Reel West Magazine, November - December 2009

NOV/DEC 2009

FILM, VIDEO, INTERNET AND DIGITAL PRODUCTION IN WESTERN CANADA

Ali Liebert gets vulnerable for Jason Friesen’s

Q+A with filmmaker duo JOEL & ETHAN COEN

HEALTH NUTZ

Filmmaker Blaine Thurier takes A GUN TO THE HEAD Director Roland Emmerich utilizes local talent in 2012

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THE 24th ANNUAL VANCOUVER FILM & TV FORUM

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

www.VIFF.ORG/forum

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CONTENTS

16 HOCKEY NUTZ Growing up in Kamloops Jason Friesen had met enough hockey players who had gone from being local celebrities to standing in the unemployment line that he thought there might be a TV series in it. He took it to APTN and managed to sell the network on a pilot for Health Nutz, a comedy about a down-on-his-luck ex-pro who inherits a juice bar.

20 HOME FOR THE APOCALYPSE Roland Emmerich’s post apocalyptic film 2012 was a huge venture that required a lot of speaking parts. The majority of actors hired for the film came from Vancouver, the city in which it was shot, with several local actors receiving significant screen time. Emmerich says it doesn’t make much sense to shoot a big budget movie in a place where the acting pool isn’t deep.

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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

24 GUN CRAZY BC filmmaker Blaine Thurier took his film A Gun to the Head to the recent Toronto International Film Festival. In his diary on his ten days at the festival, he looks back at the celebrities he saw, his film’s world premiere and the startling news he heard just before he left.

ON THE COVER: ALI LIEBERT AND KEVIN LORING STAR IN HEALTH NUTZ; PHOTO BY DASHA NOVAK ABOVE: HEALTH NUTZ CAST MEMBER LUCIE GUEST; PHOTO BY DASHA NOVAK 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. EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER: SANDY P. FLANAGAN EXECUTIVE EDITOR: IAN CADDELL. PUBLISHER: RON HARVEY ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: PAUL BARTLETT SALES: RANDY HOLMES. CREATIVE DIRECTOR: ANDREW VON ROSEN. ART DIRECTOR: LINDSEY ATAYA. PHOTO EDITOR: PHILLIP CHIN. REEL WEST MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED SIX TIMES PER YEAR. SUBSCRIPTIONS CANADA/US. $35.00 PER YEAR (PLUS $10.00 POSTAGE TO USA). 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 USA) PRICES INCLUDE GST. COPYRIGHT 2009 REEL WEST PRODUCTIONS INC. SECOND CLASS MAIL. REGISTRATION NO. 0584002. ISSN 0831-5388.

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PRODUCTION UPDATE

What’s coming. What’s shooting. What’s wrapped.

New this fall, Human Target stars (from left to right) Jackie Earl Haley, Mark Valley and Chi McBride

TV On Comeback Trail Television series are back in BC in a big way. The latest film lists boast almost a dozen series with four of those new to the list this fall. CTV’s Hiccups, which tells the story of a writer who hires a life coach to cure her angry outbursts, is here until December. Here until February are Caprica, a spin-off of Battlestar Galactica that is set 50 years prior to the events of that show; Human Target, based on a comic book about a bodyguard who impersonates his clients in order to protect them which stars Mark Valley, Chi McBride and Oscar nominee Jackie Earl Haley and Life UneXpected, the story of a foster child who becomes an emancipated minor. They join current series Fringe, Psych, Smallville, Stargate Universal, Supernatural, The Troop and V. Hiccups has Brent Butt, David Storey and Laura Lightbown as

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executive producers and Nancy Robertson and Arvi Liimatainen as producers, Andrew Carr as supervising producer, David Storey directing, Ken Krawczyk as DOP, Matthew Budgeon as production designer, Padi Mills as production manager, Elaine Fleming as production coordinator and Alan Bartolic as location manager.

Caprica has Ronald D. Moore, David Eick, Jane Espenson and Jonas Pate as executive producers, Clara George producing, Stephen McNutt as the DOP, Richard Hudolin as the production designer, Erin Smith as the production manager, Fawn McDonald as the production coordinator and Geoff Teolia as the location manager.

Human Target has Jonathan Steinberg, Peter Johnson and Kevin Hooks as executive producers, Grace Gilroy as producer/line producer, Rob

McLachlan as DOP, David Willson as production manager, Yvonne Melville as production manager, Wendy Lewis as production coordinator and Michael Roberts and Greg Jackson as location managers.

Life UneXpected has Liz Tigelaar, Janet Leahy and Gary Fleder as executive producers, Rose Lam producing, David Geddes as DOP, Don MacAulay as production designer, Kim Steer as production manager, Susan Crawford as production coordinator and Peter Pantages and Kendrie Upton as location managers.

New features this fall included Beyond the Black Rainbow, which has Christya Nordstokke and Oliver Linsley as producers, Oliver Cosmatos directing, Norm Li as DOP, Bob Bottieri as production designer, Ivan Lyttek as production manager and Geoffrey Halton as location manager. It stars Michael Rogers,

Eva Allen and Scott Hylands and is scheduled to leave October 20 after a four week shoot.

Also here for a month this fall was Hit ‘N Strum, the story of a friendship between an attorney and a talented musician who lives on the street. It had Jacqueline Nguyen as producer/ production manager, Michael Gordon Shore as line producer, Kirk Caouette as director, Pieter Stathis as DOP and Suka Yee as production designer and Mike Irvine as production coordinator. It stars Michelle Harrison and Paul McGillion.

Meanwhile, the digital feature 30 Days of Night: Dark Days is spending five weeks in Vancouver, leaving November 24. It has Vicki Sotheran and Greg Malcolm as producers with Simon Abbott as production manager, Stacey Harris as production coordinator and Jamie Lake as location manager.

Two MOWs were in Vancouver for the fall. The Best Player has Scott McAboy producing , Brad Van Aragon as line producer, Damon Santostefano directing, Jon Joffin as DOP, Michael Joy as production designer, Michael Williams as production manager, Thierry Tanguy as location manager and Lisa Ragosin as production coordinator. It leaves November 25 after a four week shoot.

Growing the Big One was here from late September to mid October.

It had Edward Bauman as executive producer, Randy Cheveldave as producer, Mark Griffiths directing, Todd Williams as DOP, James Hazell as production designer, Nancy Welsh as production manager, Cathy Fullerton as production coordinator and Tom Hoeverman as location manager.

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BITS AND BYTES

West Strong Online The Winnipeg-based National Screen Institute – Canada (NSI) recently announced that over 30 short films from Canadian filmmakers will roll out on the NSI website over the next few months. A spokesperson said the festival now has over 100 Canadian short films playing in its “Now Showing” and “Archives”. The new list of films includes 14 Western Canadian films. Vancouver-produced films include Inside Out directed by Damian Kuehn, Project: Icing directed by Krista Jang, The Masculine Mystique directed by Aaron Craven, Curse of the Jade Falcon directed by Tracy D. Smith, The Office Farm Series Part 1: Electric Messiah directed by Jon Pesochin and Zachary Rothman and

30 Love directed by Allison Beda.

Other BC films available on the website are A Bright Idea: Behind the Scenes of Bright Lights Theatre directed by Cranbrook’s Kyle Bowman, Ahousat going? Portrait of the Ahousaht directed by Tofino’s Steven Davies and Eat Roses directed

by Coquitlam’s Ali A. Rashti.

Alberta films selected are Clayton & Clayton directed by Edmonton’s Sean Dykink and Tying the Knot directed by Calgary’s Michal Lavi.

Also included are Shuffleboard King directed by Saskatoon’s Stephen Hunt, The Strawberry Confession directed by Stonewall, Manitoba’s Talia Pura and The Chronicler directed

by Winnipeg’s Ruth DeGraves.

Mentorships Announced The Canadian Film and Television Production Association recently announced that fifteen participants will take part in the latest edition of its National Production Program.

According to CFTPA spokesperson Susanne Vass, the positions offer emerging producers under the age of 30 practical work experience in the film, television and interactive media production industry. She said the program “enables participants to develop skills, make important contacts, and receive the support they need to begin their careers in this exciting field.” The training is provided by CFTPA-member production companies.

“Participating in an apprenticeship of this nature is an invaluable real life education,” said Vass. “Being behind the scenes is the best way to master the tricks of the trade for future producers. The expertise of our mentors and their commitment to nurturing the next generation of producers is tremendously beneficial for emerging filmmakers.”

The participants include Anaid Productions and Brianne Nord-Stewart, Back Alley Film Productions and Leslie Blumer, BBR Productions and Claudia Bérubé, Big Soul Productions and Nyla Innuksuk, Bookshorts Inc. and Natalie Kertes, The Film Farm and Kait O’Leary, Foundation Features and Danny Dias, Heroic Film Company and Aaron Champion, Hungry Eyes Film & Television and Devin Mahesh, Merit Motion Pictures and Hope Nicholson, Panacea Entertainment and Nathan Brown, Raven West Films and David Lee, The Red Car Producers and Amar Wala, Strada Films and Joshua Demers and Triptych Media and Stephanie Law. REEL WEST NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009

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Full Frames Vancouver-based post production company 24 Frames is busier than ever, according to company CEO Andy Nathani. Nathani says the company just completed 250 episodes of an educational series and is now working on three feature films.

“I think we are clearly capable of handling a high volume of projects and more and more producers are taking advantage of that,” he says. “To meet this growing demand we are going through a major expansion in terms of acquiring new state of the art technologies and bringing in new members to the studio. We expect to produce a major animation project for a promotional video being produced for a naval shipbuilder overseas.”

Nathani said Vancouver producer Bill Robertson has been utilizing the company’s services almost exclusively for a series of promotional videos he is producing for a UK warship builder. “We had planned on working with Bill to produce a feature documentary on the warships” said 24 Frames producer and director Geoffery Antony.

“We expected to begin the process by the beginning of early next year. However that project might be on hold. Regardless, if it goes ahead we are prepared to create visually stunning 3D action sequences to illustrate the interaction between the warships, satellites in space, aircrafts and so on. Production value would have to be on par with anything coming out of the United States which promotes the US Navy’s Warship capabilities. We’re looking forward to beginning the project.”

