May - June 2011: Reel West Magazine

Banff World Media Festival 2011 May / June 2011

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Canadian Mail Publication Sales Agreement Number: 40006834

Film, video, internet and digital production in Western CanAda

Zack Rothman’s diary on Crazy8’s Film

Alchemy and Other Imperfections Hot New AMC Series THe

Killing

Trish Dolman documents a man on a mission to save the planet

Eco-Pirate: Paul Watson

Contents

16 Banff building bridges

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The Banff International TV festival has changed its name – it’s now the Banff World Media Festival – and officially

5 bits and bytes

teamed up with the nextMEDIA digital media conference to bridge the gap between traditional TV and multiplatform content. The festival plans to stay on the cutting edge of how entertianment is created and distributed to help the worldwide industry make a positive transition in the face of sweeping changes.

17 PRAIRIE JEWEL

hile Canadian film festivals have become increasingly involved in the business of showing short films, they still W play second fiddle to features. At Yorkton, the oldest film festival in North America is still making filmmakers feel at home on the prairies. And they are bringing shorts into the future with forums and panels that recognize their multi-platform story-telling potential.

18 Passion project It took Vancouver filmmaker Trish Dolman almost a decade to bring the documentary Eco-Pirate: The Story

Production Update

10 Beginnings 12 Behind the Scenes 13 Reel West Profile 14 Question and Answer 15 Expert Witness 27 Legal BrIEFS 30 FINAL EDIT

of Paul Watson to the big screen. During that time she faced financiers fearful of making a doc about such a controversial subject, crew that were wary of the dangers involved in spending months at sea on a ship intent on ramming huge whaling vessels, and the creative challenge of making a film that dug beneath the surface of this media savvy marine activist.

20 Standing in for Seattle

he Killing is a new AMC series that’s receiving rave reviews. And while showrunner Veena Sud originally T wanted to land the series in Seattle where the story is set, the decision to shoot in Vancouver was a creative coup. The city has played a pivotal role in setting the tone for this very different take on a crime drama.

24 CRAZY LOVE

achary Rothman had an idea for a short film but didn’t know how to get funding. In his diary on the making of Z Alchemy and Other Imperfections, he looks back at a year devoted to making the movie and the day he discovered that he could get it made and seen by being one of six winners of the 12th Annual Crazy 8s competition.

Cover: Paul Watson, Eco-Pirate; Photo by Kevin Eastwood Contents: Paul Watson, Eco-Pirate; Photo By Paul Taggart 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. Sales: Randy Holmes. creative Director: Andrew von Rosen. art director: Lindsey Ataya. Photo Editor: Phillip Chin. contributing writer: Cheryl Binning.

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.

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Volume 26, Issue 3. Printed In Canada. To subscribe call 1-888-291-7335 or visit our website at www.reelwest.com. Reel West welcomes feedback from our readers, via email at editorial@reelwest.com or by fax at 604-451-7305. All correspondence must include your name, address, and daytime telephone number.

Reel West May / June 2011

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Production update

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

Cartoon Network’s newest live-action scripted comedy series Level Up. The cast includes (L-R) Lyle (Jessie T. Usher), Wyatt (Gaelan Connell), Angie (Aimee Carrero) and Dante (Connor del Rio). Photo c/o Cartoon network

B.C. lands Cartoon Network Comedy Vancouver has said a fond farewell to CW’s Smallville, which ended a tenyear run, and the Stargate franchise, that shot for an impressive 14 years.

But the city has also recently welcomed a new series, Level Up. Level Up is a live-action scripted comedy for the Cartoon Network (yes, the channel isn’t just commissioning animation these days) that began shooting in May and continues through to August.

It is the story of high schoolers (Gaelan Connell, Jessie T. Usher,

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Connor del Rio, Aimee Carrero) who open a portal from a video game, resulting in game characters leaking into the real world. The group now finds themselves balancing their everyday lives with the extraordinary things that show up in their town.

Level Up is created and written by Derek Guiley and David Schneiderman (both credited for Chasing Liberty) and executive produced by Peter Murrieta (Wizards of Waverly Place, Hope and Faith).

The show will launch as a 90-min-

ute movie in late fall and serve as a platform to promote a new half-hour series scheduled for spring 2012.

Level Up has Peter Lhotka as producer, Jim O’Grady as production manager, David McLennan and Robert Duncan as 1st assistant directors, Karen Lo as locations manager, and Rhonda Legge as production coordinator.

Several long-running series are now back in production in B.C. Season five of the science fiction series Eureka began shooting in

early April and will continue through to the end of August. The SyFy series is set in a small town inhabited by genius scientists who work for a technological research facility. Cast includes Colin Ferguson, Erica Cerra, Joe Morton and Salli Richardson. The executive producers are Jaime Paglia, Bruce Miller, Todd Sharp and Robert Petrovicz. Eureka has Rick Maguire as DOP, Greg Venturi and Paolo Venturi as production designers, Brad Jubenvill as production manager, Jared Howitt as production coordinator, John Alexander as locations manager, Casey Nelson-Zutter, Desiree Young, and Shane Lennox as assistant locations managers, Tim Storvick as SPFX coordinator and Corinne Clark and Jennifer Page doing casting.

A sixth season of the detective comedy drama Psych shoots through to end of September. The USA Network series is executive produced by Kelly Kulchak, Chris Henze, and Melvin Damski. Psych has Gordon Mark as producer, Scott Williams as DOP, Eric Norlin as production designer, Matthew Chipera as production manager, Almaz Tadege as production coordinator, Deb Bose, and Ritch Renaud as location managers, Bob McQuarrie and Sean Finnan as assistant locations managers, Wayne Szybunka as SPFX coordinator and Candice Elzinga doing casting.

Season four of the SyFy/Space series Sanctuary is in production through to late August. Sanctuary follows a scientist, and her team of experts who run the Sanctuary, an organization that seeks out extraor-

Reel West May / June 2011

dinarily-powered creatures and people, known as Abnormals, and tries to help and learn from them, while also having to contain the more dangerous ones. The series stars Amanda Tapping, Robin Dunne, Chris Heyerdahl, Agam Darshi, and Ryan Robbins. The executive producers are Damian Kindler, Amanda Tapping, and Martin Wood with George Horie as co-executive producer. Sanctuary has Bridget McGuire as production designer, George Horie as production manager, Elaine Fleming as production coordinator, Darren Marcoux as SPFX Coordinator and Sean Cossey doing casting.

Two MOWs recently wrapped production in Vancouver: a crime drama called Recoil and a science fiction movie titled Snowmageddon.

Recoil stars Steve Austin (The Expendables) as an ex-cop whose life is ripped apart when his family is viciously murdered. He then makes it his life’s passion to find those responsible and serve up his own kind of justice.

John Sullivan, who wrote the horror Fear of the Dark, penned the script.

Recoil shot in April and May and

was directed by Terry Miles and executive produced by Jack Nasser with Durey Shevar as supervising producer and Tara Cowell-Plain as line producer. Recoil had Bruce Chun as DOP, Tony Devenyi as production designer, Tara Cowell-Plain as production manager, Anna-Marie Plosz and Melyssa Rose as production coordinators, Jamie Lake as locations manager, Tony Lazarowich as SPFX coordinator and Candice Elzinga doing casting.

Snowmageddon , a SyFy TV movie, that shot mid-April to early May, is about a mystical snow globe that makes very bad things happen when it is shaken. The MOW stars David Cubitt, Laura Harris, and Michael Hogan.

Snowmageddon was executive produced by Tom Berry and Lisa Hansen, produced by John Prince and directed by Sheldon Wilson. It had Meil Cervin as DOP, Renne Read as production designer, Brian Dick as production manager, Merewyn Wagner as production coordinator, Karen Zanac as locations manager, John Rollins as assistant locations manager and Al Benjamin as SPFX Coordinator. n

Seeking Storyville Submissions

The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is now accepting submissions for its Storyville Vancouver documentary co-financing pitch forum.

Storyville Vancouver was created by the festival in association with Knowledge, BC’s public broadcaster, to stimulate the development, co-financing and co-production of creative documentaries. The forum is named after Knowledge Network’s Storyville documentary strand.

A limited number of creative, feature length documentary projects will be pre-selected to be pitched to international commissioning editors at the forum.

Broadcasters already confirmed include Nick Fraser (BBC), Mette Hoffman Meyer (DRTV), Axel Arno (SVT Documentaries), and Murray Battle (Knowledge).

Projects must be at least a TV hour, and can be submitted by filmmakers from across the Pacific Northwest.

The deadline to apply is August 12th, while the session takes place on September 27th, during VIFF’s TV & Film Forum.

Details and registration are at www.viff.org/forum Reel West May / June 2011

Bits and Bytes Pacific Gets Devine A new Canadian multi-platform distribution company is coming to Vancouver. According to Zanne Devine, who produced last year’s comedy feature Easy A, Pacific Northwest Pictures will acquire, produce and release Canadian filmed entertainment through all distribution platforms, including theatrical, DVD, on demand, cable and broadcast television, and online. Devine said she will split her time between Los Angeles and Vancouver. She said Emily Alden will be running the day-to-day operations of the company as Vice President of Production and Development.

“We are so pleased that PNP is now up and running,” said Devine, who was born and raised in Toronto. “We spent a considerable amount of time in the strategic phase, analyzing the need for and the ability of the Canadian marketplace to support a new distribution company. We were pleasantly surprised by the outpouring of support for a Vancouver-based distribution company.

Zanne said PNP’s initial slate of films for 2011 will include the urban thriller Charlie Zone starring Amanda Crew and directed in Halifax by Michael Melski and the Carl Bessai comedy Sisters&Brothers starring Crew, Glee’s Cory Monteith and Dustin Milligan. Also, the Vancouver-shot Rain Down which stars Jessica Hill and features the debut of director Gavin Sanford and You Are Here the first film by Toronto-based video artist Daniel Cockburn.

In addition to Easy A, Devine recently produced the HBO drama Cinema Verite, starring Diane Lane, Tim Robbins and James Gandolfini. She also executive produced the Walt Disney/Touchstone Pictures’ film The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher and House of D, David Duchovny’s directorial debut, starring Robin Williams and Tea Leoni.

IMAX Gets Money IMAX Corporation recently announced it has received a commitment letter from Wells Fargo Capital Finance Corporation Canada that expands its senior secured credit facility to up to $110 million, replacing its previous $75 million facility. A spokesperson said the facility expansion will include the participation of Export Development Canada (EDC) for $55 million.

Richard L. Gelfond, the CEO of Imax said the credit will consist of up to a $60 million revolving term loan with no scheduled repayments and up to a $50 million asset-based revolving loan. He said the amended credit facility will mature on October 31, 2015.

“Upon completion, this newly expanded and extended credit agreement reflects the positive growth trends in our company, and we are pleased to continue our strong relationship with Wells Fargo Capital Finance and Export Development Canada,” said Gelfond. “This larger facility, coupled with the strong cash-generating nature of our business, will be used for general corporate purposes, as well as allow us to pursue our strategic initiatives and the continued global expansion of our company.”

Gelfond said that as of March 31there were 528 IMAX theatres (408 commercial, 120 institutional) operating in 46 countries.

