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Transcript of September - October 2010 : Reel West Magazine
SEPT / OCT 2010 $5.00C
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EYE ON THE FESTIVAL:Terry Miles takes A Night for Dying Tigers to Vancouver’s fi lm fest
Eleven years of making fi lms withCARL BESSAI
Q & A with directorADAM MCKAY
Reel West Profi les featuringMICHAEL FRENCH and PETER MURRAY
New!
VIFF 20
10
3 REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
4 PRODUCTION UPDATE
5 BITS AND BYTES
10 BEGINNINGS
11 REEL WEST PROFILE #1
12 BEHIND THE SCENES
13 REEL WEST PROFILE #2
14 QUESTION AND ANSWER
15 EXPERT WITNESS
28 LEGAL BRIEFS
30 FINAL EDIT
16 DIGITAL MASTERS One would assume that people working in the third largest production centre in North
America would be savvy when it came to multi-platform strategies. However, panellists for the Trade Forum’s session on digital strategies say that few fi lmmakers really know as much as they should about new media and its advantages.
17 GAME ON Led by Electronic Arts, the video gaming industry is strong in British Columbia. Trade
Forum panellist Ian Christy says that like fi lm, the smaller companies are doing the most interesting things.
18 STICKING TO THE SCRIPT A lot of changes have occurred over the course of 25 years but Vancouver’s fi lm and
television industry Forum is still talking about screenwriting and the international market-place. While the new technologies have a prominent place, screenwriting seminars and a day-long pitching session called Storyville Vancouver are hot tickets.
20 BUSY BESSAI Eleven years after he took his fi rst fi lm to the Vancouver International Film Festival, Carl
Bessai is back with his eighth and ninth features, Fathers&Sons and Repeaters. In a country where it is diffi cult enough to get one movie seen by audiences he has become the poster boy for the prolifi c artist.
24 EYE ON THE TIGERS In his diary about the making of the Vancouver International Film Festival-bound A Night
for Dying Tigers, Terry Miles looks back at the day he realized that Robert Altman had underestimated the casting process when he said it was 90% of directing.
CONTENTS
COVER: A NIGHT FOR DYING TIGERS’ LAUREN LEE SMITH AND TYGH RUNYAN; PHOTO BY CATE CAMERON ABOVE: A NIGHT FOR DYING TIGERS’ TYGH RUNYAN,KATHLEEN ROBERTSON AND LEAH GIBSON; PHOTO BY CATE CAMERON
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REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 20104
PRODUCTION UPDATE
What’s coming. What’s shooting. What’s wrapped.
Two fi lm series that originated in
Vancouver are back in town for se-
quels. Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Ro-
drick Rules and Final Destination
5 will be shooting here throughout
much of the fall.
Wimpy Kid 2 follows the wisecrack-
ing elementary school boy whose mis-
adventures helped the fi rst fi lm make
over $60 million on an investment of
$15 million. It will have David Bow-
ers directing with Jeff Kinney the ex-
ecutive producer, Nina Jacobson and
Brad Simpson the producers, Ethan
Smith the supervising producer, Jack
Green the DOP, Warren Carr the
production manager, Steve Sachs the
location manager and Tony Lazaro-
wich the special eff ects coordinator.
It wraps in late October after a two
month shoot.
Th e Final Destination series is
well-known for its deadly opening
scenes. Th is time a suspension bridge
wreaks havoc on young victims.
Th ose who survive, as always, are
chased down by Death. It has Erik
Holmberg, Sheila Hanahan Taylor
as executive producers with Craig
Perry as producer, Brian Pearson as
DOP, Matthew Hart as production
manager, Adrienne Sol as produc-
tion coordinator, Kendrie Upton
as location manager and Rory Cut-
ler as special eff ects coordinator. It
wraps in mid-December after a three
month shoot.
Th e animated TV series Th e Fairly
Odd Parents comes to life as a live ac-
tion/animation television movie this
fall. It was shot throughout July with
Savage Steve Holland as director,
Scott McAboy, Lauren Levine as ex-
ecutive producers, Jon Joffi n as DOP,
Richard Hudolin as production de-
signer, Michael Potkins as produc-
tion manager, Lisa Ragosin as pro-
duction coordinator, David Tamkin
as location manager and Jak Osmond
as special eff ects coordinator.
In the television movie Good
Night for Justice, Beverly Hills 90210
alumni Jason Priestley and Luke
Perry reunite with Priestley direct-
ing his old pal. Randy Cheveldave
is the producer, Danny Nowak is the
DOP, Paul Joyal is the production
designer, Nancy Welsh is the pro-
duction manager, Tom Hoeverman
is the location manager and Dave
Allinson is the special eff ects coor-
dinator. It left in late August after a
month-long shoot.
Th e series Hellcats takes a dra-
matized look at college cheerleading
competitions and has Kevin Mur-
phy, Tom Welling and Allan Arkush
as executive producers, Rose Lam as
producer, Kim Steer as production
manager, Deana Kittson as produc-
tion coordinator and Michael Gaze-
tas as location manager. It is sched-
uled to be here until mid-November.
Leaving in early September was
the third season of the APTN se-
ries Nehiyawetan, which had Jason
Crowe and Loretta Todd as direc-
tors, Todd, Edi Osghian and Giuli-
ana Bertuzzi as producers, Glenn
Taylor and James Fortier as DOPs,
Tracy Major as production designer,
Felix Cheng as production coordi-
nator and Judson Pooyak as loca-
tion manager. ■
BOBBY CAMPO AND SHANTEL VANSANTEN ATTEMPT TO CHEAT DEATH IN THE FOURTH INSTALLMENT OF THE FINAL DESTINATION SERIES
Sequels come home
5 REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
Insecurity securedA comedy series about the men and women of a
fi ctional agency whose mission is to keep the na-
tion “safeish’ is scheduled to wrap in late September
in Regina. Insecurity, which is scheduled to air the
fi rst of 13 episodes on the CBC in January, was shot
in and around Regina according to spokesperson
Richelle Bourgoin.
Th e show stars Natalie Lisinska as rookie agent Alex
Cranston, William Devry as “politically-savvy” boss
Peter McNeil, Matthew Macfadzean as “Jack Bauer
wanna-be” Burt Wilson, Grace Lynn Kung as forensics
specialist Jojo Kwan, Richard Yearwood as Benjamin
Nudu from the fi ctional African nation of Ligeria and
award-winning actor Rémy Girard.
Bourgoin said the series was created and executive
produced by Kevin White Robert De Lint and Vir-
ginia Th ompson .
BITS AND BYTES
Partnering for 3D TVImax Corporation and Samsung Electronics Canada recently announced that they have
formed a marketing partnership that will see Imax giving Samsung limited use of its trade-
mark and two 3D fi lms Into the Deep and Galapagos. A spokesperson said the 3D Blu-ray
versions of the fi lms are exclusive for the next 12 months to Samsung’s 2010 3D starter kit,
which also includes 2 pairs of 3D glasses and is free to people who buy a Samsung 3D TV
and a Samsung 3D Blu-ray device. He said the starter kit will be available starting this fall.
“Samsung is developing excellent television products that offer a powerful 3D experience
for consumers in their living and family rooms,” said Richard Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “IMAX
remains focused on partnering with the best companies in the world to help us further ex-
tend our brand, establish our presence in the home and capitalize on our premium content,
and we believe Samsung will be a strong strategic marketing partner in these efforts.”
Samsung spokesperson John Revie said the agreement is part of the company’s
“ongoing commitment” to provide consumers with new Blu-ray 3D content.
Elizabeth Reins for CBCCanadian producers who thought 3D TV was still a few years away from airing in this country
will be encouraged by news that CBC will be showing the documentary Queen Elizabeth in
3D on September 20. According to CBC English Services spokesperson Kristine Stewart,
the network tested the images for the documentary when the Queen was in Canada earlier
this year. She said tests included the Queen reviewing the Canadian naval fl eet in Halifax, as
well as attending Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa and the Queen’s Plate in Toronto.
“It’s exciting to be part of Canadian television history,” she said. “Once again, the
CBC is at the forefront of bringing the best in television programming to as many
Canadians as possible.”
She said the brief 3D test was unannounced and broadcast across the entire CBC
system, including satellite, cable, Internet and over-the-air. A test group of 50 people
were given 3D glasses and took part in the test. “We wanted to learn,” said Mark Staro-
wicz, the head of documentary programming at the network. “We wanted to be on the
cutting edge of documentary production, and we wanted to make some history.”
Stewart said that while there have been 3D television programs shown in Canada
before, the CBC broadcast is the fi rst to be Canadian-shot and produced and trans-
mitted nationally.
Storyboard BoomsA spokesperson for a new version of Toon Boom Storyboard Pro 2 says it infuses “more
power and fl exibility into the idea creation, development and visualization process.”
Joan Vogesand, the president and CEO of Toon Boom, says the new version is essential
to the beginning of any audiovisual project. She says it enables storyboard artists, directors,
producers, game designers and communication specialists to bring their concept to life.
“This major release sets Storyboard Pro apart and delivers features that make it the
tool of choice for all digital storyboard projects” says Vogelesang. “The new feature
highlights include an extended set of Tools and Tool PropertiesFast creation and reuse
of brushes with specifi c settings, an easy creation of custom brushes using a stroke or
a series of strokes, a practical setting of separate colours for Brush, Pencil and Paint
tools and a convenient selection of strokes based on the current colour selection.”
In 2005 the Montreal-based company won a Primetime Emmy® Engineering Award
by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the “signifi cant contribution” it has
made to the animation industry targeted for television. ■
NATALIE LISINSKA AND RICHARD YEARWOOD. PHOTO ALLAN FEILDEL
A Vancouver-based company will
begin fi lming the city’s fi rst ever
multi-camera sitcom in October.
Th underbird Films says it is working
with YTV and Th e Suite Life of Zack
and Cody writer Dan Signer on the
series, entitled Mr. Young, which is
expected to premiere on the Cana-
dian network in the spring of 2011.
“Th ere is a large pool of talented,
Canadian comedy writers in Los An-
geles working on some of the biggest
hit shows, many of whom are keen to
work with Dan Signer on Mr. Young,”
said Michael Shepard, president of
Th underbird Films. “Response to the
material in development has been
overwhelmingly positive.”
Shepard said the series will tell the
story of a child prodigy who went to
university at the age of nine. At four-
teen he turns down several career
options to be a high school science
teacher in order to have a normal high
school experience. However, his stu-
dents include his best friend, the girl
he has a crush on and the class bully.
Shepard said that in addition to
Signer, the key creative personnel
will include iCarly director Adam
Weissman and Suite Life writer
Howard Nemetz. He said Nelvana
Enterprises has been named inter-
national distribution agent for the
series. Nelvana and Th underbird will
be co-distributing in the USA.
Young Humour
REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 20106
Blackstone to APTNA fi ctional series of one-hour episodes about an Al-
berta First Nations band began production in mid-July
and is expected to debut in early 2011 on APTN and
Showcase. “Blackstone is relevant and relational in an
Aboriginal story world, with universal themes and con-
fl icts,” said executive producer Ron Scott.
Th e series stars several high-profi le Canadian ac-
tors including Eric Schweig, Nathaniel Arcand and
Michelle Th rush. Schweig, perhaps best known for
his co-starring performance in Last of the Mohicans,
plays a corrupt former chief who still has some political
power while Arcand plays a band member struggling in
the city and Th rush plays a woman in mourning over
the loss of her daughter.
Blackstone’s pilot, which aired last fall, won fi ve Ros-
ies at the May, 2010 AMPIA awards. Th e show won
the Diversity award, best production under 60 minutes,
best writing (Gil Cardinal) best director (Scott) and
best Alberta actress (Roseanne Supernault.)
ERIC SCHWEIG IN THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
Winnipeg recently played host to
the CBC series Men With Brooms.
Th e show is scheduled to air on the
network for 13 weeks beginning
with the episode of Monday, Sep-
tember 20.