Nathani said that in the near future 24 Frames will be capable of handling 3D Stereoscopic projects and that they are in the process of building 3D Stereoscopic theatres and editing suites. “Currently we are prepared to handle any sort of tape-less project, and soon we will be fully capable of mastering anything using the Digital Cinema Package which is the future theatrical delivery format.”

Appnovation Innovative A spokesperson for Appnovation Technologies, a Vancouver company that was founded by a former student of UBC’s Sauder School of Business, says it is one of a handful of companies worldwide that focus on what is known in technology circles as the “Drupal platform”: an open source technology known as a Content Management Framework for websites.

Meena Main says that Arnold Leung began his research into founding the company when he was still at the Sauder School. Now 25, he started Appnovation immediately upon graduation. She says the company is an interactive agency that focuses on developing web sites and web applications using the Drupal platform.

“Drupal allows for the rapid development of websites through the Drupal framework and plugins created by the Drupal developer community,” she says, “while at the same time allowing for significant reductions in web maintenance costs by providing a platform for non-technical staff to edit content on websites. It’s these features that make Drupal extremely attractive to large web publishers and non-profit organizations.”

Main said Appnovation has brought on several high profile clients including the Canadian Cancer Society, NBC Universal, and Sage Software. She said that thus far the company has been able to position itself as an industry leader in the niche markets that it caters to. “It has increased its market share by joining forces with Vancouver based Work Play and creating partnerships with companies such as Acquia (the commercial support of the Drupal platform), and other web agencies such as Vancouver based VKI Studios, Seattle based Perfect Pixels, and New York based Axis Point.”

Leung said he believes that “[this] recession period is the perfect time to be more aggressive with sales and to grow our market share. Cost cutting and prudent spending in the face of the recession has caused many businesses to dramatically reduce their marketing budgets, cut staff totals, or even reach the extreme of having to close their doors.”

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A CBC mandate to be a leading resource for Vancouverites and tourists leading up to and during the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games has led to a partnership with a Vancouver company specializing in restaurant reviews and features. According to Vancouver Slop founder Matthew Miyagawa, VancouverSlop.com has partnered with the CBC’s online website, CBC.ca, to provide website readers with a dining guide to Vancouver restaurants.

“I’m very excited about this partnership,” said Miyagawa. “Aside from contributing to a great online source, this will allow Vancouver Slop to reach a broader audience while directing thousands of visitors to some of Metro Vancouver’s best places to eat.”

Miyagawa said Vancouver Slop showcases the culinary experiences of some of Vancouver’s betterknown personalities and cultural leaders. He said Top Slop contributors include MuchMusic’s Lauren Toyota,Vancouverisawsome.com’s Bob Kronbauer and Larry Berg, the president of the Vancouver Airport Authority.

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According to a spokesperson, Chelsea McMullan’s Deadman has been selected by international film festivals in Toronto and Vancouver and by the Hot Docs festival in Toronto.

The movie follows eccentric visionary Matt Sanvoss as he creates a western-style ghost town adjacent to the First Nations reserve where elder Gerald Carter lives.

“Deadman was a three-year project that was as much about connecting with the stunning yet harsh landscape of BC’s interior as it was about telling Matt and Gerald’s sto-

ries,“ said McMullan. “I lived on the reserve during the summer to better understand the unique properties of the desert, which I hope were translated in the film.”

McMullan’s film was selected to screen as part of the National Film Board’s 70th Anniversary Program at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Her short film Plume, screened at the Toronto and Vancouver festivals in 2006. McMullan is about to start working on her next film, a documentary about a transgendered country music star from Alberta.

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Local Companies Working Together Two Vancouver-based companies have announced that they have created a multi-year production alliance.

Talelight Films co-founder James Upton said the company will jumpstart its agreement with Bardel Entertainment with the film The Library of Eternity, which was written by Upton’s business partner Jeff Richards. Upton said the production is a live-action/animation hybrid comedy that tells the story of two teenagers who get trapped in some of the best-loved stories in literature and attempt to Twitter and Facebook their way out.

“The alliance between Talelight Films and Bardel Entertainment is

a natural one,” said Upton. “By uniting Talelight Films’ strengths in both project and creative development, as well as our extensive and diverse feature film contacts with Bardel’s incredible talents, experience, and contacts in animation, television and new media, we will be creating a fantastic synergy between our respective companies with remarkable opportunities for diversification.”

Upton said the agreement with Bardel will see Richards and Upton and Bardel’s Co-CEOs Delna Bhesania and Michael Remedios taking on the responsibility of spearheading the projects’ development and production.

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Adventure Sacred A Vancouver filmmaker has completed a documentary film about the people who inhabit a Colombian mountain range. Peter Chrzanowski says when he started to document his journeys to the remote Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains, which border Venezuela and Colombia, he had no idea how the story would turn out.

The movie looks at the lives of the reclusive Kogi who Chrzanowski says are one of the last remaining traditional indigenous cultures. “They are a people who have largely maintained their traditional ways by avoiding contact with ‘little brother,’ their name for those in the outside world,” he said. “They are the gatekeepers and ardent defenders of the sacred summits that surround them, while living in the shadows of a bitter civil war.”

Chrzanowski said that on his first encounter with the Kogi he had tried to convince them that he was unlike the rest of ‘little brother’ but was turned back before he could reach the summits. He said that ten years later he returned to the area with a new outlook, an HD camera and a paraglider, and was granted one flight over the mountain range.

“In these times of a very fragile Mother Earth, there are many lessons to be learned from the Kogi.

I’m grateful for my own journey and the lessons I’ve learned, and for the tremendous gifts I’ve been fortunate to receive along the way.” The movie, which was made for television, had its world premiere at the recent Vancouver International Film Festival. It was produced by Chrzanowski and co-directed by Chrzanowski and the film’s editor, Ivan Hughes.

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NOV/DEC 2009

INTERNET FILM, VIDEO, PRODUCTION AND DIGITAL CANADA IN WESTERN

ts Ali Liebert gefor vulnerable

’s

Jason Friesen

ker duo Q+A with filmma N COEN JOEL & ETHA e Thurier takes Filmmaker Blain HEAD THE A GUN TO d Emmerich Director Rolan t in 2012 utilizes local talen

HEALTH NUTZ

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Burstyn Returns Canadian filmmaker Tom Burstyn recently returned to his adopted hometown of Vancouver with a movie that has played several international film festivals. Burstyn, who was born in Montreal and now lives in New Zealand, brought This Way of Life to the Vancouver International Film Festival.

The documentary, which played to sold out crowds at the recent New Zealand International Film Festival, was filmed in remote mountains accessible only by horseback and an isolated beach. It follows the lives of a Maori family over four years as they strive to create an

idyllic life of integrity, exuberance and spiritual devotion.

Producer Barbara Sumner Burstyn said the response to the film has been overwhelming. “We set out to make a universal story that touched people in a very personal way. To receive international recognition and an opportunity to show to audiences around the world is frankly, humbling.”

The Burstyns said the film is narrated by the family’s 11 year old son and is a romantic portrait of the struggle to hold on to a unique consciousness the Maori family’s.

WORK & LIVE IN CANADA

Sanford Brings Rain Down One of Vancouver’s most prolific actors moved behind the camera for his latest production. Garwin Sanford, whose credits include recurring roles in the series Stargate: Atlantis, Earth: Final Conflict and Higher Ground recently wrapped the movie Rain Down. It was written

by Alyson Drysdale, the head of the Langara College Film Arts acting department, and features several performers from the program.

Filmed mostly in the BC interior it tells the story of a 28 year old woman who is struggling to make ends meet training horses on her small ranch near Cache Creek, BC. “Alyson and I decided from the early stages to include graduates from the LFCA program in the making of this film,” said Sanford. “(We wanted) to mentor them and give them a chance to be part of a professional shoot and give them a leg up with credits in a business that is tough to get a start in.“ Sanford said the LCFA began five years ago under the umbrella of Studio 58’s Professional Theatre Training Program at Langara College.

In addition to Drysdale and Sanford, the filmmakers include co-producer Johanne Gregordy, director of photography Oliver Glaser, editor Alison Grace, production designer Melanie Jones, art director Morgan Carrier and post production supervisor Earl Fudger.

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PHOTO PHILLIP CHIN

Sean Milliken, Casting Director

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BEGINNINGS

Sean Milliken “I did not care if I was famous. I truly loved the craft and if I became famous that was just an added bonus...”

I

was born and raised in sunny Santa Monica. Actually, you never really think of it as sunny when you grow up there, it just is….all of the time.

I would spend many a Christmas Day surfing and hanging out at the beach. It was nothing unusual, just another day at the beach…in the sun. We were always checking the surf and playing beach volleyball. It was a healthy lifestyle and a great way to grow up. My first job was as a beach boy at the Sand and Sea Beach Club, setting up chairs and umbrellas for members and hanging out at the beach all day. I thought (for a minute) that I would do that for the rest of my life.

I have always been told I have a good sense of humor, and I love to make people laugh. When I was a 12 year old I started taking acting classes. I liked to perform in front of people and I liked to go deep inside a character and see what I could bring to it. At the same time I was also just happy there were cute girls in the class. Eventually I did a showcase and got my first agent. It was an exciting time in my life. I landed my first commercial when I was 15 years old.

I had also started to study with a wonderful woman named Marilyn Fox. We formed a little theater company and did plays. This went on for five years right before I left to study with the late great Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York.

Growing up in Santa Monica meant you would always see stars and well known actors. For instance, Sean Penn and Charlie Sheen went to my high school. I was always an actor who just wanted to work. I did not care if I was famous. I truly loved the craft and if I became famous that was just an added bonus. My goal was to be able to work and make enough money to continue acting.