West Gets UltraAVX Cineplex Entertainment recently announced that western Canada will get a tenth and eleventh auditorium equipped with Ultra AVX in April and May. The latest theatres to sign up for the wall-to-wall screens are SilverCity Coquitlam Cinemas and SilverCity Metropolis Cinemas.

Cineplex spokesperson Pat Marshall says that the screens are significantly larger than traditional screens. She says that the Christie Solaria 2230 DLP Cinema® projectors provide “a superior digital presentation projecting crystal clear images onto the big screen. The system is further enhanced with the addition of RealD 3D technology enabling us to present the latest 3D movies. Complimenting the stunning on-screen picture is a superb digital surround sound system featuring the latest in Dolby digital sound technology. Guests will also love the new reserved seating option especially when they settle in to the extra-wide high-back rocker seats. With UltraAVX, you preselect your own seat, you experience captivating sound with up to 7.1 Dolby digital surround sound and vibrant imagery on a screen that extends wall-to-wall.”

Upcoming movies that will be offered in the UltraAVX auditorium at SilverCity Coquitlam Cinemas and SilverCity Metropolis Cinemas include Thor in 3D (opening May 6th) and Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides also in 3D (opening May 20th).

Other western Canadian cinemas hosting the system include BC’s Galaxy Cinemas Chilliwack, four in Calgary and three in Edmonton and one in Saskatoon.

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The Whistler Film Festival is now taking submissions for the 2011 festival, and has a number of deadlines to watch for.

Now entering its eleventh year, the Whistler Film Festival will present up to 80 films from Canada and around the world, with up to $50,000 in prizes available.

June 6th is the early bird deadline to receive a discount on the festival’s submission fee. Short films entries are due by July 4th and the

feature film submission deadline is July 18th.

Submissions can be made at www.withoutabox.com and details are available on the festival website at www.whistlerfilmfestival.com The festival has also launched a fundraising campaign to raise $5 million to convert Whistler’s Rainbow Theatre into a world-class stateof-the-art facility that will serve as a permanent home for the festival and its programs.

5/5/2011 1:35:47 PM

Tricia Braun in Big Muddy

Saskatchewan-shot Short Plays at Cannes Big Muddy, a short film shot in Saskatchewan and directed by Jefferson Moneo and produced by Moneo and Brian Paccione, was selected to screen at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, which ran May 11 to 22. It was part of the Cinéfondation Selection, which is presenting 16 graduate films representing eleven countries and three continents. Moneo and Paccione are both Columbia University graduate students.

Big Muddy follows Andy, a teenage outlaw, as he looks for a way out of the criminal lifestyle created by his mother and her good-for-nothing boyfriend. When a mysterious drifter shows up at the gang’s hideout, Andy comes face to face with his long forgotten past.

The title ‘Big Muddy’ comes from an area of Badlands in Southern Saskatchewan, Canada that has historically served as a hideout for horse thieves and bandits.

Big Muddy was shot over the summer of 2010 at Moneo’s abandoned family homestead in Crane Valley, Saskatchewan.

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Reel West january / February 2011

Gig Morton, Brendan Meyer and Matreya Fedor star in YTV’s Mr. Young Photo c/o Corus Entertainment

More Mr. Young

Vancouver-shot comedy series Mr. Young has been picked up for a second season by broadcaster YTV, with principle photography set to begin this July.

Produced by Thunderbird Films, the series had its premiere on YTV on March 1st, and quickly became one of the network’s top rated series.

Filmed in front of a live studio audience in Vancouver, Mr. Young stars Brendan Meyer as 14-year-old boy genius Adam Young who heads back to high school – as a teacher. Being the same age as his students, Adam finds himself trapped between two worlds – coping with his co-workers, who happen to be twice his age, while teaching his best friend, the girl he has a crush on, and the class bully. “We knew that Mr. Young would be a hit and we are thrilled that the series has taken off and found a following so quickly,� said Jocelyn Hamilton, Vice President, Original Programming, Kids, Comedy, Drama. “The show is fun and wacky, but most of all, it’s relatable to our audience; its fan base is constantly growing and is comprised of both kids and their parents. Mr. Young is a great addition to our successful line-up of comedy programming.�

Mr. Young airs on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT on YTV. The series also features an innovative digital media component which encourages viewers to play a trivia game while watching the broadcast, with answers found in the episode.

Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana Enterprises distributes the series internationally, while Nelvana and Thunderbird co-distribute in the USA. Reel West May / June 2011

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TELETOON offers $10,000 Prize Aspiring and established animators can upload their series pilots to TELETOON At Night’s Pilot Project website, for the chance to win a $10,000 prize and a trip to the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

To enter the contest, animators submit a five minute original, funny and unique animation or animation-related short film, which will be voted on by users of www.teletoonatnight.com.

The program has previously greenlit ten projects, including

Angora Napkin from Mugisha Enterprises of PEI; Celebutard Nation from Nelvana; Chinatown Cops, from Portfolio Entertainment, and Drop Dead Gorgeous from Quebec’s Cinemaria.

TELETOON At Night is the channel’s programming block for teens and adult audiences who have an appetite for smart and culturally topical comedy shows.

Submission details are at www. teletoonatnight.com

Photo c/o Hot Docs

Vancouver’s Family Portrait takes Hot Docs Best Canadian Feature Award

Vancouver director Julia Ivanova and producers Boris Ivanov and Mike Jackson walked away from Hot Docs with their wallets just a little bit heavier after winning the festival’s $15,000 Best Canadian Feature Award for their feature, Family Portrait In Black and White.

The film tells the story of a woman raising a number of abandoned, bi-racial children in a ramshackle house in a small Ukrainian town, who must battle daily racism in a country where almost everyone is white.

The Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature was shared

by At Night, They Dance, from Quebec directors Isabelle Lavigne and Stéphane Thibault, and The Guantanamo Trap, a co-production between Switzerland, Canada and Germany by director Thomas Wallner.

Documentary’s Don Haig Award went to Toronto’s Rama Rau and The Lindalee Tracey Award, honouring an emerging Canadian filmmaker, went to Quebec’s Alexandre Hamel.

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Reel West May / June 2011

The Definitive Producing Workbook An interactive documentary from The Goggles (inset), Welcome to Pine Point uncovers a place frozen in time and explores how our communities do more than define we who are. Photo taken from production

Welcome To Pine Point Wins Two Webbys

Vancouver-based media creators The Goggles – Mike Simons and Paul Shoebridge – walked away with two Webby awards in early May for their interactive online NFB documentary Welcome to Pine Point.

Welcome to Pine Point picked up the Webby prizes for Documentary: Individual Episode Online Film and Video and for Netart in the websites category.

The project, which can be viewed at nfb.ca, tells the story of a company mining town in the Northwest Territories that was completely torn down after the mine closed.

Welcome to Pine Point was produced by Rob McLaughlin, Adam Neilson and Loc Dao at the NFB’s Pacific and Yukon Centre in Vancouver.

“That a small Canadian agency can be recognized by the global community for work that is relevant and groundbreaking is humbling and exhilarating. It is an affirmation of our commitment to the creators and artists, like Mike and Paul, who are fashioning the art and entertainment forms of the future by exploring new ways of telling our stories that can touch audiences around the world,” said Tom Perlmutter, Government Film Commissioner and Chairperson of the National Film Board of Canada.

The team beat out Arcade Fire’s The Wilderness Downtown, among many other competitors from around the world.

Reel West May / June 2011

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Bill Vigars

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Reel West May / June 2011

Beginnings

Bill Vigars Bill Vigars is easily one of the most interesting men in BC’s film industry. He is certainly the only person who has been played in films by two different actors, one of them being Oscar-winner Robert Duvall in The Terry Fox Story.

I

n the early 1950’s Attention Deficit Disorder was known as “Don’t hang out with that kid, he’s a bad influence” or my mother walking towards the front door muttering “the police are here again. What did you do this time?”

Thus did I start out in life. It was a life that would lead to working in a carnival in my teenage years and, in a very circuitous route, to hanging around another circus: the film kind, not the lions and tigers and bears kind.

I have spent 17 years of my life wearing a “publicist” hat for film and TV productions. It is the longest job I ever had although it is broken down into six week to six month runs. The first thing you find out getting into this business is that it is not far from the world of the stereotypical image of a traveling carnival. It is the life of a gypsy. You never know where your next job is coming from and you are working with some of the strangest and often nicest people you could imagine.

(Off the top, I would like to mention that I was almost 21 when I graduated from grade 12. Making $500 a week promoting dances in the 60’s combined with being expelled from various schools for dumb stunts slowed the education process. I did not go to college or university, a route that I would not recommend for anyone wanting to pursue a career in Public Relations these days.

It is a different world now, and employers want a piece of paper. Hopefully you possess the thick skin and positive personality required for the job.)

How the hell did a good Catholic boy get led astray into the world of artists, actors and egos? Well, it helped to be a bad Catholic boy. I picked up many bad habits that came in handy later in life. Coming from a family influenced by the my mother’s Irish side, I grew up surrounded by fun-loving relatives who lived their lives to the fullest, usually passing on from cirrhosis of the liver. Well before my teens my grandmother’s friends often commented that I had “kissed the Blarney Stone”, indicating that I had the gift of gab.

In high school I started promoting bands and running dances in my home town in southern Ontario. A part time job as a newscaster on the local radio station was short lived due to stunts such as forgetting to put paper in the teletype machine while out at a party on the night shift and having to read news stories out of the local paper, or mispronouncing words such as Vinh Phuc’s Me Linh District and Ton Duc Thang (words that came over the teletype machine during the Vietnam War). Selling advertising for the station and covering the local city council paid better anyway.

At 22 I had one child on the way with a second arriving thirteen months later.

Fatherhood meant growing up fast and putting the nose to the grindstone. I had three mouths to feed. I worked at the radio station, drove a cab and handled PR for the local Junior A Hockey team and the Dominion Automobile Association.

By 24 I was the younger person in the town’s history to be elected to the local city council and was Manager of the St. Thomas Chamber of Commerce.

In 1975, with eyes on becoming the youngest mayor of my home town, I came to the realization that I would probably have to wait 10 years for that job and patience and sitting still were never strong points with me. So I did what I never imagined I would do and moved from my home town to take a similar position with the Welland, Ontario Chamber of Commerce. Jump ahead five years and three jobs and an early midlife crisis when fate led me to take a job with the Ontario Division of the Canadian Cancer Society as Director of Public Relations and Fund Raising. It was a move that would dramatically change my life.

Shortly after my arrival, my boss came by the office and threw a three Reel West May / June 2011

paragraph letter on my desk simply saying “there’s some kid with one leg going to run across Canada. Go see what you can do for him.” Thus began my adventure with Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope. By some random act, or possibly destined fate, my background as a promoter, optimist and high energy individual brought me together with a young man who would become Canada’s greatest hero.

I spent three and a half months on the road with him in 1980. I was part of the team with his best friend Doug Alward and his brother Darrell. My job was to get the word out about what he was doing by designing and implementing a strategy that would take him from the obscurity of the lonely roads of eastern Canada, to the front pages of the world. It was the adventure of a life time. I shared that summer with my children who travelled with me for much of the journey and I was able to bring my talents as a promoter to the table. I acted as PR guy, dad, joker, coach and co-coordinator. It put the rest of my career in perspective. Over the subsequent years any time a problem arose on set it was easy to dismiss. The film and TV biz was, in fact, not curing cancer.