Series spokesperson RoseAnna
Schick said the series is “inspired” by
the 2002 fi lm of the same name and
is being produced by Serendipity
Point Films, E1 Entertainment and
Frantic Films. She says the fi lm stars
Brendan Gall, William Vaughan,
Joel Keller and Anand Rajaram
as a group of friends in “small town
Canada” who live for their time on
the local curling rink.
Schick said the show wrapped
in late August with Winnipeg’s Fort
Rouge Curling Club the key interior
set for the production. She said the
series was created by Paul Mather,
who joins Laszlo Barna, Ari Lan-
tos, Mark Musselman, Paul Gross
and Jamie Brown as executive pro-
ducers. She said Paula Devonshire
is the line producer, and Shawn
Watson is co-producer. Directors
are Jeff Beesley, Brian Roberts and
Kelly Makin.
Clean Sweep
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Park’s fi rst daysBattlestar Gallactica alumnus Grace Park, who was
recently hired to star in the remake of the series Hawaii
Five-O for CBS, returned to western Canada to star in a
short fi lm, Th e First Days. According to a spokesperson,
the fi lm was shot over the course of two days in Regina.
Th e First Days cast also included Byron Lawson, Aleks
Paunovic, Jody Peters, Alan Bratt and Ron Anderson.
“It’s incredible how supportive everyone has been for this
fi lm,” said producer Stephen Huszar. “It’s not often that
a short fi lm has such a high calibre cast and crew. We feel
very fortunate to be able to work with this kind of talent.”
Th e fi lm tells the story from the point of view of an
immigrant who risks his life to get to a new home only
to fi nd he can’t communicate with the people who live
there. It was written by Regina’s Mauricio Carvajal and
was based on his own experiences. Huszar said Car-
vajal travelled from Bogota, Colombia to Regina when
he was 17 and didn’t speak a word of English. Huszar
said he is now a Landed Immigrant and is enrolled in a
Masters of Fine Arts program with a specialization in
immigration in fi lm.
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Women detectives get their own docu-
mentary series in September when
Vancouver-based Force Four Entertain-
ment premieres Murder She Solved:
True Crime, an eight-episode, one
hour series for specialty channel VIVA.
Force Four’s John Ritchie says the
show tells the true stories of female
crime solvers, some of whom are
responsible for solving some of the
most daunting murder cases in Can-
ada. “Th is is the fi rst factual crime
series for us, and we are thrilled to
be collaborating with VIVA,” he says.
“Whether it’s the in-depth news of
Dateline or the fi ctional drama of
CSI, crime stories have always been
an audience favourite. Murder She
Solved: True Crime off ers all the
excitement of headline news with
thorough investigative reporting, but
from a Canadian perspective. It will
appeal to a broad audience and make
great destination TV viewing.”
Ritchie says that at the heart of each
one-hour episode is a high-profi le Ca-
nadian murder “full of twists, turns,
dead ends and high-speed car chases,
and a female investigator whose role
is pivotal in solving the case.”
Crime Solved
Catherine A. Sas, [email protected] Foreign Legal Consultant with the State Bar of California
Phebe [email protected]
Robson Court1000-840 Howe Street Vancouver BC V6Z 2M1Telephone: 604.687.2242www.canadian-visa-lawyer.comwww.millerthomson.com
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www.nicameroninc.com • [email protected]
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• Film & television tax credits • Accounting, bookkeeping and auditing • Year end accounting and tax planning • Personal & corporate income tax / GST returns • Consulting and computer systems • Boardroom facilities available – up to 10 people
Pilots Flying
Priestley debut Vancouver actor Jason Priestley has the lead role in
an HBO Canada series called Call Me Fitz that debuts
September 19. According to a spokesperson he will be
playing a “morally bankrupt yet charismatic used-car
salesman who is forced to become business partners
with his inner conscience.”
“Call Me Fitz is an outstanding addition to HBO
Canada’s line-up,” says Corus Entertainment’s Joanna
Webb. “Fitz is like a corrupted modern version of
Frank Sinatra, Casanova and Gordon Gekko, and
it takes a special actor to make a character like this
likeable. But with the great writing of (Defying Grav-
ity’s) Sheri Elwood and the talents of Jason Priestley,
the show really comes together with boundary-push-
ing results.”
Th e series is being executive produced by Elwood.
Th e supporting cast includes Ernie Grunwald, Peter
MacNeill, Kathleen Munroe, Brooke Nevin, Hu-
sein Madhavji, Tracy Dawson, Joanna Cassidy and
Rachel Blanchard.
Vancouver’s Omni Films has com-
pleted a 13-episode documentary
series about a renegade Arctic airline
that fl ies World War II planes in the
Canadian North. Ice Pilots NWT be-
gins airing September 24 on Global.
“We’re thrilled to be airing season
one of Ice Pilots NWT on Global,” says
Omni partner and executive produc-
er Gabriela Schonbach. “With the
incredible success of its premiere on
History Television and the massive
audience response internationally,
we’re delighted to showcase the orig-
inal adventures of Buff alo Air to an
ever growing Canadian audience.”
Schonbach said the series was
fi lmed over nine months of winter
and follows rookie pilots and “frost-
bitten ramp hands” as they attempt
to keep vintage warbirds fl ying de-
spite blizzards and breakdowns. Th e
series was created and produced by
David Gullason, and executive pro-
duced by Schonbach, David Gulla-
son and Michael Chechik.
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Heart beatingMichael French had shot documentary footage of Rick
Hansen in the 1980s when the Vancouver paralympian
had gone to China as part of his Man in Motion World
Tour. Years later, he decided that the story might make
a good dramatic feature and took a cast and crew back
to China to make the movie.
Th e fi lm, which is entitled Heart of a Dragon, will
premiere in Vancouver on October 29 and will move
across the country from there. It was directed, writ-
ten and produced by French with Mark Gordon and
David Foster the executive producers. It stars Vic-
tor Webster as Hansen and co-stars James Th omas
Byrnes, Sarah-Jane Potts, Andrew Lee Potts and
Ethan Embry.
French said Zhang Ping was the production executive
for partner Th e Beijing Film Studios. Xiaobing Rao was
the cinematographer
and Bingjian Zhang
was the production
designer and 1st as-
sistant director. Th e
composer was Chris
Ainscough while
the original song was
written by Foster and
John Parr and per-
formed by Michael
Johns. Colette Gouin
was the co-producer
responsible for CGI,
John Bromley was
the line producer and
the editors were Chris
Ainscough and Jana
Fritsch. Th e produc-
tion manager was Britt French and Chris Earthy pro-
duced the soundtrack.
Th e Winnipeg-shot series Todd &
Th e Book Of Pure Evil will debut on
Space September 29 according to
a network spokesperson who de-
scribes the series as “Th e Breakfast
Club meets Evil Dead.”
Th e show stars Alex House as
“pot-smokin’, heavy-metal-rock-
god-wannabe” Todd Smith. After
local teens discover a book that
makes teenagers’ deepest, darkest
desires come true, Todd is the only
person who stands between the
book and the end of the world as
we know it.
Th e series was created by Craig
David Wallace, Charles Picco and
Anthony Leo and was based on
the short fi lm of the same name by
Wallace and Max Bernard Reid.
It premiered at the 2003 Toronto
International Film Festival. Th e
executive producers are Wallace,
Leo and Andrew Rosen. Th e pro-
ducers are Leo, Rosen and Shawn
Watson.
Evil booked
VICTOR WEBSTER
REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 201010
My interest and pas-
sion for entertain-
ment started in my
adolescence in the
1970s. My family and after-school
friends were hooked on Gilligan’s Is-
land, Th e Brady Bunch, Th e Rockford
Files and all manner of cop shows.
Not all of these shows were great tele-
vision, but the 70s paved the way for
everything that followed. CSI might
seem like a cutting-edge series about
the technology of criminal forensics,
but it’s really just Quincy, M.E. meets
Th e $ 6 Million Dollar Man.
I have been fortunate enough to
have worked as a writer, a reader, a
Telefi lm analyst, a business aff airs ex-
ecutive/in-house counsel and now an
entertainment lawyer in private prac-
tice representing mostly producers,
distributors and digital media compa-
nies. Entertainment law deals largely
with contract and copyright law and
involves preparing or reviewing all
the contracts between the producer
and all the creative and fi nancial ele-
ments needed to fi nance and execute
a production.
Th is includes contracts with co-pro-
ducers, executive producers, writers,
the actors, the director and the crew,
and contracts with the broadcasters,
distributors or other investors who
fi nance the project. Th ere is also pro-
duction insurance, E&O clearance pro-
cedures, labour law/union issues and
music rights. Th e lawyer is involved to
some extent in all of these areas. Ini-
tially I started as a television writer, so
how did I get from there to entertain-
ment law? Here’s how the story goes.
I was always interested in the people
I met, where they were from and what
made them tick, the more unusual the
better. (My mother remembers when the
Jehovah’s Witnesses came by our house.
She would pretend to be doing laundry
in the basement hoping they would think
no one was home. While she was down-
stairs I invited them in for tea.)
If I had any desire to be a writer at
that time, I didn’t dare express it. As
far as my family was concerned, there
were only fi ve possible professions
in life. You could be a banker, doctor,
lawyer, accountant or “businessman.”
Being a teacher was fi ne if you were a
girl, but no one could support a family
on it. As for fi lm school, forget it! Fast-
forward seven years and I had a Com-
merce degree (UBC) and a Law degree
(U Vic). Although there were no spe-
cifi c entertainment law courses at the
time, I took contracts and intellectual
property. I enjoyed law school, did well
and got a scholarship in my third year
and, eventually, an articling position
with a downtown fi rm.
But instead of studying for my Bar
Exams, I was reading Syd Field’s Story
Structure and writing screenplays on
the side. I reviewed movies in the
fi rm’s internal newsletter. I don’t think
anyone was surprised when I quit the
practice after a year and took Creative
Writing at UBC. My Mum, however,
thought I was nuts. Had I been re-
programmed by the Moonies?
I still worked in the legal world and
my goal at the time was to write for law
dramas like L.A. Law or Law & Order.
I worked part-time as a researcher
on an information show called Legal
Wise, produced by Phil Reimer and
Nijole Kuzmickas for CBC Regional.
At the end of that school year, I
BEGINNINGS
John P.H. Nicolls “...I was eating off 2 for 1 coupons at El Pollo Loco and realized this wasn’t fun anymore.”
PH
OT
O P
HIL
CH
IN
11 REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
wrote three pitches for the Canadian
series Street Legal and one of them
got picked up. Suddenly, I had a pay-
ing gig on a plum CBC show! I really
thought I had arrived. Not for long
though. I fl ew back out to Toronto
later that summer on my own dime,
but none of my other pitches worked
out. Overall, it was a great experience.
I got a produced writing credit and
an extremely generous royalty of 10%
of gross worldwide sales. Even today,
when my episode sells to Algeria for
$100, I get a cheque for ten bucks (less
union deductions.)
In 1991, my friend John Ketcham and
I decided to move to Los Angeles. John
was a Vancouver producer-director who
had scored the fi lm rights to the book
about Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the
world middle-weight boxing champion
who had been wrongfully convicted of
triple-murder in the mid-1960’s.
John had also scored a green card
in the lottery. I was not so lucky so
he hired me as his lawyer and I got in
under the NAFTA Free Trade Agree-
ment. Besides my law degree under
my arm, I also carried scripts for L.A.
Law, Law & Order and Cheers and a
feature script called Upstaged that I
had written with a friend.
John and I lived in a bachelor pad on
San Ysidro Drive in the Hills of Beverly
with producer Michelle MacLaren,
another Vancouverite transitioning
to Los Angeles. It was a modest bun-
galow, but there was an avocado tree
and an outdoor barbeque with piped-
in natural gas. We had lots of parties.
