or what you don’t find funny is translatable to others.”
up in and the alleyway was my alleyway. So I can get what Eugene O’Neil called the poetry of the real, those things that have an extra evanescence about them where you can say ‘this is the real thing’ and to be able to go beyond that with my theater background with some of these interiors. I can say ‘okay I am going to go with powerful colours’ because these people are dressed in black in order to pop them out into the foreground, because they are in a single neutral. If you are wearing modern dress you will disappear into the background and the cameraman will have to take it down in post.” Have you had much positive feedback from the clergy or the nuns you have shown the film to? “I have had a tremendous positive response from nuns and clergy who have seen the film because basically this experience of their lives would be lost if someone didn’t photograph it. They felt that it was true to their daily experience, but I haven’t heard from a bishop or a cardinal. They don’t’ speak. You would think that one bishop or cardinal would have said something about the play even if it was ‘I hated it’ but nothing but silence. I heard from two Supreme Court justices, but not one senior clergy.” Can you talk a little about assembling this all-star cast? “I sat down with (producer) Scott Rudin and he said ‘who do you want for Sister Aloysius?’ and I said Meryl Streep and he said ‘me too.’ If I had asked 10 people on the subway they would have said Meryl Streep, so it is not the most
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JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY AND MERYL STREEP
QUESTION AND ANSWER
Without a Doubt How John Patrick Shanley’s doubt about clergy fuelled his newest film.
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ohn Patrick Shanley has won nominations or prizes from every organization that honours writers. He has an Oscar for writing Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck, a Tony, a Drama Desk and a Pulitzer Prize for the play Doubt, 14
and an Emmy nomination for writing Live from Baghdad. Given the early reviews, it’s possible that the film version of Doubt, his second foray into directing (following 1990’s Joe vs. the Volcano) will win him another Oscar nomination.
Like the play, the film, which opened in theatres in mid-December, is based on Shanley’s childhood memories while growing up in the Bronx. When he decided to direct the film, he felt that it would work best if he took the movie back to his old neighbour-
hood. It tells the story of a Catholic priest, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is accused by a nun (Meryl Streep) of sexually assaulting an opera boy. She decides to ask for help from two women whom she knows are reluctant to be involved: a younger nun REEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
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who teaches the boy (Amy Adams) and the child’s mother (Viola Davis.) In an interview with Reel West in Los Angeles, Shanley talked about the Catholic Church, his actors and the complexities of turning a play into a film. Were you thinking about your own faith and your own doubts when you wrote the play? “To a certain point but I was also lonely and was wishing that someone would talk to me about something that was interesting to me. I kept running into people who were advocates of positions and I kept saying ‘can we talk about something or are we just a rash of assumptions sewn together and called a human being.’” The film deals with things like gays, priests, pedophilia and attitudes towards women in the early 1960s. Did you see that as an interesting point in time because things were on the verge of change? “Absolutely. When I was living in the Bronx, you could hear the noise over the hill. In 1964, which is when this film is set, you could hear the cacophony which brought with it many good and bad things and has gotten louder since then as far as I am concerned. So we are living in a noisier and noisier culture filled with posturing and people not listening to one another where the possibility for discourse, which was real in the early 60s, has dissipated. I think that the zeitgeist is exhausted and there is a new feeling in the land that has tremendous positive and negatives to it. But I think there is a hunger of having real discourse again. It’s like ‘enough, enough’ we have things to do. Let’s get on with our lives and talk to each other and do some of these communal efforts that need to be done.” Did you want people to come to conclusions about the evidence you present? “Not really. I wanted to leave room in this film for the audience. So many movies tell you what to feel and tell you what to think. It’s not like I am attempting to provoke but I don’t want to tell you what to think or feel. I want to invite you to think and feel. But it was very difficult for (composer) Howard Shore. I told him ‘I want you to tell the story but I don’t want you to tell us how to feel about the story. You have to help me with the narrative propulsion but not tell the audience which way to go and how to feel about things.’” We all know that a play is not a film. What were your goals for the film in terms of making it different from the play? REEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
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“I think you have to recognize that you are working with different materials. Let’s say I am doing a painting and a bust of you. I am going to go about both of them in different ways in an attempt to capture the same thing. That is the opportunity that taking a play to film gives you. First of all, the economics of modern plays encourage a bonelike simplicity where you are down to four characters and a couple of sets, whereas if you are doing The Miracle Worker there are 22 people in the cast and you have a bigger world at the outset to turn in to a film. There are several shows like that including Of Mice and Men and A Streetcar Named Desire. There are a lot of people in those plays. But with plays like Doubt it’s a gigantic decision as a playwright to bring in even another character and with the film you don’t have to do that. You can bring in the kids, you can show the parishioners that the priest is preaching to and I can show the nuns in the convent. That kind of thing is why I go to films. I want to see what is going on, things that I couldn’t see otherwise. You get to go into a convent in 1964. No one got to go into a convent in 1964 who wasn’t a nun except for the house lady who took care of them.” Is the challenge to keep the best elements of theatre while adding the best elements of film? “Yes, I want to get as much of the celebration of language offered by theatre as possible and that is possible in film but it is really hard. I wanted to add voyeurism to the film because you can go into places with a camera that you can’t show on stage. So to take this example of the convent and the rectory further, I wanted to see how the nuns lived put up right against how the priests lived which is the truth. They lived 40 feet apart and yet there is a big difference in the way they lived. I asked the nuns what was it like in the rectory and they said ‘we don’t know.’ They were there for 15 years and 40 feet away people were living entirely different lives, people they see every day and they didn’t know about it. So they go to the movie and they see something they didn’t know, which is exciting.” You went back to the Bronx to shoot the movie. Was it just an exercise in nostalgia or did you do it to impact the movie? “Well, I come from that neighborhood, of course. The guy who plays the zither at the beginning on the street corner is playing it on the street that I grew up on and the church school is the church school that I grew cont. on page 13
EXPERT WITNESS
“You always have to make fun of the president no matter who it is, if you’re a comedian. That doesn’t stop, or at least it certainly shouldn’t stop, because he’s a black president. You can’t say ‘I can’t tell jokes about this guy.’ I loved Bill Clinton but when he slipped I was right there. If Obama slips I will take him out right away. Right away!” Actor Chris Rock on how he expects to treat Barack Obama in his comedy act. “They were surprised at Universal. There is nothing wrong with low expectations but it puts blinders on in terms of what is going to be popular. But it is very gratifying because it was hard to get financing even though the budget for that film would have fit into the props budget for any Matrix film or (last year’s Universal summer film) Hellboy 2. It so outdid Hellboy at the (international) box office but you can’t get them to understand that you will pay them back. And by the way, I am personally supporting Universal Pictures with that film and all the other Hellboys they put out this year, like Wanted.” Actor Meryl Streep on the success of Mama Mia which was one of the biggest hits of 2008. Only The Dark Knight made more money at international box offices. “There are a lot of great actors but what I am looking for in my job is to have the right question for the actors. I will say ‘this is what I need. Are you keen on doing it and to take this small journey?’ because the journey is not in the script. It is something that the actors have to find in themselves. It also comes from the writing because if you reach the point where you understand how to make that character interesting then you will find the actor. You do not want your characters to be like people you could find in a TV movie. It is something else than that because you have to find the oddity in the performance. I think that is difficult because if you are looking to play ‘odd’ you can go too far with the character. It is hard to find the right balance.” A Christmas Tale’s director Arnaud Desplechin on casting. “The next day is not promised to any of us. As you get older you get more of a sense of your own mortality. I am turning 60 soon and I still don’t look like my grandfather and his brothers when they were that age. Modern technology and diet and health and working out and taking care of yourself have helped and my family has a deep gene pool of people in their 80s and 90s. So I expect that I will be around for a while. But I do think about growing old if I have a different ache or pain when I get up in the morning and my knees are a little stiffer. I know anything can happen. But you can’t think about that. You just have to be happy that you can get up the next day and there is light out there and do the best you can with that day.” Actor Sam Jackson on his reaction to the death of two of his Soul Men costars Isaac Hayes and Bernie Mac. 15
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FROM LEFT: STEVE BYERS, GARY HUDSON AND ADAM MACDONALD
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Wild at Heart There wasn’t much in Amy Cameron’s background that suggested she would end up being an executive producer of a show about Calgary cowgirls. In fact, she had never been to Calgary when she started working on the pilot for a series that eventually became CBC’s The Wild Roses. A journalist by trade, she had won a National Newspaper Award while working for a New Brunswick newspaper before moving to Toronto to write about business and the arts for MacLean’s Magazine. Eventually, she attended the Canadian Film Centre where a friend of her sister’s told her about her idea for a show about sex and oil in modern Alberta. In her diary on the show, she looks back at the day she first heard about the idea, the day the CBC decided it would work as a series and the best day of her life. November 3, 2006 I’m trapped in the editing suite at the Canadian Film Centre, taking notes on a production exercise when my cell phone rings. I ignore it. I’m one of seven writers in the feature film program and my six months at the CFC are almost over. It’s Friday afternoon, the editors are overwhelmed with work and I know it’ll piss everyone off if I actually answer the phone. It rings again. After a third time, I finally answer. It’s Miranda de Pencier, my sister’s friend and a producer who I’ve hung out with socially over the years. “I think, maybe, I’ve got a TV show for you,” she says. November 7 I meet with Miranda to hear her pitch for the show. At a meeting with CBC Drama, she had thrown out a bunch of rough ideas for television series and they liked one in particular. The idea came from a magazine Miranda flipped through in the airport that showed a wealthy Calgarian couple in front of their private jet. Here’s her pitch: Calgary, Alberta. The new Wild West made up of money, oil and cowboy values. Okay. I can work with that. Miranda and I have the same taste in books, which is why, after my sister and fellow screenwriter Tassie Cameron turned her down, she thought of me. Though busy with her own projects, Tass is willing to help us develop a series so we chat about what we’d like to watch on TV. I like the idea of writing a Shakespearean tale — Romeo and Juliet in modern Alberta — and following the lives of two very different families. Miranda wants to examine the tension between ranching and oil. Tassie reminds us that we need sex, danger and a sense of humour to keep an audience happy. Right. They send me off to drum up a story and then pitch it back to them before our meeting with CBC in seven days. November 14 It’s 10 a.m. and I’m sitting down with CBC execs to pitch the idea I’ve come up with for the series I’ve started calling Cowgirls. The short version: a poor family (all women) running a small ranch and a rich family (all men) running a big ranch duke it out while also occasionally having sex. I’m sitting across from Fred Fuchs, Executive Director of Arts and Entertainment REEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