Going to the Neighborhood Playhouse was a life changing experience. It was like doing intense therapy every day. They taught us how to sing, dance (picture me in a ballet leotard) and to use our voice. We would line the street on our breaks and learn how to “repeat.” It was Mr. Meisner’s technique and we all embraced it and yearned to be the best in class. He taught me that “an ounce of behavior is worth a pound of words.”

Living in New York during that time was intense. The city was a mess.

Crime was high and so were the people. I loved the energy of the city, but I let it rule me at times and I began to lose myself. The late night parties and clubs started to win out over this amazing school I was in. I was at a point in my life where I needed to make some serious choices on how I was living my life.

It was a dark yet bright time. I was lucky. I escaped to turn my life around.

When I returned to LA from NYC I had to put my acting career on hold and learn how to live life. I was lucky enough to have someone take me under his wing and help me get back on my feet (although at the time I was not a grateful person.) I was always stubborn and this transition was not an easy one.

I started working at a luxury car rental company for $6.00 an hour. I delivered fancy cars to famous designers, actors, and directors...while wearing a tux. The artist in me was not a happy camper. But I did what was asked in hopes of one day getting back to what I loved. After a year I started to do a play here and there. During the day I would be in traffic…in this tux…and at night I would be on stage. After a few years I was living in Santa Monica waiting tables for two days a week and auditioning on the other days. For much of that time I was playing beach volleyball and hanging with my friends making short films. I would book the odd job here and there.

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of my life. Keep in mind that I was not a very good waiter, possibly even the worst waiter ever. And the day I was fired from this trendy star-ridden place I had another awakening. Instead of being upset, I looked at my manager and thanked him for letting me go. It was a huge relief. Did I mention that some members of my family were in law enforcement? I always said if acting did not work out I would become a cop. So, the day I was fired from the restaurant I made a decision that I would become a cop. Now this was right around the time Rodney King was beaten. So it was probably not the right time. But I felt I would jump in.

My friends would ask me what play I was doing and I would tell them that I was no longer an actor and that I was becoming a cop. However, the day before I was to take the written test we had the huge earthquake in LA. The city was in shambles. So, needless to say I did not go test that day. Three weeks after the quake I went to Mexico with a friend for a week. It was there that I met my future wife, Rosanne. She was a sweet, beautiful girl from Canada who had just come from working on a film in Vancouver. We started to date long distance for about two weeks and then I came to Vancouver to see her.

I never really left.

The film industry was just starting to blow up in Vancouver. I was able to make a living being a reader for film casting. Over time I had the opportunity to audition for shows that were being shot here. Strangely enough I started booking roles playing a cop or detective. It was as if I had held onto acting so strongly in the past and when I finally let go I started to work - pretending to be a cop or detective instead of really being one. There is the saying that you throw in the towel but hang onto a little piece of string just in case. I was happy to be acting again but I also loved the casting process.

I would help out with casting on a few MOWs and liked how it would all fall into place. For two years I acted and was a reader in casting. Seeing the “other side” was a real awakening. Being privy to the discussions between the producers and directors was an eye opener. They would include me in the discussions and ask my opinion. It wasn’t as cruel a process as I thought it had been in the past. No one hated the actor. You were right for the part or you “had something” the director liked. Then one day I was asked if I could cast a television movie. I jumped at the chance to make a little money between acting gigs (so I thought).

Once I started casting, I just fell in love with it. I loved reading scripts and coming up with ideas for the cast. I now had a job being creative and I did not have to audition. I was getting paid to go to work everyday. This was very helpful, since my daughter, Lara, was to be born shortly thereafter! I started to do back-to-back movies and then TV series (Breaker High and The New Addams Family). I love to work and stay busy. Doing these shows offered just that. The hard part was when you finished a film or TV series and didn’t know when you would work again (just like when I was an actor). I am fortunate to not have much down time, for which I am eternally grateful, especially in this business.

The transition from acting to casting happened gradually for me, but I embraced casting just as I had acting. When casting I want every actor that comes in to do well, be prepared, and show me something I haven’t seen before. That is not always the case. When it does happen it is magical. I truly understand what it is like for actors when they come into the room. I lived that life for 15 years. A few years ago, I started to do commercial casting. cont. on page 28 11

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PHOTO PHILLIP CHIN

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BEHIND THE SCENES

The Tape House Media Supply Keeping with the times in an ever-changing industry

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Steve Wiggins, The Tape House Media Supply

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emember VHS cassettes? The Wiggins family remembers them well. Bill and Lis Wiggins founded their company, The Tape House, in 1994 based on the need for professionals to have access to custom length VHS cassettes for duplication purposes. Times have changed and the company has changed with it.

While they still distribute tape; it is no longer VHS, but high definition formats such as HDCAM SR and DVCPRO HD. And as the industry moves away from tape so has The Tape House with P2 Cards, hard drives, and optical media discs to name a few of the formats. According to the company’s president, Steve Wiggins, they sell almost every format of recording media available to anyone who needs it.

Bill Wiggins’ career in film began at the National Film Board in Montreal in 1963. He spent three years as a lab technician in the motion picture division and four years as an animation / optical cameraman in the F/X department. He then went into private industry as shareholder and was president of Film Opticals Quebec Ltd., until 1980. Fourteen years later The Tape House opened with two employees. The staff now numbers 11 in the Burnaby and Calgary locations. Steve Wiggins, who took over the running of the business in 2003, says that much of the company’s success is owed to the people who work there.

“We couldn’t have lasted 15 years or even 15 months without our dedicated staff and managers,” he says. “People like Henry Zeyen, our warehouse manager, just had his 10 year anniversary. Estelle Liebenberg, who works in customer service and Dan Bogdanich, “Driver Extraordinaire” (as per his business card), have both just passed their five year anniversaries. All the staff is more than willing to do whatever is required to ensure overall customer satisfaction in everything we do. It is a definite team effort.”

A short list of companies The Tape House represents includes Sony, Fujifilm, Panasonic, Maxell, and HHB. They are the Western Canadian representative for Premium Disc Corporation and also distribute Taiyo Uden, Philips, Ritek, Verbatim, Primera, Rimage, Teac, among others. Their regular customers include production companies, post houses, advertising firms, government agencies, and film students.

Steve Wiggins says that while the company was founded to meet the need for video cassette distribution it didn’t panic when those needs changed. “All companies need to adapt to survive; we are no different. Commodity-based businesses are more competitive now than ever, so profits are not what they were. Panicking will not create business. Adapting is the only solution.”

The changes in the approach to product also extended to services. The Tape House invested in DVD manufacturing and packaging equipment and now offers a full retail ready package from most master formats. They offer professional DVD / Blu Ray authoring, encoding, and can output to a variety of current video streaming formats for web distribution.

To assure that both professionals and consumers were able to access services and products quickly, The Tape House expanded to Calgary in 1998. Steve Wiggins says that it was a natural move into a fastgrowing market. “Expansion to Calgary and establishing a local Alberta presence was an important move for our organization.”

The company has managed to evolve through a two-pronged approach to the marketplace. It works closely with both professionals and consumers. According to Steve Wiggins, it has made that leap by continuing to grow established relationships in the professional market while focusing on growing accessibility and awareness for the consumer market.

“We’ve been operating under a mandate from day one that integrity is paramount. Having adequate stock, a delivery vehicle to ensure control of rush deliveries, and a new website are all important aspects of getting clients what they need, when they need it.”

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QUESTION AND ANSWER

The Coen Brothers; on set of A Serious Man

Joel & Ethan Coen Serious after all these years...

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t may seem hard to believe but Joel and Ethan Coen have been making feature films for 25 years. They started with Blood Simple and, like most prolific filmmakers, have had their share of both hits and misses over the years. The former group would include Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou and Raising Arizona while Intolerable Cruelty, The Man Who Wasn’t There and The Ladykillers were less successful.

The jury is still out on their latest film A Serious Man, which is their third film in four years. The first of these was 2007’s No Country for Old Men which won them Oscars for producing, writing and direct-

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ing. They followed that up last year with the comedy Burn After Reading, which was a celebrity-driven production that starred George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

There are no stars in A Serious Man, which is set in the 1970s. In fact, you would probably have to live in the households of Richard Kind, Michael Stuhlbarg and Sari Lennick to even consider them to be household names.

Stuhlbarg plays a Minneapolis college professor with an unfaithful wife (Lennick) and a genius brother who can’t cope on his own (Kind.) In an interview at the Toronto International film festival, the Minnesota-raised Coens talked about whether the movie is based on their own lives, how it will be

perceived by the Jewish community and their rumoured next film, a remake of True Grit.

Is there any link to another Coen Brothers film with a Jewish protagonist, Barton Fink?

Ethan Coen: “We weren’t thinking about Barton Fink at all. It is also a Jewish character but I didn’t feel it recalled Barton Fink. This is a different thing for us.”

Yes, there are autobiographical elements in it. How close to your own life did you come with the story?

Joel Coen: “I think it is semi-autobiographical in that the context of the story takes place in a place very much like the place we grew up in

Minnesota in the 1970s. There are a couple of very superficial relationships to our own family although the only real one is that the father is an academic. Our father was a university professor but he wasn’t anything like the character in the movie and the story doesn’t have anything to do with what happened in our family.”

But you must have had fun recreating the sets, given that you had lived through that era in that place?

Joel: “It might have been a little easier than most because we had so much personal knowledge of the details that we were familiar with and that we wanted to put in.”

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that respect. Jess Kotcher, the designer, is also suburban Jewish but east coast and a little younger than us. I think we all enjoyed that aspect of the design. The set director is great although she is a Shiksa (Christian.)”

Can you talk a little about whether growing up in Minnesota has affected your films?

Joel: “That is a very difficult question to answer. I think growing up in a Jewish community in Minnesota did affect it somewhat but there were a lot of different things that were probably much more influential on us than that in particular. Things like television and pop culture and things that other kids are exposed to.”

You open the film with a vignette about a Jewish family on a shtetl in 19th Century Russia. Is there something funny to you about Jews living on the open prairie?

Ethan: “I think there is something that seems incongruous to us in the nature of the landscape with Jews on it and that seems funny. The whole shtetl thing says ‘right, Jews in a shtetl’ But we are saying ‘what are we doing there?’”