So, from the Marathon of Hope to “Rolling”, “Action”, Cut.” How does one make that transition? Following the abrupt end of the run I drifted from one job to another until in 1985 the phone rang and someone asked me if I was interested in handling publicity for a CTV TV program called Night Heat. I said “Why not? I have never done that before and it sounds interesting.”

Interesting does not do justice to the world which I entered. It was exciting, fun, exhilarating and working for five years on the hottest series in Canadian TV at the time was a completely different world to live in. The stars, Scott Hyland and Jeff Wincott, were welcomed at every entertainment, sporting and social event in Canada and, as the publicist; I got to go along for the ride A run of other short lived Toronto-based series, and the combination of working with the egos of actors and the realization that I was going to kill myself living that life led me to give three days notice for a move to the west coast. When I arrived I was near penniless.

I applied for a job as chef on a sport fishing boat, anchored on the Queen Charlotte Islands. I had lied and said I was a chef. I got the job and showed up carrying the New York Times Cook Book and a melon scooper. Other than cooking for my family I had never worked in a kitchen before. I pulled it off and by the end of the summer the resumes that I had handed out in Victoria landed me a job as Director of Communications for the Ministry of Small Business, Tourism and Culture. After three years in that position I realized that politicians’ egos were more draining than actors, and the actors paid better.

Since my return to the insanity of the world of TV and film I have realized I am where I am meant to be and that even at my age I can handle the job and I finally have the patience and understanding to pull it off. I no longer am hassled by young actors. I think they are dealing with “dad” and don’t want to piss him off.

I have enjoyed working with the likes of Peter O’Toole, Donald Sutherland, Ed Asner, Richard Dean Anderson, Meatloaf and Joely Collins. I have learned to ignore the individuals who bring their bloated egos to set. I have found the bigger the name, the nicer they are.

Lessons learned: time heals all wounds, never be afraid to jump into the unknown, nothing is as bad as it seems and you can re-invent yourself as many times as you wish. n 11

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Reel West May / June 2011

Natalie Ainsworth, Breakdown Services

Behind the scenes

Breakdown Services F No Breakdown for Breakdown Services

orty years after Hamilton-raised Gary Marsh launched Breakdown Services in the US the process is used internationally to cast feature films, television shows, commercials and theatre. In the 1980s it spawned a Vancouver office, one that has been a strong partner in the work of breaking down scripts for filmmakers and casting directors.

Marsh says that when he first came up with the idea of a third party reading a script and creating synopsis that were distributed he encountered lots of resistance. “Casting directors initially felt like they were ceding control of the process,” he says. “It took time to overcome this reticence but once they realized that they had the opportunity to proof the ‘breakdown’ before it was released, it removed a huge barrier. This didn’t happen overnight however. It took about six years to change the thinking of how business in LA could be conducted. With every new idea, I have encountered the same obstacles. This is a very personal and creative business that change is threatening. I have grown to understand this and take care in making sure we don’t take away the control. We just facilitate the process.”

In 1988, Marsh called Natalie Ainsworth, who was working at the now defunct BC Motion Picture Association and asked her to start up a version of the company in Vancouver. He says she was the right choice because she was already promoting the industry.

When I interviewed Natalie she was working for the BC Motion Picture Association so she already was tuned into promoting the entertainment industry in Canada,” he says. “When Breakdown opened in Vancouver we had just 15 agents but I saw that it was becoming a Mecca for production. I wanted someone who looked at this as more than a job who was willing to put who she was into the position. Natalie has the ability to convey enormous real empathy. She really cares about the industry in British Columbia as well as what is going on with our affiliate in Toronto. Natalie is real and she cares and the agents and casting directors in Canada trust her because of it and therefore, they trust Breakdown.”

Ainsworth says that her 23 years in the business of breaking down scripts has seen much change. “When we first started Breakdown Services Canada the breakdowns were hand delivered and faxed out to our clients at night, but now breakdowns are immediately available to talent representatives who sub-

mit client’s pictures, resume, and demo reels from the database that Breakdown maintains for all talent representatives.”

The local office worked with the US office to form key alliances with professional Canadian groups and is working with Actors Access to keep the acting clientele competitive. “We have created an affiliation with Converse Smith Communications in Toronto to assist in the dissemination of casting information across Canada. In addition to all regions in North America, Breakdown Services has affiliates in Australia, England and Italy. We can now work around the world to cast 95% of feature films as well as television shows, commercials, theater and other projects that require actors. I also think the creation of Actors Access has been an important part of the process in that it allows for actors to update their pictures, resume and demo reels for use by their agent and to submit for specific roles posted at the request of casting directors. There is no charge for an actor to register and establish their account on Actors Access. By doing so, it puts their profile into the Breakdown Services database which is searched by casting directors when they are searching the database looking for specific talent.

Ainsworth says that since its inception Breakdown Services has developed many other services for the industry, including the Virtual Channel Network that uses the power of the Internet to transmit original content developed specifically for members of the entertainment community. She says Breakdown Services has never ceased to deliver the most useful, cutting edge tools to the casting world. “Last year proved that as the company introduced Eco-Cast, a virtual pre-read audition system. This gamechanging creation allows casting directors to see actors audition from anywhere in the world in the comfort of their homes or wherever they may be.”

Ainsworth says that her almost quarter century of involvement with Breakdown has been memorable. “We are supported by Laura Young and Marion Demetris and I am thankful for their dedication, work ethic and all around good personalities. We love what we do as it is ever changing, exciting and driven by the desire to be as good as we can be. Throughout the past 23 years it has been my pleasure to be part of this business but my biggest accomplishment has been the balance I have been able to bring to my life with work and family. I look back knowing that building up this company in Canada was truly the best of times.” n

Profile

Director David Winning David Winning has an amazing resume, one that includes directing 14 features, 21 series and over 100 TV credits. His directing work ranges from Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda to ABC’s Dinotopia and from the Fox feature Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie to the HBO thriller Exception to the Rule. Over the course of his prolific career he has received over 60 international awards.

Home town Calgary, Alberta Best day My tenth birthday. I woke up to my present: a $40 Super 8 Kodak movie camera. Sure it’s corny but you really remember stuff like this. It was a Saturday.

Worst day My father died when I was 29, and the night before of course, we had argued. The reason I’m even in the business and the reason really for my whole career, is because my dad supported me and allowed it to happen. And believed.

Most memorable working experience Too many – we’re really insanely lucky to work every day (maybe not some years) doing something as ridiculously fun as making movies.

If I won an Oscar I would thank My wonderful 88-year-old sweetheart saint of a mother and then immediately shave my head. It was a bet I made as a teenager.

My latest five year plan To be happy and employed. I’ve always liked to be so incredibly busy doing as many exciting different projects as possible that I don’t have time to plan. I might have planned it that way.

Reel West May / June 2011

13

question and Answer

Susane Bier, Director of In a Better World Photo: Per Arnesen, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Susanne Bier D

enmark’s Susanne Bier wasn’t the first foreign filmmaker to be brought to Hollywood. Holland’s Paul Verhoeven, Sweden’s Lasse Hallstrom, Taiwan’s Ang Lee and Australia’s Peter Weir had all established themselves in their home countries before crossing an ocean or two to make American movies. However, she is thus far the only one to have gone back home and won an Academy Award. Bier had been nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for After the Wedding when the producers of Things We Lost in the Fire went looking for a director for the Vancouver-shot movie. She completed the 14

Oscar-winning Director

film and returned home to make the Danish movie In a Better World. The film won this year’s foreign film Oscar for Denmark and Bier.

It stars Mikael Persbrandt as Anton, a doctor who commutes between his home in Denmark and the Sudan. In Africa, he is a hero who regularly has to stand down tribesmen intent on destroying the villages in which he works. At home, he is a separated father of two whose eldest son (Markus Rygaard) is, ironically, a victim of school bullies, who has joined forces with another boy to wreak revenge. The movie opened in western Canada in April and May. Bier was interviewed at last year’s

Toronto International Film Festival

by Reel West’s Ian Caddell.

Is it easier to get a film made in Denmark or in Hollywood or is it a different set of experiences that can’t be compared?

“The movie industry in Denmark is subsidized like an arts support system.

To some extent that makes it easier to make movies (than as a director for hire in the US.) I think that if you were making a fairly cheap movie in the States it would be somewhat easy to do but the amount of artistic integrity is related to the budget and even if you are Martin Scorsese, if someone has money in the film they are concerned

about what you are doing. But I made this movie in Denmark because I had an explosion of creativity. I had been sitting in airplanes and having many meetings and I knew that I had to get a movie made. So I went home and made one.”

So the vision of the film that you had when you started out is what is on screen? There was no one saying you ‘can’t do this?’

“Yes, I didn’t have that problem but I also don’t have a very fixed vision of things before I start out. It somehow builds itself up while I am doing it. It defines itself in the process.”

They must have been happy to have you back after After the Wedding?

Reel West May / June 2011

“I think so. I think they were happy to have me make another film. It’s a strange thing. Sometimes you guys (the media) want to think of us (foreign filmmakers who come to the US) as being outsiders and I don’t think of myself that way. I don’t think of myself as someone who has done this film or this film I think of the future in terms of ‘I have this in development and this other idea for something. Who should I cast?’ I am much more interested in the process of making the next movie rather than reflecting on my position in the film industry. I think it’s lethal to concern yourself about where you are in a hierarchy.”

This film has buzz in Toronto and apparently did very well when it opened in Denmark? Are you surprised?

“I am very happy it’s like that. It opened in Denmark three weeks ago and this week they (the box office numbers) actually went up. So I think that’s a good sign. It’s amazing for a serious film. I am delighted. I did what I wanted to do and people actually like it. I am not very good at enjoying it (success) though. I am telling myself I need to enjoy it. But I also keep telling myself I need to move on to the next film and not look back.”

When you talk about ‘the next film,’ there are not really a lot of similarities between After the Wedding and this film and Things We Lost in

over and over again but that might be their inner compass telling them to do that. But you can’t make any film just because people expect something or don’t expect something. If you look at great painters you often see them doing the same thing over and over again and yet you still find it fascinating and you also see painters try different things and that feels right to them. The thing that is never right is starting to do something just to fulfill other people’s expectations. That is definitely the wrong way to go.”

What’s next?

“I would like to do a comedy again?”

Where would it be filmed?

“I’ve got a Danish comedy which is a real fun script that I developed but I am not sure yet.”

Shooting in Africa is very ambitious. You had a lot of amateur actors? Was that difficult?

“We had some actors and some nonactors. It’s very hard but the film doesn’t work unless you do that. It’s challenging but it’s fun in some exciting way. When things get difficult it can be very exciting.”

And how did the professional actors feel working with the non-actors?

“I think that good professional actors are keen to make scenes work and I don’t think they reflect so much on the background of the other people in the scene. They also have to work

Expert witness

Rachel Mcadams

“In animated work there is a great amount of freedom in terms of getting to come up with stuff on the spot and improvising but, at least from my perspective, what is lost in these projects is how difficult it is to articulate any sort of emotional gear shift with your voice. Playing the comedy is one thing but there is a real skill shown by any actor who can effectively do this consistently. It is hard for me.” Actor Will Ferrell on making his feature film voice-over debut in Megamind.