Programming, and Sally Catto, Creative Head of Drama. Tassie and Miranda agreed that I should take the lead on this pitch and so, having never done this before and with nothing to lose, I begin. An hour later, I’m done. Fred seemed to like the idea. Sally was enthusiastic. I sounded like I knew what I was doing. But even so, there’s no way they’re going to go for it. I’m a journalist. I have no TV experience. I don’t even have an agent. Besides, I’m not finished at the CFC yet. In fact, I leave my pitch at the CBC building and rush back to the Centre in time for the last hour of a legal workshop. November 17 Haven’t heard a peep from CBC. November 21 Oh, my. God. I think they’re actually going to go for it. Are you kidding me? December 15 It’s my graduation day from the Canadian Film Centre. As everyone celebrates over lunch, I negotiate the final clause of my contract with Miranda. CBC has ordered a pilot script and first season bible for Cowgirls. I’m over the moon but also can’t quite believe that it’s happening. Now all we need is Alberta production partners and it’s a go. With my first deadline looming in two weeks, I’m going to be swamped, so Miranda heads off to Calgary to meet with different people. My plan for Christmas is to hole up in my home office and start writing. Note to self: find an agent. January, 2007 Everything is happening so quickly. Miranda came back from her trip to Calgary convinced that the right partners would be Tom Cox and Jordy Randall of the newly formed Seven24 Films. Tassie worked with them a few years ago when they produced (as Alberta FilmWorks) Tom Stone and said they’d be perfect. In the meantime, I have way too much work on my plate. I’ve got a short film in development through the CFC, a book I contributed to has been published and I’m busy doing media and the first draft of the Cowgirls pilot is due to the producers on February 5. I feel like I’m sinking under deadlines. In spite of this madness, my mind is in creative overdrive. I’m having so much fun developing these characters and fleshing out the story beyond “two families fighting.” And, as the relatives of writers know, nothing is sacred. The Henrys, the poor family of women in the series, are loosely based on my greatgrandmother, grandmother and her two sisters. Montrose, the enormous ranch owned by the wealthy McGregors, is named for an old family house on my mother’s side and the patriarch, and main antagonist, shares a first name with my beloved father, which is a reminder to keep the evil character human. I make one of my main female characters Native American (she’s adopted into the Henry family) because I worked for four years as the native affairs reporter in New Brunswick. I met so many strong, independent women on the reserves that I have no end of ideas for that character. Finally, I give my characters the names I’ve always loved: Will, Lucy, Charlotte, Kate. Note to self: find an agent. February I deliver the first draft of the pilot outline to Tassie and Miranda. I wait two empty, endless days for their notes. When they finally come, they aren’t pretty: this character isn’t active enough, there needs to be more drama, higher stakes (a phrase I’m already learning to hate), more sex, less prose. Augh. The worst part? I know they’re right. I have one week before my next draft is due and two weeks before the bible is due to the producers. I dream of those two empty, endless days. Note to self: find an agent. March After about eight drafts and countless conference calls between Toronto (where Tassie and I live), Los Angeles (where Miranda is based) and 17
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Calgary, we finally have a pilot outline and a bible to send to CBC. I’m happy with it. Really happy, actually. I think it’s exciting and dramatic and, most important, there’s a sense of humour to the show. Cowgirls isn’t so dramatic and heavy that it’ll make people want to shoot themselves. It’s a show I would want to watch. That’s about as good as it gets. Note to self: find an agent. April to July After two weeks of waiting CBC comes back with their notes on the outline and I start writing the pilot script. Back and forth, back and forth. Notes, notes, notes. The same 62 pages for four months. I write the story over and over and over again. Before Cowgirls, if asked, I would have guessed that working with my sister would be an emotional minefield. I’ve entered her world. She’s the screenwriter, not me. She’s the TV and film buff, not me. But it’s actually wonderful. As a creative consultant and co-creator on Cowgirls, Tassie understands how I think and so ideas flow like crazy. This is a lot of fun and we’re starting to nail down the characters and tone of the show. For exam-
SARAH POWER. PHOT: ANDREW BAKO
I fall into the hotel bed that night, exhausted and exhilarated. August 27 I wake up and something’s wrong. Everything is crooked. I mean, the world for me has literally gone lopsided and I’m terrified that this is a stroke or something equally horrific. I crawl from my hotel bed to the phone and call Miranda. I’m not sure if I can make it to the first round of interviews that day, let alone drive around and scout locations. I think I need to go to the hospital. Miranda rushes to my room and gets me dressed. No time for hospitals, she says. Gotta get to our first meeting. She promises to take me to a hospital after the interviews are done. I stumble out to the car and off we go. By noon, I feel almost normal and head off in search of a coffee. I find a Tim Hortons and am stunned by the half hour line-up snaking from its doors, through the parking lot and down the street. Unbelievable! It’s my first taste of how desperate Calgary is for service industry staff and I’m determined to write this into the series. August 29 For some reason, trying to find the enormous ranch house we want for Montrose is proving to be difficult. It’s not that there aren’t plenty of them around – in fact we visit some unFor the first time in a year believable homes including one that boasts a giant iron I’m confronted with a rooster sculpture and instantly becomes known as the question I’ve long expected... Iron Cock House. But there are problems beyond finding one that feels right. We need one whose owner is a Teamster asks “What does open to filming. Seems obvious but convincing milliona Toronto city girl know about aires to let us into their homes to film proves to be harder Alberta ranching?” I smile and than one would think. We also need something that will work with our schedule because we’re shooting in Octoanswer honestly. “Nothing.” ber but hoping we can play it for spring. We need a place This story, I admit, is all about with coniferous trees. We can’t have fall foliage screwing wish fulfillment... Cowgirls is up the timing. It’s my last day in Calgary. Miranda has left already and my fantasy. Probably sounds I flip through file folders of location photographs in the like a bunch of writerly Seven24 offices when I find it. Montrose. I send an email bullshit to him but he grunts, to Miranda: “I found Montrose. It’s perfect. A two-storey gigantic European style mansion with a huge double nods and walks away. sweeping staircase in the marble foyer, complete with a ‘balcony’ overlooking the foyer. Swimming pool. Twople, one of the biggest issues with the pilot was the teaser. How do we begin? storey old rosewood library and gorgeous huge bedrooms in a white, crisp style. What is the first image we want people to see in this show? It’s got to estabAlso, all trees in front of the house (which also has a gorgeous view) are coniflish the tone of the series. It’s got to be exciting, irresistible, dramatic and fun. erous so no worries about greenery. Oh, and the owner is a movie buff. Eventually, we land on the idea of Lucy – our 23-year-old rock ‘n roll hero – August 31 I figure out why I was so dizzy in Calgary. I’m pregnant. standing on the back of a mechanical bull at a cowboy bar, drinking tequila September 6-15 It’s the Toronto Film Festival and I haven’t seen one film. We from the bottle as the crowd chants her name. Tassie suggests contrasting this start prep on Sept. 25 and haven’t hired a director yet. We also haven’t got a “fake” cowboy world with the real one as we watch Lucy’s big sister, Kate, break cast. There is no way I could ever be an actor. I don’t know how they do it. a horse. It’s an idea that we both love and it sets me back on course. Finally, at Going into a room of strangers and putting yourself on the line? Okay, I did it the end of July, we send in the pilot script and polished bible to the network. with CBC on this project but at least they weren’t dismissing me based on my Oh, and I find an agent. height or what my love interest looks like and whether we are too similar in July 30 It’s 3 p.m. and I’m sitting down with the CBC execs to hear whether colouring. Over the course of several weeks I watch hundreds of auditions and they will pick up the pilot. Holy crap! They’re picking it up! I’ve got a pilot at attend quite a few of the ones held in Toronto. CBC! Miranda and I are floored. We walk out of that meeting in a daze which With a few of the roles, casting is a breeze. Adam MacDonald, a young lasts approximately one hour. We start prep on shooting my pilot in eight strawberry blonde dude comes in for the role of Peter McGregor and, though weeks. My life goes into overdrive. the scene is short, blows me away with his casual yet tough cowboy act. We see August I am still trying to wrap up loose ends for my freelance journalism assignSteve Byers audition for the pretty golden boy role of Will McGregor and I ments. I’m also juggling rewrites on the pilot, hunting for the perfect director and feel the same way. The best part? They’ll be perfect brothers and fun to watch DP, reviewing the budget, hammering out a contract wherein I will show-run together. Our women, however, are harder to cast. I created the role of Charthe pilot, figuring out what show-runners do, scouting locations, hiring a coslotte Henry (the 15-year-old adopted daughter) for Clare Stone after I saw her tume/makeup/production designer/wrangler/hair/editor person or people. performance in Tassie’s Would Be Kings miniseries. Now it’s just a matter of August 26 For the first time since this project started, I’ve actually set foot in Calconvincing her to take the part. As for Kate and Lucy Henry – our main cowgary. In the nine months I’ve been working on Cowgirls, I’ve probably spoken to girls – it’s a nightmare. We have casting sessions in Calgary, Toronto, Vancouhalf of the city for research and Googled everything from oil rigs to how many ver and L.A. We see hundreds of women, some of whom are fantastic actors, strip clubs there are but now I’m finally here. The first thing I do is buy a map. but nobody feels just right. One night, Miranda and I watch the Vancouver Miranda and I are there to meet and interview people for the show. It’s crazy timauditions over again and there, trying out for the role of the bitchy and spoiled ing. August 2007 appears to be the busiest time ever in Alberta film history. So Rebecca McGregor, is Michelle Harrison. She’s not Rebecca, we agree. But Mimany projects are in the works, including Paul Gross’s Passchendaele, the WWI randa thinks she might be Kate. And she is. When Michelle’s performance story based on his grandfather’s experiences. Trying to nail anybody down for comes in for Kate, we fall in love. She’s perfect. And when Sarah Power, a gorthis pilot is going to be a challenge. From the airport, we head directly south of geous Newfoundlander with doe eyes, finally shows up in one of the last auCalgary and start scouting different ranches to find our poor and wealthy ranch dition sessions for the role of Lucy, we’re hooked. We send our picks to the locations. I cannot get over how stunning the landscape is: mountains, crisp air, CBC and cross our fingers. cattle roaming everywhere, sprawling homes and rolling hills. It’s just gorgeous. September 24 My husband John and I head into Toronto’s Mount Sinai hos-