Speaking about Jews, there is a rumour that you are going to do The Yiddish Policemen’s Union. How did that come about and was there any connection between the two?

Joel: “We had written A Serious Man and finished the script and then we were offered The Yiddish Policemen’s Union but it wasn’t known to us at the point we wrote this script. We always approach these things incrementally. We write the script and sometimes we do the movie and sometimes we don’t.”

How do your movies usually come together for you then?

Ethan: “Movies never come together for the same reasons. Or at least very rarely do we think ‘we are going to follow this movie with this movie.’

It seems more like ‘when are we going to get the money?’ and in some films you have to juggle the actors’ schedules, although that didn’t happen here.”

There are so many references to the Jewish faith in this film. Are you concerned that it might not play well to a non-Jewish audience or that Jews would be unhappy about some of the more comic references?

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curious about how a lot of it translates to a broader audience, one outside its obvious constituency Ethan: “We were both curious about whether there would be any hostility but Jews that have seen it and religious Jews in particular have been surprisingly open to it. One’s concern is that a lot of Jews see it through the prism of ‘is this good for the Jews?’”

Your next project is a long way from this movie. True Grit was a big hit when it came out in the 1960s and won John Wayne an Oscar. Were you fans of the movie when you were kids?

Ethan: “We did see it as kids but it made little impression on me and we both subsequently read the book and it made a huge impression on both of us. I guess that is kind of why were interested in doing the movie Joel: “We felt it was not a great movie but that it is a great book. We have a script that we have written but it won’t be produced for awhile.”

Is there a negative implication to the term “remake?”

Ethan: “Actually, we were wondering if we made a movie based on the Bible if it would be considered a remake by virtue of the fact that there was an earlier version.”

After 25 years is it any easier for you to make movies?

Joel: “It feels the same as it did about ten years ago in the respect that we have been working with the same people for that long and we have a very efficient production team. It didn’t feel that way when we were starting out and even a few years after we started out it didn’t feel as efficient as it is now.”

Ethan: “Production doesn’t feel as daunting now but it is still weird just figuring out the process. It is just as hard as ever to get your mind around attacking the problem of how to do stuff in some basic way.”

Joel: “Yes, what hasn’t changed is the notion that every story has its own problems. They are all related to this one strange process of how you recreate it for a film.”

Ethan: “You go looking at locations and you have thought about the spaces in which the scenes are going to take place in and then the process is still the same, so it is a little weird and a little stymieing sometimes.

You go into a place and you think ‘how was this supposed to work.’ It is this strange amorphous problem every time out.”

Joel: “It is a puzzle.”

EXPERT WITNESS

“There probably is a bias against pretty boys in terms of respect for acting but it is something I never focused on and it is awfully hard to gain any sympathy from anyone for being too good looking. There are a lot of people who would take that mantle on.

I think there have been times it helped me and other times when it hurt me but you would like to think it evens out.” Actor Rob Lowe on still being pretty at 45.

“I think if you look at most of the people who have lasted a long time their career has taken constant care and nurturing. I haven’t really felt that to be the case because my career has felt more like walking and running and sprinting and crawling. There have been all sorts of paces at different times. I don’t have a certain world that I want to inhabit. I don’t even have a group of people that I most like to work with. I am very open-minded in terms of material and the lives that I am interested in getting to know and exploring. I think that has allowed luck to work well for me in that strange things have come out of the blue throughout my career that I have been very happy to embark on.” Actor James Spader on his unusual approach to career longevity.

“I have a couple of buddies that I write with in Vancouver. In the interim between jobs you need to stay active and your fantasies of what work you will be doing and where your career can go is supported best by creating your own work and potential jobs for yourself. We are working on some Canadian-set stories because we feel that if there is any chance of taking whatever notoriety I get in the Hollywood industry and using that in Canada to help the Canadian industry then that is what I want to do. I really do think that there is great potential in the film and television industry and the arts in general. I feel that the industry doesn’t have to model itself after Hollywood which it seems to be doing. It needs to rely less on the American image of what film needs to be.” LA-based Canadian actor Dustin Milligan (Beverly Hills 90210, Extract) on his attempt to use his Hollywood cred to help the Canadian industry.

“I think a comedian has to let the world know he doesn’t take himself seriously. As soon as a comedian starts trying to be cool or macho or believes his own hype he ceases to be funny. Comedy is a lot about empathy and you have to be the underdog as a comedian.

All of my favorite comedians are precarious. They fall over. You have to remind people that you aren’t taking yourself to seriously. You imply ‘I am falling over for your amusement.’ At the end of the day you are still the loser they like.” Actor/writer Ricky Gervais on why comedians should never take themselves too seriously.

“You really don’t stop thinking about how you are treating the person whose story you are telling. You are always conscious that the day will come when you get to share a room with this person. I will never forget the day I watched Shine with David Helfgott.

He was sitting on the floor hanging on to my leg while watching the film. It was also interesting when I showed (the documentary) Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts to Philip Glass. He said ‘I think you made a wonderful film. I just wish it wasn’t about me.’” Director Scott Hicks on watching movies based on true stories with the subjects of the film.

Excerpted from interviews done by Reel West editor Ian Caddell.

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Kevin Loring as Buzz in Health Nutz

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Story by Ian Caddell // Photos by Dasha Novak

Hockey Nutz When we look back at our favourite television comedies we may recall particularly funny episodes, think briefly about some great lines and even remember the overall concept for the show. However, nothing would have worked without the characters >>

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hile some of the most successful movies ever produced drew millions to see the concept or the action or the stars or to laugh at the comedy, it’s unlikely that many people can remember more than two or three of the characters.

Most films don’t have time to develop many characters. Television sitcoms, on the other hand, can’t survive to a mid-season pickup if the audience isn’t interested in the people telling the story. Memorable characters have been the key to successful television comedy from I Love Lucy to Cheers and from Taxi to Friends. Setting helps too. Jason Friesen, who admits to being a big fan of Cheers, says that he came up with the idea behind APTN’s Health Nutz pilot when he lived in Toronto and worked in a juice bar. A Métis, he was looking for something that would resonate with the Native community. He shot a 12 minute piece in the Toronto store and decided, when he returned to Vancouver, that he could blend his experience at the bar with his roots.

“I believed so much in the idea that I shot the piece as a reference and then when I came home I got in touch with my Métis roots and discovered that a lot of people don’t know much about Métis,” he says on the show’s set at the Astoria Hotel on Vancouver’s downtown eastside. “My dad was from Saskatchewan and I moved back here and got involved with the Vancouver Métis. I got the wheels turning and saw the juice bar in Health Nutz as having a sense of community in the way the bar in Cheers had. I just incorporated into the script the idea that this is a sense of community for these people. They come to hang out but they have made these friendships based on recovery from alcoholism and discovering healthy food and drink. Once I had figured all that out the rest was easy.”

The show, which will premiere the first of seven episodes on December 27, stars Kevin Loring as Buzz Riel Jr. a professional hockey player who was forced to retire at 22 after an accidental injury. Ten years later he has become a jobless, alcoholic gambler. His luck appears to have taken a turn when he discovers he has inherited everything from his estranged father including the successful Health Nutz Juice Bar and the patent to a lucrative energy drink, BuzzBerry Juice. However, in order to attain the inheritance, he has to stay sober and run a business he knows nothing about, one populated by a number of strange characters including a germaphobe massage-therapist who uses her elbows to massage her clients (Ali Liebert) who uses her elbows to massage her clients, a bartender (Chad Krowchuk) whose fear of bridges keeps him from leaving the North Shore and a manager (Lucie Gues) who tends to throw shoes when angry.

Liebert says that if the characters resonate with people who love TV comedy it will be because they recognize them as being traditional outsiders who have found a home. “I think that being at the bar makes these outsiders feel part of something. My character, Tammy Erickson, has a big heart and this special brand of massage which is her way of contributing to her little community.”

The Duncan native, whose latest film, Year of the Carnivore, is part of the upcoming Whistler Film Festival, says that it also helps if sitcom characters are vulnerable. “I think that in TV comedy you have to be more vulnerable because you have to put yourself out there. When you fail you fail big but you REEL WEST NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009

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have to be willing to expose yourself. In the end, it’s a little more difficult than drama because the risk is greater.”

Friesen brought a strong background in the national pastime to the show.

He grew up in the BC interior playing hockey and says he understood how easy it could be to fall from grace quickly if you had early fame and respect and lost it all at a young age.

“I grew up in Kamloops playing minor hockey with a lot of guys who played pro and it is a hockey town. I could really relate to these guys on a lot of levels because they would go away and everyone would be freaking out and then they would come home and they would be partying and hanging out and then their careers were over. A lot of them didn’t finish high school and the years would go by and people kind of forgot who they were.”

He could also relate to the second part of Buzz’s life. After he graduated from high school he bought a one way ticket to Toronto. He had never been there but he had often thought about studying with Toronto-based Second City. While there he stayed with a friend from his hometown who was going to a Naturopathic college. Eventually he moved in with a group of Naturopaths who were working at a juice bar/Naturopathic clinic and they got him a job.

“At the time I was smoking a couple of packs a day and I was partying a lot but I got the job because I knew these people and they were right into the whole health kick. I would go in there and carry boxes outside. I would be smoking a cigarette out there and come back in and it felt like I was leading a double life. I would be juice bartending and people would come in from the streets of Toronto and suddenly there would be this bizarre cast of characters from all walks of life. Essentially it was like working in a bar. They would tell me their problems and I would help them out. For instance, I would recommend a good juice for a guy who had a hangover and I would make him a drink and that would lead to him opening up and saying that he was a broker downtown. The staff was a little off as well, so I just started writing about it.”

In 2008, Friesen worked with producer Dana Dasha Novak on an APTN animated series called Artie the Ant. The collaboration worked well enough that when Friesen was looking for a producer for the Health Nutz pilot he phoned Novak. She says that she knew that they could make the show work based on the success they had getting Artie up and running.