“I can’t stand fake waking up scenes where people act like they are all groggy. One of my first plans for the movie was to show the little girl actually waking Ryan’s character up and the line producer and the bond companies said ‘you can’t do that. That s crazy.’ I said ‘we have to do it if for nothing else than for experimental reasons.’ So Ryan

“I am delighted. I did what I wanted to do and people actually like it...”

and I were in that house that night and we had a lot of Budweisers and he passed out on the lazy boy chair. We had two cameras ready to go and at 5 am me and my director of photography were ready to go. We sent (child actor) Faith (Wladyka) in and she woke him up and that was our take.” Director Derek Cianfrance on keeping it real on Blue Valentine starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.

the Fire. Do you make those choices to avoid being stereotyped?

“I don’t think about it. When I get scripts I tend to get dramatic scripts.

I don’t get comedies or genre films. I would like in a way to make a genre movie but I do really try not to involve myself in people s expectations.

You can’t. You have to work from inside out and once you start thinking ‘what do they want from me?’ you start confusing your own inner compass with people’s expectations and that distinct sort of direction goes away. I don’t want to do that.”

So the choices are made based solely on what you see as being the best film for you and not about expectation?

“It (her next film) won’t be about what people want because I don’t think that works for anyone. I know some people make the same movie Reel West May / June 2011

with kids who are not actors for obvious reasons.”

You took a lot of risks here, particularly putting so much emphasis on the abilities of these two Danish boys. Would you do that again?

“You have to o what you think is right. The thing is once you become overly concerned with making mistakes, rather than being excited about experimenting, then you get into trouble. They probably auditioned 20 kids and then I auditioned 12 of them myself but I knew very quickly that I liked these two and the thing about them is that it is not just casting boys for a certain part it is also casting a set of friends and children and parents. I knew who I wanted the adult actors to be so it has to be kids who could convince us that they were their children.” n

“You get your foot in the door and you feel like it’s your only shot to stay there When I took my first television job it was like ‘I have the weight of the world on my shoulders and I have to make it work or I never will get another job.’ That first job was a three day part and I didn’t think there was much I could with it. It was probably a good thing you look at it that way because you rise to the occasion.” Actor Rachel McAdams recalling the small part she played on the Canadian show The Famous Jett Jackson “In all honesty it was strange. (The Hangover director) Todd Phillips took a chance in plucking me out of the stand-up scene. No one knows a movie is going to be that big and I am thrilled it happened. It was so big. In fact that we were shooting Due Date in Albuquerque on Halloween last year.I didn’t know anyone and I went with a couple of people from work and I was just dressed like normal and there was a guy dressed like the guy from The Hangover and I said ‘you are dressed as me. I am the real person.’

And he goes ‘yeah, right’ and walked away.” Actor Zach Galifianakis on the success of The Hangover.

“That was one of the luckiest things that ever happened to me and I am going to milk that ride. II am going to be doing it, God-willing, when I am 70. I will be doing that at auto shows if things go right.” Actor Tina Fey on doing impressions of Sarah Palin.

Excerpted from interviews done by Reel West editor Ian Caddell.

15

Banff Building Bridges The long-running Banff television festival is celebrating its 32nd year with a name change and the introduction of a digital media programming stream.

Story by

Cheryl Binning The revamped Banff World Media Festival has officially merged with nextMEDIA, a five-year-old Banff-based digital media conference. The combined event runs June 12 to 15 in Banff, Alberta.

“The festival has been injected with a new set of lungs,” says the Banff World Media Festival’s director of Content and Programs Amy Davies.

The digital media stream is a critical move to ensure that the internationally renowned TV festival keeps pace with the sweeping changes taking place in how content is created and delivered.

“Including nextMEDIA as a part of the Banff TV Festival mirrors how the industry itself is moving,” says nextMEDIA executive director Mark Greenspan. “Industry convergence is happening so this is the logical next step.”

And the future of media is the overriding theme of the Banff World Media Festival conference program this year. Numerous sessions, panels, and keynotes will explore the latest trends in digital and interactive production, while also showcasing cutting edge traditional content creation.

While TV content commissioned by broadcasters is still the “bread and butter” of the industry, cross-platform media represents the future.

“The challenge for broadcasters and producers is how to integrate digital initiatives into existing TV initiatives,” says Greenspan. “Banff is bridging the gap.”

He points out that the festival recognizes the importance of take a positive look at how digital transmission is impacting television.

“We want to take a proactive approach to how TV is changing and make sure that all the areas of growth are represented and portrayed in an optimistic, not a defensive light,” says Greenspan.

If broadcasters and producers dig their heels in and insist on playing by the old rules until change is forced on them, it will serve only to stifle innovation.

“Instead, the festival is exploring how to promote effective and efficient in16

novation within the TV industry,” says Greenspan.

And one of the best ways to do this is to look for opportunities arising where traditional TV and digital media market silos collide.

“For example, advertising and content is colliding,” says Davies. “So branded entertainment as a means to finance digital properties is a market opportunity the conference is exploring by brining in media buyers and advertisers working in this arena.”

The nextMEDIA program at the festival includes sessions on locationbased marketing, subscription-based services, social media strategy, gamification of media properties, creating hit online comedy and building and marketing mobile apps. Execs attending this year’s event include Rob Segal, Chairman and CEO of Virgin Gaming, Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer at Netflix, and Donagh O’Malley, Global Head of Content at Google TV. In addition to conference programming dealing with cross-platform opportunities, teaming up with nextMEDIA also brings a new set of delegates and new market sectors to the festival.

“The Banff TV festival traditionally attracts TV producers, writers, directors and broadcasters,” says Greenspan. “NextMedia brings in a mix of transmedia producers, technology companies, investors and digital ad agencies.”

Now this eclectic mix of content creators, financiers and distributors will be rubbing shoulders at the same panels and parties.

“Banff will give delegates access to many different markets, from broadcasters and producers to advertising agencies and technology companies,” points out Davies.

Several programs at nextMEDIA are aiming to grow digital media companies by connecting content creators with financial partners.

The nextMEDIA Digital Launch Pad showcases emerging web destinations and innovative online projects with the goal of connecting these properties with ad agencies and brands looking to reach out to wired audiences.

The nextMEDIA Accelerator is a platform for emerging digital media tech companies looking to attract corporate partnerships, venture capital and institutional investment. And The nextMEDIA Tech Hub is a forum for hot technology companies working in app development, social media, and game production, to give presentations and showcase their products and services.

“A new market for us is technology companies, the people who make the games and location based apps that enable TV producers to take their content across platforms,” explains Davies. “So we have built the Tech hub to showcase these exciting technology companies.”

Participating Tech Hub companies include Cardinal Media TechnoloReel West May / June 2011

gies, Linkedin, Jetvision, Safeopeida, Overinteractive Media, and Nokia.

There will also be an advertisers meet up where producers can connect with ad agencies, and a technologists meet up to learn about new technologies impacting the media space.

There is also a pitch session focused on deal-making in a new age, where delegates pitch cross-platform projects to broadcasters, technologists and advertisers.

But despite the name change and beefed up digital focus, Banff will continue to offer a content stream focusing on excellence in TV content creation, as well as specific programming dealing with Non-Fiction, and Kids & Animation.

“We haven’t lost the bread and butter of the Banff festival,” says Davies. “You will still find creative sessions with leading showrunners and panels delving into issues effecting TV, and there will continue to be a focus on copro deals and face to face time with development execs from all over the world. There will still be all the content people have come to know and love at Banff.”

Showrunners offering master classes this year include Parks and Recreation’s Greg Daniels and The Killing’s Veena Sud, as well as a conversation with veteran comedian, actor and game show host Howie Mandel. Making a keynote address are Twentieth Century Fox Television Chairmen Dana Walden and Gary Newman. The duo have overseen the development of numerous hit shows such as Glee and Modern Family, Family Guy, 24 and Bones.

Last year the festival created programming streams for non-fiction, and children and animation, two areas of programming where Canadians excel.

“It was very successful so we built out that content for this year,” says Davies.

“The program offers specialized content and networking events and awards for delegates working in these genres.”

Greenspan says the Banff World Media Festival is now offering programming on numerous levels for TV and digital content makers, distributors and financiers. It’s a business marketplace, a forum for learning, and a festival with loads of star power.

“We are asking ‘what does the 21st century media mix look like?’ and there will be a lot more snacking of a variety of different things at this year’s festival, while also providing the core – creating quality TV on an international scale.” n Reel West May / June 2011

Prairie Jewel: North America’s Oldest Festival is Still Growing and Changing Story by

Ian Caddell

shows short films, Goulden says that often, at other festivals, short films don’t get a lot of attention. He says that short film production is “an extremely important aspect of the industry” but frequently does not receive the same level of profile as features.

It is a trivia question easily answered by the citizens of a

A big part of the focus is the awards. “The Golden Sheafs

small town in southeastern Saskatchewan. What is the old-

are unique in Canada,” he says. “The Genies recognize short

est film festival in North America? The answer is the Yorkton

film with only two awards. The Geminis recognize shorts only

Film Festival which was founded in 1947 by James Lysyshyn,

as part of the television industry. The Yorkton festival is part of

a young National Film Board field officer. The more difficult task

a worldwide group of short film festivals, which keeps the short

for the people of Yorkton has been keeping the festival alive.

film movement strong. Short film production plays a vital role in

The province has had its share of economic downturns over the

research and development of the art form. Artistic and techni-

last six decades and the rivalry to show the country’s best short

cal innovation and new talent are identified in the short film and

films has grown. But it will celebrate 65 years of life in 2012 and

content development medium.”

has hosted and promoted some of the best short films and filmmakers in Canadian history.