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pital, nerves trembling, to do an ultrasound. After trying to get pregnant for a while, we’re not going to get our hopes up until we hear a heartbeat. At 1:30 p.m., for the first time, I hear the impossibly fast rhythm of my child’s heart. It’s breathtaking. After our appointment, John drives me to the airport for my flight to Calgary. Prep starts tomorrow. I cry – both for joy and out of fear – for the entire three and half hour flight. September 25 The first day of prep. After interviewing several directors, we’ve chosen David Wu for the pilot. I meet him for the second time in the former army barracks that now serves as a production office. He’s sitting at his desk and the only other thing in the room is my script. The magnitude of what we’re about to take on hits home. How do we turn those 60-odd pages into one hour of television? David has a million ideas and I have a million decisions to make. We still haven’t found a location for the poor ranch. We’re still trying to confirm our cast and we need to determine the visual tone of the pilot. I fall into bed that night feeling sick to my stomach and wondering how I’m going to keep this pregnancy a secret for the next five weeks. September 26 For the first time in a year I’m confronted with a question I’ve long expected. As I devour a plate of cookies in the production office kitchen, a Teamster asks “What does a Toronto city girl know about Alberta ranching?” I smile and answer honestly. “Nothing.” This story, I admit, is all about wish fulfillment. Though I’ve researched ranching and Calgary and interviewed dozens of people, the series is ultimately based on what I imagine life to be like on a ranch. Cowgirls is my fantasy. Probably sounds like a bunch of writerly bullshit to him but he grunts, nods and walks away. September 27 to October 14 Prep is madness. We finally find a location for the poor ranch, though it’s actually quite a nice looking place and not as run down as we’d imagined. But the other problems have been endless. For the opening scene, there’s no way we can have a stunt woman do shots of tequila while standing on a mechanical bull. As soon as I watch just how herky jerky the bull is, I get it. Having her seated and doing shots will be challenging enough. The names of some characters won’t clear with our legal team so we need to change them. The same goes for our poor ranch which is mentioned by name at least 12 times in the script. We have too many scenes and too little time. It’s now near freezing at night but we’ve got an outdoor sex scene to shoot. The only thing keeping me sane is the fact that I can’t drink alcohol. October 15-26 We’re filming. People have invested hours and dollars and superhuman effort into shooting words that I wrote on a page. 62 pages, to be exact. This is unbelievable. This is insanity. Short of the baby in my belly, this is the most exciting thing in the world. The day we shoot the opening scene, I wander around the bar we’re using and eavesdrop on the extras. When Sarah comes out in full ‘Lucy Henry’ rock ‘n roll cowgirl gear, I hear everyone gush about how beautiful she is. Sarah gets on the mechanical bull. The music starts pumping, the director yells “action!”, the crowd starts cheering and Sarah/Lucy drinks tequila from the bottle. It is such an overwhelming moment that I sink to the ground behind the monitor in tears. I think it is in this moment that everyone figures out I’m pregnant. Fall 2007 We edit footage. Christmas 2007 We deliver the pilot to CBC and wait. February 2008 The audience testing results on Cowgirls are in. There’s good news and bad news. The good news? Testing was through the roof. People loved it. The bad news? We need to find a new title. March 2008 The Wild Roses is suggested as the alternate title. The CBC tells us that they want the series. I’m in shock. April 2008 We put together a writers’ room and start working on Season One. I heave my enormous body into the room every day and then fall asleep at 8 p.m. every night. May 8, 2008 I come home from a long day in the writers’ room and my water explodes all over the dining room floor. May 10, 2008 My son is born. I name him Will. (It’s not until I return to the Wild Roses writing room two months later that I realize how stupid it is to give characters the names you like for your child.) I receive gifts and cards and a million well wishes from my crew and the actors who brought my other baby to life. My favourite gift is a tiny pair of red baby cowboy boots from Michelle, the actor who plays Kate Henry. When I put my son’s tiny feet into those tiny boots I realize just how wild the last two years have been and just how rosy the future looks. REEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
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By Ian Caddell
WRAP 2008
Alberta Government Finally Making Positive Impact on Industry As they have for several years, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan made some small gains in 2008. However, the big news this past year was from Alberta. Twelve years after Ralph Klein’s government had seemingly gone out of its way to kill off indigenous film in the province, a new political force has emerged that may lead the province out of the cultural wilderness. In June, the province’s Minister of Culture and Community Spirit, Lindsay Blackett, told delegates to the Banff Television Festival that the provincial government was ready to play a leading role in film funding and support. Over his car phone, he says that he meant everything he told the Festival audience. “The fact is that the government didn’t embrace the film and television industry the way it embraced other industries and yet we were still able to bring in shows. Last year we were able to lure The Wild Roses, Fear Itself, Heartland and Passchendaele because people know we have good crews. But we felt that more money was needed for the Alberta Film Development Program. So we are increasing that fund and we feel we can be more competitive at every level.” Blackett says that development grants were increased from $20 million to $34 million in mid-September to “deal with any backlog that might occur before the end of the fiscal year on March 31.” The Ministry raised the cap on the amount it could give to a production to $4 million from $1.5 to $3 million. “I think that helps us raise the chance of getting more motion pictures,” he says. The government has also allowed the film development grants to cover travel outside the province so that production companies can negotiate deals. “In the past we had a hard and fast rule saying no to a lot of things connected to the industry but we are implementing measures that are a real attempt to get business here and to retain the business.” While Klein appeared to have little interest in growing the industry, Blackett says his successor, Premier Ed Stelmach, who came to politics from farming, is a fan of home-grown film. “He gets it,” he says. “He realizes that production is a green business and that it has an investment to revenue ratio of 11 to 1. We are all aware in the government that it’s also an investment in the telling of our stories. No one outside of Alberta is going to be doing that so if we don’t sustain an industry we will lose that ability. We know that things will improve if only because of the low Canadian dollar but we want to succeed on merit and hopefully that will happen.” The devaluing of the dollar in recent months has apparently had a positive effect on the outlook for production in the new year in British Columbia. The province’s film commissioner, Susan Croome, says that business appears to be heading north as the dollar goes south. “We have had a recent flurry of activity with scripts and projects that are now giving BC much more serious consideration than earlier in the year. The 20
cost benefit analysis seems to be tipping more and more in our favour. Although BC is always recognized for its excellence as a production centre, sometimes producers are willing to a sacrifice our quality for cost savings elsewhere. The lower Canadian dollar has made the decision to go elsewhere much less desirable. At this point in time, I can’t confirm any specifics but it is fair to say that things are looking bright for 2009.” That is good news in a province that lost three major features in the early months of last year due to a lack of studio space. Croome says The Time Traveller’s Wife, The Mummy, and The Hulk all went to eastern Canada. And she admits that the Writers’ Guild of America strike had a dramatic negative impact on foreign television production. However, the province did bring in some heavyweights with highlights including Night at the Museum 2, Jennifer’s Body, The X-Files - I Want to Believe, I Love you Beth Cooper, The Day the Earth Stood Still and Farewell Atlantis. There were also several highlights in Manitoba. Carole Vivier, the CEO of Manitoba Film and Sound says that while it didn’t film there in 2008, the international success of Guy Maddin’s My Winnipeg counted as one of the year’s best moments. So too did the renewal of the series Less Than Kind and the shooting of two pilots for prime time series with another scheduled to arrive in February. She says that the government supplied a highlight for Manitoba Film and Sound when it increased the tax credit. The province can now offer a 65% tax credit if all programs are accessed by a single production. That has been a boost to a province that already had several strong production companies working on interprovincial and international co-productions. “Manitoba has the best tax credit program in the country and combined with our development and equity programs our production companies are growing and continuing to build their capacity.” The CEO of SaskFilm, Susanne Bell, says that while she didn’t see the dollar making much of an impact on the province she did feel that there were other encouraging factors helping to keep Saskatchewan competitive. She said these included a blend of studio space, infrastructure and incentives. “Saskatchewan-based production companies continued to actively co-produce with both Canadian and non-Canadian producers,” she says. “We undertook a review of all programs offered to Saskatchewan companies to ensure that the ability of our producers to co-produce was promoted and encouraged. The relationships continue to extend across all genres including feature films, dramatic television, animation and factual production.” Bell says that while Corner Gas, one of the most successful Canadian television programs of all time left last year and will be missed, there are several other shows coming back to the province. The list includes Rabbit Fall, Wapos Bay and Little Mosque On the Prairie. “Given the successful history our producers have had in producing series including Incredible Story Studios (five seasons) and renegadepress.com (five seasons), we are confident that another Canadian hit will be launched out of our province.” REEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
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British Columbia Animation Class Of The Titans 2 Zeus’ son, Perseus journeys to save Princess Andromeda. Exec. Producers: Chris Bartleman, Blair Peters Director: Brad Goodchild PD: Jeremy Tin PM: Richard Pimm Schedule: Mar 19, 2006 to Feb 22 Kid vs. Kat When Coop’s spoiled sister brings home Kat, his idyllic life is turned upside down. Exec. Producers: Chris Bartleman, Blair Peters LP: Jamie Turner Directors: Rob Boutilier, Josh Mepham, Greg Sullivan PM: Jennifer Barker Schedule: Aug 27 to Dec 29 Martha Speaks A loveable dog discovers that her love for alphabet soup gives her the gift of human speech. Exec. Producers: Chris Bartleman, Blair Peters LP: Sarah Wall Director: Dallas Parker PM: Ashley Irving-Scott Schedule: Feb 26 to Dec 5 Side Show Christmas Santa is the star of a side show but who will deliver the presents? Exec. Producer: Chris Bartleman Producer: Kirsten Newland Director: Brad Gibson PM: Angela Belyea Schedule: Jan 14 to Oct 24 Space Chimps When a $5 billion Space Agency probe disappears into an intergalactic wormhole, the agency recruits Ham III, grandson of the first chimpanzee in space, to help retrieve the wayward craft. Producer: John Williams Associate Producer: Tom Jacomb CoProducer: Curtis Augspurger Directors: Kirk DeMicco, Norton Virgien DOP: Jerrica ClelandHura PMs: L. Roberts, C. Howell PD: Deane Taylor Schedule: Mar 1, 2006 to Mar 1 Storm Hawks Squadrons of high-flying Sky Knights battle to protect their air turf. Producer: Ace Fipke Director: Ace Fipke. LP: Tina Chow Schedule: Nov 17, 2007 to Dec 22 Viva Pinata Live the sweet life on beautiful Pinata Island, where pinatas are born to be beaten, broken and battered! Exec. Producers: Delna Bhesania, Barry Ward, Norman Grossfeld, Al Kahn Producers: Steve Melchiorre, Lloyd Goldfine, Rose Ann Tisserand, Carole Weitzman. LP: Tony Power. Directors: Daniel Desarrano, Michael Dowding, Zeke Norton, Craig Roberts, Rick Allen Schedule: Feb 13, 2006 to June 27 Wow! Wow! Wubbzy Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! is an animated preschool show that promotes positive values like honesty, tolerance, fairness, and cooperation PM: Cristina Tanase Schedule: Nov 1, 2007 to Feb 1, 2009 Zeke’s Pad Zeke is an incredible artist who has an awesome drawing pad that somehow makes his drawings come to life. Exec. Producer/Producers: Delna Bhesania, Liz Scully, Leonard Terhoch, Avrill Stark Exec. Producers: Barry Ward, Kelly Bray, Michael Hefferon Supervising Producer: Roseann Tisserand, Michael O’Brien LP: Kylie Ellis, Rebecca Tolliday Director: Florian Wagner, Tim Goldsby-Smith, Ian Friedman PD: Zoe Evamy, Patricia Atchison, Greg Huculak PM: Arlyn Bantog Schedule: Mar 17 to Jan 2, 2009 Zigby A charming new 3D animated series that takes pre-schoolers on an awe-inspiring journey through the jungle. Exec. Producers: Michael Shepard, Tim Gamble Producers: Alexandra Raffe, Barb Harwood Schedule: Nov 1 to Jul 1