“We were brainstorming together and I was finishing my postgraduate degree and I wanted to do some media projects, so we put our heads together and brought out the characters from our own childhoods. When I was growing up in the Czech Republic we had this little ant that could do everything.

I really enjoyed watching this show because it was about nature. Then later I had kids and thought it would be a really good project for me to take on and that I could change it around so it would be mine and Jason’s. At the same time he was developing this other show. I came on board in January and I knew the project because we had discussed it while we were working on the animated series. We worked together on the story line and found that working together worked well for both of us.”

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Top: Ali Liebert and Kevin Loring. Above: Chad Krowchuk and Lucie Guest

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issues which is kind of a unique way of looking at things instead of just going with social issues that would have an aboriginal perspective. We are looking at larger themes now and views of how people fit into society.”

Like Friesen, Kevin Loring, who plays Buzz in the show, grew up Native in an area of British Columbia where hockey players are celebrities. “I knew guys like this,” he says. “I grew up in Lytton and he’s a Métis guy. I am a half breed and I know the guy or guys like him with him coming out of the big show and being down and out. I have a cousin who played for the LA Kings farm team. He’s a Native guy with a thunder mullet and he is a hard core redneck tough guy from Prince George. It totally works in terms of someone I am familiar with. For me it’s also a comedy about a juice bar and health nuts and it is a guy who has come home for his father’s funeral. He is in mourning on some level.”

Loring could see that the show would be walking a tightrope if it tried to marry comedy to a story about a recovering alcoholic. However, he says that he can’t recall any great situation comedy that didn’t have a serious side. And he says he would be perfectly happy to be in Buzz’s shoes for a while.

“I am also a writer and for me you don’t earn the comedy unless it has a bass note that it is sitting on top of. Then the comedy is earned. If it is just floating up there that is one kind of show but my favourite comedies are those that have an undercurrent and can touch on a real thing and then get to the gag like All in the Family. I have never had an experience like this where I am lead in a pilot - Jason Friesen (pictured with Dana Dasha) so if it took off it would be a bigger thing.

I have never been in such a regular gig. I first week in April but the process of writing and getting to know these charac- have done shows for a month or two but something that had a life like that I ters took a little bit longer. It was a time that our characters needed to come alive have never been a part of. So I would be happy to be a part of a series. And I like and for us to understand the characters so we could write a good story.” the character. He is kind of a jackass but that is what is wonderful about him.”

Peter Strutt, the head of programming for APTN, was on the same page as For Freisen, part of the challenge of mixing comedy with stories of a Native Novak and Friesen. A former Telefilm Canada executive he was looking for man who has gone from being a hero to being an unemployed alcoholic was ideas that the APTN audience could relate to. He says that when the network the battle with stereotypes. He says that his goal for the show has always been first started out, programmers focused on documentaries featuring social is- to present a picture of hope. sues. Eventually they came to the conclusion that they could build an audi“You hear a lot of negative stereotypes about Native people with alcoholence as easily through comedies and dramas as documentaries. ism etc. and it obviously is a problem in a lot of communities. When you hear “There are shows that aboriginal people can relate to but not everyone can about it, you think ‘those poor Natives.’ But I wanted to look at it from an relate to every show,” says Strutt. “So we started out doing a lot of social issues angle where we could embrace sobriety and celebrate it. So I wanted the charthrough documentaries and over the last few years we have been venturing acter to be this Native guy who has a drinking problem and a bit of a gambling into more of the drama and sketch comedies and different things to build a problem. His dad was the same. He was a pub crawler and a party animal but slate. When the network started working with the aboriginal production pool he ended up doing yoga and drinking carrot juice and owning his own juice there weren’t a lot of comedy or drama producers. So now we are building bar. So there is hope there.” producers like Jason and taking a two pronged approach to creating a series.”

There is also a classic sub-theme: that of the fish out of water. Friesen says Strutt liked what Friesen had done with the 12 minute film he had seen that if the pilot is picked up and evolves into a series at least some of the comwhile at Telefilm ten years earlier. He says that it gave him a good idea of what edy will come from the notion that when the character enters the juice bar he a series might look like. “I don’t recall the first time that he presented it to me is in a world that was previously unknown to him. He says that a series would but he had done a low scale demo of it just to give me an idea of the characters include some unusual ideas including one that he brought back from Europe and the setting. He didn’t have a fleshed out script. So when he came to us to with him about the embracing of Native culture by the Germans. develop it we took some time to go through the writing process and to really “We are bringing in a guy who has no desire to have anything to do with these make sure the lines were making sense because the characters were not mak- people but there are conditions in the will that require him to sober up. Then ing sense when he first came up with it.” we slowly discover there is this Buzz-berry drink that is being shipped over to The characters eventually made sense but Strutt and APTN felt that they Germany and there are Germans dressing up and having this festival and that is were too far removed from reality. While they were funny enough, they were incorporated. I was over in Germany last year doing a documentary on a German somewhat over the top. He says that commissioning pilots for series is a good writer who had this native fascination and I saw Germans dressed up like North way of finding out if the concept is on track. And politically it gives the network, American Natives and speaking Native languages and on and on. I would like to which once felt uncomfortable moving outside of documentaries about social incorporate components like that as well as angles on health bars and yoga.” issues, an opportunity to assure that no one will be offended by a show.

If the show succeeds it will be because it tapped into the traditions of success“The idea was to bring in a little more subtle humour and tighten it up. ful sitcoms and found an audience that cares about the characters. Friesen says What he has done so far is to bring down the characters. We told him ‘let’s that he cared enough about them when he was writing the show to make sure give people credit for making assumptions on their own in terms of the char- that they were substantial and had some influence over the lead character. acters.’ That is one of the advantages you have when you make a pilot. You can “You always hear people say ‘write from your heart’ and I have tried to do see how the characters work and whether the humour is working. We were that because it has to be character-driven to work. These are very specific also able to see if it fell within the guidelines of the CRTC. We want to give characters and it is really important to show who they are and the effect they aboriginal producers a chance to show their perspective on general theme have on this guy’s job and his life.”

Novak felt the key to the success of the show would be Friesen’s passion for the material and the humour he could bring to it. She says that she decided to join the project because she felt that her involvement might help him to protect the integrity of the original idea.

“I know Jason really well and I have known him for a long time and I have always loved his sense of humour. When we started talking about this I realized that whatever project that he was going to take on it needed to maintain the concept’s integrity. Sometimes when you bring on new people the original idea gets lost. So I was always checking where I end and where Jason begins and knowing him well and the way he works I was able to work with him without taking over the project. Being an artist for the last eight years I understand the process and I understand that you can’t rush anything especially with creating characters.

You have to get to know the characters. For example, in the middle of doing the rewrites we would ask ‘what would Mary do and how would Buzz react?’ We literally lived those characters. Our original photography was scheduled for the

“You always hear people say ‘write from your heart’ and I have tried to do that because it has to be characterdriven to work.”

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Story by Ian Caddell

Home for the Apocalypse When he was first asked to audition for the movie now rumoured to be the most expensive film ever shot in Canada, Ryan McDonald was in a bad mood and considered saying no...

When he was called, Blu Mankuma assumed the competition might be too tough. Michael Karl Richards was surprised that so many people involved in the movie were in the room when he gave his performance. Osric Chau was happy that his Mandarin had gotten him through his audition but when he showed up to play a young monk, he had to learn Tibetan. Liam James just wanted to keep auditioning because he thought it was all “really cool.”

The film that all five Vancouver-based actors were asked to be a part of was 2012, which opens November 13. Box Office Mojo lists its overall cost as $260 million which would make it one of the biggest movies ever made. It was directed by Roland Emmerich, who knows a little about making big budget films. His resume includes Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow and 10,000 BC. In a hotel in Wyoming, where he did interviews for the film, Emmerich said that only the script is more important to him than the casting process. “I have sleepless nights when I cast a movie,” he says. “It is the single most important thing besides a good script. Every time you cast someone you should think ‘who is the most interesting person to cast?’ not ‘who is the best for the part?’ If you do that then you have one cliché after another. I try not to listen when people say ‘he is a great actor and he would be very good in this part.’ That is the toughest time for me because I want to stick with my own approach.”

In the film, John Cusack plays Jackson Curtis, a failed writer driving a limo part time. His ex-wife, Kate (Amanda Peet) wants him to spend more time with his children, Noah and Lilly (Liam James and Morgan Lily), so he takes them to Yellowstone Park where their van is hit by an earthquake. He is told by a radio host, Charlie Frost (Woody Harrelson), that the government is conspiring to save themselves from the end of the world which is only days away. Frost tells him the only route to safety is in China. In an effort to save himself and his family, Curtis enlists the help of a young Tibetan monk (Osric Chau) that he meets in the mountains of China.

In flashbacks we see that a geologist named Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) was able to get access to the US president (Danny Glover) thanks to a friendship with a member of the White House staff (Ryan McDonald.) As the countdown to what he believes could be the end of days continues, he feels he needs to say goodbye to his father Harry (Blu Mankuma), a professional musician who is working on an ocean liner with his long time partner, Tony Delgatto (George Segal.) Harry tells Tony it is time to contact his estranged son (Michael Karl Richards.)

While a number of speaking parts went to Vancouver actors, there are few more pivotal scenes in the film than those involving James and Mankuma. Both the Grade 8 student from Hillcrest Middle School in Coquitlam and the veteran African American actor of more than 150 productions were cast after several Americans had auditioned for the roles. Sue Brouse, who oversaw the local casting process, says that her expectations were exceeded and that she was particularly excited about the hiring of James and Mankuma.

“They were going to cameo the role of Adrian’s father with a name actor but I asked that they just look at one actor. Blu has such a depth of emotion that I knew he could give a great performance. He did, and after some consideration they cast him in the role. With Liam, I knew they were not yet firmly decided on any of the kids that they had seen in LA. I knew Liam would be a terrific choice having cast him in the past. After his initial call, we called him back for Roland to work with. Liam has a star quality. He’s a strong actor for his age and yet he does not feel like an ‘actor.’ In a way his growing up in Canada helps him seem real.”