The loyalty of the city of Yorkton and the province of Saskatchewan makes sense. Goulden says the Festival is “a valu-

The festival, which dropped the name Yorkton Short Film

able resource within our community, region and province,” one

and Video Festival three years ago, has come a long way since

that provides a forum for social and artistic expression and en-

Lysyshyn and his contemporaries raised the curtain in 1950.

courages dialogue across a wide spectrum of ideas, perspec-

The latest version will run from May 26 to May 29. Randy Goul-

tives and vision. “The City of Yorkton, municipally and in terms

den, the current executive director, says that the festival has

of its volunteer base, is exceptionally supportive of the YFF. The

made a conscious effort in the last three years to make it more

outstanding knowledge and skill level of the members of the

relevant to today’s rapidly changing media landscape.

board of directors and the advisory board benefit the commu-

“In the past three years the YFF has developed a rolling

nity with working partnerships.”

strategic plan,” he says. “The board and staff put their creative

Although there have been attempts to move the festival to a

heads together with other stakeholders to review the chang-

larger centre, it is still housed in a building in the heart of York-

ing environments and new reality of Saskatchewan’s film in-

ton. The office is staffed by Goulden and a part-time artistic and

dustry. We have seen the termination of the Saskatchewan

programming staff that is hired during the months leading up

Communication Network (SCN), buyouts (e.g. Bell purchasing

to the festival each spring. Its community base gets stronger,

CTV) along with the new technology platforms, but we have

according to Goulden, as the years go by.

evaluated and made the changes that will move us into the fu-

“In the past, I understand that there have been suggestions

ture. In 2009 we had a keynote panel called Media in Transition

on moving the festival to a larger city. These thoughts have

which featured panelists with experience in a number of areas

never come from the board, which is adamant that it remain

including alternate distribution, social media and multi-platform

in Yorkton, where filmmakers are comfortable with the informal

content delivery. In 2010 we followed up with Media in Transi-

atmosphere and where they can meet and work with the deci-

tion, Part Two – Which Way To The Future?, a panel featuring

sion makers in the industry. The YFF continues partnering with

industry leaders talking about how they and their organizations

non-traditional community groups and organizations in screen-

viewed and are preparing for the new realities.

ing films. We have partnerships with the Yorkton Exhibition

“At this year’s festival, we have a panel on Trans-Media sto-

Association and screenings with filmmakers in attendance at

rytelling and a panel doing a case study of the multi-platform

Harvest Showdown. This partnership will continue to research

production One Ocean. We have embraced new technologies

appropriate films to screen at their events that meet the goals

and platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and blogs to extend the

and are of interest. We have the screenings at the coffeehouse

festival’s brand and relevance, and are developing new partner-

Fifth Avenue Cup and Saucer, in order to reach out to the com-

ships to capitalize on the talents and opportunities the festival

munity, especially young people with a deep and varied appre-

creates. We are also bringing new blood onto the festival’s board

ciation for the arts. The YFF plans the year-round programming

to help us better see and navigate our way into the future so that

and annual festival with a lens of community engagement utiliz-

we can expect to be nurturing and celebrating the achievements

ing traditional and non-traditional partnerships.”

of Canada’s media storytellers for years to come.”

In the mid-1990s the festival created a special award for the

Those storytellers have gone on to win Oscars and Genies

filmmakers of its home province. The Best of Saskatchewan award

with the list including two of Canada’s most successful short

has been won by most of the province’s key filmmakers and has

filmmakers, Winnipeg’s Cordell Barker and Montreal’s Frederic

acted as an incentive to younger producers. Goulden says that

Bach. This year filmmakers are nominated for Golden Sheaf

role will continue. “The festival is committed to playing a significant

awards in 19 categories. There will be three special awards and

role in the development of producers of all sorts of film and digital

three craft awards presented.

media, both young up-and-comers as well as experienced veter-

While there are disadvantages to having a festival in the middle

ans. A priority of the YFF is bringing together the various film and

of the Prairies, there are also advantages to a festival with tradi-

new-media communities interested in the evolution of the festival

tions and the loyalty of an entire town. Goulden says the Yorkton

so that it can continue its role in bringing these people together

Film Festival’s board of directors, advisory board and staff are

and expanding their network and knowledge base.”

“sensitive” to the needs of the industry in the areas of economic,

That strategy has appeared to work. Saskatoon’s Katrina

cultural and technological development. It also helps to have a

Ham, of Lifetime Productions, says the festival has been in-

focus on one kind of film. While almost every Canadian festival

Yorkton continued on page 28 17

Photo by Kevin Eastwood

18

Reel West May / June 2011

Passion Project

Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Watson is a feature-length documentary about a man on a mission to save the planet.

Story by

Cheryl Binning One of Canada’s most notorious and controversial environmental activists, Paul Watson has dedicated his life to saving marine life by any means necessary. He destroys drift nets at sea, sinks whaling ships, and battles fisherman.

And for Vancouver filmmaker Trish Dolman, the nine years it took to make a film about this fearless eco-warrior became her own obsessive quest.

“This was my drug addiction, the Paul Watson doc,” jokes Dolman, who has made numerous documentaries (The First Movie, Reservation Soldiers) and dramatic films (Year of the Carnivore, Daydream Nation) over the past decade, while continuing her mission to get Eco-Pirate to the screen.

“I worked on it whenever I could, but I wasn’t making any money,” adds Dolman, who wrote, directed and produced Eco-Pirate, with Kevin Eastwood (Fido, The Delicate Art of Parking) also producing. “It was my passion project for sure.”

Dolman, who runs Screen Siren Productions, first heard about Watson twenty years ago when she was just beginning her career.

At that time, Watson, who is a founding member of Greenpeace but was expelled from the organization for not following their code of non-violence, had already started his own group, the Sea Shepherd Conversation Society.

Using a trawler with a hull reinforced with cement, Watson was ramming into whaling ships and drift net fishing boats.

“I thought, ‘wow, that guy is crazy’,” says Dolman. “I’ve always been fascinated by extreme characters.”

And the idea began to form about one day making a doc about this man who elicits such strong reactions. As Dolman points out, people either love or hate Watson, and view him as a hero or a villian.

In 2002 Dolman met with Watson and he quickly agreed that she was welcome to make a film about him, although he warned her that others had tried

“...everytime I was close to giving up I would get these signals that kept me going, kept me persevering and believing in the project.”

Trish Dolman, on never calling it quits to make movies about him in the past and the projects never went anywhere.

Dolman would soon realize first hand the difficulties in making a doc about this contentious character.

The first big challenge was raising the money.

“When I started work on this film, environmental documentaries weren’t in vogue,” explains Dolman. “Michael Moore’s films hadn’t come out yet and An Inconvenient Truth hadn’t made millions of dollars. So there was a lot of skepticism about making a film about an environmental subject.”

Many financiers and broadcasters also felt Watson was too controversial.

Reel West May / June 2011

Still, Dolman managed to scrounge up development money from the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund, the Documentary Channel and B.C. Film. This allowed for some initial shooting.

“Paul travels to these far off places for several months at a time so it was quite an expensive endeavour,” says Dolman. “We would raise some money, then shoot, raise some more money and shoot some more. That continued for several years.”

Dolman also had difficulty holding onto a broadcast partner willing to license the film. Originally the Documentary Channel was on board to develop the film, until it was sold and the new team decided they were not interested.

CBC got involved next, but an executive shuffle occurred and they chose not to license the film. Finally Super Channel came on board.

Dolman admits she had moments when she thought of calling it quits.

“But everytime I was close to giving up I would get these signals that kept me going, kept me persevering and believing in the project,” recalls Dolman.

One key break was a $100,000 grant from the Rogers Documentary Fund.

Then, in 2007, the project received financing from the Telefilm Theatrical Documentary Fund. This, along with a distribution agreement from eOne, allowed Dolman to get the film made.

While the financing proved difficult, Watson as a subject was a documentarian’s dream.

He gave Dolman intimate access to his ship, crew, organization and personal life. She filmed him at work and interacting with friends, crew and the public. He never told her to turn off the camera.

“I think he feels more comfortable when the camera is on because he is performing rather than dealing with people directly,” says Dolman.

The film also includes interviews with people who are vehemently against Watson’s tactics.

“I told Paul I need to find people who hate you and he gave me names to contact,” says Dolman.

Dolman accompanied Watson on a number of his campaigns. She sailed with him from Seattle to Victoria and around the Galapagos Islands off the coast of South America to Panama.

Dolman recognized she was asking a lot of her shooting crew: get on board a ship for a flat fee and spend two months at sea in potentially dangerous situations. Not surprisingly, finding camera operators proved difficult.

“For the Galapagos shoot we booked a cameraman and he bailed at the last minute,” says Dolman. “He did some research on Paul Watson and said he just couldn’t go, he felt it was way too dangerous.”

Dolman herself says she never thought twice about taking to sea with Watson.

“It is daunting but I just didn’t think about it because making a film about Paul Watson meant you had to get out there on one of his ships,” she says.

In the Galapagos, Dolman watched as Watson was involved in a protest where fishermen hurled Molotov cocktails and Sea Shepherd members dove in the water and cut a fishing boat net to release a large game fish being hunted in protected waters.

“Personally I never felt threatened,” adds Dolman. “I loved the sense of adventure. I had never been to sea for five weeks before and you get out there and get a sense of the ocean as this vast place with very few people. It has a lawless feeling as a result.”

Eco-Pirate continued on page 28 19

Photo by Frank Ockenfels

20

Reel West May / June 2011

Standing in for Seattle

With its lush look, languid pacing and emotional intensity, The Killing is the latest of AMC’s series offerings to defy the conventional, and it’s proving to be a successful addition to the cable channel’s string of game-changing hits. Fortunately for Vancouver, a mix of creative and practical considerations landed the hot new series in our city, standing in for Seattle where The Killing is set.

Story by

Cheryl Binning The Killing is based upon Danish crime drama Forbrydelsen (The Crime), and follows the murder investigation of Seattle teenager Rosie Larsen, weaving together multiple stories. There’s the police officers, stoic Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) and the sleazy-seeming Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman); Rosie’s griefstricken parents, played by Brent Sexton and Michelle Forbes; and a plot of political intrigue involving a candidate for mayor played by Billy Campbell and his entourage, who may or may not be related to the case.

Critical to the series success is maintaining the sensibilities of the original.

“One of the most beautiful things the original Danish series did was to have this overarching tone of tragic beauty or sad elegance,” explains showrunner Veena Sud, whose previous credits include the crime series Cold Case. “This was informed not only by the story, but the city it was shot in, Copenhagen. For me, translating that story to North America meant trying to find a city that embodied the same essence of beautiful skies and incredible vistas while being very moody.”

After considering setting the series in cities like Washington, DC, Los Angeles and other places familiar to viewers of TV crime drama, Sud decided she wanted to set the story in Seattle. In addition to offering the look she wanted, Sud also liked the idea of setting the series in a city that North American audiences are not used to seeing represented in crime dramas. Sud hoped this would add an original and interesting feeling to the show.

She also wanted to shoot right in Seattle.

“I really wanted the authenticity of being in the city I was telling the story in,” explains Sud. “So initially I was very committed to shooting it in Seattle.

And the Pacific Northwest has a built-in moodiness that comes with the rain and a certain type of atmosphere that’s inevitable if you’re shooting there.”

But authenticity had to be sacrificed for practicality.

“We ended up not being able to shoot in Seattle for various production and financial reasons,” says Sud. Vancouver was the ideal stand-in, bearing a strong resemblance to Seattle thanks to its identical rainy season and skyline dotted with shipping port cranes.

Sud also noted that Vancouver, like Seattle is a city of dramatic contradictions and many layers which worked perfectly with the atmosphere she was trying to conjure.

“On the one hand, it is esthetically this beautiful city of glass and beautiful architecture but it also has this dark underbelly of poverty,” says Sud. Reel West May / June 2011

“Both are cities of beautiful skies that are often filled with rain – and the sun doesn’t come up that often. This mix of beauty and darkness is so appealing to me because thematically that reflects so much of the story we are telling and the tragedy that happened.”

But like a cousin, the resemblance was close but not complete. For example, unlike Seattle, Vancouver’s downtown architecture is primarily made of glass, not stone. And that led to a moment of serendipity for Sud and series pilot director Patty Jenkins.

Typically when filming in a stand-in city, actors are taken to the “real city” and are shot walking around landmark locations.

“If your show is set in New York you’d shoot your actors walking through Times Square. And if the show is set in Seattle the temptation is to have them walk through Pike Place Market or by the Space Needle,” explains Sud. “But what Patty and I discussed at length when we decided to shoot in Vancouver, is that when you live in New York, or Seattle, or any city, you rarely walk through those touristy places like Time Square or the Pike Place Market. So why should our characters have to?”