British Columbia Digital Features Dim Sum Funeral A group of estranged Chinese-American siblings reunite after the death of their mother. Exec. Producers: Tom Berry, Clark Peterson Producer: Jeffery Lando Director: Anna Chi DOP: Michael Balfry PD: James Willcock PM: Mel Weisbaum Schedule: Mar 26 to Apr 18 George Lopez Untitled Project Exec. Producers: George Lopez, Ann Lopez Producer: Frank Pace LP/PM: Craig Forrest Director: William Dear DOP: Ron Stannett PD: Matthew Budgeon Schedule: Aug 21 to Sep 24 Shawn Williamson. Jail Producer: Producer/PM: Dan Clarke Director: Uwe Boll DOP: Mathias Neumann Schedule: Mar 10 to Mar 22
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Jake’s Run Inspired by the poignant true story of Jake Porter, a mentally challenged teen with Fragile X Syndrome who joins his high school football team and inspires the country. Exec. Producers: Keith Alexander, Tim Miller Producers: Brian Bird, Michael Landon Jr, Adam Miller, Jamie Miller, Vicki Sotheran PM: Donald Munro Schedule: Apr 14 - May 20 Ruslan An ex-Russian mobster who is now a crime novelist must confront his past when his family is targeted by violence. Exec. Producer/Cast: Steven Seagal Exec. Producer: Phillip Goldfine Producer: Kirk Shaw Director: Jeff King DOP: Thomas M. Harting PD: Tony Devenyi PMs: Michele Futerman, Gilles LaPlante Schedule: May 12 - Jun 16 Scooby Doo 3: In The Beginning Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy all meet during their high school years. With the aid of a puppy named Scooby, they begin to work together to solve the mystery of the spirits haunting Coolsville High. Exec. Producer: Ramsey Naito. Producer/Director: Brian Levant Producer: Brian Gilbert LP/PM: Chris Foss PD: Brentan Harron Schedule: Aug 1 to Sep 5 Slap Shot: The Junior League Exec. Producer: Ron French Producer: Connie Dolphin Director: Richard Martin DOP: Neil Cervin PD: James Hazell PM: Craig Forrest Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Jeff Carlson, Dave Hanson, Steve Carlson Schedule: Apr 28 to May 31 Untitled Twisted Pictures Project FBI agent Kevin Cole goes undercover as Jimmy Vaughn, an organized crime enforcer. Exec. Producers: Curtis Leopardo, Jonathan Zucker Producers: Carl Mazzocone, Mark Burg, Oren Koules. LP: Raymond Massey Director: Rob Lieberman PD: Brian Davie PM: Michele Futerman Cast: Erika Christensen, Jesse Metcalfe, Bill Moseley Schedule: Sep 2 to Oct 2
British Columbia Feature Films Cats & Dogs: The Revenge Of Kitty Galore Dogs battle cats for control of Earth. Exec. Producer: Brent O’Connor Producer: Andrew Lazar Director: Brad Peyton PD: Rusty Smith PM: Ron McLeod Cast: Chris O’Donnell, Paul Rodriguez, Jack McBryer Schedule: Sep 8 to Dec 17 Cole A man tries to have his own life while solving the problems of his dysfunctional family and the people in his small town. Producers: Dylan Thomas Collingwood, Jason James, Kimani Ray Smith LP: Kevin Eastwood Director/DOP: Carl Bessai PD: Dina Holmes PM: Mike Cates Cast: Richard De Klerk, Kandyse Mcclure, Sonja Bennett, Chad Willett Schedule: May 26 to June 14 Damage Two teenage girls must choose between justice and family loyalty when a family member drives drunk, and the adults decide to close ranks, keeping the accident a secret. Exec. Producer: Jack Nasser. Producer/PM: Tara Cowell-Plain Director: Jeff King DOP: Tom Harting PD: Tony Devenyi Cast: Steve Austin Schedule: Oct 20 to Nov 22 The Day The Earth Stood Still Aliens land on Earth with a message for all humans: live in peace or be destroyed. Producer: Gregory Goodman, Erwin Stoff Director: Scott Derrickson DOP: David Tattersall PD: David Brisbane PM: Warren Carr Cast: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates Schedule: Dec 3, 2007 to Apr 4 Deep Cove (aka Dead End) Five students on spring break meet at a secluded island cabin for a weekend getaway. After a night of music, drinking and getting re-acquainted, the five friends are shocked to find the cabin’s caretaker murdered and the only boat off the island gone. Exec. Producer: David Doerksen Director: Michael Storey DOP: Glen Warner PM: Mary Guilfoyle Cast: Aaron Ashmore, Haylie Duff, Lucy Hale, Kyle Schmid Schedule: May 5 to May 31
Farewell Atlantis A global cataclysm brings about the end of the world in 2012. Exec. Producer/Director: Roland Emmerich. Exec. Producers: Ute Emmerich, Michael Wimer Producers: Harald Kloser, Mark Gordon, Larry Franco. Co-Producers: Volker Engel, Marc Weigert, Aaron Boyd DOP: Dean Semler PD: Barry Chusid. Production Managers: Michael Malone, Drew Locke Cast: John Cusack, Amanda Peet Schedule: Jul 28 to Dec 12 Frankie And Alice A young woman with multiple personality disorders struggles to remain her true self and not give in to her racist alter-personality. Exec. Producer: Shawn Williamson Producers: Hassain Zaidi, Simon Dekaric, Vincent Cirringone, Halle Berry Director: Geoffrey Sax. Co-PD: Linda Del Rosario PM: Brendan Ferguson Cast: Halle Berry Schedule: Oct 28 to Dec 16 The Hole Two brothers uncover a mysterious hole in the basement of their new home that appears to be a supernatural portal with the ability to release their worst nightmares. Exec. Producer: Gary Walters Producers: David Lancaster, Michel Litvak, Vicki Sotheran Director: Joe Dante PD: Brentan Harron PM: Donald Munro Schedule: Dec 3 to Jan 30, 2009 I Love You, Beth Cooper A geeky high school valedictorian decides he has nothing to lose by making a play for a popular cheerleader. Exec. Producers: Michael Flynn, Larry Doyle, Jennifer Blum Producers: Mark Radcliffe, Michael Barnathan. Producer/Director: Chris Columbus DOP: Phil Abraham PD: Howard Cummings PM: Wendy Williams Cast: Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, Jack Carpenter, Lauren Storm, Lauren London Schedule: Mar 17 to May 22 The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus A traveling magician sells his daughter to the devil in exchange for a life of extraordinary powers. Exec. Producers: Victor Hadida, Dave Vallean Producers: William Vince, Amy Gilliam, Samuel Hadida. Producer/Director: Terry Gilliam DOP: Nicola Pecorini PD: Anastasia Masaro PM: Brendan Ferguson Cast: Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Andrew Garfield, Lily Cole, Verne Troyer, Tom Waits Schedule: Feb 24 to Apr 15 Jennifer’s Body A cheerleader with the perfect life becomes the girl from hell when she gets possessed and begins killing boys in a small town. Producers: Dan Dubiecki, Jason Reitman, Mason Novick, Brad Van Arragon Director: Karyn Kuseme PM: Michael Williams Cast: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons Schedule: March 17 to May 16
The Storm Producer: Shawn Williamson. Producer/PM: Daniel Clarke Director: Uwe Boll DOP: Mathias Neumann PD: Tink Schedule: Nov 24 to Dec 17 The Thaw A deadly prehistoric parasite is released when a Woolly Mammoth is discovered in a melting ice cap. Faced with a potentially global epidemic, four ecology students must destroy the parasite before it reaches the rest of civilization. Exec. Producers: Blake Corbet. Prod: Trent Carlson, Rob Neilson, Mary Anne Waterhouse, Andria Spring Director: Mark Lewis DOP: Jan Keisser PD: Michael Wong PM: Tracey Renyard Cast: Val Kilmer, Martha MacIsaac Schedule: Jun 16 to Jul 18 Tooth Fairy When a pro hockey player, nicknamed the Tooth Fairy for his ability to knock out other players’ teeth, dashes the hopes of a young boy, he is ordered to one week’s hard labor as the real Tooth Fairy. Producers: Jason Blum, Mark Ciardi, Gordon Gray Co-Producer: Kevin Hollaran Director: Michael Lembeck DOP: David Tattersall PD: Marcia Hinds PM: Wendy Williams Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Ashley Judd Schedule: Sep 15 to Nov 26 Traveling A self-improvement guru can’t escape the rut he’s been in since his wife’s death. Exec. Producer: Miles Dale, Andy Davis Producer: Scott Stuber, Mary Parent, Mike Thompson Director: Brandon Camp DOP: Eric Edwards PD: Sharon Seymour PM: Penny Gibbs Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Aaron Eckhart Schedule: Jan 14 to Mar 7. THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE The always-complicated relationship between Fox Mulder and Dana Scully moves in unexpected directions. Exec. Producer: Brent O’Connor DOP: Bill Roe PD: Mark Freeborn PM: Simon Abbott Schedule: Dec 10, 2007 to Mar 15
British Columbia Mini-Series Impact A huge meteor smashes into the moon, and an international team of scientists realise the horrifying truth – the moon has been dislodged from its orbit and is due to impact with the earth in 45 days. Exec. Producers: Jonas Bauer, Rola Bauer, Michael Prupas, Howard Braunstein Co-Exec. Producers: Irene Litinsky Producer/LP: Ted Bauman Director: Mike Rohl DOP: Gord Verheul PD: Eric Fraser PM: Charles Lyall Cast: David James Elliot, Benjamin Sattler Schedule: Apr 25 to Jun 20
King Of Fighters Five warriors venture on a journey to stop an evil corporation from taking over the world while taking part in a fighting competition. Exec. Producers: Jim Seibel, Bill Johnson, Gary Hamilton, Jeff Abberley, Julia Blackman Producers: Joseph Chou, Tim Kwok, Bobby Sheng LP: Deboragh Gabler Director: Gordon Chan DOP: Arthur Wong PD: Jill Scott PM: Simon Abbott Cast: Maggie Q, Sean Faris, Ray Park, David Leitch Schedule: Nov 17 to Jan 14
Mirabilis (aka Dragonsteel) Four knights from Mirabilis must fight to save their land. Exec. Producer: Lisa Richardson Producer: Pascal Verschooris Director: Philip Spink PD: Peter Andringa PM: Simon Richardson Schedule: Jul 15 to Aug 28
Messages Deleted A screenwriting teacher is forced to live out the plot of a screenplay idea he stole from a student, who now seeks revenge. Exec. Producer: David Doerksen Producers: Jim O’Grady, Rob Cowan Director: Rob Cowan PD: Geoff Wallace PM: Mary Guilfoyle Schedule: Jul 20 to Aug 12
Battlestar Galactica: The Plan Set just after the Cylons destroyed the human home planets, the story revolves around two Cylon agents as they struggle with the remaining human survivors, both on the escaped ships and those still on the planets. Exec. Producer Ronald D. Moore, David Eick Producer: Harvey Frand LP: Ron French DOP: Stephen McNutt PD: Richard Hudolin PM: Wayne Rose Cast: Dean Stockwell, Edward James Olmos, Kate Vernon, Tricia Helfer Schedule: Sep 2 to Sep 29
Night At The Museum 2 The further adventures of down-and-out dreamer Larry Daley. Exec. Producer: Tom Hammel, Josh McLaglen. Producer/Director: Shawn Levy DOP: John Schwartzman PD: Claude Pare PM: Anne Simonet Cast: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Hank Azaria Schedule: Jun 9 to Sep 26 The Sisters Exec. Producers: Mike di Manno, Corey Redmond, Kirk Shaw Director: David Silberg PM: Tia Buhl Cast: Vivica Fox Schedule: May 12 to Jun 6 Stan Helsing Reluctant hero and video-store clerk, Stan Helsing, has to save a town from the six biggest monsters in cinema history on Halloween night. Exec. Producers: Kirk Shaw, Scott Lastaiti. Producer/Director: Bo Zenga PM: Rob Lycar. Unit Manager: Donald Munro Schedule: Jul 2 to Aug 15
British Columbia Movies of the Week
The Boy Next Door Exec. Producer: Kirk Shaw Director: Neill Fearley PM: Tia Buhl Cast: Dina Meyer, Woody Jeffreys, Marc Menard Schedule: Aug 27 to Sep 12 Chem Trail Producer: Kirk Shaw LP: Michelle Samuels Director: Andrew Erin DOP: Todd Williams PD: Monika Chownowski Schedule: Aug 11 to Aug 28 CHRISTMAS TOWN A bah humbug family finds the Christmas spirit in a small town. Exec. Producer: Kirk Shaw Producer: Jeff Schenck LP/PM: Tia Buhl Director: Cley Webber DOP: Cliff Hoekenson PD: Brian Davie Schedule: Jul 1 to Jul 14