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sense to him to focus on Canadians while shooting for five months in Vancouver. “I like the appeal of Canada,” he says. “When you shoot there the production saves a lot of money and there is a lot of talent. However, I don’t just cast people because they are Canadian. We were casting in both Canada and Los Angeles at the same time and whoever brought the best actor, that’s who we worked with. We looked for the part Blu plays in Los Angeles and we met a lot of good old African American actors but Blu gave the best reading. He is incredible. He has so much soul it’s unbelievable. We were casting another boy instead of Liam but I was never that happy with it. Then she (Brouse) proposed this kid Liam. I saw only 20 seconds of him and I said ‘it’s him.’”

James has a strong resume for a preteen. He has a recurring role in Psych as the young Shawn Spencer (James Roday) and played the young Vince Vaughn in Fred Claus, but is far from being jaded. In fact, he is that rare actor who actually likes auditioning. He liked it enough on 2012 that he wanted to keep going back for more.

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“I had to do three auditions and I met Roland on the third one,” he says.

“I guess I wasn’t thinking about it but I was having fun with it and I just wanted to keep having auditions. I just like going on sets. I think it is really cool to see how movies are made because I watch movies a lot and like to be a part of it. So I like watching the making of the movie and then watching the finished piece.”

The 12 year old apparently enjoyed himself in situations that would have been tough on the most seasoned actor. A swimmer, he had to spend five days doing a scene in which his character swims underwater to help out his father. He says that even the most difficult scenes were fun.

“I just tried my hardest to feel that it was real,” he says of the swimming scenes. “I was excited every time that I went back in the water. I was ready to swim. I have had years and years of swimming lessons. The first time I did the scene I was nervous but I was really happy with my performance the second time. I didn’t think it was that hard but I thought when we shot they made it feel real. The sets looked

real and they had a lot of effects and the set was shaking. There was green screen but they talked to you about what you were seeing and it was pretty accurate. It was always fun.”

Mankuma, a musician by trade, came to Canada in the 1970s from Seattle. He made his debut in a small role in Letters to Frank, which starred Art Carney and Michael J. Fox. He and Fox were supposed to follow it up with the series Huckleberry Finn and Friends but Fox went to LA and Mankuma played Jim opposite then-child actor Ian Tracey.

Being one of the few resident African American actors in Vancouver, he kept being offered roles in American series and films and became known as an actor rather than a musician.

In fact, until Emmerich gave him the role in 2012, Mankuma had never been asked to sing or play instruments on camera. He says that he was thrilled to practice both his crafts in the same movie. “The best aspect was to sing in a film, to lay down a little Barry White,” he says. “My attitude towards auditions is to create a signature. I do what’s on the page but I bring my own flavours and with this one I knew

I was up against some serious folks. I knew it was going to be tough. I had one scene at the main audition. It was the scene where Harry tells Tony that he shouldn’t waste any time getting in touch with his son. I could feel when I read it that Harry was desperate for Tony to say yes and that he wouldn’t say yes unless he saw a certain look on Harry’s face. I took a drink from my glass and gave that look I like to give.

It was not on the page but it worked in the audition. It was a very beautiful role. I really enjoyed working with Chiwetel. I had seen his work on Talk to Me but I wasn’t that aware of him.

But he came in to the studio just to read the stuff that Adrian is saying to his dad on the phone. He told Roland that he didn’t want to have someone else to do it. He wanted it to be real. A lot of people would have stayed on the golf course but he came in that day and really got into it. I was amazed.”

When Segal’s Tony Delgatto makes his call to his son Wil, it is Richards who is on the other end of the phone.

The scene is short but pivotal to the film. Wil is awakened by his young daughter who hands him the phone.

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“I like the appeal of Canada... When you shoot there the production saves a lot of money and there is a lot of talent...”

- Director Roland Emmerich

He is stunned when he realizes that the father who has left him out of his life since Wil married a Japanese woman is calling. Richards, who has done a lot of television, says that it was just a one day shoot but it was done in a room that had to be suspended in order to give the audience the sense that the house was being shaken by an earthquake.

“There were a lot of people in the room considering it was just one day and a single scene but I don’t think they shot anything else that day. I have never worked on a feature with that kind of budget and where the crew just has to focus on what I am doing.

There is a luxury of doing everything from so many angles and in television you never have that luxury. The whole apartment was rigged to shake. Even the furniture was rigged to shake. It was like being at Universal but being inside it rather than just walking by. I didn’t have much time with Roland because he had to spend most of his time

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working with the girl who played my daughter. He just gave me information about specific physical things. When I went to shoot it I didn’t know what it was going to be like and I prepared as though there was nothing going on. I assumed there would be something but I thought ‘there is no way the whole apartment will be rigged up for my little scene.’”

Osric Chau was concerned about speaking Mandarin when he was told he had to do the audition as a Chinese monk. He did it anyway but then the role changed. The 23 year old, who considers himself a stunt man first, had to take on the most passive role possible, that of a Tibetan monk. He says that he and the actors who played his brother and his grandparents discovered they had to work with a Tibetan translator who taught them enough Tibetan words so that they wouldn’t embarrass themselves.

“I did the original audition in Mandarin and I am not fluent in Manda-

rin,” he says. “I can pretend for the untrained ear. Then when I got called for the role they told me the lines were Tibetan. Even my name had changed.

Suddenly there was a lot more dialogue and it was all in a language that was very strange to me. There were some extras who knew what it would sound like and we had a translator on set so if we screwed up there was always someone who would tell us.”

“There is a big Asian population in Vancouver,” said Emmerich. “So we always knew we would find better Asian actors in Vancouver, but when we started to look through the script I became aware of certain art department needs. In my naiveté I thought ‘they all speak Chinese’ but then I suddenly realized ‘oh my god, it would be offensive to the Tibetan people if they are all speaking Chinese.’ So I found someone who spoke Tibetan and I said ‘you have to translate everything and you have to teach these actors to speak Tibetan.’

For a moment we thought about find-

ing Tibetan actors but they aren’t available. So it was an interesting process.”

Like Chau, Ryan McDonald’s role kept changing. When he first heard about it, it didn’t seem like much of a part and he admits that he was reluctant to go out and chase it. Things changed quickly and he was kept around for four of the five months that Emmerich was in town. He says that he went from being one of many “hangers-on” at a party to being a key player in the story.

“I really wasn’t going to go to the audition because I didn’t know anything about the project and I was in a bad mood that day. The idea was that I was going to read for a guy who works at the White House and that I was going to have one or two lines. However, at the audition with Roland I had fun with it and I got it.

I still thought it was this tiny part but then I got this call that they loved me and that I would have scenes with cont. on page 28 Oliver Pratt (who

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11/9/2009 12:19:05 PM

Diary by Blaine Thurier

Gun Crazy If there is a Holy Grail for Canadian filmmakers it is the Toronto International Film Festival. Once a film is accepted in a section at the festival, it is automatically exposed to local audiences and international filmmakers, distributors and media. Blaine Thurier was one of the lucky few invited to take his film to Toronto for the 2009 edition. In his diary on his week in Toronto with the movie A Gun to the Head, he looks back at the celebrities he saw, his premiere and the startling news he heard at the end of his ten day visit.

September 9, 2009 The festival hasn’t even started and the whirlwind has already begun. I meet my producer and director of photography at a packed festival launch party at the Drake Hotel. This is an unofficial, unsanctioned TIFF-related party but there are producers, actors and publicists all getting drunk together. There might even be a couple of writer/directors here.

September 10 My day starts early. There’s a documentary crew from Movie Central following me for a film festival project that is going to air next year, over and over and over again. Everyone will see my hung-over morning face in repeats. I’m glad I have sunglasses. I meet them in the lobby for a quick interview. They turn out to be very nice people. I don’t think they’re going to prod me in search of vulnerability but I still feel some obligation to perform.

One good thing is that they’re going to pay for cabs as long as I’m hanging out with them. They pick up the tab for the trip to the Sutton Hotel where I’m going to get my guest pack and rendezvous with my publicist, Joelle Medina, for a debriefing. I’m meeting her for the first time and she’s as cheerful and high-energy as she sounded on the phone but in an endearing way. I also try to get tickets for some screenings I’ve been looking forward to. The list includes new films by Michael Haneke and Lars Von Trier and Valhalla Rising

by Pusher trilogy director Nicholas Winding Refn. I’m not sure I’m going to get to all of these.

The opening night party is held at a cavernous maze-like structure near the water. I don’t even know what it’s called. This is the benefit of having a publicist attached to you at all times. Just let her pull you by a string and you’ll end up in some interesting places without having any idea where you actually are.

After our cabbie gets lost for fifteen minutes, we arrive at the front entrance where one of my cast, Sarah Edmondson, is being interviewed by eTalk or CP24 or somebody. I brazenly jump into frame. Oh the excitement. The interviewer pretends to be fascinated by what we have to say. We pretend that we don’t notice that she doesn’t care and is just waiting for us to finish so she can talk to the real stars. We walk towards the red carpet where a female guardian stands with flaming sword to keep the riff-raff off the podium. I overhear Joelle mention my name and the film and the guardian shakes her hoary mane in exaggerated ignorance. We’re ultimately allowed to sneak through for our own fun.

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Inside, I can barely turn around without running into an old friend or someone I’ve only just met. Still, this party seems like the wrong place for us so we head to the party for the BC film The Year of the Carnivore, arriving just in time for last call. It’s much nicer here.

September 11 Another early start. We have TV interviews all day long starting at 9am. Autograph hounds are gathered outside the Intercontinental Hotel. I can see why once we’re upstairs. Alfred Molina, Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Viggo Mortensen and Kyle MacLachlan are all being led around by their teams of publicists to the various rooms set up for interviews. After we get out of eTalk, Joelle informs me she’s scored me an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. This is cool. This is very cool. I remain skeptical that it’s ever going to happen. Still though, could be cool.