In fact, our little pad became a haven
for many ex-pat Canadians and we had
get-togethers for Canada Day, Canadi-
an Th anksgiving, even Canadian elec-
tions. We shot seriously goofy videos
in the backyard starring our friends
and we also put together actual proj-
ects to pitch. We pitched them ear-
nestly, and shamelessly, in an attempt
to have someone take notice.
John had a movie of the week in de-
velopment with NBC and was pitching
the “Hurricane” Carter story around
town. We pitched a TV special on
the upcoming 25th anniversary of
the moon landing with a bootlegged
soundtrack and a trailer that was made
up largely of NASA stock footage. We
also had a movie review show that was
akin to Siskel & Ebert.
I was shopping around for an agent
and got some great leads through
some Vancouverites. I was still try-
ing to get connected to L.A. Law and
met co-star Richard Dysart through
Vancouver art dealer Diane Farris.
Dysart, who commuted between LA
and Sechelt at the time, supported me
wholeheartedly. He told me not to sub-
mit the script, but to get another spec
for a diff erent show, on the grounds
that one couldn’t write a script that
was up to snuff for the show one was
actually trying to land.
In the meantime, I heard they
needed Canadian writers for a half-
hour Tarzan series, a Canadian-Mex-
ican-German co-production starring
Wolf Larsen. It was a non-union gig
but paid $5,000 a pop - which was
enough to live on for several months
- so I pitched a bunch of ideas for that
and got one. Eventually, Richard got
my Law & Order script to Bob Breech,
one of the executive producers of L.A.
Law and eventually it went to Chan-
ning Gibson, an actual writer on the
staff . Th e word was they were look-
ing for another writer to complete the
season. Could this be my big break?
Channing liked my spec enough to
ask for an original script, to see how
I was at creating original characters.
I sent him Upstaged, the romantic
comedy, but I guess it didn’t cut it. Th e
job went to another Canadian writer,
someone named Paul Haggis.
What I did get out of L.A. was an
understanding about how the business
worked. I learned what option agree-
ments, writer agreements, co-pro-
duction agreements and script guar-
antees actually looked like and what
recoupment schedules and royalties
(and net profi t defi nitions) were, how
they were calculated and paid, or not.
I learned what kind of introductions
meant you had an “agent” and what
kind meant you had a “partner” and
how to limit those relationships with
written agreements, not “back of the
napkin” deals. I learned that people or
companies that said they had money
and connections didn’t always tell the
truth. (One thing about the internet is
it has become a lot easier to look up
people and companies and check out
their stories so you can fi nd someone
you know that’s done business with
them in the past.)
Th ere are a couple of signifi cant
things I remember about L.A. Th e
fi rst is that there are about 20,000 new
people arriving there every year to get
their big break (and 20,000 leaving?).
I remember we were going to make a
short fi lm, and we put one ad in one
issue of the Dramalogue to cast for a
“female lead in her twenties,” and we
got over 200 resumes. And that was
for an unpaid gig in a short fi lm. Th e
other thing is that, as much as know-
ing people is important, working your
ass off is essential. Read comedy writer
Phil Rosenthal’s hilarious auto-biogra-
phy, You’re Lucky You’re Funny, which
outlines his experience as a slaving
staff writer for some terrible sit-coms,
before fi nally getting the chance to
create and show-run Everybody Loves
Raymond. Th e message: write about
what you know, do whatever you can
to get experience and never give up.
In 1994, I was eating off 2 for 1
coupons at El Pollo Loco and realized
this wasn’t fun anymore. I became
one of the 20,000 leaving L.A., but I
didn’t exactly give up. My theory is
that when one thing doesn’t work out,
it usually opens up an opportunity for
another thing, and that can be just as
good or better. And luckily, that hap-
pened for me.
When I arrived back in Vancouver,
broke and depressed, I wasn’t sure
what to do. Th e fi rst thing that got me
out of my funk was pitching a maga-
zine article about my L.A. experiences
to Vancouver Magazine. It chronicled
some of the funnier things that hap-
pened in L.A. where it seemed that no
act of self-promotion was too wacky.
Th e article was titled You’re OK, I’m
Fantastic and included stunts like
sending a pitch around inside a box of
Cheerios with a “limited-time off er”
written on the box: “Free Screenplay!
See details inside!”
Th at led to a recurring column
with the magazine entitled Brolly-
wood which chronicled the goings-on
in Vancouver’s fi lm scene, both in-
dependent and imported. I also ap-
plied for (and got) a Kickstart Award
Beginnings continued on page 29
PROFILE
Writer / Director Michael French More than 20 years after he followed Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion World Tour to China to shoot a documentary,
Michael French returned to shoot a feature fi lm which he wrote directed and produced. “Heart of a Dragon” stars
Victor Webster as the famed wheelchair athlete. It is scheduled to open in BC theatres October 29.
Home town Vancouver, BC
Start date August 25, 2006
Best day The last shot on the last day at the top of The Great Wall
Worst day The fi rst shot on the fi rst day when specialized camera mounts failed.
Most memorable working experience Learning that dragons are loyal friends who will only breathe fi re if provoked.
If I won an Oscar I would thank My mother
My latest fi ve year plan Going skiing
PH
OT
O A
LBE
RT
NO
RM
AN
DIN
REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 201012
PH
OT
O M
EG
AN
OLI
VE
R
13 REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
Vancouver composer Ari
Wise had scored many
fi lms, documentaries and
television episodes when
he made a career move that could go
a long way in changing the way the
world looks at Canadian composers.
Four years after he founded it, Core
Music Agency (formerly Th e Cana-
dian Composers Agency) is the sin-
gle largest provider of fi lm, television
and games composers in Canada.
Wise’s path from composer to
agent started almost 20 years ago
when he returned to Vancouver
from USC’s Th ornton’s Graduate
Film Scoring program. He recalls
that he assumed he would take an
instantaneous rocket to stardom but
discovered that while he was ready
to soar the opportunities were not
abundant.
“I guess I had it in my head that
I was going to take the town with
fresh ideas and creative vision and
the hundred or so years of fi lm scor-
ing experience that I got from all of
my Hollywood professors,” he says.
“Unfortunately, Vancouver really
wasn’t humming yet. We had had a
few false starts, but nothing like it
is now. I was surprised to fi nd out
that there already were quite a few
very well established fi lm compos-
ers here. I guess I should have done
some research fi rst.”
Part of the problem was that he
didn’t have a strong background in
the music that dominated movies
in the early 1990s. Instead, he was
more fi rmly footed in contemporary
orchestral styles.
“Most of the music for fi lm and TV
was rock-based at that time. I liked
that music but had never played in a
band before. I had to learn very fast
and so I just hired all the best ses-
sion musicians I could fi nd in town.
I didn’t net a penny for fi ve years but
I learned a lot. Th ose guys took me
by the hand and showed me how it’s
done. I could never have learned that
stuff in school. Th ere’s a real com-
munity here and they brought me in
right away. Th ey were professional,
gifted and brotherly.”
He made enough contacts in the
industry that he was able to create a
studio and forge a 15 year career that
saw him score nine series and 14 fea-
ture length fi lms as well as dozens of
documentaries and shorts. However,
he could also see the potential in an-
other facet of the industry. “Maybe it
was that ‘hitting 40’ thing,” he says. “I
just felt like I needed to change my
habits. I needed to change my life.”
He sold the studio and his gear, start-
ed exercising, lost 20 pounds and
opened a talent agency dedicated to
representing fi lm composers.
“Instead of competing with my
peers, I decided to represent them,”
he says. “I got the idea from watching
my wife Pam at work. She’s a popu-
lar agent for actors. Also, I had the
benefi t of having three good agents
over my career. And I really like the
business side of fi lm music. I like
fi nding solutions, making new con-
nections, seeing potential in people. I
also realized that a great soundtrack
happens when there is a perfect syn-
ergy between music inspired by the
fi lm and a fi lm that is inspired by
music. Representing composers is
what I know but it’s only half of the
equation. I needed to fi nd the right
person to help me build a licensing
library featuring the talents of new
recording artists and bands.”
Enter Jacquelyn Brioux, a young
music afi cionado with a background
in fi lm, English and a passion for all
things contemporary. “Jacquelyn re-
ally knocked me over with her di-
verse knowledge of artists and new
movements in music. My iPod ex-
ploded overnight.” Brioux now heads
up the music licensing division.
Wise said the company is doing well
enough that it has also hired another
composer’s agent, Matt Safran, who
once represented Wise.
Th is month (September) the
company will make the transition
from “scoring agency” to “scoring
and licensing agency’” and formally
become Core Music Agency. “Th e
name really jumped out at us be-
cause it represents something at the
very center of something else. It’s the
heart. It’s what every artist looks for
in creating a sculpture, a painting, a
piece of music. Music is at the very
core of us and it’s what we bring to
the industry: great talents who un-
derstand that concept and go right to
the internal pulse of the pictures they
work on.” ■
Core Music Agency Connecting with the competition worked out well for Ari Wise
BEHIND THE SCENES
PROFILE
Talon Helicopters Peter MurrayThirteen years after it was founded, Talon Helicopters is one of Vancouver’s leading suppliers of helicopters to the
fi lm and television industry. Founded by its current president, Peter Murray, Talon has six helicopters confi gured for
productions and has ten employees. Among its recent productions are the fi lms Red Riding Hood and Mordecai and
the series Human Target, Fringe and Sanctuary
Home town Vancouver, BC
First Day April 22, 1997
Best day June 1, 2009 – the day we added our TwinStar helicopter to the fl eet. Low level fl ight in the city is now part of our repetoire.
Worst day When you love what you do, every day is a good day.
Most memorable working experience Flying the aerials for the incredible twilight shots of Vancouver and Whistler for the 2010 Winter Games opening ceremonies.
If I won an Oscar I would thank My wife Oga Nwobosi Murray, for her endless support
My latest fi ve year plan is a continuation of my last fi ve year plan: steady, managed growth backed with the best crews in the helicopter business.
REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 201014
In 1995 Adam McKay was the
head writer of Saturday Night
Live and Will Ferrell was a
rookie performer. Flash forward
15 years and the two men are a qua-
druple threat. Th ey have taken their
television success and translated it to
stage, screen and even the internet.
Th eir collaborations include the hit
stage play You’re Welcome America,
A Final Night with George W. Bush,
the popular website Funny or Die and
three movies (Anchorman, Talladega
Nights: Th e Legend of Ricky Bobby and
Step Brothers) that have averaged over
$100 million in box offi ce receipts.
Th eir latest venture is Th e Other
Guys, which is directed by McKay and
stars Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as
paper-pushing New York cops who are
ignored by their colleagues. Th e movie
was released in August. McKay sat
down with Reel West editor Ian Cad-
dell in July to talk about why the part-
nership works, the diff erence between
fi lm comedy and TV sitcoms and the
work that goes into editing a fi lm where
improvisation is encouraged.
Why do you think you and Will have managed to have such a successful partnership?“Our upbringings are remarkably
similar. We both come from divorced
families where our fathers were mu-
sicians. Both of our families split up
when we were the same age which is
kind of freaky and we grew up through
the same period together. We both
worked at improv theatres and be-
yond that we are not freakishly success
driven people. We are not looking to
be number one or dominate. We like
what we do and we want to be chal-
lenged or entertained. Th at is our fi rst
priority. When we work together we
will have conversations where we will
say ‘if we are going to do Step Brothers
it has to be rated R. It has to be really
absurd. We are not going to make $200
million on it. Th ere is even a chance
that we will make only $50 (million.)
I will say ‘I am good with that, are you
good with that?’and he will say ‘yes I
am good with that’ and then we go and
do the movie.”