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Custody (aka Soul Custody) True story of a precedent setting custody case between a professional basketball player and a groupie. Exec. Producers: John Ritchie, Rob Bromley, Gillian Lowrey Producers: Howard Dancyger, Marsha Newbery Director: Gary Harvey DOP: Kamal Derkaoui PD: Grant Pearse PM: Ian Hay Cast: Jennifer Finnigan, Doug Savant, Roger Cross Schedule: Jun 5 to Jul 3 Desperate Escape Exec. Producers: Kirk Shaw, Jeff Schenck Co-Producer: Breanne Hartley. Assistant Producer: Scott Matthews LP/PM: Jamie Goehring Director: George Mendeluk DOP: Anthony Metchie PD: Renee Read Cast: Elisabeth Rohm Schedule: Nov 5 to Nov 21 Do You Know Me? (aka Have You Seen Me?) Exec. Producer: Matthew O’Connor, Tom Rowe Producer: Shan Tam Director: Penelope Buitenhuis DOP: Dave Pelletier PD: Bobbi Allyn-Uhrich PM: Ian Hay Cast: Rachelle Lefevre, Jeremy London Schedule: Sep 15 to Oct 3 Fast Time Exec. Producers: David Perlmutter, Lewis Chesler Producer: Rob Vaughn, Elizabeth Sanchez Director: John Bradshaw DOP: Paul Mitchnick PD: Paul Joyal PM: Gilles LaPlante Schedule: Feb 18 to Mar 12 Fatal Kiss Producers: Jack Nasser, Kirk Shaw Supervising Producer: Christine Haebler LP/PM: Tara Cowell-Plain Director: Jason Bourque DOP: Kim Miles PD: Paul McCulloch Cast: Blanchard Ryan Schedule: May 4 to May 16 Gym Teacher A 14 year old boy is traumatized when his father is killed in a freak softball accident. Exec. Producers: Lauren Levine, Jim Head, Stanley Brooks Producer: Scott McAboy LP/PM: Brad Van Arragon Director: Paul Dinello DOP: Attila Szalay PD: Rachel O’Toole Cast: Chris Meloni, Nathan Kress Schedule: Jan 22 to Feb 19 Hardwired Exec. Producer: Kirk Shaw Producer: Lindsay Macadam Supervising Producer: Christine Haebler Director: Ernie Barbarash PM: Tia Buhl Schedule: Nov 11 to Dec 9 Hurricane Hunter Exec. Producers: Kirk Shaw, Timothy O. Johnson Director: George Mendeluk PM: Michelle Samuels Cast: Daryl Hannah, Dylan Neal Schedule: June 2 to June 18 Mail Order Bride When a woman’s friend in another country dies, she assumes her identity as a mail order bride; in order to get away from a mobster. Producer: Randy Cheveldave Director: Anne Wheeler DOP: Dave Pelletier PD: Paul Joyal PM: Nancy Welsh Schedule: May 20 to Jun 9 The Mrs. Clause Exec. Producers: Kirk Shaw, Jeff Schenck, Robyn Meisinger, Breanne Hartley Producer: Scott Matthews Director: Kley Weber DOP: Cliff Hokanson PD: Jim Purvis PM: Christian Bruyere Cast: Lea Thompson Schedule: Sep 10 to Sep 21 Past Lies Kim Furst appears to be an ordinary soccer mom living in the suburbs, but one day, a chance visit from a stranger threatens to reveal her sordid past and drag her back into a world of crime. Exec. Producer: Kirk Shaw Producer: Lindsay MacAdam LP/PM: Mandy Spencer-Phillips Director: Terry Ingram DOP: Michael Balfry PD: Paul McCulloch Schedule: Jul 15 to Jul 30 Phantom Racer Exec. Producers: Tim Johnson, Jeff Schenck, Chris Hatton, Greg Evigan Producer: Kirk Shaw Director: Terry Ingram DOP: Michael Balfry PD: James Hazel PM: Rob Lycar Cast: Greg Evigan Schedule: Oct 28 to Nov 18 Race For The Cure When a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, her husband and two children struggle with the changes that her illness brings upon the family. Producers: Randy Cheveldave, Suzanne Berger Director: Anne Wheeler DOP: David Frazee PD: Paul McCulloch PM: Nancy Welsh Schedule: Jan 23 to Feb 12 Rampage Producer: Shawn Williamson. Producer/PM: Daniel Clarke Director: Uwe Boll DOP: Mathias Neumann PD: Tink PM: Daniel Clarke Schedule: Oct 20 to Nov 5
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Red Torrent Exec. Producer: James Shavick. Producer/PM: Philip Webb Director: Ron Oliver DOP: Kim Miles PD: Josh Plaw Schedule: Aug 13 to Aug 26 Spectacular! A high school choir is fading in popularity when a wannabe rock singer is convinced to join the choir, in hopes of winning the upcoming competition and cash prize. Exec. Producers: Lauren Levine, Jessica Horowitz Producer: Scott McAboy LP/PM: Todd Pittson Director: Robert Iscove DOP: David Moxness PD: Brent Thomas Schedule: Apr 21 to May 24 Tidal Justice Exec. Producer: James Shavick. Producer/PM: Philip Webb Director: Ron Oliver DOP: Kim Miles PD: Josh Plaw Cast: Nicholle Tom, David Millbern, Margot Kidder Schedule: Aug 27 to Sep 11 Tornado Valley Exec. Producers: Tim Johnson, Kirk Shaw Producer: Kirk Shaw LP/PM: Michelle Samuels Director: Andrew Erin DOP: Todd Williams PD: Monika Choynowski Schedule: Nov 5 to Nov 25 Troglodyte Exec. Producers: Kirk Shaw, Lisa Hansen Producer: Kirk Shaw Co-Producer: Lindsay MacAdam LP/PM: John Prince Director: Paul Ziller DOP: Todd Williams PD: Troy Hansen Cast: Corin Nemec, Camille Sullivan, Miriam McDonald, Daniel Wisler, Gary Hudson Schedule: Jun 10 to Jun 28 Trust Exec. Producers: Timothy Johnson. Prod: Kirk Shaw, Cynde Harmon LP/PM: Mandy Spencer-Phillips Director: Allan Harmon PD: Paul McCulloch Schedule: Sep 3 to Sep 23 The Wedding Dance A small town dance instructor is at a crossroads in her life, having recently lost her mother in the middle of planning her wedding. Exec. Producers: Tim Johnson, Kirk Shaw, Jean Abounader Producers: David Rempel, Breanne Hartley, Scott Matthews LP/PM: Christian Bruyere Director: Mark Jean DOP: Mathias Herndl PD: Paul Joyal Cast: Brooke Nevin, John Schneider, Christopher Jacot, Roma Downey Schedule: Nov 4 to Nov 26 Wyvern The residents of a small Alaskan town fear for their lives when a glacier melts, unleashing a flesh-eating dragon. Exec. Producers: Kirk Shaw, Lisa Hansen Producer: Lindsay Macadam LP/PM: Jamie Goehring Director: Steven R. Monroe DOP: C. Kim Miles PD: Renee Read Cast: Nick Chinlund, Erin Karpluk, Don Davis, Tinsel Korey, David Lewis, Barry Corbin, John Shaw, Simon Longmore, Karen Elizabeth Austin, Elaine Miles, Dave Ward Schedule: May 26 to June 13
Inseparable Haunted by a traumatic event from his past, a partially paralyzed forensic psychiatrist with a split Jekyll-and-Hyde personality finds himself caught in love triangle. Exec. Producers: Shaun Cassidy, Warren Littlefield. Exec. Producer/Director: Rob Bowman Producer: Bob Simon PD: Ian Thomas PM: Patti Allen Cast: Lloyd Owen, Tricia Helfer, Malik Yoba, Warren Kole, Morgan Turner Schedule: Sep 9 to Sep 26 Memory Lanes Exec. Producers: Sean Masterson, Ryan Stiles Co-Exec. Producer: Rich Elwood LP: Cynthia Chapman Director: Brian Roberts PD: Jeremy Stanbridge PM: Paul Lukaitis Cast: Sean Masterson, Ryan Stiles Schedule: Oct 29 to Oct 30 Mistresses Drama featuring a group of girlfriends at different stages in their love lives. Exec. Producer: Melissa Carter Producer: Shawn Williamson Director: Sergio Gezzan PM: Daniel Clarke Schedule: Aug 13 to Aug 27 Revolution Two hundred years in the future, an American space colony goes to war with a United States-like home planet to win its freedom, causing tension between two branches of a multigenerational family. Exec. Producers: Ed Redlich, John Bellucci, Simon West. Co Exec. Producer: Jib Polhemus Producer: Kathy Gilroy Director: Michael Rymer DOP: Greg Middleton PD: Chris August PM: Craig Matheson Cast: Peter Fonda, Billy Campbell, David Smith, David Murray, Rowena King, Steve Sandvoss, Maiara Walsh, Brooklyn Sudano Schedule: Apr 14 to May 9 Shattered Exec. Producer/LP: Hugh Beard. Exec. Prod/Producer: Debra Beard Director: Bobby Roth DOP: Greg Middleton PD: Ian Thomas PM: Charles Lyall Cast: Callum Keith Rennie, Laura Jordan Schedule: Nov 10 to Nov 21 The Troop Kids work together to protect the world from monsters. Exec. Producers: Tom Lynch, Gary Stephenson Producers: Max Burnett, Larry Sugar LP/PM: Richard Bullock Director: Greg Coolidge DOP: Dean Cundey PD: Ross Dempster Schedule: Dec 8 to Dec 14 Virtuality On the way to their outer space mission, 12 astronauts pass the time engaging in various virtual realities only to find their computer has a bug and one of the crewmembers may be sabotaging the others Producer: Steve Oster. Co-Producer/PM: Warren Carr Director: Peter Berg PD: Gary Steele Schedule: Jul 28 to Aug 22
British Columbia TV Series British Columbia TV Pilots Caprica Prequel to Battlestar Galactica takes place 50 years before the series is set and follows the earlier evolution of the Cylon species. Exec. Producers: Ronald D. Moore, David Eick, Remi Aubuchon Producer: Clara George Director: Jeff Reiner DOP: Joel Ransom PD: Richard Hudolin PM: Wayne Bennett Cast: Paula Malcolmson, Alessandra Torresani, Esai Morales, Avan Jogia, Magda Apanowicz, Eroc Stoctz, Polly Walker Schedule: May 22 to June 19 The Cult Spooky drama follows two investigators looking into the disappearance of fans of a TV show called Cult. Exec. Producers: Angus Fraser, Jayme Pfahl, Jeff Spriet, James Wilkes Producer: Brad Van Arragon Director: Kari Skogland DOP: David Frazee PD: Rob Gray PM: Michael Williams Schedule: Oct 15 to Oct 28 Harper’s Island Murder mystery with an interactive element featuring wedding guests gathered on an island near Seattle where they are bumped off one by one over the course of the season. Exec. Producer/Director: Jon Turteltaub. Exec. Producers: Karim Zreik, Dan Shotz, Ari Schlossberg. Producer/Line Producer/PM: Grace Gilroy DOP: Rick Bota PD: Mark Freeborn Schedule: Apr 2 to Apr 11 Hiccups Exec. Producers: Brent Butt, Laura Lightbown. Exec. Producer/Director: David Storey Producers: Nancy Robertson, Arvi Liimatainen DOP: Ken Krawczyk PD: Matthew Budgeon PM: Doug Brons Cast: Nancy Robertson Schedule: Oct 27 to Oct 31
Battlestar Galactica The adventures of Commander William Adama and his intergalactic crew continue as the Battlestar Galactica protects a civilian fleet of survivors from a nuclear holocaust caused by the robotic Cylons. Exec. Producers: Ronald D. Moore, David Eick Producer: Harvey Frand LP: Ron French DOP: Stephen McNutt PD: Richard Hudolin PM: Wayne Rose Cast: Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, James Callis, Tricia Helfer, Jamie Bamber, Grace Park Schedule: Mar 24 to Jul 10 Eureka On his way to L.A., rebellious teenage daughter in tow, a U.S. marshal is forced to spend a few days in tiny Eureka, which turns out to be populated by geniuses and their families – in essence, the world’s largest think tank – who have been relocated there by the Department of Defense to develop new technologies, including weapons. Exec. Producers: Charlie Craig, Jaimie Paglia Producer: Robert Petrovicz DOP: Rick Maguire PD: Lance King PM: Michael C. Young Cast: Colin Ferguson, Salli Richardson, Joe Morton, Ed Quinn, Jordan Hinson, Neil Grayston, Erica Cerra Schedule: May 14/08 to Feb 13, 2009 Exes & Ohs Surviving singlehood, couplehood - and each other - has never looked quite like this. Exec. Producers: Lael McCall, Noreen Halpern. Producer/PM: Gigi Boyd Director: Gary Harvey DOP: Tony Westman PD: Joanna Dunn Cast: Michelle Paradise, Marnie Acton, Megan Cavanagh, Angela Featherstone Schedule: Oct 15 to Nov 28
The Guard This series follows the search and rescue (SAR) team of the Canadian Coast Guard. Exec. Producers: Raymond Storey, Shawn Williamson, Stephen Hegyes, Charles Bishop Producer: Cynthia Chapman Director: Stacey Curtis, Scott Smith DOP: Bruce Worrall PD: Jeremy Stanbridge PM: Paul Lukaitis Cast: Steve Bacic, Jeremy Guilbaut, Zoie Palmer, Sonya Salomaa Schedule: Jul 2 to Sep 17 Harper’s Island Murder mystery with an interactive element featuring wedding guests gathered on an island near Seattle where they are bumped off one by one over the course of the season. Exec. Producers: Jon Turteltaub, Jeff Bell LP: Grace Gilroy DOP: Rob McLachlan PD: Mark Freeborn PM: Yvonne Melville Cast: Elaine Cassidy, Christopher Gorham Schedule: Aug 8 to Jan 28, 2009 Keeping It Real Exec. Producer: Kirk Shaw, Brad McAfee Producer: Wendy McKernan Supervising Producer: Barry Gray Director: Stephanie Rosloski, Tara Shortt PM: Haydn Wazelle Schedule: Aug 28 to Dec 12 Kyle Xy A family headed by a child psychologist takes in a teenage boy found naked in the woods and completely ignorant of all social behavior and interactions. They quickly come to realize he’s not quite human and that he owes his supernatural intelligence and powers to his alien origin. Exec. Producer: David Himelfarb. Co-Exec. Producer: Julie Plec Producer: S. Lily Hui DOP: Philip Linzey PD: Jill Slott PM: Doug Brons Cast: Matt Dallas, Marguerite MacIntyre, Bruce Thomas, April Matson, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Chris Olivero, Kirsten Prout, Jaimie Alexander Schedule: May 1 to Aug 11 The L Word The series focuses on the lives and loves of a group of women, both gay and straight, living in Los Angeles. Exec. Producers: Rose Lam, Ilene Chaiken Producer: Kim Steer DOP: Robert Aschmann PD: Ricardo Spinace PM: Christina Toy Cast: Jennifer Beals, Laurel Holloman, Mia Kirshner, Kate Moennig, Leisha Hailey, Pam Grier, Rachel Shelley, Rose Rollins Schedule: Jul 2 to Oct 1 Murdoch Mysteries Exec. Producers: Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, Cal Coons Producer: Laura Harbin Supervising Producer: Peter Meyboom LP: Shauna Jamison Director: Kelly Makin DOP: Jim Jeffrey PD: Lindsey HermerBell PM: Wayne Bennett Cast: Yaunik Bisson, Stephen McHattie, Dylan Neal, Michael Kash Schedule: Nov 11 to Nov 13 Psych Comedy revolving around a slacker with a photographic memory and a knack for sleuthing, who convinces his local police department he has ESP to avoid getting arrested. Exec. Producers: Steve Franks, Kelly Kulchak, Chris Henze, Mel Damski Producer: Gord Mark DOP: Michael McMurray PD: Eric Nolin PM: Matthew Chipera Cast: James Roday, Dule Hill, Corbin Bernsen, Timothy Omundson, Maggie Lawson Schedule: Apr 28 to Oct 24 Reaper On his 21st birthday, a young man learns his parents have pledged his soul to the Devil and now he’s obligated to retrieve souls on the earthly plane that have escaped from Hell while working his day job at a warehouse home improvement store. Exec. Producers: Mark Gordon, Tom Spezialy, Michele Fazekas, Tara Butters, Deborah Spera Co-Producer: Chris Dingess Supervising Producer: Jeffrey Vlaming LP: J.P Finn DOP: Attila Szalay PD: Rachel O’Toole PM: Brian Dick Schedule: Jul 22 to Dec 18 Samurai Girl Based on the novel series of the same name, drama features the Asian-American adopted daughter of a Japanese billionaire who goes on the run for her life when ninjas crash her wedding and kill her beloved brother. Exec. Producer: Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Luke McMullen, Scott Rosenberg. Prod: Mark Ovitz PD: Michael Nemirsky PM: Patti Allen Cast: Jamie Jilynn Chung, Brendan Fehrn, Saige Thompson, Kyle Labine, Anthony Brandon Wong, Steven Brand Schedule: May 14 to Jul 4