I actually have some time in the afternoon to just hang with my director of photography and good friend, Craig Trudeau and Ja Pace, his girlfriend who is also one of our art directors. We go to Fresh for a nice bowl of vegetables. This is one of the more pleasant moments so far. Friends and healthy food. I’ve only been here two days and it already feels like weeks. There’s still three more days before I even premiere A Gun to the Head. Feels like forever.

September 12 I meet with the documentary crew again for updates. I think I’ve managed to hold it together. We shall see when this thing finally runs.

Oliver Linsley my producer and I meet with Nolan Pielak, our sales rep. He’s a realist/optimist. He’s sure something good will happen but it probably won’t happen here. As I thought, it will be somewhere down the road after he’s had some time to work on it. He seems to have a good handle on things. My low expectations are reassured.

Today is the Telefilm reception where we all go to pay our respects to the great disbursers of federal funding. I am seriously grateful for their existence and will go not out of a sense of obligation but genuine and heartfelt gratitude. Where would we be without them? It’s my mission to deliver a hit for Western Canada.

I remember these receptions being rather stuffy, formal affairs in years past but I find it packed with drunks already at 5:30. Good times. Everyone from Vancouver is here. I get to hang with Scott Smith, Carl Bessai and Bruce Sweeney. Good company. It’s almost worth missing Michael Haneke’s The White Ribbon for this. I hear Haneke isn’t going to be there anyway. It should run theatrically eventually.

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I also have to miss Enter the Void tonight to go to the Mongrel Media party.

It’s a super fancy affair with wide open bar, live Indian music and a hookah lounge. John Dippong from Telefilm is there and we have a good long talk.

Out of the corner of my eye I spot a guy who is the spitting image of Salman Rushdie. It is Salman Rushdie! That’s a legendary sighting. The guy spent what, ten years in hiding?

September 13 My screening is tomorrow. Butterflies are unexpectedly absent. I’m waiting for them to start flocking into my upper abdomen. Nothing yet. Oh wait, there they are. That’s right, we have our first press and industry screening today. I fully expect there to be a major bidding war immediately afterwards involving every major international distributor. The winner will deliver a briefcase of cash to my hotel room. Ha -ha. All I can hope is that some people come. We might get some inquiries leading to some sort of deal somewhere down the road, possibly months from now, but this screening is where it all begins. Of course, the filmmakers stay away from these screenings for their own comfort and for the comfort of all involved. I’ll be making my way to the famous Canadian Film Centre barbeque somewhere in Sudbury.

It’s not really in Sudbury. It’s just far away. The burgers should be good. On the way, Joelle sends me a text to inform me that Brian De Palma just walked into my screening. That’s pretty cool.

vancouvershoppingbyappointment.com (604) 644.9951

I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy until Oliver, my producer, informs me that tonight’s premiere is sold out. That’s when the nerves hit me.

September 14 Today is the day. The whole reason I’m here. Things feel more hectic than ever. I meet Joelle very early at The Sutton so we can meet Etan Vlessing who’s going to interview me for The Hollywood Reporter. “Suuuuure, he is” I’m thinking all the way there. I meet Joelle and she hasn’t heard from him. Canceled! I knew it. My fear is misplaced as Etan shows up and turns out to be very nice and a very thoughtful interviewer. He asks me a lot of specific questions about the film which is always nice and we chat all the way out the door. I hope this thing runs.

After a couple of interviews, we’re off to The Whistler Film Festival/First Weekend Club party at The Drake. Everybody loves The Drake. I really like these First Weekend people. I only knew them from their mass emails before but they are all very nice and deeply committed to promoting Canadian films.

I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy until Oliver, my producer, informs me that tonight’s premiere is sold out. That’s when the nerves hit me. Thank god I’m standing at a bar. I try to relax with beer without getting drunk. It doesn’t seem to matter how much I drink, the nerves are preventing me from getting intoxicated. Good. I have a great time hanging out with my cast and crew and the whole Canadian gang.

The premiere is at 9:30pm and I go to the Scotiabank Theatre early to meet our sound designer, John Hazen and Craig Trudeau to check the specs for the screening. It’s already been done by the time I get there and I’m content to trust the TIFF crew and my people that it’s all set up. We wait in the green room. The documentary crew hands me a review and has me read it on camera. It’s a good one. They were nice enough to not hand me a bad review and film my horrified reaction. All right! It’s time.

The theatre is packed. I try to remember to thank everybody that needs thanking for my intro, forget half of them and stumble to my seat. The screening feels good. It’s a packed house with a fun Q&A. It’s great to see almost the entire cast on stage with me. I let them talk as much as possible because I love them so much.

Now that that’s all over with, it’s time to get seriously drunk. Oliver has generously opened the entire bar at The Gladstone and I single-handedly run his tab through the roof. Etan Vlessing shows up at my party as do luminaries from Telefilm and Bruce Sweeney, Scott Smith, Carl Bessai, Kevin Eastwood,

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Greg Middleton, all names most of us here in the west know well. The party is packed and I couldn’t be happier with how the whole festival is going. I feel great tonight. If the whole thing ends here, I will be happy, but there is more to come. As I leave The Gladstone, I find myself unable to walk but fully conscious of the fact that I’m nearly lurching off the sidewalk into traffic.

September 15 I wake up early with my head pounding. I was fully prepared to have my worst hangover of the festival the day after my screening. I don’t have to do anything until noon but it’s impossible to sleep with this hangover and this much going through my head. Terrific! I have another TV interview today. I lie in bed, watching the clock and dreaming about the glorious detox to come when I arrive in Vancouver. It’s back to the Intercontinental for another long day of interviews. It’s already a blur.

I’m lamenting that I’m missing so many great films but I’m also grateful to Joelle for getting me so much press. It’s good to be busy. When I was here with Male Fantasy I had no publicist and things were relatively quiet….and sad… and lonely. At least this time I get to go out and support my fellow Canucks. I saw Carl Bessai’s Cole tonight and was extremely impressed. It shows a corner of Canadian culture we never get to see and there are fantastic performances all around. Speaking of fellow Canadian friends, I head home early so I can get up at the crack of dawn to go see (former Vancouver filmmaker) Reginald Harkema’s Leslie, My Name is Evil.

September 16 YES! I did it! I wake up and I feel great. I head down to the Scotiabank Theatre with clear, bright eyes to be totally blown away by Reg’s movie. I think he’s really found his voice here. I can’t wait to see this one again.

I have time for a quick lunch before my second public screening. I fully expect this place to be empty but I’m pleasantly surprised to see lots of people. Awesome!

There must be some half-decent word-of-mouth going around. The screening, though not as full, is even better in some ways than the premiere. There’s a ton of laughter in all the right places. There’s nothing better than sitting and watching the movie with an audience. It’s a way to finally separate myself from the work and try to enjoy it as though I’m seeing it for the first time.

Tonight is the big deal Directors’ Dinner at The Fifth Social Club. There’s a full glass of wine in front of me before I can even say hello to anyone. In fact, every time I turn around my wine has been topped up. It all happens invisibly.

I’m sloshed in no time and can barely speak coherently to Israeli filmmaker, Doron Paz, who is a very down-to-earth and likable guy.

September 17 Things are winding down around the Sutton. It’s actually easy to get on a computer. This is the time during the festival where things could become melancholy. It’s like the post-Christmas letdown we remember from our childhoods. Most of my cast has gone home. Footsteps echo in the Sutton lobby. Familiar faces from around the world are nowhere to be seen. My head throbs from the excess of wine last night.

I don’t have time to wallow though; I have to rush up to the Match Club for the panel on Creative Financing. Ontario producer Jennifer Jonas has asked me to be on the panel. It’s an incredible honour to be part of an official TIFF panel. I don’t know what the hell I have to say about financing though. Jennifer and the other filmmakers and I agree to not talk about how depressingly hard it is to finance a film. Instead, we decide to share how we got it done. I learn a lot from the audience about financial structure, tax credits, etc. The best I can do is give them all a good pep talk.

We put Gun together with a tiny amount of cash and all the resources we could muster. Start the train rolling, don’t look back and pretty soon people will be running after you to catch up. Never wait. I think the message went over pretty well.

Back at The Sutton, I find myself being introduced to Hussain Amarshi, head of Mongrel Media. I don’t really know what to say and blow any opportunity I may have had. No big deal though. We’ll try Mongrel but I seriously doubt this is the kind of film they’re interested in.

My biggest screw-up of the festival has to be missing my meeting with Adrian Love of Alliance about my next project. That’s one of the main reasons I’m here in Toronto. In the whirlwind after the panel, I didn’t hear my calendar alert. What a jerk I am! Luckily, Adrian is very understanding of the craziness of the festival and reschedules for tomorrow. I wouldn’t blame the guy if he didn’t show up.

In keeping with the “support fellow Canadians” theme of the festival, I head out cont. on page 28 to see Excited, Bruce Sweeney’s latest. It’s a big gala screening REEL WEST NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009

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I like the pace. It keeps me busy and there are some very funny ads out there. Granted, there are days where it sometimes feels like 25 people making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Overall, Vancouver is an amazing city full of talented hard working actors. Recently I started up my own studio, Leap Creative. It has been quite an undertaking but worth all the aggravation of starting up a new business.

It’s a place with my mark on it and has the “vibe” I feel comfortable around. I don’t get the all the sun that I did back in the day but my skin is better. I look younger than all of my friends who are still in LA. Tennis has replaced volleyball and watching my daughter play field hockey and basketball take up any free moments I have. I am one lucky guy.

Beginnings cont. from page 11

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plays the US President’s Chief of Staff ) and Chiwetel. I got to the set and they told me to go to a wardrobe fitting and that I wasn’t a nameless White House guy anymore but that my character was a geologist friend of Adrian’s who worked in the White House. The prep I had done was for naught but now I am working with two of the stars. They kept adding scenes and I got a name and it kept building. It just kept adding up and I was shooting for four months. I wasn’t expecting anything but it doesn’t get much better than to be in a big ass movie and to work close to home. Now I can’t wait to see the film.”

Brouse had worked on a mix of American and Canadian films when she took on the task of casting 2012. She says that casting a major American movie can be tough, particularly if the filmmakers don’t open their minds to the idea of casting Canadians in key roles.