What about the collaboration pro-cess. How does that work? “Well there is a conversation before ev-
ery movie where we go ‘here is why we
want to do it. Here is what is interesting
about it to us.’ Th e answer is always ‘I
am cool with that.’ I think both of us re-
ally respond to that and because of that
we don’t get crazily cranked up or dra-
matic about stuff . Neither of us think
we are so great that we are always right
about stuff . If he comes with a strong
opinion I am always curious to hear it
and he feels the same with me. If either
of us come close to putting our foot
down the other person will say ‘oh, you
don’t usually feel this strong . Let’s try
that.’ It’s fi lm so you can always shoot it
a couple of diff erent ways, so there is no
need to get freaked out about stuff .”
What is the process that leads you to choose the particular plot lines? “We are drawn a lot of times to tradi-
tional story arcs like the sports story
in Talladega or the cop buddy thing
because you have assumptions coming
into it and then we get to fool around
with those assumptions and that is kind
of fun. So people say it’s parody but it’s
not parody. It is a familiar room you
have been in before and then the sur-
prise has more of a context for it. We felt
the cop buddy genre was nearly dead. It
started to get kind of stale there near the
end and there were a bunch that didn’t
hit in the 1990s. But the one thing we
said is that the perception of crime had
changed. Th e fact that Bernie Madoff
stole 90 million and these banks stole
a trillion dollars, all of a sudden drug
smuggling got kind of quaint.”
The comedy seems to come from almost every member of the cast in these movies. Is that intentional?“Yes, from the get-go Will and I said
‘we miss ensemble comedies, mov-
ies like Stripes and Caddyshack.’ Th ey
were such a joy to watch because you
never knew where the comedy was
going to come from. From Anchorman
to now our goal has been that there
would be at least fi ve or six people
who can be funny. Th ere is at least one
check-in moment where I say ‘you are
aware this is what we do and I am go-
ing do this so please don’t get upset.’
We have been very fortunate. I don’t
think we have ever had one actor who
has done any of our movies who have
been a pain in the ass. Every actor has
been game for it and in that sense we
have been incredibly lucky.”
In situation comedies, the humour comes from knowing the charac-ters over time. In your fi lms, the characters seem familiar after about ten minutes. Is that a con-scious effort to assure that people understand who these people are and will see humour in them over the course of the movie?“We do talk about that. With An-
chorman we noticed that the fi rst ten
minutes didn’t work and we couldn’t
fi gure it out. So we re-cut it and we
tried new things and we put whole
new sequences in. When we tested it
we would get a couple of chuckles and
it was exactly at the point where they
knew who the people were that the
movie would cook. When it came out
on DVD and cable people were quot-
QUESTION AND ANSWER
Adam McKay Director of funny fi lms
MARK WAHLBERG AND WILL FERRELL STAR IN MCKAY’S THE OTHER GUYS
15 REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
EXPERT WITNESS
“I went there about four or fi ve years ago and it is such a complicated place that I
didn’t know where to start. There were so many sad things happening but people had
such an extraordinary spirit. Then when the earthquake hit we thought ‘this could go
so badly. It could break out into some kind of civil war.’ But the fact it didn’t happen
is something to be noted. I am planning to get much more involved in the children’s
issues and spend time at the (International) SOS village and meet with a lot of the
judges and ministries working on all these different protections for children which we
haven’t fi gured out globally. It feels like Haiti might be a good place to start. It’s such a
mess down there and they are trying to fi gure out from the ground up how to start to
deal with the separated child and the abused child and get it right there. If we can get
it right there we can get it right anywhere.” Actress Angelina Jolie on the lessons
to be learned from Haiti.
“That was all greed. They had always done those fi lms three and four years apart.
They responded to Batman Forever and it was a good fi lm. So let that simmer for four
years and whet people’s appetite for it. Make sure we have a script that works. But
they said ‘we have to have it now.’ They didn’t have a good script and they thought
they could throw money at it and it would come together. But it was a disaster.” Actor
Chris O’Donnell on the superhero fl op Batman & Robin.
“It was such a hard job trying to get the American Midwest accent (for Public Enemies)
and knowing that I wouldn’t be 100 percent perfect. I worked hard but it was really
hard because I needed to fi nd the authenticity of a role. After it was completed I had
another offer, which was a beautiful offer but I couldn’t imagine that the character
would have any French fl avour in her accent. I was not ready yet to go back into four
months of dialect coaching to try and erase my French accent. Maybe I will go back
there in the future because it’s a challenge that I would love to succeed at but it was
really hard because I knew when I was not perfect and it was diffi cult to get there. I
learned English when I was 12 but with a very bad English teacher who was French.
He would say ‘azeef (as if.)’ You really have to start very early to learn another lan-
guage so that it gets into your brain and it becomes automatic. If you don’t it’s really
hard.” Oscar-winning French actress Marian Cotillard on trying to feel comfort-
able playing Americans.
“I always disagree with the idea of people talking about building a family on the fi lm
set. You build a work environment. When people say ‘we were just like a family on the
set’ I say ‘no we weren’t. We were there for eight weeks and we went home at the
end of the day.’ The thing about families is that they are with you from beginning to
end and through some tough stuff and some great stuff. Mia (The Kids Are All Right’s
Mia Wasikowska) was saying that your family members are the only people who go
through that whole life experience with you. They see everything and there is some-
thing that is incredibly intimate about that.” Actress Julianne Moore on families.
ing lines are from the fi rst ten minutes
because everyone knew what it was
then. We thought ‘this is interesting’
and we fi gured out that you needed
a kind of short hand at the beginning
to know who these people are so you
relate to them. You use epic storytell-
ing language to tell them ‘here is this
guy and here is this guy’ and when you
get past that mark you kind of know
who they are. Th e fun about knowing
anyone is you start to have surprises
from them. In this fi lm we had our set
up where Will was the paper pusher
and Mark was the tough guy and we
thought it was boring after a while so
then we thought ‘a lot of geeky guys
aren’t pushovers. In fact they can
be some of the pushier people you
will ever meet. So let’s have Will be
that and let’s have Mark not just be a
tough guy but let’s have him have an
anger disorder so that he is even more
hopped up than Will.’”
So the changeup only works when people have these characters developed in their minds so you ware working with the audience at that point “Yes and that is why we are drawn a lot
of times to those traditional story arcs
like the sports story in Talladega or
the cop buddy thing because you have
assumptions coming into it and then
we get to change-up those assump-
tions. People say it’s parody but it’s not
parody. It is a familiar room you have
been in before and then the surprise
has more of a context for it.”
You have talked before about your love of Airplane and the other comedies by the Zucker brothers and Jim Abrahams. What did you take from those fi lms that you use in your own movies?“Th ey were involved in the evolu-
tion of comedy. Th ey were the mod-
ern masters of that. Th at is how we
all learned to do it. Th ey had serious
people like Leslie Nielsen and Peter
Graves as the leads in Airplane and
we all learned from that. I saw that
movie about eight times in the the-
atre. I was in 5th grade crying with
laughter. Th ey played it straight even
though it was a ridiculous movie. So
you didn’t need the cues that let you
know it was a comedy as had been
true with people like Bob Hope. You
didn’t have to be winking. You could
trust the audience and relax and now
that approach is essential to our com-
edy. I am not that stuff y about com-
edy. If it is funny I will laugh like an
idiot but if it winks too much it will
lose me.”
You have always been a creative guy but what have you learned since Anchorman about the tech-nical side of directing? “I have defi nitely gotten better at the
technical side. When I did Anchorman
I didn’t know lens sizes, I didn’t know
anything. Th e one thing I did know
from shooting shorts was that I knew
how to set up shots. But I didn’t under-
stand lenses or fi lm speed. So the DP
was running the show on that fi lm. I had
directed theater and I had directed fi lms
on Saturday Night Live but I do feel that
now I am having conversations with the
DP that are a little more advanced. We
are starting to talk about the DI against
the original negative cut and what the
advantages are and about the natural
light and asking ‘do we want to simulate
here?’ Th e questions got a little more ad-
vanced. I feel that because of Talladega
Nights I know a little bit more about how
to do action and deal with the green
screen. We did a lot of new things in
Step Brothers which helped me do them
a little better in this one. So I would hope
that I have gotten a little better.”
What kind of editor are you? Is it tough to edit when there is so much improv?“Structurally you should have a script
that is air tight. When we come in we
always shoot that script even though
we are always improvising around it. If
you just shot the script it would work
and would link up and visually it is all
planned through the storyboards we
do. But the fun is knocking the hell
out of that and discovering new things.
We screen a lot. We do about fi ve test
screenings. We do friends and fam-
ily ones. We do one in the edit room.
We are constantly whacking the rug
with a broom the whole time to kind
of see what it can become and what
it needs to become. Th at is one of the
more diffi cult parts of the process be-
cause it means you have to bomb. You
have to put up a version that is 2 hours
and 20 minutes and have your friends
say ‘what are you doing? Th is is too
long.’ So they think the movie sucks.
Th en you get it to two hours and you
say ‘we are not done yet’ and no one
believes you. Everyone looks at you as
though you are an idiot and it happens
the same way no matter what has gone
on. We are pretty thorough with it. We
have things planned and we know we
have that movie in the can and the idea
is to make it better.” ■ Excerpted from interviews done by Reel West editor Ian Caddell.
ANGELINA JOLIE
REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 201016
Actually, it’s a primer that they were
involved with while they were work-
ing together at the Vancouver social
media company Zeroes 2 Heroes. Th e
primer is called Digital Strategies for
Film and Television Properties and at-
tempts to demystify the digital world
for fi lm and television executives who
may know less than they think they
know about their digital options. Th e
panel will also include social media
consultant Jennifer Oano and video
game designer Ian Christy.
Clark-Bojin, who left her position
as Vice-President of Creative at Ze-
roes 2 Heroes to become Head of En-
tertainment Business Management at
the Vancouver Film School, says that
it’s better to show how little you know
about the potential of digital media
than to feign an understanding of it.
‘We defi nitely encourage people to
show their ignorance rather than act
like they know things. It is far more
intelligent to say ‘this is what I need
but I have no idea of what you are
talking about.’”
She says the best way to get them
where they do feel comfortable about
digital media is to focus on what
they want from it. “You have to strip
things down to what their goals are.
People come in to seminars with the
notion that they need digital strate-
gies. At Zeroes 2 Heroes we recog-
nized that savvy business people
who think about return on their in-
vestment stopped thinking that way
when it came to new media. A lot of
people dive into platforms and say
‘we want an iphone app’ whereas we
say ‘what is the problem you want to
solve?’ Th ey would be throwing mil-
lions at massive campaigns with no
sense of whether it was working. At
the end of the day they weren’t think-
ing ‘did I actually achieve my objec-
tives?’ We thought that was strange
given their backgrounds and empires
so we wanted to demystify the whole
digital realm. We wanted to show
that there is nothing magical about
digital media.”
Demystifying new media is a good
beginning, according to Jennifer
Oano, but production companies
also need to incorporate strategies
early in the game. Oano has cre-
ated multi-platform campaigns for
several production companies and
networks, developed a mobile game
concept for director John Woo and
webcast live events for David Bowie,
Spike Lee and Microsoft. She says
that it’s not enough to include digital
strategies in production campaigns.
Instead, companies have to fi nd ways
of incorporating them in their plans
before they even begin to think about
their approach to a production.
“Th e digital project shouldn’t be an
afterthought,” she says. “It has to be a
Digital Masters
FESTIVAL FEATURE
Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin and Matt Toner are pretty familiar with the topic they will
be discussing at the 25th Annual Vancouver International Film Festival’s Film & TV
Forum in late September. Th ey wrote the book on it.
Story by
Ian Caddell
17 REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
Game OnThe Canadian Video Games Website (CanDevs) lists dozens of Vancouver area
companies that are involved in some aspect of the video game industry. Led by the
Burnaby-based arm of US gaming giant Electronic Arts, the companies range from
suppliers of game accessories to games graphics designers and game developers.
Ian Christy, who has spent 15 years as a video game designer and will be talking about
the role video games can play in overall production strategies at the upcoming Digital
Strategies in Film and Television panel at the Film & TV Trade Forum, says that the vari-
ous media that make up the local production community often don’t work effectively
enough with one another.