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Sanctuary A woman and her young protégé find and help strange creatures hiding on Earth. Exec. Producers: Damian Kindler, Amanda Tapping, Martin Wood, Sam Egan Producer/PM: George Horie Director: Martin Wood & various DOP: David Geddes PD: Bridget McGuire Cast: Amanda Tapping, Robin Dunne, Emilie Ullerup, Christopher Heyerdahl Schedule: May 5 to Sep 12 Smallville An adventure series that focuses on the Superman character as a teenager. Exec. Producers: James Marshall, Darren Swimmer, Todd Slavkin, Brian Peterson, Kelly Souders Producers: Rob Maier, Jae Marchant Supervising Producer: Tim Scanlan DOP: Glen Winter, Barry Donlevy PD: James Philpott PM: Scott Graham Cast: Tom Welling, Allison Mack, Kristin Kreuk Schedule: Jul 7 to Apr 3, 2009 Stargate Atlantis After finding an ancient Stargate base buried in the ice of Antarctica an international team of soldiers and scientists from Earth journey to a distant planet in the Pegasus Galaxy. Exec. Producers: Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie, John Smith. Producer/PM: John Lenic DOP: Michael Blundell, Jim Menard PD: James Robbins Cast: Joe Flanigan, Jason Momoa Schedule: Feb 19 to Sep 19 Shawn Stormworld Exec. Producers: Williamson, Paul Barron Producer: Stephen Hegyes Director: Edward McQueen-Mason DOP: Simon Akkerman PD: Tink PM: Jamie Goehring Schedule: Aug 11 to Aug 29 Supernatural Though he wants nothing to do with his family’s paranormal investigation business, a Stanford junior pairs up with his estranged brother on a road trip from the Bay Area to Los Angeles when their father goes missing. Exec. Producer: Eric Kripke, Robert Singer, McG, Kim Manners, Phil Sgriccia Producer: Vladimir Stefoff DOP: Serge Ladoucer PD: Jerry Wanek PM: Todd Pittson Cast: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles Schedule: Jul 3 to Mar 27 Under One Roof After working his way up and out of the ghetto and into success in real estate, a man can finally relax and enjoy the good life, complete with Beverly Hills mansion, white trophy wife, snotty daughter and ambitious son ...until his older brother, fresh out of prison, comes to stay with them and turns the household upside down. Exec. Producer/Producer: Kirk Shaw LP/PM: Michelle Samuels Director: Brian Roberts DOP: Anthony Metchie PD: Andy Deskin Cast: Flava Flav Schedule: Mar 10 to Apr 26
Alberta Features Flirting With 40 A divorced mother, who is about to turn 40, falls for a younger man while on vacation. Producers: Judith Verno, Frank Von Zerneck, Lynn Raynor, Chad Oaks, Mike Frislev Director: Mikael Salomon PM: Ian Smith PC: Joy Bond Cast: Heather Locklear, Cameron Bancroft. Schedule: Mar 10 to Apr 15 Last Rites Of Ransom Pride A woman attempts to bring her lover, a murdered outlaw, home for burial. Producers: Chad Oaks, Mike Frislev, Duncan Montgomery Director: Tiller Russell PM: Ian Smith PC: Joy Bond Cast: Lizzy Caplan, Jason Priestley, Scott Speedman, Kris Kristofferson. Schedule: Aug 29 to Sep 26
Alberta Television Movies Confessions Of A Go-Go Girl A college graduate is persuaded by a friend to make extra money as a go-go dancer. Producers: Chad Oaks, Mike Frislev, Philip Kleinbart, Lenore Kletter Director: Grant Harvey PM: Ian Smith PC: Joy Bond Cast: Chelsea Hobbs, Sarah Carter. Schedule: May 4 to May 22 Daughter Of The Bride A wedding planner tries to persuade her mother not to marry a man she just met. .Producers: Mike Frizlev, Chad Oakes, Josanne Lovick, Pamela Wallace Director: Leslie Hope PM: Ian Smith PC: Joy Bond Cast: Helen Shaver, Luke Perry. Schedule: January 14 to January 30
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Dear Prudence A celebrity stumbles into a murder that she decides to solve. Producers: Les Alexander, Rob Gilmore, Andrea Baynes, Tom Cox, Murray Ord, Jordy Randall Director: Paul Schneider PM: Doug Steeden PC: Marla Touw Cast: Jane Seymour. Schedule: May 29 to June 19
Grace A woman gives birth to a baby with an appetite for human blood. Exec. Producers: Simon Edery, Scott Einbinder Producers: Kevin DeWalt, Adam Green, Cory Neal, Ingo Volkammer Associate Producer: Janine Stener LP: Ty Hyland Director: Paul Solet DOP: Zoran Popovic PD: Martina Buckley PC: Cindy MacDonald
High Noon Producers: Stephanie Germain, Peter Guber, Peter Struss, Salli Newman Director: Peter Markle PM: Brian Parker PC: Kim Goddard-Rains Cast: Cybill Shepherd Schedule: Oct 14 to Nov 7
The Shortcut Two brothers come upon a rarely used shortcut in their new town. Exec. Producers: Kevin DeWalt, Simon Edery, Jack Giarraputo, Adam Sandler Producers: Scott Einbinder, Scott Sandler, Ingo Volkammer, Brian Witten. Co-Producers: Dan Hannon, Tyler Spindel Associate Producer: Janine Stener Director: Nicholaus Goossen PD: Marian Wihak
In The Valley Of The Wild Roses Producers: Frank Buchs, Andrea Nedelmann, Frank Huwe, Henrik Meyer Director: Michael Keusch PM: Lars Lehmann PC: Bernd Baumgartl Cast: Maria Rubitschek, Inez Bjorg David Schedule: June 2 to July 31 Northern Lights Producers: Stephanie Germain, Peter Guber, Peter Struss, Randi Richmond Director: Mike Robe PM: Brian Parker PC: Kim Goddard-Rains Cast: LeAnn Rimes, Rosanna Arquette. Schedule: Nov 11 to Dec 5 Snow 2 Producers: Phil Kruener, Craig McNeil, Tom Cox, Jordy Randall, Murray Ord Director: Mark Rosman PM: Leslie Cowan PC: Therese Ludlow Cast: Tom Cavanagh, Patrick Fabian Schedule: Jan 21 to Feb 14 When Calls The Heart Producers: Brian Bird, Michael Landon, John Bauman, Laurette Bourassa Director: Michael Landon Jr PM: Doug Steeden PC: Marla Touw Schedule: Sep 3 to Oct
Alberta Series Caution: May Contain Nuts Producers: Jake Chapman, Erik Rebalkin, Camille Beaudoin Director: Chester Sit PM: Eric Rebalkin PC: Kim Goddard-Rains Cast: Howie Miller, Jeff Halaby. Schedule: Nov 28, 2007 to Jan 13 Fear Itself Anthology series on horror. Producers: Andrew Dean, Keith Addis, Peter Block,Grant Rosenberg, Jonathan Hackett, Adam Goldworm, Ben Browning. Production Managers: Wanda Chaffey, Doug Steeden PC: Kim Goddard-Rains Schedule: Feb 13 to July 11 Mixed Blessings A widowed Ukrainian plumber and a widowed Cree waitress fall madly in love. Producers: Ron E. Scott, Jesse Shewchuck Director: Francis Damberger PM: Jo-Anne Barry PC: Jenn Vincent Cast: Gary Basaraba, Tina Lameman, Kirklin Maclise. Schedule: July 21 to Aug 16 Heartland A surgeon’s dedication to others threatens to destroy his own life. Producers: Michael Weinberg, Tom Cox, Jordy Randall, Tina Grewal PM: Lorenz Augustin PC: Hudson Cooley Cast: Amber Marshall, Michelle Morgan. Schedule: May 20 to Dec 19 Wild Roses Wealth and power reign in oil-rich Alberta. Producers: Miranda De Pencier, Amy Cameron, Tom Cox, Jordy Randall, Jamie Paul Rock PM: Leslie Cowen PC: Therese Ludlow Cast: Michelle Harrison, Sarah Power. Schedule: Aug 11 to Dec 7
Saskatchewan Features Hunter (aka Hybrid) A group of garage mechanics are forced to fight a killer car with a mind of its own. Exec. Producers: Christian Arnold-Beutel, Tim Kwok and Alex Leung Producers: Kevin DeWalt, Oliver Hengst and Elizabeth Wang-Lee Associate Producer: Sinead Smyth Director: Eric Valette DOP: John R. Leonetti PD: Tom Valentine PM: Brian Gibson Cast: Shannon Beckner, Oded Fehr Dolan’s Cadillac A schoolteacher seeks revenge on a gangster who killed his wife. Exec. Producer: Kevin DeWalt, Ellen S. Wanter Producers: Rhonda Baker, Alain Gagnon, Stephen Onda Associate Producer: Janine Stener Director: Jeff Beesley DOP: Gerald Packer PD: Sara McCudden PC: Pam Simons Cast: Wes Bentley, Christian Slater, Emmanuelle Vaugier
Saskatchewan Series Corner Gas Life in a small Saskatchewan town as seen through the eyes of a gas station owner and his friends and family. Exec. Producers: Virginia Thompson, Brent Butt, David Storey Producers: Virginia Thompson, David Storey, Mark Farrell, Kevin White, Norm Hiscock Cast: Brent Butt, Gabrielle Miller, Fred Ewanuick, Eric Peterson, Janet Wright Little Mosque On The Prairie The congregation of a small town mosque attempts to live in harmony with the skeptical residents of their little prairie town. Exec. Producers: Mary Darling, Clark Donnelly, Michael Snook Producers: Michael Snook, Susan Flanders-Alexander Cast: Carlo Rota, Sheila McCarthy, Zaib Shaikh, Manoj Sood, Sitara Hewitt Rabbit Fall A detective comes to the conclusion that the crimes she is investigating have little to do with earth-bound forces. Exec. Producers: Bob Crowe, Wally Start Producer: Jennifer Podemski Supervising Producer: Avi Evergreen DOP: Matt Phillips PD: Kathleen Climie PM: Avi Evergreen. Schedule: May 26 to Oct 27
Manitoba Features Amreeka A Palestinian single mom immigrates to the U.S. to escape the difficulties of life under occupation only to discover that she has arrived in America on the day Bush declares war on Iraq. Producers: Christina Piovesan, Paul Barkin, Liz Jarvis, George Khleifi, Amir Harel Director: Cherien Dabis PM: David Till Cast: Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem, Hiam Abbass, Alia Shawkat Schedule: Mar 22 to May 16
Manitoba Straight-to-Video The Making Of Tyndallwood The journey of two entrepreneurs’ who go through the trials, tribulations, politics and excitement building a western town in Tyndall Manitoba. Producers: Kent Ulrich, Jeff Skinner Director: Mike Linton Cast: Jeff Skinner, Kent Ulrich Schedule: Aug 15 to Oct 30
Manitoba Pilots The B Team A group of b-list surveillance agents sweat the small stuff in our nation’s capital. Producers: Virginia Thompson, Robert de Lint, Kevin White, Phyllis Laing, Liz Jarvis Director: Robert de Lint PM: Bernard Bourret Cast: Natalie Lisinska, Remy Girard Schedule: Oct 22 to Oct 30
Manitoba Television Movies Throwing Stones Sure, it may look easy, but in reality it takes balance communication, strategy and a damn good broom. Sound easy? It isn’t. But don’t sweat it, it’s just life. Producers: Kim Todd, Mario Azzopardi, Lara Azzopardi, Julia Cohen Director: Mario Azzopardi PM: Leslie Oswald Cast: Patty Duke, Lolita Davidovich, Caroline Neron, Stephanie Anne Mills Schedule: Sep 13 to Sep 17
Manitoba Series Cashing In A half-hour comedy drama set on Stonewalker First Nation, nestled comfortably beside an affluent beach community in Southern Manitoba. Producers: Ron E. Scott, Phyllis Laing, Jean du Toit Director: Norma Bailey PM: Norma Bailey Cast: Eric Schweig, Glen Gould, Karen Holress, Wesley Fread Schedule: Oct 6 to Nov 8 House Party A look at the life of a party that could only happen when the parents ask you to house sit. Producers: Kyle Bornais, Brendon Sawatzky Director: John Barnard, Kelly Makin PM: Tasia Geras, Colleen Wowchuk Cast: Michal Grajewski, Dylan Taylor, Grace Lynn Kung, Sarah Podemski, Melanie Leishman, Matthew Edison Schedule: Mar 24 to May 25
Billy A 95 year old black man recounts the story of his life as a photographer in Northern Manitoba in 1905. Producers: Winston Moxam, Ernesto Griffith Director: Winston Moxam PM: Matthew Etches Cast: Ernesto Griffith Schedule: Aug 1, 2007 to Oct 17 New In Town A high-powered consultant in love with her upscale Miami lifestyle is sent to amiddle of nowhere town in Minnesota to oversee the restructuring of a blue collar manufacturing plant. Producers: Paul Brooks, Scot Niemeyer, Tracey Edmonds, Peter Safran, Phyllis Laing, Andrew Paquin, Derryl Taja Director: Jonas Elmer PM: Lesley Oswald Cast: Renee Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr., Siobhan Fallon Hogan, J.K. Simmons Schedule: Jan 1 to Mar 3 Taken In Broad Daylight A horrific abduction leads to a cross-country chase where a teen cleverly and courageously manipulates her deranged captor, leaves clues, engineers and negotiates her own rescue! Producers: Charlene Blaine-Schulenburg, Mark Wolfe, Kent Ulrich, Kim Johnston Director: Gary Yates PM: Dave Mahoney Cast: Sara Canning, James Van Der Beek, Levar Burton Schedule: Sep 15 to Oct 15 Wild Cherry Four high school girls make a pact to ‘not’ lose their virginity in their graduating year. Producers: Kyle Bornais, Gavin Wilding, Mike DiManno, Scott Reid, John Curtis, Evan Taylor, David Flannagan Director: Dana Lustig PM: Byron A. Martin Cast: Rumor Willis, Kristin Cavallari, Rob Schneider Schedule: May 7 to May 29
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By Ian Caddell
Supply on Demand It shouldn’t be too surprising that over the years the people who work within the film and television industry in British Columbia have created a community. Many of them came from The Beachcombers, the CBC series that ran from 1972 to 1989, other television productions and commercials, and even after they had moved on to work on some of the biggest films in Hollywood history, there was an awareness of the need to remember one’s roots. And they could also see the value in helping to create a strong indigenous industry just in case the “runaway” industry decided to pack up and go home.