For Sud, this was creatively freeing.

Instead of having to create scenes that artificially placed her characters in locations that local residents would seldom visit, she was able to focus on finding locations in Vancouver that would capture the spirit of the setting and the themes of the show.

In the series pilot, the Rogers Sugar building served as an important location, while Deer Lake Park in Burnaby was home to the search for Larsen’s body.

The series, which wrapped season one of production in mid-April, shot on Hastings St. and Cordova, while the corner of Pender and Carroll houses the series’ police station. The show’s other key settings were Vancouver’s Marinaside Marina at the top of Davie Street, which served as the setting of the boat where Sarah Linden and her son Jack live.

And with a number of features eating up Vancouver’s sound stages, producers were forced to create their own stage in an abandoned peanut factory.

Any initial misgivings about moving the shoot from Seattle to Vancouver were quickly replaced with elation once Sud realized what the locations and the local crew could offer.

“Creatively, it worked from day one. We realized it was a perfect match for the show,” explains Sud. “But also, we were so blessed with the rich resources in Vancouver that made the show what it is. That starts with the crew we found in Canada – among them line producer Ron French, cinematographer Peter Wunstorf, who is just a genius with light, and our production desiger Michael Bolton “Everyone from the cast and crew to the producers showed up with their 21

Behind the scenes of The Killing, where maintaining the show’s moodiness was made easier thanks to one of Vancouver’s most abundant natural resources – rain.

Photos by Carole Segal

A Game. Everyone cared deeply about creating the best material. Everyone was just so excited about the whole thing.”

For French, who has brought such fantastic visions of the future as Battlestar Galactica and Defying Gravity to life, the chance to shoot a contemporary series set in a city nearly identical to Vancouver seemed like a relatively easy assignment. But he was proven wrong.

“It all sounded simple and easy compared to other shows I’ve done,” explains French. “There’s no stunts, no big visual effects and it’s set in real time. And hey – we had to duplicate a city that looks exactly like ours. So 22

you say to yourself, ‘this is going to be a cake walk.’ Not at all.”

As he read the script, and more and more parts of the story came out, he realized there were a lot of scenes and locations to squeeze into a seven-day shoot.

“It kept us hopping,” says French.

“We’ve probably never had to focus this much on a show in the past, and it took everything to do it.”

Part of the challenge came from the series’ unique format, which sees every episode represent one day in the course of the investigation of Rosie Larsen’s murder, and deliberately avoids the use of flashbacks.

“Like the cop who’s investigating the case, the audience never gets a flashback to see Rosie Larsen alive,” explains Sud. “We have to be like Sarah and piece together our impressions of who this girl was. It creates finite possibilities because you can’t just jump ahead a week or a month in time to find the next interesting plot point. We were forced in the writers room to ask, ‘What would happen the next day? When do you go to the funeral?’ You’re forced to serve those moments, which is where the story ultimately is. It was the same with the cops. Rather than just hanging on investigatory point after investi-

gatory point, at some point in the day Sarah has to go home and change her clothes, she and Stephen have to eat a meal, they have to do other things.

And in the doing of those other things we get to know them more.”

Those creative choices also led to production challenges.

“Veena was very concerned that everything was as real as possible,” explains French. “That’s why we shoot on location as much as we do, and why we do more single camera work rather than two cameras running and gunning, as we’ve done on other shows.

You’ll see it as more as a cinematic experience than a television experience.”

The series shot an average of five days out of seven on location, and made multiple moves each day.

“Each episode takes place over the course of one day in the life of the investigation so we had to be in multiple places and offer multiple looks,” says French. “In the last episode, besides our four standing sets, we were in twenty-seven other locations. Early on we thought we could never accomplish it – so we had to do a lot of adjusting and Veena helped out immensely to allow us to accomplish what we needed to do.”

French says they couldn’t have pulled this off without the talented efforts of the local crew.

“It was all hands on deck,” he says.

Also adding to the difficulty was the fact that maintaining the show’s moodiness meant making use of one of Vancouver’s most abundant natural resources – the rain.

“I know for the crew and the cast the rain was difficult,” says Sud. “We were constantly shooting in the heart of it, and on top of that we had rain towers to create it when needed.”

Adapting the series for AMC’s North American audiences also meant finding ways to keep the characters true to the original while making adjustments along the way to keep them relatable to the local audience.

“For American audiences who consume so much cop television, these characters feel very unique and different from what they’re used to seeing, and have relationships that are different from what we’re used to seeing in American cop dramas,” says Sud. But she did need to work to keep them relatable.

Stephen Holder, Sarah Linden’s detective partner, was changed radically from the original Danish character.

The Killing continued on page 28 Reel West May / June 2011

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Photo: Bettina Strauss

Diary

Crazy Love

The 2011 version of the five minute short film contest Crazy 8s started out with 120 filmmakers. That list was cut to 42 semi-finalists who pitched in person to a jury of industry professionals. Then 13 finalists honed their scripts with a professional story editor. The six winners were given $800 to make their films in time for an April presentation at the Vogue Theatre. One of the winners, Alchemy and Other Imperfections writer/director Zachary Rothman, looks back at the year-long process that brought him to the Vogue.

Diary by

Zachary Rothman MAY 8, 2010 Sitting in my apartment in East Vancouver, surfing the internet, I find a link to a photo essay by French photographers Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre. It’s about Detroit, the once-great modern ruin of a city, abandoned to die quietly at the centre of America. It’s difficult to say why exactly I am so moved by photos of derelict train stations, theatres, factories and homes, but it happens and that’s all there is to it. Indeed, these photos become the spark of inspiration that will guide me for the next year.

MAY 15 I get a call from Caroline Liffmann, choreographer and filmmaker with Nervous System System (NSS.) She tells me that she’s interested in collaborating on another film project. Last year we produced a film for BLINK -- a live event. It was a quickly-made, fun project that helped me through a hard time when I was seriously considering quitting the business of making films. Caroline (whom I’ve known since we were 12 and living in Winnipeg) mentions that Billy Marchenski is excited and inspired by some films from Russia and Ukraine and wants us all to meet. Billy’s a member of NSS and was the lead in my last two films (Electric Messiah and Showdown on Olive Mountain). My wife jokes that he’s my muse. We schedule a dinner meeting for a few weeks later and I’m already wondering how Detroit and Eastern Europe are related. Something in my gut is stirring and I like it.

JUNE 26 It’s three weeks later. Caroline, Billy and Tanya Podlozniuk (the third NSS member) are sitting in my living room. My wife (choreographer and journalist Melanie Kuxdorf ) joins us. (She’s also been my story editor for five years).

We’ve got a few DVDs queued up and some notes ready to go. A bunch of strange underground Russian clown films plays on the television. They’re all silent films, set to music. Bizarrely dressed men and women act out parodies of domestic scenes in front of makeshift, cheaply-built sets. The performers sit down to an obscure looking meal, a tuba is pulled out of a dish of noodles, the woman plays it, the man dances to it, they put on fake moustaches and hand travel permits back and forth – that sort of thing. The part that gets me is how simple the staging is: static camera, simple backdrops, absurd actions, no dialogue. But it’s undeniably compelling and hilarious. We all leave the meeting very excited about something, but nobody knows what or why.

JULY 20 Billy has just been to the Ukraine. He brings vodka. We drink all of it.

And we talk over everything we’ve looked at so far. I finally show him the Detroit photos. He been moved by the abandoned and poisoned landscape of Chernobyl.

It looks almost exactly like Detroit. In my mind, things are starting to take shape.

AUGUST 10 I watch a girl blunder across four lanes of traffic, nearly run over as she texts somebody on her mobile device. I mentally toss it into the pile of inspiration.

AUGUST 13 It is a few days later, and I draw a picture of a man with an oversized antique speed graphic camera on his head.

Reel West May / June 2011

AUGUST 20 Some images and ideas have started to coalesce. Without completely seeing it, I already have a complete film playing at the back of my consciousness. This is a dangerous time, where the inspiration could be prematurely locked down by text on a page. So Billy brings more vodka and we talk some more – a generally outlandish scenario starts to come about – a kind of future-past-alternate-universe kind of thing.

AUGUST 21 I make a plan: we’re going to make a short film, but it’s only the first scene of a feature. We’re going to film the short in Vancouver, and we’ll consider filming the rest of the feature in Detroit if and when people like the short. So it’s got to be the best short film I’ve ever made. But NSS, Melanie and I all agree that before any script gets written, we must take a camera out and try to film something.

SEPTEMBER 8 We’ve all been watching a lot of silent movies, and with that inspiration in tow, we head out to Burnaby Mountain park, with a trunk full of props and furniture. Billy’s glued a pair of eyeglasses to an old instamatic camera. I’ve brought a paper cutter and a dried lizard from Chinatown. We set up a makeshift “kitchen” in between two spruce trees. Over the next three hours on the bright and blustery mountainside, Tanya makes a poison and tries to find a way to get her suspicious husband Billy to drink it. It’s absurd, hilarious and begins to form the core of everything to follow.

OCTOBER 12 We begin to discuss funding. I’ve grown weary of producing my own films. Billy suggests that we hire his friend, a theatre and festival producer and NSI Totally Television program graduate by the name of Heather Lindsay. At a coffee shop near Main and Broadway in Vancouver I meet Heather. I show her the photos of Detroit, Chernobyl and the test film we made on Burnaby Mountain. She gets it. She wants to do the project but admits that she’s never done a film before. Against everything in my rational mind (a first time film producer can be a bad idea) I go with my gut and hire her on the spot.

OCTOBER 15 Billy brings me to a studio to meet Ray and Jayne, aka Enigma Arcana. They’ve created costumes and production design elements for dozens of films (many of which, as subcontractors, they were never credited for.)

Their studio is beautiful, with horse-head masks and kimono-clad skeletons adorning the walls, boxes piled high with fabric, paint, and metal bits. We show them what we’ve done so far, and they get it. Instantly ideas are flowing like water. They immediately become an integral part of the project. Ray gets to work right away on the visual ‘bible’ for the show – concept illustrations printed on old newspaper, bound in leather. Jayne starts to source out fabric samples from clothes produced in mental institutions. With a producer and a production design team on the project, I can’t just let this one slip away. So I set about writing the script.

NOVEMBER 12 On good projects, and I have no idea how to define ‘good’, the scripts write themselves. This is no exception. Basically, I sit down late at night, and a Demon visits me. He/she/it tells my fingers what to write, and I 25

Behind the Scenes with actors Billy Marchenski and Heather Doerksen, writer/director Zac Rothman and crew Photos: Bettina Strauss

do it...I’m really just a human powered typewriter for someone else.

After about three hours, the script is done.

NOVEMBER 13 The next morning I pick it up again and read it for the first time, then add a few things, take a few things away, maybe move a section or two, then give it to Melanie. I read her notes over, and after about a week of changes, first draft of the script is done.

DECEMBER 5 I meet with Naim Sutherland, the cinematographer who filmed my Showdown on Olive Mountain. Naim is one of the most talented and conscientious cinema26

tographers I’ve ever met, so I’m excited that he’ll listen to me rant. I want my film to be different: deep focus, wide lenses, and the eye drawn deep into frame, guided by light and shadow.