“They are like siblings with different fathers,” he says. “There is a wealth for video
game creators to learn from study of fi lmic narrative and story-telling techniques, while
simultaneously cutting their own teeth on landscapes as yet unmapped and devices not
yet built. Film and television creators entering the digital realm seeking audience par-
ticipation, feedback, or immersion would be equally well served to study the trials and
tribulations already traversed by the expanding gaming industry. Both may have images
and sound and show up on a screen, but similarities dwindle quickly under the hood.”
So why doesn’t everyone just get along? Christy says that since video games are
completely data-based, gaming has almost unlimited potential for other mediums. If
the potential is still untapped the problem may lie with the approach taken by produc-
ers. “For other mediums, data is a new delivery system with unknown potential. For
games, data is king. My experience with the fi lm industry, both through a publisher
fi lter and directly with aspects of the local industry, has been a sense that fi lm and
TV backers look at the profi t growth on games and understandably want a piece,
however they’re unsure how to create productive bridges between the two industries.
A lot of middle men get involved, miscommunication and mismanaged expectations
abound, and inferior product results.”
Surprisingly, the key to bridging the communication gap between gaming and tra-
ditional production may be in the hands of the newer medium. Christy says that game
developers usually look to fi lm and television producers for leadership. As a result, he
says, they are more apt to be open to ideas. However, there is also the possibility that
either side could give up too much to the other.
“From my experience, game developers do look to fi lm and television for inspira-
tion, narrative hooks, visual elements, settings, plot devices, characterizations; tools
and short hand elements to infuse an interactive experience with accessible aspects
players can recognize, empathize with, and manipulate. The danger is trying to make
a game into an interactive fi lm, because the higher the presentation quality, the more
expensive the components, so the fewer branches and variations you can have.
Studying other mediums is positive, trying to overly emulate another medium can
hogtie what this medium might do well.”
That emulation could already be happening at a corporate level. He says that he
is reminded of traditional role models when he looks at the way independent game
developers are approaching their industry. “Small fry game developers remind me
of the maverick fi lm makers of the 60s and 70s that shirked the Hollywood system.
They worked cheap, fast, and were quick to react to audience feedback. Big game
publishers like EA and Activision seem to want to become more like the fi lm industry,
trying to get celebrity talent, product endorsements, and bigger marketing budgets.
The game industry is young, comparatively, though it has demonstrated a tendency to
expand and contract similar to the old Hollywood studio system, a few big studios for
a while, then shatter into numerous small studios that can better address the tastes
and appetites of audience; rinse, lather, repeat.” ■
part of the original thinking and part
of the project from the get-go. One of
the interesting things about this panel
is that it is running on Documentary
Day and some of the best examples
of good multi-platform projects are
documentary series. For instance,
a couple of years ago the Food Net-
work had a series from Paperny Films
called Th e 100 Mile Challenge (based
on the book Th e 100 Mile Diet) that
I worked on. It was about only eat-
ing food that came from within 100
miles of where you lived. It was cen-
tered in Mission, BC but we took the
concept of eating local a lot wider
through digital sources. If you typed
in your postal code we could source
local food. And if they sourced their
favorite restaurant and it wasn’t in
the base we could add it. So that kind
of thing goes past the length of a TV
series. It becomes much more ongo-
ing and participatory. We have all the
social media tools on line and mobile
that can take that story, whether it is
fi ction or documentary and give it life
beyond a regular run.”
Th e promise of a longer shelf life
isn’t just an ego boost for producers,
it can also inspire funding. She says
that producers have to wrap their
heads around the fact that they no
longer have to move from produc-
tion to production. Th ey can stay
with the project longer by utilizing
social media to keep it in front of
the public’s eyes for an indefi nite pe-
riod. Th at, in turn, could encourage
funders to ante up fi nancial support
in greater numbers than they might
consider for short term projects.
“Th e idea that social media is ‘val-
ue-added’ is not relevant anymore,”
she says. “Producers have to under-
stand that digital media can be the
value now. It takes more of a com-
mitment of course, which means a
change in the approach to the work.
It has been a struggle convincing tele-
vision producers that I have worked
with to consider those options but I
do see more of a collaboration now
between traditional producers and
social media types. Some of the TV
production houses are expanding
teams to include digital media sec-
tions. On the fi lm side it is a diff er-
ent process because you are dealing
with traditional fi lm distribution. At
the same time, the incorporating of a
digital strategy is great for a fi lm. You
can start early on and get people ex-
cited. It is more substantial than just
a buzz. You can put information out
and then work with the feedback and
be open to it.”
Toner says that it surprises him that
digital media hasn’t become more ac-
cepted by traditional producers. And
he agrees with Oano that there has to
an encouragement of partnerships. “If
you had told me in 1999 that in 2009
we would still be talking about digital
media as still being new I would have
been shocked. Th ere is still a lot of
work to do to make it user-friendly.
One of the things we need to do is de-
mystify the jargon. Th e other thing is
to encourage the fi nding of partners.
Th ere are lots out there and the guys
who know what they are doing will
make things better for producers. It
would be diffi cult for someone who is
thrown in to the mew media mix to
fi gure it out. I know that it has taken
me 15 years to feel that I know what
I am doing. I also know that there is
more to it than advising someone to
build a website. Th ere is no Field of
Dreams there.”
He says the good news is that some
producers and networks are making
a substantial eff ort to go beyond just
building websites. “We have worked
with CBC and Out TV and they are
both trying diff erent things with
varying degress of success. I have
talked to (US cable network) Starz
and they have a game plan and they
know where we fi t. So if you have
good ideas and you can fi nd a good
partner I think there is real potential
for success.” ■
“The digital project shouldn’t be an afterthought. It has to be a part of the original thinking and part of the project from the get-go.”– Jennifer Oano, social media consultant
REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 201018
Th e list included sessions discussing
provincial fi lm funding, how to sell vid-
eo and fi lm to the international markets
and an introduction to screenwriting.
Th is year’s 25th anniversary (it is
now known as the Vancouver Interna-
tional Film Festival Film & TV Forum)
is a lot bigger than the fi rst one, which
is hardly surprising given the growth in
the industry over the last quarter cen-
tury. For the last few years it has made
an eff ort to keep up with the needs of
veteran producers and directors while
attempting to inspire students and
emerging fi lmmakers. Th ere are fi ve
days now with the fi nal day, October 2,
appropriately entitled New Filmmak-
ers Day. Th e Forum begins on Septem-
ber 28 with Storyville Vancouver and
will also include Documentary Day
(September 29), Film Day (September
30) and TV Day (Oct. 1.)
Forum producer Fran Bergin, who
has been involved with the Forum in
some capacity for 15 years, says that the
key to success for the Forum has been its
ability to keep up with the consistently
changing needs of the marketplace.
“Th e marketplace has been chang-
ing the last fi ve years so the Forum and
the local fi lmmakers have had to adapt
accordingly,” she says. “Th roughout
the year we are looking at the inter-
national marketplace and trying to
fi nd programs that suit it. We make
an eff ort to reach out to local people
to determine how many people will
come and what their needs are. Th e
goal is to provide the local audience a
high calibre list of people with writers
at the top of the list.”
Some things never change. While
the Forum no longer needs to de-
bate the worthiness of a provincial
fi lm fund (BC Film was founded two
years after the debut edition) there
is still an emphasis on international
sales and co-productions and, of
course, the relevance of screenwrit-
ing. Katrin Bowen, who comes to her
new job as creative director of the
Forum from producing several fi lms,
says that you can’t really talk about
fi lm or television without discussing
writers and screenplays.
“I think that no matter what area of
production you are exploring it starts
with the writer. If we can inspire them
to think about co-ventures and we
can break down scene structure and
show how successful TV shows work,
we can make a diff erence. All those
things are part of the various days. Last
year New Filmmakers Day brought in
(screenwriter) Charlie Kauff man and
he played to a standing room only
crowd that included both emerging
writers and directors and veteran fi lm-
makers. Th at’s the kind of thing we
want to do more of because we see our
job as leading a community outreach.”
Visiting screenwriters this year in-
clude Rachel Getting Married’s Jenny
Lumet and David Slade of the Twilight
saga movies and Hard Candy while
TV Day will welcome writers Vince
Gilligan of Breaking Bad and Eric
Overmyer of Treme and Th e Wire.
Th e quest to be competitive in the
international markets is still a Forum
priority as well. Bowen says that for
the second year the pitch-fest Sto-
ryville Vancouver will take creative
documentaries to the marketplace.
Rudy Buttignol, who introduced
Storyville to the Forum last year, says
he fi rst saw the potential for pitching
sessions over a decade ago when he
was at a festival in Amsterdam and
was working as a commissioning ed-
itor at TV Ontario. He says that the
Dutch realized that they needed to
look outside of the European Union
and the US for documentary markets
and invited him as a representative
of a network that had a documentary
agenda. He admits he became a fan
of the format almost immediately.
“Th ey did their best to get me there,”
he says. “Th ey said ‘we need to balance
the Americans with a Canadian’ and
as soon as I saw what they were doing
I thought it was fantastic. Unlike most
pitching formats which are broader
and multi-genre, this dealt exclusively
with creative documentaries. And
unlike the usual approach, where you
have lowly fi lmmakers begging for
When the now defunct British Columbia Film Industry Association (BCFIA) created
the “Trade Forum for the Motion Picture Industry” in 1986 the industry was relatively
new. Th e three day Forum’s panel topics were a refl ection of that.
Sticking to the script
Story by
Ian Caddell
FESTIVAL FEATURE
PANEL MEMBERS FROM LAST YEAR’S VIFF FILM & TELEVISION FORUM SEMINAR, THE ART OF THE BIOGRAPHY
19 REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
cash from buyers, the commission-
ing editors were required to pitch
the fi lmmakers. I managed to talk the
HotDocs organizers into bringing the
format to Toronto and thus was born
the Toronto Documentary Forum.
My thinking was that you could get
deals in Amsterdam in November
and follow up in May in Toronto. So
I suggested that we pay the Amster-
dam organizers to come over here
and for our people to go there so that
we could acknowledge that it was the
Amsterdam format we were using.”
Eventually, Buttignol moved to
Vancouver to become president and
chief executive offi cer of the Knowl-
edge Network Corporation and saw
promise for the format at the Van-
couver festival. He decided to meld
the Amsterdam concept and the Sto-
ryville documentary pitching pro-
gram, which had been created by the
BBC’s Nick Fraser, and bring in do-
mestic fi lmmakers who were looking
for partners for their creative docu-
mentaries. He approached the Festi-
val about saving a day in its schedule
for the program and, a year ago, they
said yes. Th is year he added to the
number of commissioning editors,
by including a representative from
Seattle’s KCTS on a list that also has
executives from Canada, the US, Eu-
rope and Asia on it.
“I thought ‘why don’t we create a fo-
rum that is for domestic fi lmmakers?’”
he says. “We could invite commission-
ing editors from the world scene who
had been involved in international
projects as a way of starting conver-
sations. So when our fi lmmakers had
gone to those other forums they had
a context to build on. Th e real gap in
that idea is that it was hard to get them
out to international markets. I asked
Nick (Fraser) if we could borrow the
Storyville title and riff on it and he said
‘yes and why not bring people in who
support the Storyville type documen-
tary.’ So we did that and said ‘let’s help
fi lmmakers get funded by starting a
regional forum with a mix of regional
and international people and give them
the confi dence to go further.’”
Buttignol’s personal experience
with raising money for projects when
he was starting out as a producer in
the 1980s led him to believe that
there must be a better way of getting
funding. He says that the Amsterdam
concept woke him to the realization
that the international marketplace
for documentaries was untapped for
most domestic fi lmmakers. He says
that through Storyville the potential
for making documentaries for those
who have followed in his footsteps is
greater than it has ever been.