Some of the best evidence of the existence of an industry community comes from even a cursory look at the relationship between the people who supply the equipment and local filmmakers. It’s one that dates back to the 1970s according to George Margellos, who worked for equipment supplier William F. White during that period. He says loyalty was a hallmark of the era. “In the late 1970s and all through the 1980s the business germinated. Production managers and crew were loyal to each other and to the companies and services that supported them. That’s because they remembered the favours, the free equipment when they were in a jam and the budget was tight and the times we got out of bed in the middle of a rainy night to unlock the warehouse to get more cable or a few extra lights. At that hour who cared about paperwork? You just looked after the show. The energy and enthusiasm that went into making movies, TV productions and commercials was only surpassed by the spirit of cooperation and teamwork by everyone. That was definitely reflected amongst the rental companies. We all helped each other. If one succeeded we all rode that wave. It was a fabulously exciting time. And that was the attitude, because all of us, whether we knew it or not, were building a business.” By the mid-1990s that attitude had helped to build one of the biggest film industries in the world. Not surprisingly, it created a need for more equipment suppliers and more sales and distribution people. The era also saw a boom in film schools and, naturally, first time filmmakers. They needed 24
equipment that would give their films a professional look. David Hauka came out of Simon Fraser University’s film program in the 1980s and went on to work on several smaller local films before becoming a unit production manager on American productions. More recently, he made an independent film called Certainty and says that it’s unlikely he would have had a successful career at any level without support from local supply houses. “I can’t understate the importance of this support and the effect that having had access to equipment, labs and shooting facilities has had on my career,” he says. “Access to those things allows the young filmmaker to improve the technical execution of their work, but also gives them access to and support from the wider, established industry. In Vancouver there is a deeply rooted tradition in the film supply community (and the community in general) to support film production as far as is appropriate and financially realistic. But this takes time to build up on an individual and professional level. By being clear about what I needed and what I had to pay for it, the suppliers took the time to listen and, upon reflection, to give me the early support that I so needed.” That investment paid off when Hauka moved on to be a production manager on films like Eight Below and US television movies like The Five People You Meet in Heaven. He says he can’t imagine telling American producers to work with anyone but local people when it comes time to find equipment suppliers. “My relationship with suppliers in Vancouver has grown to such an extent that when negotiating for a large studio driven project, I can count on them to give me the deal I need (if it’s reasonable) and they have the ability to deliver. In return, I insist that productions I work on use local suppliers and, for the most part, I have succeeded.” Vancouver-based director Cam Labine is of a different generation of filmmakers than is Hauka but admits to having seen little change in the levels of cooperation between local suppliers and upcoming filmmakers. He says that he and the producers of Control Alt Delete, which recently played at the Toronto and Vancouver film festivals, contacted suppliers immediately after they received funding from Telefilm Canada. “We were on a tight deadline to go to camera before the end of their (Telefilm’s) fiscal year. It was spring 2007, which I think was relatively good timing. The city wasn’t too busy so we got a lot of attention from our gear REEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
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suppliers. People are always amazed at how much production value we were ply houses have created programs that make access easier. Mike Kaerne of able to put on the screen with a limited budget. And that’s just a result of a HollyNorth Production Supplies says that few student filmmakers just disvery supportive community. The equipment houses are aware of the role appear after their film has been completed. Like David Hauka, they usually they play in developing domestic talent and they obviously take it seriously. return as professionals. It’s hard to imagine that they made any money on Control Alt Delete, so you “We support student filmmakers in any way we can,” he says. “Many go on could almost think of them as investors.” to be part of different departments including special effects, makeup, camMary Anne Waterhouse and her producing partners on the 2005 BC proera, wardrobe and costumes, props etc so we will usually see these people duction Desolation Sound went a step further and decided to talk to their again and again.” suppliers about creating an investment group. She says that although they Flowers believes that when it comes to people moving from student films had money from several funders, they still needed another funding source to to a career in the business, passion for the work is imperative. He says he put together a full budget. can usually tell if someone really wants to be part of the industry by the way “I had great, supportive relationships with suppliers like PS (Production they approach their university projects. To make it easier for them to make Services), Panavision, Rainmaker (Entertainment) and Sharpe Sound. All of that move, Panavision is working with both the University of British Columthem wanted to be supportive of indigenous production and knew me quite bia and Simon Fraser University to keep the rental charges down. well from projects over the years. We approached each of them with a re“When people come to see me and talk to me about the projects, I need quest to invest in the film. The investment would be their goods and servto get a sense that they are particularly passionate about the project and have ices, rather than actual cash, but it would be recorded at fair market value as an organized shoot and that they are realistic and ambitious about what they an equity investment in the film. Investment agreements were drawn up want to do. When I see all of that together and get a sense that the project and the amounts and agreements were vetted by our bond company. Each will be finished we get on board and help them. We have set up a program supplier was entitled to a share of profits, alongside all other investors, at the universities that sees us renting a predetermined 16 mm camera packthrough the approved recoupment schedule. These investments didn’t acage at a nominal charge. We intentionally created this setup with these intually qualify for tax credit purposes, but they did qualify as part of the stitutions in order to assure that the students get a sense of the whole budget and, for bonding purposes, the ‘strike price.’ Mostly, I wanted to do business. They have to calls us to book the gear, prep it and shoot film tests it in this way to properly value the contribution of suppliers and not simply “I can’t understate the importance of this support and the effect that having have their very significant contribution had access to equipment, labs and shooting facilities... Access to those things be a favour. I wanted their contribution to be part of a formal business arrangeallows the young filmmaker to improve the technical execution of their work, but ment, with the potential of return to also gives them access to and support from the wider, established industry. them. – David Hauka “Panavision had to decline for national corporate reasons, from actually investing and being entitled to a share of profit, but (General Manager) Jeff and bring it all back. It’s a process that is very involved but it’s important to Flowers still came through for me and simply donated all of the same equiptheir overall understanding of how to make a movie.” ment. He had intended, at the local level, to do this the same way as PS and William F. White manager Garin Josey and supply house owner Lorne Rainmaker and Sharpe Sound, but it wasn’t permitted. In the end we Lapham agree with Flowers that it’s good to know something about both the achieved a total budget of $1.9 million (excluding crew deferrals) and made project and the filmmaker before rental agreements are signed. “Filmmakers a movie that has sold to about 20 countries internationally including a sale will call up and they will say that there is either no money or a small budget to Lifetime in the US and a Canadian theatrical release through Equinoxe. and they have an ambitious script that they want to tackle,” says Josey. “They Since that time, I have continued to feel great support from all of those same will pitch it to me and if I feel like it is worthwhile and sounds interesting and suppliers, and others, in our (Anagram Pictures) productions of Fido and seems like a good investment for the industry as a whole, we can play a role. The Thaw.” We will do everything in our power to make it work for them. We take that Flowers says that the relationship between suppliers like Panavision and role seriously and not just here but right across the country. Our goal is to filmmakers can evolve in a variety of ways. “I will get a call from a producer insure the new generation are supported in every way possible because that or a director of photography and they will talk about a project that is comwill only help our industry grow.” ing up and how we can work together. That starts the process. Then we get “I talk with students a lot,” says Lapham. “I listen and ask pointed quesinto conversations about the size and scale and what they want accomtions? Is it broadcast, DVD, festival film or video, industrial, corporate or plished, what cameras they want to use and how long they need them for. commercial? What is the subject? What format were you hoping to shoot Our involvement varies from flying equipment from around the world to in? What type of camera do you need? What are your locations and lighting very small projects. I enjoy both and I like the fact that people see us as not requirements? Have you considered your audio tracks and recording methjust a place where they pick up boxes and throw them in a car.” ods? Who’s posting? Are you self equipped with software and hardware to The process is fairly similar at PS Production Services. Spokesperson Evan finish or edit your own show? Are you experienced as an editor? During norMeriwether says that it’s a matter of asking the right questions. “Whether mal business we still get a flow of those who are inexperienced or have a list or not we have a prior relationship, we entertain pretty much the same quesof ‘needs with little or no budget.’ They are a ‘no charge’ business because I tions for each job. That includes the pertinent dates and exceptional refeel that on all levels we must relate, sympathize, encourage, mentor and lisquirements; what is the budget and what stages or locations are booked? In ten and learn from customers to try to make their shows successful. My feelthe case of smaller sized productions or less-experienced production teams, ing has always been that if they succeed we succeed.” we often use the first call to establish insurance requirements and so forth. Cam Labine says the support of equipment suppliers has gone a long way We always ask who the relevant crew are. We are usually asked about equipto creating a strong film community. He says it just makes sense that the coment availability and to source unusual or specialty items if required. After operation will continue. “I believe the gear houses in Vancouver are espethe initial calls, we assign qualified staff to quote from the lists provided by cially supportive of low-budget local films. This is a huge production centre, production. This leads to the back-and-forth process of negotiating approbut there is very little domestic. I think we all feel that we can be more than priate terms for a deal memo and, eventually, the preparation of outgoing a service production town, so we need to grow local talent. It’s a survival packages.” tactic as much as anything. Who knows how long these foreign shows will The relationship between student filmmakers and equipment suppliers keep coming here? So, it’s in the community’s best interest to develop a more can be somewhat complicated. However, most of the local equipment suphome-grown industry.” REEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
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By Ian Caddell
Playing at Another Level Remember Tron? If you’re old enough to remember that 1982 film about a computer hacker who ends up inside a computer and becomes a games gladiator, you probably played Pong when it was cool. The rate of change in computer and gaming technology has slowed somewhat in the last decade but both worlds are still moving quickly. In 2002, Alexandra Raffe and her producing partners created a show about a group of teens who move back and forth between their modern suburb and the world inside a video game. Called Zixx: Level One it already looked out of date when the producers began to look at a sequel a year later. When it came time to make Zixx: Level Three, in 2006, it was obvious to everyone involved that changes had to be made to keep up with a gaming technology that was rapidly evolving. “The game engine we first used was the engine from the first James Bond game so there is no comparison at all,” says Raffe. “And there is not only a different look to games now but the level of verisimilitude and believability is increasing all the time and I am pleased to see that the creative content of most games is starting to grow to match the look. We have the toys but for awhile there was no creative content or plot. I think we are now at a place where there are good stories and great twists. So we are now seeing gaming moving into being a genuine art form.” Zixx is an intergalactic agent who has crash landed onto Earth, which happens to be home to an evil alien empire. She and her partner Flanngo have to get to the next level of the battle for control of the galaxy. In order to find a way into the Keep, a cyber dimension resembling a video game, they accept the help of two Earthlings. From there they have to move through the three levels of the Keep before the enemy can get there. For Zixx: Level Three, which will air for 13 weeks on YTV beginning in January, Raffe and Vancouver-based Thunderbird Films are partnering with Rainmaker Animation and Vancouver’s Digital Alchemy. The series was first developed by Raffe and her Toronto-based Savi Communications and Debbie Nightingale’s Nightingale Productions back in 2001. It was created by Jeff Hirshfield. Raffe says that the technology is not the only thing that has changed about the show. “Jeff took the show to Deb and she didn’t know what to do with it so she brought it to me. I loved the script. I took it around to a few broadcasters. Bonnie Segal at YTV liked it and gave us a whole list of things that had to be changed. I don’t think she expected us to come back but Jeff and I just went away and did it all. So she put it in development at YTV and we developed it there. We wrote a bible and pilot and second episode in the spring of 2002 and we shot that fall. It was very character-building because it was a very complex thing to weave the stories in and out of the animated world and to make the animated world look like a game. We had originally conceived the show as live REEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
action with visual effects but that (2001) was the year Harry Potter (and the Sorcerer’s Stone) came out and we knew that ten year olds had a new standard and that it would look cheesy. We felt we couldn’t compete with the new level of sophistication so Bonnie said ‘why don’t you just do it in animation?’” Segal also told Raffe that she should use a game engine in order to create the world that the live-action children enter into. Raffe then went out and hired George Elliott Animation in Toronto to build one for her. Since no television series had built a game engine for an animated show, it wasn’t an easy process, but the show looked better and when it made its debut, in the fall of 2002, YTV’s ratings were strong. However, the international sales that Raffe was depending on to finance a second season never happened. She told Segal that she was going to look for money for season two but that YTV should probably let the time slot go. “Bonnie said that she would keep it open for another two months,” says Raffe. “Then she met the people from Thunderbird Films at Banff and I got this phone call from (Thunderbird’s) Mike Shepard and he said ‘I hear you have this fantastic show.’ But I was fed up with it by then. I had done hundreds of budget scenarios but you get to the point where you just think ‘kill it.’ I sent him a couple of tapes from season one and he got back to me the next day and said ‘we love it. Let’s do it.’ He managed to set the show up at Mainframe (Entertainment) and they bought out the people who owned the international sales rights. Between Mainframe and Thunderbird there was enough money to put together a second season.” Soon after, Mainframe was bought by Rainmaker Animation. Paul Gertz, the executive vice president of Rainmaker says that there are similarities between the evolution of video games and that of animation. Both, he says, could fall victim to the advancement of the technologies that have made them popular. “I think it’s a given that anything that is driven by technology has to be balanced by creative. Animators know that technology leads the creative and that filmmakers and storytellers can get seduced by the tools and forget the story. But the best animation is remembered because of the story. Toy Story looked great but it was also an amazing story. So we always need to remember to put the story first even though it is tempting to just let the look of something be a priority. Back in the day everyone was drawing but now animators tend to come from the tech side and learn art and design. That’s just a fact. The perfect blend is to hire story tellers and artists who have mastery over the technology.” That blend is something that Gertz says Mainframe had seen in Zixx when they got on board for Level Two. When it came time to do the third season Rainmaker was overbooked and had to look for animating partners. He agreed with Raffe and Thunderbird that there were several excellent local companies that they could work with in partnership and decided that Digital Alchemy was the best choice. “We didn’t have the capacity but it is our project so we had to find partners. We are fortunate that there is so much talent in Vancouver and we have excellent relationships with the other local companies. I have always felt that great artistry is all about project management which we have been known for and we expected that from our partners and I think that is exactly what has happened in this case.” Sharan Wood agrees. Wood had produced the animation for Zixx: Level Two at Mainframe and was responsible for it for Zixx: Level Three at Rain27
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maker Animation. She says that while Rainmaker was the lead animator and was responsible for all the animation as well as the lighting and effects for the live action component, the addition of Digital Alchemy to the mix was a benefit to the third season. “I think they brought a different look to it,” she says. “They had an artist (Rob Gandell) who had different ideas and the client (Thunderbird) was extremely happy with it. We used a lot of the same assets that we had used for Level Two but told different stories and they came up with some interesting ideas for these characters.” Raffe agrees with Wood that Digital Alchemy, which was founded by Rob Gandell and Chris Browne, brought a new approach to the show. She says that once Digital Alchemy had brought some flare to the look, the sets had become bigger and it was time to move the work back to the larger facilities at Rainmaker, which were available four episodes into production.
they were also excited about the fact that games had changed since the second season. “The gaming industry has changed a lot since Level Two and we wanted to amp everything up and incorporate some of the new gaming ideas into the animation. There are so many CGI films coming out so we wanted to have the coolness factor enhanced. The other thing we were very aware of was that it was the third and final season. So we wanted to make it as epic as possible. We always felt the idea for the show was very cool because you have kids jumping through portals into a CGI universe. Then they become animated and they are fighting aliens. We loved the potential of visual effects because they shoot laser bolts out of their hands and they have all these gadgets and weapons and the idea came from the writers to have this massive universe the characters could go to with all these pods and things. We wanted to show how massive this universe is and that there is a lot of variety there.”