“I wish all the big US films were like this film. Roland and his team were definitely open to hiring the best actors regardless of where they were from.

I am passionate about the pool of actors that I champion but I am realistic as well. I want the best actors to be cast in every role, and with so many more actors living in LA it makes sense that LA is often where the top choice is from.

It was such a pleasure working with an international and experienced team that trusted the experts they had hired, myself included.”

Brouse admits that one of the hazards of casting actors for American films and series is that the actors might do such a good job they will be lured to the US to find work. However, she says that she also feels a sense of accomplishment when the actors move on to bigger things.

“I have witnessed the local pool grow by leaps and bounds. I truly think this is a great training ground for actors. It makes sense with the successful US series that shoot here that the casting directors in Vancouver are always looking for new talent. As a result we are ‘developing’ the next batch of actors who may some day move down to LA in hopes of making it. Personally speaking, finding and developing that talent is my greatest joy. I believe other casting professionals in Vancouver are similarly driven and that is what makes Vancouver such a great place to start out as an actor.”

2012 cont. from page 23

in the very uncomfortable Ryerson. I’m pleased to see that the place is packed, with room only in the balcony. Bruce has really outdone himself with this one. It’s wall to wall funny and full of heart and genuine emotion. This one’s going to stick with me.

September 18 It feels like it’s over already and it is but for the final screening this afternoon. I fully expected it to be completely empty but there’s even more people here than Wednesday. It’s good when your numbers increase over the week. Momentum! We have a little bit. This screening might be the best yet in terms of audience response. As I watch the final credits roll with a little sadness I remember Dr. Seuss’s line, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

I’m happy to see Adrian Love from Alliance show up for our rescheduled meeting. We have a late afternoon beer at The Imperial to talk about my next movie. There’s a long, rough road to travel to sell it to his brass but I promise him a rewrite in four weeks. It seems doable. Alliance would be great for this project.

I leave the meeting and call Oliver to give him an update on our screening.

He casually drops the news to me that an offer for theatrical distribution in Canada is coming in. I’m flabbergasted. I did not expect this in the slightest.

We’ll see if it all works out but I’m happy just to hear that somebody even got it in their head to put my movie into theaters. I’ll be grateful just for that and will leave Toronto a very happy man.

A Gun to the Head cont. from page 27

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LEGAL BRIEFS

Defamation Law changed with BC Case Should it be legal to publicly compare someone to Hitler? Laws of defamation have developed to protect free speech, while balancing the individual’s right to protect their reputation. Defamation is a legal issue that arises often in film and television production.

The law of defamation is primarily concerned with the protection of reputation. It is a complex area of law, and one in which there is a great deal of nuance.

A statement is likely to be considered defamatory if it diminishes someone’s reputation in the estimation of others. It doesn’t matter whether there was intention to defame; it is enough that the defamatory statement was made.

When deciding whether or not a statement is defamatory, a court will consider not only the words spoken, but also the tone of a piece.

Even if the words themselves would not necessarily constitute defamation, a certain tone might cause those words to gain a defamatory meaning.

There are a number of defences available to someone who has published an opinion that might be defamatory, including truth and fair comment. The defence of fair comment is invoked when a statement that would otherwise be defamatory was made honestly, in good faith, without malice and relating to a matter of public interest. You cannot, however, rely on fair comment if you are claiming (mistakenly) to be speaking the truth. In order to attract this defence you must present the statement clearly as comment (i.e. an opinion).

There have been some recent interesting changes to the law of defamation in Canada. Perhaps the most important is the modification of the definition of fair comment in Canadian case law. In WIC Radio Ltd. v Simpson, the Supreme Court of Canada broadened and redefined defence of fair comment.

The case arose out of a radio broadcast by Rafe Mair, a name familiar to most British Columbians.

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likened the actions of Kari Simpson (an activist opposing the introduction of homosexuality-based learning materials in BC schools) to those of Adolf Hitler or the Ku Klux Klan. Simpson sued Mair for defamation. At trial, it was determined that, although Mair’s words were defamatory, they were spoken without malice, and were fair comment on a matter of public interest.

The case was dismissed, but the decision was reversed on appeal.

At the Supreme Court of Canada, it was determined that one of the factors used in determining fair comment needed to be re-defined.

Historically, fair comment could be found where a statement was: (a) a matter of public interest, (b) based on fact, (c) clearly an opinion, and (d) an honestly expressed opinion based on the facts.

The Supreme Court upheld the trial court’s decision regarding the defence of fair comment. The Supreme Court decision modified the last factor in determining fair comment, taking it from a subject to an objective requirement. Thus, it was held that the person publishing the defamatory words did not necessarily need to honestly believe their statement, but rather they simply needed to show that someone could honestly have expressed the opinion in a controversy. This decision significantly lowered threshold for arguing fair comment, and removed any requirement of the court to assess reasonableness.

The effect of this decision has been to clarify the definition of fair comment, but also to broaden the parameters within which filmmakers can express opinion, even if such opinion is, for all intents and purposes, defamatory.

Lori Massini’s practice focuses on the entertainment industry, assisting clients with all aspects of entertainment law from drafting agreements and negotiating the hiring of actors, writers, and directors to advising musicians and recording artists.

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FINAL EDIT Earlier, the Film and Television Forum’s artistic director Michael Ghent announced that the Forum attracted over 1200 delegates. He said the Forum boasted a total of 124 projects which was an increase of 60% over the previous year.

He said that new initiatives included an introduction of informal roundtable discussions that allowed local documentary filmmakers the opportunity to discuss their projects with Canadian and international commissioning editors.

“The Forum fulfilled its mandate of providing networking opportunities and market intelligence with flying colours,” said Ghent. “This year’s event was overflowing with amazing talent and top-notch decision makers from around the world. Our audience of producers and filmmakers are now up-to-speed on the world of filmed entertainment.”

VFS Could Expand

Vancouver’s Stargate Atlantis won a Gemini for Best Achievement in Make-Up

West Wins at Geminis Several western Canadians walked away winners during the two night Industry Gala Gemini Award presentations, held October 19 and 20 in Toronto. The Broadcast Gala will be held on November 14 in Calgary.

Winners in the program categories included Peace Warrior which won the Best Biography Documentary Program award for BC’s Sue Ridout and Sara Darling of Dreamfilm Productions and X-Weighted, which won the Best General/Human Interest Series for Alberta’s Anaïd Productions’ Margaret Mardirossian, Helen Schmidt, Candice Tipton and David Way. Elijah won the Best TV Movie Gemini for Anagram Pictures of BC and Eagle Vision of Manitoba.

The producers were Blake Corbet, Gigi Boyd, Kevin Eastwood, Christopher Leeson, Lisa Meeches and Mary Anne Waterhouse.

Corbet was one of several western winners in the individual categories, winning for Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series for Elijah. The Wild Horse Redemption, from Point Grey Pictures in Vancouver, won awards for Best Original Music Score for a Documentary Program or Series for Daniel Séguin 30

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and Best Photography in a Documentary Program or Series for Ian Kerr and John Collins. Vancouver’s Stargate Atlantis won the award for Best Achievement in Make-Up for Todd Masters, Leah Ehman, Holland Miller, Brad Proctor and Kyla Rose Tremblay and Best Writing in a Dramatic Series for Brad Wright.

Manitoba’s Less Than Kind won the Best Direction in a Comedy Program or Series for Kelly Makin, BC’s Robson Arms won the Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series for Gabrielle Miller while Eric Peterson of Saskatchewan’s Corner Gas won the Earle Grey Award for his contribution to Canadian television.

Vancouver Film Dominates Awards A Vancouver-produced documentary won three major awards at the recent Vancouver International Film Festival. 65 Red Roses won the audience award for Best Canadian Film, the National Film Board’s Best Canadian Documentary Film award and the Women in Film & Television Vancouver Artistic Merit Award, given annually to a B.C. woman filmmaker or performer

of distinction whose work appeared at VIFF. The film was co-directed by Nimisha Mukerjee and Philip Lyall and tells the story of a Vancouver woman’s battle with Cystic Fibrosis. The Women in Film Award went to Mukerjee and co-producer Gillian Lowry. Another BC filmmaker, director Pete McCormack, won the Most Popular Documentary Award for Facing Ali. Quebec director Xavier Dolan won the juried Canwest Award for Best Canadian Feature Film and its $20,000 cash prize for I Killed My Mother (J’ai tué ma mere). The winner was selected from 19 films in competition. Another Quebec film, The Last Act, won the $2,000 cash award for Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film. It was directed by Jan Binsse and David Tougas of Montreal. The competition was open to first-time filmmakers.

The Most Popular Film award was won by the American film Soundtrack For A Revolution directed by Bill Guttentag and the VIFF Environmental Film Audience Award was won by the USA’s At the Edge of the World, directed by Dan Stone.

The festival also announced that the Dragons and Tigers Award for best first film went to Jang Kun-Jae of South Korea for Eighteen.

A spokesperson for Vancouver Film Studios says the studio is considering expansion in sound stage capacity and production support services.

According to spokesperson Tricia Finn, the studio currently has 13 state-of-the-art sound stages, 6 buildings of office space, a lighting and grip rentals service, data and communications network, private gym and on-site helipad. She said the planned expansion comes as the studio celebrates its tenth anniversary.

“We’re very grateful to our customers, our staff, and our financial partners, all of whom have supported us since we opened our doors in 1999, but we don’t intend to stand still”, said McLean Group President and Chief Operating Officer, Jason McLean. “The reputation of Vancouver film crews continues to attract new business and among our plans for the future is the construction of a new very large format sound stage.

The demand for quality space remains high and our intention is to keep pace with the needs of an industry that employs so many British Columbians.”

Finn said the studio is owned and operated by the McLean family of the Vancouver-based McLean Group. She said the studio has grown from a collection of warehouses and commercially-zoned land into an “internationally recognized” production facility. The studio has hosted several mega-budget films including the upcoming 2012, Night at the Museum, The Day the Earth Stood Still, X-Men 3 and Fantastic Four.

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