“Th e question that has to be asked
is ‘what kinds of cultures would my
work make sense to in terms of get-
ting funding?’ I think the Storyville
concept gives people real insight
into what the world market funds
and doesn’t fund. I have felt from the
fi rst time that I was in Amsterdam
that this concept fi lled an important
gap. I recalled that in the early ‘80s
I was knocking on the same doors
most of the time. I was like every-
one else. I was going to the CBC and
the National Film Board and think-
ing ‘I have to try something diff er-
ent.’ Eventually, I was going to A&E
and the History Channel because I
thought it was important to get the
work to more people.
“My feeling has always been that it
is not just about funding, it is about
resonating with the global market-
place. I loved the option of taking the
project to local Amsterdam audiences
and saying ‘does it work with these
people?’ In the best of circumstances,
that (travelling to diff erent markets
with a concept) can really improve
the work. Th e other thing I learned in
Amsterdam is that you need to stick
to one genre. So we focus on the cre-
ative documentary because the one
thing you can’t change if you like the
idea is the fi lmmaker. Th e fi lmmaker
is central to the whole work.” ■
“If we can inspire them to think about co-ventures and we can break down scene structure and show how successful TV shows work, we can make a difference.”– Katrin Bowen, Creative Director, VIFF Film & TV Forum
REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 201020
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: SEVERED (2005); COLE (2009); MOTHERS&DAUGHTERS (2008); NORMAL (2007); FATHERS&SONS (2010); UNNATURAL & ACCIDENTAL (2006); REPEATERS (2011).
21 REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
Bessai’s fi rst dramatic feature, Johnny,
was at the Vancouver International
Film Festival (VIFF) in 1999. His
second, Lola, was there in 2001 and
his third, Emile, was in the festival
in 2003. He will be taking two fi lms,
Fathers&Sons and Repeaters, to this
year’s festival. Th ey will be the ninth
and tenth Bessai fi lms to be selected
for the Festival.
VIFF Canadian Programmer Ter-
ry McEvoy, who has programmed
six Bessai fi lms in his fi ve years at
the Festival says that Bessai’s success
can be linked directly to the risks he
takes with his fi lms. “He has a way
with uncomfortable subject matter:
the hateful murder of native women,
the aftershock of a fatal accident, the
suff ocating brutality of a small town
and the limitless love between par-
ents and their off spring. Th ere is also
something special that Carl the cin-
ematographer brings to Carl the di-
rector. No matter how ‘in tune’ those
positions are, it’s hard to have perfect
and nuanced communication. Th ere
is a directness and economy in Carl’s
work that you’ll also fi nd in the work
of Steven Soderbergh, Robert Rodri-
guez and Vic Sarin, all directors who
shoot their own fi lms. One more
thing you’ll notice about Carl’s oeu-
vre is the honesty of the performanc-
es he gets from his actors. He directs
with a sure hand and an active eye
and that’s what keeps the VIFF audi-
ence coming back.”
Bessai says that while he under-
stands that his output is unusual, he
has always just thought of himself
as a guy who likes his job and wants
to keep working. In his mind that
means he should always be exploring
ways of getting movies made.
“Who doesn’t want to work?” he
says. “Some people go to a job and
they work for a company. I work for
myself. I just started getting the odd
TV job and the pay is good and you
are involved in something. But, to be
honest, if you are a director of fi lms,
then that is your job. It is the thing
that I am good at. I live for it. It’s how
I express myself. Some people do that
through poems. I don’t necessarily
have to write the screenplay because
I am trying to broaden my reach as a
fi lmmaker and that works best if you
can access diff erent kinds of fi lms. But
I do have to keep making movies.”
His fi lm festival success is unusual.
Th ere are about 20-25 Canadian fi lms
selected annually for the Vancouver
and Toronto fi lm festivals. Th e latter
festival has never been particularly
kind to western Canadian fi lms, yet
Bessai has made the cut eight times.
Repeaters was selected by the Toron-
to programmers while Fathers&Sons
and Repeaters will be going to both
VIFF and September’s Edmonton In-
ternational Film Festival. In addition,
Fathers&Sons will play Montreal’s
Festival du nouveau cinema in Octo-
ber and Repeaters will be by itself at
September’s Atlantic Film Festival.
Woody Allen makes a feature fi lm every year. It’s part of his
legend. Canada’s Atom Egoyan made 10 fi lms between 1997 and
2009. Most of those fi lms played the Toronto International Film
Festival (TIFF). Th en there is Carl Bessai.
Busy Bessai
Story by
Ian Caddell
REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 201022
Bessai says that Fathers&Sons,
his follow-up to 2008’s
Mothers&Daughters, which won the
award as most popular Canadian
fi lm in Vancouver, is a more tradi-
tional festival fi lm while Repeaters is
his fi rst foray into commercial fare.
While he did submit both to the To-
ronto festival he wasn’t disappointed
or surprised when only Repeaters
was selected.
“We were doing the post produc-
tion on Fathers&Sons last winter,
which was too late for submitting
it to Sundance and Berlin so I hung
out with it until Toronto. Th ey had
loved Mothers&Daughters. Th ey
said they would like to see it fi rst
and that was really the only option.
Toronto was always the destination
for Repeaters. I was thrilled when it
was picked for a special presenta-
tion. But Fathers&Sons didn’t have a
lot of places it could go to at TIFF.
It wasn’t going to go into Canada
First! and since there are only about
20 fi lms selected in all it was hardly a
surprise when it didn’t make it. I do
think it will work well in the places
where it has been selected. I think it
will be a great experience for audi-
ences. It is very personal and I think
it’s funny. My family is in Edmonton
and I think they will like it more than
Repeaters so I am happy we are tak-
ing it there. It’s in the tradition of
Mothers&Daughters in that it is very
off the cuff but I think it’s funnier. We
can all see ourselves in these stories.”
He has high hopes for Repeaters,
which was written by Vancouver
screenwriter Arne Olsen. It has a
Groundhog Day theme in that the
characters keep reliving the same
day. Th e diff erence is that each day is
terrifying. Bessai says that the most
appropriate comment came from
Toronto where a festival program-
mer said that although the fi lm was
in the thriller genre it had elements
of an auteur fi lm as well. He says
those elements probably went a long
way in helping it to make it in to the
festival as a special presentation.
“I think it helped that there are dia-
logue scenes that are more involved
than most plot-driven thrillers,” he
says. “I also think TIFF is kind of about
bridging the gap between art house
and mainstream. It is not a bland com-
mercial fi lm but it does have commer-
cial prospects. I think TIFF is trying to
acquaint those two worlds with one
another. Th ey are excited when a fi lm
screens well for an audience.”
Th e movie has the kind of Canadian
cast that could sell tickets once the fi lm,
which was fi nanced privately, leaves
the festival circuit. It includes Amanda
Crew, who recently starred opposite
Zac Efron in Charlie St. Cloud, Beverly
Hills 90210 alumnus Dustin Milligan
and Richard de Klerk, who played the
title role in last year’s TIFF and VIFF
Bessai fi lm Cole. Bessai says that while
Milligan’s last two high profi le fi lms,
Extract and Gunless, were comedies,
he has a lot to off er as a leading man.
“He likes doing comedies but the
fact is he is a handsome leading man
and he delivers a great performance
in Repeaters. I also think that Rich-
ard de Klerk will blow people away
in this movie. He is an unhinged
character and he is just a marvel to
watch. Th is is his opportunity to step
into the mainstream. So having these
three dynamic actors is my eff ort to
say ‘Carl can make a fi lm that has
commercial possibilities and be ex-
citing’ without trading in my tool kit.
At its core it examines moral choice
and asks the question ‘if you can do
anything you want, then how are you
aff ected by those choices?’”
So how has Bessai managed to
become the “working director” that
so many Canadian fi lmmakers strive
to be? He says that once he started
working in the business he never let
up. And, he feels that the more expe-
rience he gets, the safer it is for him
to call himself a fi lm director.
“My analogy is a bit stupid,” he says.
“It comes from (the play) Billy Bishop
Goes to War. He is talking about being
a pilot and saying that he was good
with a gun but that when he fi rst got
in the air he wasn’t a particularly good
pilot. He managed to stay in the air for
a week and was allowed to keep fl ying
because he had the experience and
others didn’t have that. I think experi-
ence makes you a good director and
keeps you fl ying the plane. My feeling
has always been that talking about a
movie is not directing and writing a
fi lm isn’t directing. You only get good
at this job by doing it.”
You also need an audience that
wants to keep coming back. Bessai
says that he has always believed that
it is not the size of the fi lm that mat-
ters but its potential for the audience
to relate to the characters. If he can
supply something that will be inter-
preted as having a recognition factor,
he will keep them interested.
“I am fascinated by the idea that
the characters have to go through
confl ict. I like the idea that a char-
acter is reaching out to the world.
Sometimes he is isolated and won-
ders why he doesn’t fi t in but that
whole idea of being frustrated with
relationships is the central structure
for most characters. For instance,
in Repeaters, one of the characters
feels somewhat rejected by the other
two and we get into a moral struggle
between characters. All of us have
to grow up and break way from our
families and fi nd new family. We fi nd
ourselves stuck between the island
we left and the island we are hop-
ing to fi nd at the end of the day. It’s
a universal truth. I think we like fi lms
that have characters that try to fi gure
those universal truths out for us be-
cause we are constantly looking for a
connection. What could be more im-
portant than that? I think that when
artists are successful it is because we
like that they are reaching out to plot
a course. We like the direction the
fi lm is going in and we feel we can
fi nd our way.” ■
“My feeling has always been that talking about a movie is not directing and writing a fi lm isn’t directing. You only get good at this job by doing it.”
- Carl Bessai (pictured above) on how experience makes a good director
23 REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
FILM + TV FORUM
va
nc
ou
ve
r
full program details at www.viff.org/forum email [email protected] tel (604) 685.3547
Drop in and get informed
September 28 - october 1, 2010+ nfo october 2
featuring...INTERESTING TIMES, INTERESTING CHARACTERS The creators of Weeds, Dexter and Deadwood changed the acceptance rules for the ‘traditional’ hero/heroine, opened the door for non-
traditional character development and proved that our audience is savvy, sophisticated and up for a challenge. The creators from the hit
series Breaking Bad and Treme will discuss the process of developing the key elements that make for truly great drama, and audience
loyalty. The devil’s in the details!
THE CHANGING WORLD OF INDEPENDENT CINEMAOur guest speakers constantly face unique challenges in producing and distributing fi lms they’re passionate about that also have a home
in the marketplace. In this challenging economic climate, the independent fi lmmaking community is seeing change like never before – as
times, platforms and tastes change, it has become vital for producers to break new ground and reach new audiences. How is the interna-
tional marketplace impacting what fi lms are getting made and the way business is done? Peter Saraf (producer, Sunshine Cleaning), Frida
Torresblanco (producer, Rudo y Cursi) and Mark Urman (president, Palladin) will share their new visions, new stories and new approaches
as they continue to defi ne the term ‘independent’.
STORYVILLE VANCOUVERStoryville Vancouver, in partnership with BC public broadcaster Knowledge Network, is scheduled for presentation on Sept. 28 at the Film
& TV Forum. Its aim is to stimulate the co-fi nancing and co-production of the creative, feature length documentary. The Forum and Knowl-
edge is delighted to have attracted some of the world’s leading broadcasters to Vancouver to help fi lmmakers from the Pacifi c Northwest
develop long-term strategic relationships and enhance project development. Pre-selected creative, feature length (minimum TV hour)
documentary projects, at various stages of development and from the Pacifi c Northwest will be publicly pitched to international commis-
sioning editors with accredited Forum observers in attendance.
SCREENWRITING MASTER CLASSHow do you take a best-seller novel and turn it into a killer screenplay? How is the essence of the original material kept while paring it down
to a screenplay? In this panel, Oscar nominee and award-winning screenwriter, José Rivera (Motorcyle Diaries, On The Road) discusses ele-
ments that can make an adaptation work, including the narrative line, the climax, scene sequences, relationships and visual images.