“The hallmark of [Digital Alchemy’s Rob Gandell and Chris Browne] is that they want to blow the client’s mind. So I think they became more ambitious. They were learning all the time. The monsters and creatures are 100% designed and rigged by DA and all of the set work was created by DA. Rob created a fairly complex modular design and this marvellous space set.” - Alexandra Raffe
“The hallmark of both Rob and Chris is that they want to blow the client’s mind. So I think they became more ambitious. They were learning all the time. The monsters and creatures are 100% designed and rigged by DA and all of the set work was created by DA. Rob created a fairly complex modular design and this marvellous space set. Then they did some retooling of it at Rainmaker because the backgrounds weren’t working. The problem with the set was everything is moving all the time and what we were then trying to deal with was close-ups and cuts. So when you cut to close up you should be able to see it but there is a lot that is needed. So they took the last 10 episodes up to Rainmaker and Chris directed them working with Sharan.” Gandell says that when he watched the first two seasons of Zixx, he came to the conclusion that Zixx: Level One had the best approach to the gaming aspects of the show. He says Raffe was also looking to go in that direction when she brought Digital Alchemy into the mix. “Alex said they were hoping the show would get back to a game style and Level 2 didn’t seem to be much about that so it was important to recapture that aspect. There was a lot of nice stuff in Level One and although Level Two wasn’t bad we all felt that Level One had stood out the most. So we kind of focused on that. I basically took some inspiration from the writers but I knew it had to have the ‘wow’ factor which I thought was missing from season two. I felt that in order to bring that back it would be best to let the artists have some leeway. So my team was looking at the producers’ vision to see what they saw and then we looked at games for the effects. Eventually we felt that the best way to approach the show would be to not think of it as a series as much as about designing a game.” One of the more unusual aspects of the series was the fact that there would be no fourth season. The game only had three levels to it. So when Gandell and Browne were brought into it, they knew every episode would bring the series closer to its natural end. Browne says they wanted to use that to their advantage when they were working on the show. And he says 28
Raffe says that all of the people involved in the show were also conscious of who they were going to be showing the series to. She says that the producers had to take into consideration the shifting demographics of the audience as the series moved its way through the early years of the new Millennium “There are more than two years between each episode,” she says. “So the people who loved season one were past the age at season two. We had to go out and find a new audience for the second season knowing that they would probably be past the right age for the show by season three. That handicapped us in a way in terms of being able to sell it as 39 episodes because the way things evolve in this kind of art form the old stuff is really old. If we had any advantage it was that the animation looks great because we had this wonderful post Victorian punk feel to it which had not been plundered much in the game world. As a result, people could not say ‘we have seen this done a million times, and done better.’ The look was unusual and I loved the fact that in the show the gears were moving and cranking and the steam was hissing out of everything. I think that in those terms season two was probably the least successful and the least innovative of the three.” Gandell says that he was aware that the show was being targeted to a youth market but didn’t’ want to give up on the older audience. He felt that if Zixx: Level Three had an interesting enough look it might be able to keep the audience from the other seasons and add a new one. “I set out to make it look cool for everyone,” he says, “including university students and adults. One thing I liked to play a lot with was light and colour in terms of going to the various universes within the show. I was very fortunate that I was given a lot of visual control by the producers and our partners. I felt that if we could add some innovative visuals it would make it cool for an older audience. I would do some sketches and they would say ‘maybe change this’ but usually they would say ‘that’s cool. Can you take it even further? What else do you need to do?’ I think it worked out because we had a really good relationship and we (Digital Alchemy) were given a lot of freedom. We were very fortunate.” REEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
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LEGAL BRIEFS
SAG Demands Could Lead to Second Strike In an earlier Legal Briefs, we looked at the importance of specifying the particular new media and digital rights to be granted in distribution and license agreements. These are the rights at the root of the current impasse between the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents film and TV studios, and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), an impasse which is poised to result in the second Hollywood strike in two years. In most reporting on the dispute, Internet and DVD residuals are cited as the sticking point in negotiations. But in order to properly understand the ramifications of each side’s position for future productions, it is important to understand the specific types of new media productions being discussed, and the manner in which each side proposes to address SAG jurisdiction and residuals. When we look at new media productions, we must distinguish between ‘derivative’ productions (those based on existing programs) and ‘original’ productions. The AMPTP’s latest offer would give SAG jurisdiction over derivative productions, but not over most original productions. (SAG would govern an original production with a budget over $15,000 per minute, or starring an actor with two or more film or TV credits, known as “a covered performer.”) SAG’s argument is that it has always had jurisdiction over derivative programs, so the issue is whether they should have coverage over all original productions, regardless of budget or status of cast members. According to the AMPTP, the DGA, WGA and AFTRA were not given such expansive jurisdiction, so they have no desire to accede to SAG’s demands on this point. To a local producer wishing to use a SAG member on a low budget new media production, the concern is that SAG could have jurisdiction regardless of the budget or “covered performer” status of their talent. Residuals on new media productions are also at issue, and again the studios and SAG cannot agree on original productions. There is no issue as to residuals for the re-use of productions and for the use of derivative productions on the Internet. REEL WEST JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2009
However, SAG and the AMPTP cannot agree as to whether original productions should also be subject to residual payments. Presumably any formula for such residuals would be based on gross revenues, as it is with the other types of SAG residuals. The problem for the studios, which could also become a problem for local producers, is that many original new media productions may generate gross revenues while remaining far from profitable. For a local producer using SAG talent in an experimental or other risky new media project, SAG residuals could be a major obstacle to the recoupment of your or your investors’ money. According to the AMPTP, the applicability of residuals to re-used and derivative programs, but not to original programs, is consistent with its agreements with the DGA, WGA and AFTRA. Until this summer, residuals on DVDs figured to play a large role in the talks between the studios and SAG, with SAG seeking pension and health contributions on DVD residuals, which would have meant an effective increase of approximately fifteen percent over the previous agreement. Based on communications from the SAG board this summer, and the AMPTP’s steadfast refusal to offer any increase on these residuals, the issue now appears to be moot. But given the unpredictable nature of these negotiations so far, there is no guarantee that it won’t resurface and become a key deal point again, especially if SAG cannot get any concessions from the AMPTP on new media. At the time of writing, SAG’s leadership is seeking a strike authorization from its members. Results will be in by the end of January and then we expect to see whether SAG is able to accomplish something that the other guilds were unable to do, whether it be gaining a better DVD residual or achieving jurisdiction and/or residuals over all types of new media productions. Kyle Fogden's practice focuses on entertainment, intellectual property and corporate law and litigation. Kyle joined Roberts & Stahl in 2003, and has been involved in the music industry since 1996.
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FINAL EDIT Victoria Names Top 20
West Wins Big
SHORTY MCADOO (NICHOLAS CAMPBELL, RIGHT) TRIES TO TEACH HARRY VINCENT (MICHAEL THERRIAULT) TO SHOOT IN THE ENGLISHMAN’S BOY
ALLAN FEILDEL
Four nights of Gemini Awards yielded more than a dozen western Canadian winners. Four came from the big winner, The Englishman’s Boy, which won six awards. Overall, Kevin DeWalt, the Regina-based producer of the Saskatchewan-shot production won a Best Dramatic Mini-Series Gemini while the show also won a casting Gemini for Calgary’s Carmen Kotyk, a supporting actress award for Vancouver’s Katharine Isabelle and a costume design prize for Vancouver’s Beverly Wowchuk. Other Saskatchewan-based winners included producer Ian Toews, who won the Best Performing Arts Program or Series award for Landscape as Muse while the animated series ensemble award went to Wapos Bay’s Gordon Tootoosis, Raven Brass, Trevor Cameron, Lorne Cardinal, Taylor Cook, Eric Jackson, Andrea Menard and DerRic Starlight. Robert Daniel won the directing award for children’s programs for Drug Class and Corner Gas’s Vanda Schmockel won the editing Gemini for a comedy, variety or performing arts production. Vancouver’s Intelligence won a Best Dramatic Series Gemini for producers Chris Haddock, Laura Lightbown and Arvi Liimatainen. The show also won a guest role award for actress Pascale Hutton. Other BC-based producers winning Geminis included Best Biography Documentary winners David Paperny, Tracey Friesen, Trevor Hodgson, Terence McKeown and Cal Shumiatcher of Confessions of an Innocent Man and Best History Documentary Program producers Andrew Ferns and W. Paterson Ferns of Victoria who won for Captain Cook: Obsession and Discover. Individual winners from BC included Ian Hanomansing, the Best News Anchor winner, writers Terence McKeown and John Zaritsky, who won in the documentary category for The Suicide Tourist; Alexz Johnson who won a Gemini for acting in a children’s show for Instant Star and Ron Forsythe who won a Gemini for directing CFL on CBC: 95th Grey Cup Alberta’s Mayerthorpe won the Best TV Movie Gemini for Calgary’s Jordy Randall and Tom Cox and a writing award for Andrew Wreggit. X-Weighted won the Best General / Human Interest Series Gemini for its Edmonton-based producers Margaret Mardirossian, Helen Schmidt, Candice Tipton and David Way. The late Winnipeg-based sportscaster Don Wittman won the play-by-play announcer Gemini for Hockey Night in Canada.
A jury assembled by the Victoria Film Festival has chosen a top 20 list of promising Canadian filmmakers for a program called SpringBoard that will be officially launched at the 15th annual film festival. JOSH DEANSTARS IN MARTIN GERO’S YOUNG PEOPLE F***ING
Victoria Film Festival Director Kathy Kay said the list includes Away From Her director Sarah Polley; Film Farm co-founders Simone Urdl and Jennifer Weiss; Quebec director Philippe Falardeau (Congorama); Young People F****ing director Martin Gero; Victoria digital animator Scott Dewis; music video director Kevin Drew; writer/director Garfield Lindsay Miller; Infinity Features producer Rob Merilees; writer/producer Nathan Fielder; Vision TV producer Floyd Kane; Kink in my Hair co-star Eli Goree; Amal writer/director Richie Mehta; Fido director Andrew Currie; animator Flemish Beauty; writer/director David Bezmozgis; documentary filmmaker Brett Gaylor; Before Tomorrow directors Marie-Helene Cousineau and Nadekube Ouyhyq Uvalu; Cree filmmaker Kevin Lee Burton; director Michael McGowan and director Jacob Tierney. Kay said the jury members were producer Michael Donovan, director Bruce McDonald and film critics Brian D. Johnson, Katherine Monk, Jay Stone, Rob Salem and Michael D. Reid. The Victoria Film Festival will run from January 30 to February 8.
Announcements and Appointments Super U, an online venue for Canadian short films recently announced that The Stakeout, by Victor Couwenbergh of Departure Productions has won $1,000 in its Homage to Film Noir contest. The short, chosen by Super U members, will also have the chance to be broadcast on Super Channel…David Wertheimer, executive director of the Entertainment Technology Center @ USC has been named vice chairman of the Global Media Awards. The Global Media Awards are presented by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and recognize excellence in technology and content programming…Jay Switzer, former CEO of Canadian broadcaster CHUM Ltd. has joined the Board of Directors of OUTtv. CEO James Shavick said the network was “thrilled and privileged to have Jay involved. I have known him from his early days at CHUM and watched him grow into one of Canadian broadcasting’s finest executives. We are so fortunate to have his advice and guidance at OUTtv”… Kodak Canada Entertainment Imaging recently announced that Trish Mehrasa will take on the role of National Operations Manager along with the management of all Marketing & Sponsorship activities for the company. Also being promoted are Gaston Bernier, who will head up the Production Sales Team in his new role as Sales Manager, Production and Michel Golitzinsky, who will lead the Post Production Sales team as Sales Manager, Post Production 30
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