Naim agrees to be a part of the project and has some lovely original ideas about colour and movement in silent film. He suggests that we bring Paul DeSilva (who did VFX and colour on Showdown) onto the project. I phone Paul who works for Gloo Studios and he suggests that we talk to his boss about it. Gloo agrees to do it and have some brilliant ideas about visual effects I never thought possible.

DECEMBER 7 Heather Lindsay goes

down to the Vancity Theatre and enters us in the Crazy8s film competition. The contest, produced by Vancouver producers Erik Paulsson and Marc Stephenson, gives you $800 dollars, a load of production support and advice from seasoned professionals but only eight days to make a film from start to finish. The Crazy8s team has provided amazing exposure for BC filmmakers, and it would be an incredible platform to launch the film.

Now we have some real deadlines.

DECEMBER 27 Melanie is filming me. I’m speaking through the camera to an unseen viewer who will judge me. I’ve written a five-minute pitch

for the Crazy8s and I do my best to sell our film. Deep down, I know it’s a long shot. This is a hard production, even with enough time and money.

Eight days to complete a film is going to be very, very difficult.

JANUARY 26, 2011 Heather gets the news that we’ve made it to the second round of the Crazy8s. In a few days we have to pitch live to a 4-person jury. We meet up at Heather’s groovy west end apartment (the one where Jimi Hendrix once lived) and go over our pitch. Heather grills me on every aspect of the film and her intense focus forces me to find answers to some tough questions. It dawns on me how truly passionate Heather is about this project. This is someone who’s going to fight for us, and it’s at this point when I know I have a real partner.

JANUARY 28 It’s two days later, and we’re pitching to the jury in a boardroom in downtown Vancouver. Heather and I have barely known each other three months and we’re rocking it. It just flows. The jury seems excited and questions are flying at us from all directions. When someone mentions that our slated five minutes of questions has passed the 15-minute mark, we know we’ve got a shot at this. Heather and I leave and begin emphatically high-fiving.

FEBRUARY 5 We make it to the semi-finalist round of 13 teams. We meet Dylan Akio Smith, our Crazy8s story editor, and one of the judges from the boardroom. To my surprise (isn’t this supposed to be a ball-breaking session?), Dylan really believes in the project, helping us hone and strengthen it. It’s a natural, collaborative and completely positive experience. Even if we don’t make it as a finalist (six teams get to make films), this has been totally worth it.

We now have two weeks to submit our final draft.

MARCH 7 GO TIME. We have made it to one of the six winning spots in the Crazy 8s. Holy mother, we are greenlit! The Crazy 8s hooks us up with an amazing casting agent and we hop on the Crazy train.

MARCH 12 10AM Billy, in a tweed suit smeared with mud, has got another potential actress pinned to the wall. As he stares into her eyes, she manages to slip away, ducking under a plastic chair and out the other side.

He wheels around and starts after her again, but she’s quicker now and Reel West May / June 2011

sidesteps him. Heather is doubled over beside me while Kara Eide, the Crazy 8s casting agent, chews on her hand barely keeping her composure.

The cameraman is sweating, working hard, to try and keep them both in frame. And I think to myself, “These are just the auditions....”

CUT! Everyone breaks out in laughter, breaking the absurd tension in the room, again. Sometimes, I really love making movies.

It’s a silent film. No dialogue, but plenty to get across without words.

So Billy is working these talented actresses hard, enabling big reactions and interesting choices. It’s unconventional, but we’re getting great stuff and sooner or later everyone gets what we’re going for.

Across town, our visual effects team is discussing how to create an apocalyptic city in only eight days.

That’s all anyone in the Crazy 8s has got. We’ve been talking about this for months. And now, it’s two weeks till we deliver on our promise of post apocalyptic silent sci-fi.

There’s a lot to do, and looking at it en masse, it’s almost completely overwhelming. So we move at it piece by piece. And, slowly, bit-by-bit (and with a tonne of advice and support from the Crazy 8s), it all begins to fit together. Heather is gathering good people around us who believe in the project and who love the art form. With eight days and no money, it has to be about love.

MARCH 24 Three days till filming.

Heather Lindsay, after some very difficult negotiations, has secured us our location: an utterly massive warehouse, with 24 hour seven day security to boot. And she’s got it as a donation to the film (wow). The fact that Crazy8s got us a killer insurance package helps.

Enigma Arcana are proving their brilliance and vision. With a small army of dedicated carpenters, set dressers, and friends they are building our set, a 50 by 20 foot, fully furnished apartment, with shelves, windows, and a breakaway kitchen wall, out of corrugated cardboard and spray foam insulation. Every dilapidated table, decaying chair, and rusted tool has been carefully selected to fill it. Jayne has created indescribably beautiful costumes. They’re not just building a set, they’re building an alternate universe, and it’s magical.

Our amazing cast members, Billy Reel West May / June 2011

Marchenski and Heather Doerksen, are into rehearsals now. Heather is new to the project, but is already defending her character, telling me what the character would and wouldn’t do. And she’s right, which to me is perfect, because this actor is internalizing the character. She’s becoming a real living person.

MARCH 26 One night before production and, while our set builders are pulling an all-nighter to get the set finished, I’m weeping tears of joy.

Sound guru Allan Levy and I just finished recording a local Balkan orchestra called Orchestar Slivovica.

If everything else fails, we’ve got a beautiful soundtrack. Tomorrow, we get our camera, gear and officially begin a dash toward the Crazy 8s finish line.

MARCH 27 A challenging first day.

Matt Drake, our first AD, moves our tiny production army forward shotby-shot. Things are looking amazing as are Ray and Jayne’s set and costumes. The performances are beautiful. We almost make our day, attempting to hop, skip and jump our way around the set, getting our visual effects shots so that Gloo Studios can start compositing them. But in a bleary haze at hour seventeen we miss the ‘money shot’ – our biggest visual effect shot, which will take almost an hour to reset. Rather than risk an exhausted crew tomorrow, we decide to pull the plug and try again tomorrow.

MARCH 28 We begin the day by nailing the money shot. We’re feeling good and fresh. I watch Naim and gaffer (and director) Jay Rathore chatter like excited children about the lighting and colour separation of our next shot. I notice Heather Lindsay pacing up and down on her cell phone. She doesn’t tell me until she’s fixed it that we almost lost our camera package.

MARCH 29 The third and last day of filming. Caroline Liffmann is choreographing a short bit of dance on film: five seconds in the film that took two days rehearsing and two to three hours filming. Only four more hours and 20 more shots to go…It’s midnight. Do you know the best thing about making a set out of cardboard?

Getting to literally dive through the walls at wrap. In about ten minutes of pure catharsis, the crew demolishes the set completely.

Diary continued on next page

Legal Briefs

Confidentiality an Issue for Producers Social media leaks prompt producers to expand their talent and crew agreements to include strong non-disclosure language Doran Chandler Entertainment Lawyer

Did you see the leaked Twilight photos bouncing around the internet earlier this spring? Heard about actors or crew tweeting plot spoilers from set? How about cases of employees illegally posting material on torrent sites? These types of confidentiality-related issues are becoming more and more difficult for producers to manage in this increasingly-connected world.

Producers, studios and other stakeholders in productions always want to control the release of information about productions to the greatest extent possible - both after and (especially) prior to a production’s release. Simply controlling access to sets and scripts is no longer sufficient. If producers want to limit the release of confidential information, they need to be able to control what is being released by personnel both on set and off.

In most cases, standard personnel agreements do not include broad enough language to sufficiently protect against such breaches.

Twitter has caused its share of confidentiality problems in recent months, despite its 140-character limit. On Glee, an extra leaked certain key plot elements for an episode this season (for the Gleeks needing details, she released the names of the prom king & queen). Links to pictures and screen grabs of Twilight: Breaking Dawn were tweeted earlier this year and, despite Summit Entertainment’s efforts, the images are still floating around out there on multiple sites. The fallout from these and other similar leaks have impacted the manner in which cast and crew contracts are drafted in an effort to control behavior.

In recent years, a growing number of talent and crew agreements have included new and expanded

language aimed at preventing leaks of confidential or negative information about productions thorough interactive social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

More and more producers are including strong non-disclosure language in their agreements and even in some cases including language providing for liquidated damages (i.e. monetary punishment) when plot secrets or other confidential information is revealed.

Another major source of frustration for producers is the unauthorized availability of copyrighted material on torrent sites as well as the access of such material by cast and crew. In a recent case, a crew member posted comments on a torrent site boasting about having worked on a certain production available at the site. The studio owning the production became aware of the situation and the individual was terminated and subsequent cast and crew agreements have included specific language prohibiting the unauthorized distribution access of any of the studio’s copyrighted material.

With today’s wide-spread use of social media and P2P sites, producers and studios who wish to prevent the unauthorized distribution of production-related material need to ensure that all cast, crew and other individuals with access to such material are bound to strict confidentiality provisions and will need to review and revise their agreements accordingly.

Doran Chandler’s practice focuses on providing legal services for the entertainment industry, including services in relation to film and television financing, intellectual property issues, production services and music. After his previous career as a musician, touring North America with a folk-rock band, Mr. Chandler settled in Vancouver to pursue his legal career. n 27

Diary continued from previous page

MARCH 30 Editor Jason Hujber and I talk about our final changes to the cut. After my first decent sleep in about seven days, I’m feeling relaxed and positive. Watching it, I feel that it’s all working: the performances, the music, the set and the mindblowing VFX. Even our Cockroach performer hit his/her/its marks.

We’ve really done it. We have created the alternate universe that I put on paper months ago.

The anxiety of pre-production is over. A warm and fuzzy kind of pride has taken its place. I can definitely Eco-Pirate continued from page 19

The film crew did experience a close call in the Antarctic.

“Paul tried to run his ship into this giant Japanese vessel,” says Dolman. “It was heading straight for the Sea Shepherd boat. The Japanese ship steered away at the last second but everyone thought they were going to die.”

Shooting wrapped in late 2009 and Dolman wrote a script based on 200 hours of shot footage and 100 hours of archival material. She spent a year and a half in editing.

“The initial assembly was four or five hours and we cut it down from there,” she says.

Over the many years of shooting, Dolman contemplated how she would tell Watson’s story and the focus of the film evolved.

When Dolman first started making the film, Watson was not very well known but each year his notoriety and fame increased. After being featured in the Oscar-winning film The Cove, and now with the Animal Planet reality series Whale Wars following his campaigns, Dolman realized that her film had to delve deeper than just exploring his activism.

“It took me awhile to find my voice and figure out how I wanted to tell the story,” says Dolman.

“I wanted to reveal more about the man than what you see in the mainstream media and really get to the heart of what makes someone who has dedicated their life to activism tick,” she explains. “I also wanted to reveal the evolution of the environmental movement because a lot of people don’t know that Greenpeace started in Vancouver.”

Using verite sequences shot on his 28

say that we’ve got something magical here. And, I can’t wait to share it with an audience.

APRIL 9 I’m sitting in a sold-out 1200-person audience at Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre. It’s the Crazy8s gala screening and the audience is filled with peers, friends and movie fans.

My heart is pounding. Ten months ago this was a spark of inspiration and now, thanks to my producer, my crew, and an amazing amount of support from the Crazy8s, it’s a reality. The lights come up and, judging from the applause, I think it’s safe to say we can start talking about the feature… n ship as a framing device, Eco-Pirate examines Watson’s personal history as an activist through archival footage and interviews, while also exploring the impact of his activism on his personal life. The film also asks the question of whether Paul Watson – or any one person – can change the world.