SO YOU WANNA WRITE A COMEDY… Comedic series are all about characters, story and formatting… the successful ones are when you’ve created believably fl awed characters
and placed them in compelling situations. Hear from two of the best comedy creators out there: Michael Schur, co-creator, Parks & Rec-
reation and Dave Finkel, writer, United States of Tara.
FINDING CO-PRODUCTION PARTNERS In a constantly shifting marketplace, producers must seek new producing partnerships and
quickly adapt to new fi nancing models to close their fi nancing. Our panel of producers
will focus on the economies of major markets, new developments and trends in world-
wide fi nancing plus creative cooperation with the international talent pool.
FRAME BY FRAMEBiutiful, Ocean’s Thirteen, Babel, Good Night and Good Luck, 21 Grams, Leather-
heads, The Informant, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Traffi c…we’re honoured
to have Oscar-winning editor, Stephen Mirrione discuss the aesthetic and techni-
cal contributions he makes to the fi lmmaking process.
DOC ACQUISITIONS IN A CHANGING LANDSCAPEAn international panel of distributors will advise on what kinds of documentaries
are continuing to engage audiences in an ever-changing landscape and the crite-
ria used when determining what projects to pick up. We’ll also look at the acquisi-
tion, marketing and release of some of the top theatrical docs of 2009/2010 and the
strategies used by distributors to maximize their commercial success.
ROUNDTABLES WITH COMMISSIONING EDITORS Your chance to network, build relationships, gain market intelligence and personal feedback
from commissioning editors. Pre-registration required.
At the Rogers INDUSTRY CENTRE
ps and
s
d-
edback
plus!Anatomy of a Scene
Webisodes with Legs
Speed Dating Sessions
Success Stories Across Multiple Platforms
Telefi lm Canada Tête-à-tête meetings
Going From Zero to Hero
Directing Master Class
Creative Partnerships
REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 201024
LAUREN LEE SMITH PHOTO CATE CAMERON
25 REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
JULY 2009 I sit down to write. Rather than open
any of the dozens of fi lm scripts sitting on my com-
puter fi nished or in progress, I open a blank docu-
ment and type “FADE IN.” I begin to picture the
fi rst scene; invariably two people concerned about
something related to love or death begin to speak.
Th is is how I meet the fi rst two characters in A
Night for Dying Tigers. I start thinking about the
type of fi lm I want to see. An ensemble perhaps?
What would Rachel Getting Married have been
like if it were written by Von Trier or Fassbinder?
Th at’s close to the tone I’m after, I think.
I know I need an event that brings a family to-
gether, and I know that this family must be strong if
I’m going to attract the type of actors I’d like to work
with. I raid all of my completed scripts, rip the best
characters from those fi lms and bring them together.
I’m destroying fi ve or six other feature fi lm scripts to
make this one, so I need to make it worthwhile.
Th ere are so many weddings, funerals and an-
niversaries used as these types of events and I want
something unique. When I hit upon the idea of the
eldest brother going to prison in twenty-four hours
for some mysterious crime, I know I have the reason.
Now, I just need to deliver the type of script that will
attract a cast. I dial into a conference call with Telefi lm
regarding my application for low budget production
funding for A Night for Dying Tigers. Th ey really like
the script, but they have a few questions.
AUGUST Now, with questions addressed and fund-
ing in place, I enlist the aid of another producer, Sid-
ney Chiu, to help with all of the crazy paperwork.
Casting Director Lynne Carrow loves the script and
has agreed to help us fi nd our cast. Lynne is amaz-
ing and we’re excited to have her on board. Robert
Altman said casting was 90% of directing, but that
number might be a bit conservative.
SEPTEMBER 22 My friend Chris hands the script
to Carly Pope on the street in L.A. I really want
Carly for the key role of Karen in the fi lm.
SEPTEMBER 30 I return from a weeklong script
polishing trip to Tofi no. I made When Life Was
Good with myself as the only crew. Although I
could defi nitely shoot this fi lm in a similar way,
there is a lot of resistance to this working method.
Maybe my tiny crew approach isn’t the best choice
for this fi lm? Either way, I’m looking forward to
getting back behind the camera. It looks like No-
vember or January for production.
OCTOBER 22 I believe my love of foreign language
cinema has infl uenced the way I write and hear dia-
logue in English (probably all the years spent read-
ing subtitles), and I think that, for better or worse,
this has resulted in a particular “style” of dialogue
and characterization in my scripted material. Th e
actors are really responding to the script, and I’m
excited by the prospect of seeing and hearing these
characters come to life. It looks like January is when
we’ll be shooting. Can’t wait!
NOVEMBER 1 I prefer to work quickly, using main-
ly natural light and a very small crew, but, because I
shoot my own fi lms, and this is my fi rst time using
the RED camera, it looks like I’ll have to go with a
larger crew. Th is is scary.
Vancouver is a “service industry” city fi rst, and
indigenous fi lmmaking, because of the lower bud-
gets involved, is somewhat marginalized. We have
great traditional crews, but the proximity of such
a large industry means that almost all of our talent
ends up there instead of independent fi lm and there
is little chance for an innovative and inspired inde-
pendent fi lmmaking community (like Austin, Texas
for example) to evolve. I think we need to work hard
to change this.
I wonder if I should take a step back and re-eval-
uate. My experience with a “micro-crew” aff orded
me an intimacy with the actors that I know tradi-
tional fi lmmaking will not allow. Obviously I need
more than one person here. I worry that I’m not lis-
tening to my instincts. Should I get rid of the make-
up artists, the grips, the majority of the crew and re-
ally focus on that intimacy that leads to naturalistic
performances? Or is it too late? Will these bigger
“name” actors be willing to work without make-up
artists? Am I strong enough to kick everybody but
the boom operator and the focus puller off the set
for every take?
I’m worried I’ll lose speed and spontaneity along
with the possibility of discovering interesting mis-
takes. Th ese mistakes are what make fi lmmaking
magical and worthwhile to me.
NOVEMBER 4 I get the word that one of the people
who inspired me to make fi lms, Don McKellar, will
be playing the role of Russell. Don’s work has been
a big infl uence, and with Don in the role of Rus-
sell this fi lm has suddenly become something much
bigger to me.
Another long day of looking for the perfect house.
Terry Miles made his fi rst feature, When Life was Good,
with a crew of one: himself. He knew that he wanted to
make a movie that was bigger but agonized over how big
it would be. He did know that he wanted a good cast to
bring his characters to life. In his diary about the mak-
ing of the Vancouver International Film Festival-bound
A Night for Dying Tigers, which tells the story of a family
that disintegrates over the course of an evening, he looks
back at the losing and gaining of his fi rst choices, the
people who came in to replace them and the day he real-
ized that Robert Altman had underestimated the casting
process when he said it was 90% of directing.
Eye on the Tigers
Diary by
Terry Miles
REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 201026
Th e house is a major character in this
fi lm. We need to fi nd the perfect place
for this family to self-destruct.
NOVEMBER 15 Another one of my
favourite actors in the world, Lauren
Lee Smith, has jumped on board. She
would prefer the role of Karen, but is
willing to do Jules because she really
loves the script. I’m excited. I can’t
stop thinking that Tygh Runyan has
to be Patrick. Tygh really connected
with the script and let me know how
he felt about playing the role.
DECEMBER 9 I spend the day look-
ing at online auditions and demo
reels. We’re having a hard time cast-
ing the complex Carly character. A
few potentials, including one stolen
by JJ Abrams at the very last minute.
It’s getting close to January!
DECEMBER 14 We have to release
Lauren Lee Smith (Jules) because we
had to modify our shooting schedule
and it didn’t mesh with hers. Th is is
totally understandable, but really dis-
appointing.
DECEMBER 15 Today we fi nd out
that Don isn’t going to be able to play
Russell because of a tragedy in his per-
sonal life. We wish him all the best, and
sincerely thank him for everything.
DECEMBER 17 It looks like Jennifer
Beals, Gil Bellows, and Kathleen Rob-
ertson are very interested in the roles
of Melanie, Jack, and Jules. Also, John
Pyper-Ferguson, who we have been
thinking of as Jack for some time (al-
though he preferred the role of Rus-
sell) is now a frontrunner for Russell.
We found our Carly, Leah Gibson,
through audition. Whew. I can fi nally
see the cast coming together.
DECEMBER 29 We shoot in less
than two weeks and we still don’t
have our house. I notice a carjacking
on the front page of a news site. It
happened in Vancouver. Somebody
went crazy and smashed a bunch of
cars, and ended up crashing into the
CBC building. What kind of world?
In Vancouver? Crazy.
DECEMBER 30 I receive an email
from our Casting Director. Th e
woman victim in the carjacking was
Carly Pope.
JANUARY 6, 2010 Carly Pope is go-
ing to be fi ne, which is great news,
but she’s not going to be fi ne quite
soon enough to work on the fi lm.
Lauren Lee Smith had a change in
her schedule and has stepped into
the role of Karen. It will be great to
work with Lauren! I’m so excited.
JANUARY 7 I wake up early and go
meet Jennifer Beals for the fi rst time.
She is beautiful, intelligent and down
to earth. Wow. Th is is going to be a
great cast. I loved Jennifer in Roger
Dodger, Th e Last Days of Disco and
Th e Anniversary Party. We talk about
so many things. She has a couple of
really great ideas for Melanie.
JANUARY 9 My team believes a cast
dinner at the location house will be
a great way to bond a bit before the
chaos begins. Good idea, except,
with a call time at 6am the next day…
that’s a pretty short bonding session.
JANUARY 10 Cast dinner. Kristine
Cofsky and Katie Hazen deliver an
amazing experience in the house that
Cam McLellan built. Lauren is so en-
gaging and her energy so good and
clear and strong. She is going to be
the most amazing and radiant Karen.
I can’t believe it starts tomorrow. I
also can’t believe day one for Lauren
and Tygh is their sex scene. Also,
Sarah Lind (Tygh’s real life wife) is
playing Amanda, the character who
discovers them having sex against
the side of the house. I can’t wait to
talk about this when it’s all over!
JANUARY 11 Up at 4am for day
one: half of day one is cancelled due
to rain. We’ll have to fi nd another
day. One particular union has been
a real challenge (our budget level is
‘in between’ and they have nothing
set up that works well for both sides)
and now, another union has stepped
in and demanded more money. My
personal line of credit is suff ering.
On the bright side, Pyper and Leah
are really great together and the crew
is fast. Each actor has a completely
diff erent take on the process of mak-
ing a fi lm, and actors of diff ering lev-
els of experience have diff erent needs
and foibles. In a huge ensemble fi lm,
this means a lot of “conversation”
with the director, but I wouldn’t
have it any other way. I get most of
the shots I designed. Th e “pancake”
scene will be well covered.
JANUARY 12 We’re running out of
money. I hear about everything. Th ere is
no shelter for me as a director or writer,
because I’m a producer. I look forward
to the day that I don’t have to hear about
money issues on a daily basis.
Lauren and Tygh are two of the
most amazing, fearless, incredible
talents alive. Th ey dove into the sex
scenes, the dramatic scenes, and
everything else with trust and aban-
don. Th ey were both willing to do
anything to make the scene feel right.
Th ey are incredible, and I can’t wait
to shoot some more with them.
We have more lights than we need,
and somehow we’re starting to use them
all for every scene, which is really slow-
ing us down. Even with all the setbacks,
I think this is going to be a movie.
JANUARY 15 It’s a really great night of
shooting. I tell everybody we’ll wrap two
hours early. We end up wrapping half
an hour early, but we got almost eight
pages. I’m energized when we wrap
(instead of the usual “end of the world”
feeling). Collaborating with these actors
“...They dove into the sex scenes, the dramatic scenes, and everything else with trust and abandon... they are incredible, and I can’t wait to shoot some more with them.”