Eco-Pirate premeried at the Hot Docs International Documentary Festival in early May. “Overall the film had a great reaction at Hot Docs so I am really pleased,” she says.

And Dolman knew she had accomplished her goal of exploring the private and public side of Watson, when his brother came up to her after the screening.

“He said ‘thanks so much, I learned a lot about Paul that I didn’t know about him’,” recalls Dolman.

Eco-Pirate was a labour of love not only for Dolman, but everyone involved in the making of the film.

She points out that her entire team went way beyond the call of duty and can never be compensated for all the hours they put into the doc.

For example, editor Brendan Woollard put in a year finishing the film and Dolman’s producing partner Kevin Eastwood stuck with the project through thick and thin and spent long hours working on the doc. Michael Brook, who did the music for An Inconvenient Truth, composed the music for far below his regular rate, adds Dolman.

“This project took a lot of effort for everyone involved,” says Dolman.

And now, after almost a decade working on Eco-Pirate, Dolman feels ready to set the film free.

“It’s a relief,” she says of finally being finished. “This documentary is something I focused on for a long time.” n

The Killing continued from page 22

“In the original, he was this very brash and rude homicide detective, a bit sexist and a young buck, and instantly he and Sarah clashed,” says Sud. “I wanted something that had a little bit of a different twist to it that wasn’t repeating a cliché that we’re familiar with. I wanted a more grounded reason for why these two people don’t like each other. So finding a character like an undercover narcotics detective who is so used to not having boundaries and so used to spilling himself into other people’s faces as Stephen Holder does, paired up with a woman like Sarah Linden who is so intensely guarded and whose boundaries are like steel gates around her, adds an interesting dynamic and offers a natural place for conflict between them.”

One of the show’s trademarks is the guarded, and almost stoic characterization of standoff-ish police detective Sarah Linden. Her character was crucial to Sud. “I spent a ton of time with homicide detectives, male and female, and I was really interested in creating a female cop who is just an incredibly perceptive observer of the world around her,” says Sud. “Homicide cops who work their job for a while and are good at it can read bullshit a mile away. They’re used to being lied to all the time, they’re used to not being liked, and they’re used to always walking into the enemy camp.

And so she (Sarah) becomes a female

cop who’s used to all of that, who’s not cynical, who’s deeply wise in the ways of this dark world she inhabits but at the same time deeply committed to speaking for the dead.”

The combination of location, setting, characters and a plot that follows a single crime investigation over multiple weeks gives The Killing a much different sensibility than other crime investigation shows.

“I think audiences are finding the storytelling refreshing,” says Sud. “We’re not rushing through a murder investigation every week, we’re taking our time and looking at the long term of an investigation and the fall out of a child’s death on her family and the impact this tragedy has on a bigger level – say politics.”

“I think that slower pace of storytelling is refreshing for an American audience who are used to more procedural based story telling,” adds Sud. I think our audiences are very smart and are looking for deeper character-based storytelling.”

French credits AMC’s dedication to quality, combined with Sud’s style and approach, for being a major part of how the show came together.

“I have to say, one of the things that makes this a fantastic experience is working with Veena,” says French.

“She’s so intelligent, sets things just right to get the mood. She tells you the intent – she has this all thought out.

She just has a bright, terrific insight into people and the way they are, and this investigation and the family.” n

Yorkton continued from page 17

but we do know that storytelling will con-

tegral to her career as a producer. “It

ton’s role will remain to provide a venue

provides a networking opportunity that is

for storytellers in the evolving media

beyond compare: I am able to build re-

world to come together and share expe-

lationships with broadcasters and other

rience, knowledge and triumphs; to have

producers that I wouldn’t have access to

fun, make new friends and share in the

at larger markets and festivals. There is

excitement of being part of a vibrant and

nothing like eating lobster and shooting

rapidly changing creative community.

skeets with someone to cement a solid

With different mediums of film, includ-

relationship.”

ing multi platforms, I-pod and cell phone

tinue to be important,” he says. “York-

The key to the success of any film fes-

technology there is a need to take a look

tival, of course, is the stories it tells. Goul-

at our 64 years of evolution, and then to

den says that for all of its commitment to

complete a strategic conversation about

new technologies, finding the most inter-

what to keep, chuck and create in order

esting Canadian and international stories

to assure there is a new vision and direc-

to grace the festival’s screens will contin-

tion for the next 60 years of a film festival.

ue to be a priority. He says that any long

The festival has renewed relationships,

term plan will have to take into account

negotiated new partnerships and found

the experience that the festival’s films will

that community participation is increas-

have on both the Yorkton community

ing. With this new found energy, support

and the filmmakers who attend.

and enthusiasm the time is right to find

“We cannot predict what the technological trend will be in five or 10 years,

our niche within the Canadian and Saskatchewan film industry.” n

Reel West May / June 2011

Final Edit

Carl Bessai’s Repeaters is nominated for 10 Leo Awards including Best Program, Direction and Lead Performance by a female (Amanda Crew)

Bessai Takes Multiple Nominations to June’s Leo Awards Vancouver-based filmmaker Carl Bessai was the big winner when the Leo Awards announced its nominees.

Bessai had two films, Repeaters and Fathers&Sons eligible in the Feature Length Film category and they won a total of 17 nominations with Repeaters leading all films with 10 nods. And he was nominated for a best director Leo in the Music, Comedy, or Variety Program or Series category for his work in the locally shot series Hiccups.

He will go up against himself in the film category as one of several producers of Repeaters, a list that includes Jason James, Irene Nelson, Richard de Klerk and Melanie de Klerk with James his sole producing partner in Fathers&Sons. He also has personal nominations for best direction and best cinematography for Repeaters which was also nominated for editing, sound, sound editing and three acting awards. Additional awards for Fathers&Sons include one for musical score and five acting nominations.

Leading films in the category include best film nominees Terry Miles’ A Night for Dying Tigers which has seven nominations, Eli Craig’s Tucker & Dale vs Evil with seven, Bill Phillips’ Gunless with six and Raul Inglis’s Transparency with five. Other films nominated in the category include Kaare Andrews’ Altitude with four nominations, Sara McIntyre’s Two Indians Talking, Katrin Bowen’s Amazon Falls and Michael Damian’s Flicka 2 which have two nominations 30

each. Jeffrey Scott Lando’s Goblin, Oliver Schmitz’s Life Above All, Brenton Spencer’s Paradox and Paul A. Kaufman’s One Angry Juror round out the field with one nomination.

Leading all nominees in the Dramatic Series category is Sanctuary.

The series’ lead actress, Amanda Tapping, had two of her own: lead actress and series, which she produces with Damian Kindler, Martin Wood, Alan McCullough, Lily Hui, James Thorpe, Lee Wilson, George Horie and Gillian Horvath. They are up against Blackstone’s Damon Vignale, Ron E. Scott and Jesse Szymanski and Smallville’s James Marshall, Jae Marchant, Rob Maier and Scott Graham in the category.

Sanctuary dominated the technical categories, winning two nominations in each of the editing, sound and visual effects categories. It also won two nominations for best screenplay and nominations in the direction, cinematography and costume design categories as well as additional acting nominations for best actor, best supporting actor and best guest actor and stunt coordination.

Other series with multiple nominations include Smallville with eight nominations, Blackstone and Shattered with five and Fringe with three nominations.

Supernatural and Todd and the Book of Pure Evil each received three nominations. Single nominations went to Stargate Universe, Rookie Blue, R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour, Living in Your Car,

Life Unexpected, Human Target, Eureka, Caprica, Heartland and Being Erica.

Hiccups dominates the Best Music, Comedy or Variety Program or Series category wining nine of the 12 available nominations. The show’s producers, Brent Butt, David Storey, Laura Lightbown, Nancy Robertson, Arvi Liimatatainen are up against Derek Bird for All Access and Patrick Roberge, the producer of the Opening Ceremony of the X Winter Paralympic Games, for the category award.

In addition to Carl Bessai’s nomination, the show is nominated for a second best director award (James Dunnison). Both screenwriting awards, both editing awards, and three of the five acting awards including nominations for producers Robertson and Butt who star in the show.

The nominees for Best Short Drama are Kevan Funk for A Fine Young Man, Timo Puolitaipale and Chad Costen for Death Wish, Amy Belling and A.J. Bond for Madame Perrault’s Bluebeard, Benjamin Schuetze, Lyvia Cohen, David Sanderson for The Paris Quintet – Practice Makes Perfect, Benjamin Schuetze, Lyvia Cohen and David Sanders for Death Wish and Mark Ratzlaff and Jessica Cheung for Voodoo, which leads all films in the category with 10 nominations.

The short documentary A Window Looking In leads all nominees in the Documentary Program or Series category with seven. Producers Eric Ho-

gan, Tara Hungerford, Murray Battle and Lauren Grant are vying for the Best Short Documentary with Marsha Newberry and Paul Termansen of Family Matters: Surviving the Bipolar Journey, Jordan Paterson of From C to C: Chinese Canadian Stories of Migration, Jesse James Miller of My American Exodus and Ruth Vincent and Jeff Chiba Stearns of One Big Hapa Family.

Nominees in the Best Documentary Feature category include Yves Ma, Sturla Gunnarson and Janice Tufford for Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Film, Melanie Wood and Jeff Topham for Liberia 77, Selwyn Jacob’s Mighty Jerome, Mishake Kleider, Alex Kleider and Corey Ogilvie’s Streets of Plenty, and Helen Slinger for When the Devil Knocks. The Best Series nominees are Sylvie Peltier for Dark Waters of Crime and Martin de Valk and Andrew Genaille for Back in the Day: On the Mighty Fraser.

The five finaists in the Information or Lifestyle Series category are Phillip Webb and Brad Danks’ Don’t Quit Your Gay Job, Mike Agerbo and AJ Vickery for Get Connected, Gordon Inglis for The Sustainable Region, Sarah Groundwater and Aubrey Arnason for Wedding Belles and Margaret Mardirossian, Helen Schmidt, Candice Tipton, Fred Frame and Keely Booth for X-Weighted: Families.

Barbie is leading all nominees in the Animation Program or Series category.

The living doll has Kyle Ellis and Dent Wilder nominated for Barbie – A Fairy Secret and Dent Wilder and Shawn McCorkindale nominated for Barbie – A Fashion Fairytale. The dueling Barbies will be up against Chris Bartleman, Chantal Hennessey and Blair Peters’ Kid Vs Kat, The League of Super Evil’s Asaph Fipke, Chuck Johnson and Ken Faier and The Trembling Veil of Bones’ Martin Rose and Matthew TalbotKelly. The two finalists for Best Student Production are Little Big Kid, produced

by Kathleen Jayme and History of Greed produced by Mauricio Dal Poggetto.

The nominees for Best Youth or Children’s Program or Series are Animate Everything! produced by Martin Rose and Svend-Erik Eriksen; R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour’s Dan Angel and Billy Brown. The Leos will be held over two nights at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. The Celebration Awards Ceremony will be held on Wednesday, June 8 and the Gala Celebration will be held Saturday, June 11. n Reel West May / June 2011