- on working with actors Lauren Lee Smith and Tygh Runyan
TERRY MILES, DIRECTOR PHOTO CATE CAMERON
27 REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
is an incredible experience, scary and
rewarding. Gil, Jennifer, Pyper, Leah,
Kathleen and all the rest. A great cast.
JANUARY 16 Even though the crew
is bigger (which means inevitably
slower), my experience in guided
improvisation and ultra low budget
fi lmmaking helps speed up certain
parts of the process and allows me to
manipulate the script and the action
on the fl y, giving the actors time and
room to play around and fi nd certain
scenes that are more of a challenge as
opposed to just “getting the day.”
Th e big issue on this fi lm up to this
point remains the lighting. If you’ve
committed to a certain “working
method,” you need your entire crew
to be as excited about this method as
you are. I’m committed to using only
(or at least mainly) available light, but
some key crew members have a dif-
ferent take, and more and more hours
are being lost to lighting each day.
I’m starting to see every light from
the truck on the set for almost every set-
up. Th is is really taking time away from
shooting, and I’m starting to lose more
than half of my shot-list every day.
JANUARY 17 Th ree locations on
opposite sides of the city in one day.
I’m trying to be the very best audi-
ence I can be for all of the actors as
we move through this work, but with
all the other elements to consider, it’s
physically and emotionally draining
almost each and every moment.
Th e second scene of the day feels
a bit heavy. Gil and Jennifer are so
good at what they do and they work
at such a high level. I think I may
have failed them a bit by not pulling
this scene back. Th ere’s so much sub-
text that it feels almost bogged down.
I should have trimmed it back a bit
on the page. I do that on set.
We arrive at the third location of
the day. It will be a good scene, but it’s
been a long day, and all of the cast and
crew are ready for this day (this mov-
ie?) to end. Also, because all this light-
ing (we don’t need) means our smaller
crew is taxed, I need to help load the
truck almost every night. Th is means
there’s zero time to make a shot-list
when I get home. I prefer to visualize
the next day’s shots the night before.
Th is is tough, for all of us.
JANUARY 18 Because we went so far
“out of our weight class” with cast, Sid-
ney and I keep pushing forward using
our own money to get it in the can. We’ll
make it, but we can’t even begin to think
about post production at this point.
We have the big fi ght scene be-
tween Patrick and Russell tonight
(shooting 3pm to 3am) and I’ve de-
cided to stage it somewhat “off screen.”
Th is is a bit of a cheat, but I’ve edited
this type of thing before and I know
what I need to shoot in order to make
it more believable, or at least more
interesting than the typical sketchy
stunt stuff low budget fi lms normally
employ. I shoot handheld.
JANUARY 20 Katie is kind enough
to schedule Tygh’s big scene fi rst. I’m
scared and excited, and I’m going to
storyboard a little bit for eyeline, for
action, I think.
Big action scenes and dinner table
scenes are really the only time I make
up rough storyboards. Eyeline is easy
to miss when you have ten people at
a table.
Kathleen Robertson arrives and
Jules comes to life. I am a huge Kath-
leen Robertson fan. What a cast. An-
other week or so and we’re wrapped!
FEBRUARY/MARCH Editing all
day (every day). We’re planning on
screening the fi lm for a handful of
fi lm industry friends at least two or
three times.
APRIL/MAY One problem with aim-
ing so far above your budget as far
as casting goes is that you have no
money to pay for post production
personnel. I have a great deal of ex-
perience sound editing, but spend-
ing the entire month of April doing
a rough sound edit of the fi lm in my
bedroom was not fun times.
JUNE 21 We screen the fi lm for the
Toronto, Vancouver and Whistler fi lm
festivals all in the same day. Th e sound
mix is temporary, but hopefully they
can see past that to the narrative and
the performances beneath.
AUGUST Th e Toronto International
Film Festival invites A Night for Dy-
ing Tigers to premiere there in Sep-
tember. Invitations from Vancouver
and Calgary follow.
EPILOGUE Th is fi lm has taught me
so much: no matter what your shoot-
ing formats are all the lights you need
fi t into a Honda Civic. On a ten-hour
day, if you’re not actually shooting
for at least fi ve of those hours, you’re
wasting time. When you are direc-
tor, producer and editor, you need to
make sure the director and producer
parts of you give the editor part
enough to work with in the editing
room! To badly paraphrase Werner
Herzog, making bad movies is easy.
Making good movies is hard. ■
Reel convenient.
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REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 201028
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The Definitive Producing WorkbookFor the producer, the world of independent film and television production is often surrounded by a sea of paperwork. The contracts, documents and requirements of agencies are constantly in flux. Nothing is definitive, every contract has its own set of particulars and every deal is different. "Boilerplate" agreements are open to negotiation. Rules can be flexible.
The PW4 will help guide a producer through some of the overwhelming volume of documents involved in the world of independent film and television production. Legal writers review the standard clauses and reveal issues of concern to producers negotiating contracts. Many sample agreements are included for reference. The book provides a comprehensive overview of national and provincial funding bodies and engaging stories and words of wisdom by seasoned producers.
Order your copy today:604-685-1152 [email protected]
Order your copy today:[email protected]
LEGAL BRIEFS
Anyone who has been through a fi -
nancial closing for a fi lm or TV series
knows that an astonishing amount
of paper is consumed for the bank
and bond. Whenever we complete
the fi nancing for a project, we imag-
ine the small forest that was chain
sawed to supply the many copies
of documents that were exchanged
during the closing. But is it neces-
sary to waste this much paper?
Lawyers, like everyone else, are
creatures of habit and conserving is
still not an integral part of the legal
process. And when things get tense (as
they usually do when everyone is wait-
ing for the money to fl ow), no one is
interested in trying something new.
For lead actor agreements, for
example, four copies are generally
signed, one each for the actor’s agent
and lawyer, one for the producer, and
one for the producer’s lawyer. Th e
average actor agreement is in excess
of 10 pages. Many are much longer.
Each movie has a number of lead ac-
tors plus deal memos for crew and
supporting cast. Th is adds up to a
lot of unnecessary paper. If we could
limit these agreements to one origi-
nal for each cast and crew member,
a lot of trees could be saved.
Many people believe that they
need originals for a contract to be
enforceable. Th is is simply not true.
An electronic copy saved on your
hard drive is just as enforceable as
an original, and much less wasteful.
However, for the fi nancing of pro-
ductions, we still typically receive
all documents in quadruplicate al-
though fi nanciers only require one
signed original. Th e reason for the
one original is that when electronic
copies are permitted, people will
sometimes use an electronic signa-
ture rather than an actual signature
and there has been some debate
about the enforceability of elec-
tronic signatures. One practice that
we feel is unnecessary is the circula-
tion of binders containing copies of
every single fi nancing document to
all parties after the completion of fi -
nancing. Some bank counsel, such as
Juliet Smith, are trying to encourage
their clients to stick to one original
copy for fi nancing documents and
are contacting production lawyers
in advance to see if electronic cop-
ies and a CD containing copies of all
documents will suffi ce for their pur-
poses. Although this practice isn’t
widespread, we think it would turn
around very quickly if clients make
it clear to their bank and to their
lawyers how high a priority they
place on conservation.
Of course, waste in our industry
doesn’t just happen in lawyer’s offi c-
es. Although production companies
like Screen Siren have been eff ec-
tive in implementing electronic call
sheets and on-line script revisions
(where the greatest paper waste used
to occur) and have established green
policies for all crew, there is still of-
ten little regard for the environment
Paper trail should be going green
Lori Massini & Kim RobertsEntertainment Lawyers
Paper trail continued on next page
GET LISTED!THE 2011 REEL WEST DIGEST ADVERTISING DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 30.
Tel. 604.451.REEL (7335) TF. 1.888.291.7335 e. [email protected] – 5512 Hastings St. Burnaby, BC V5B 1R3www.reelwest.com
29 REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2010
(sponsored by Telefi lm and the DGC),
which gave me $ 10,000 in cash to-
wards a short fi lm I wrote and di-
rected called Th e Highway House. It
was exciting, scary and exhausting all
at the same time and taught me that,
contrary to the cliché, I didn’t “really
want to direct.” Th e fi lm was saved
by my producers, Mary Anne Water-
house and Diane Patrick O’Connor,
and my DP, Glen Winter. It got into
the Vancouver Film Festival in 1996
and that was a great experience.
I then worked as in-house counsel
for Opus Productions, a local book
publisher, then got a job at Telefi lm’s
local offi ce as Project Manager, which
was basically being a business analyst
for the federal fi nancing agency on
documentary and drama projects.
Th is was my fi rst thorough educa-
tion in the Canadian fi lm fi nancing
and tax credit system and was invalu-
able. I saw lots of option agreements,
series-producing deals, distribution
contracts and fi nancing scenarios and
learned why recoupment schedules
are so puzzling for our foreign friends.
(Canadian tax credits, although al-
ready recouped, get recouped again!)
After a year and a half at Telefi lm, I
went to work in legal and business af-
fairs for Vidatron Entertainment Group,
a locally-based and growing public
company run by Tim Gamble and Cam
White. Larry Sugar had a leading role in
it too and the company produced some
successful shows including a slate of
movies for Showtime in the U.S. (and
Hallmark internationally) as well as a
number of long-form dramatic series
including Dead Man’s Gun and First
Wave. Vidatron was eventually renamed
Peace Arch Entertainment Group
and became listed on the Toronto and
American Stock Exchanges.
By 2000, Peace Arch was one of the
biggest production companies in Can-
ada. Th at was also the year we invested
heavily in two productions, the action
series Immortal, starring Lorenzo La-
mas, and Big Sound, a half hour com-
edy starring Greg Evigan and David
Steinberg that was backed by Global
and the US cable channel VH-1. VH-1
reneged on the Big Sound deal and we
sold the company to Gary Howsam’s
Greenlight Film and Television which
relocated it to Toronto.
Since then, I’ve been in private prac-
tice with Grossman & Stanley and con-
tinue to act for Canadian producers of
drama, documentary and reality televi-
sion, animation, visual eff ects and digi-
tal content. I also work for some L.A.-
based companies producing in Canada.
Th e world is always changing and what’s
new and exciting is the same thing that
is scary and unknown. Today that would
include the internet and mobile devices
which are changing the way people con-
sume entertainment or create their own
user-generated content.
Right now there is a fundamental
shift taking place in the business. How
“entertainment” is defi ned and how it
is distributed to audiences all over the
world is changing fast. While traditional
“television” content is increasingly diffi -
cult to fi nance, I believe that new busi-
ness models will reward producers that
have the foresight, imagination and
business savvy to market a number of
products over multiple platforms (i.e.
projects having one genesis but several
applications and revenue streams). How
people carve up distribution rights--
and derivative rights-- in the coming
decade will be increasingly more com-
plicated, but this business shift will also
create new opportunities for people en-
tering the fi eld with the digital skills and
expertise to navigate in this brave new
media world. ■
phy nomination for Winnipeg-based
best program nominee Keep Your
Head Up Kid: Th e Don Cherry Story
while another Winnipeg-based series,
Less Th an Kind won a best comedy
performance nomination for Arthur
Benjamin. Newfoundland’s Republic
of Doyle won a best actress in a series
nomination for Lynda Boyd.
British Columbians won several nom-
inations in craft categories. Linda Del
Rosario won a series production design
nomination for Iron Road; Riverworld
won sound nominations in the dramat-
ic program category for Iain Pattison,
Rich Walters, Graeme Hughes, David
Cyr, Kirby Jinnah, Paul Sharpe and
James Wallace and J. Martin Taylor
and Jamie Mahaff ey won best sound
nominations for an information/docu-
mentary program for Darwin’s Brave
New World – Publish and Be Damned.
Th ey will be competing with Jo Rossi,
a nominee in the same category for Ice
Pilots NWT. Th e animated series Hot
Wheels Battle Force 5 won directing
nominations for Johnny Darrell and
Clint Butler and a score nomination
for Brian Carson. Eric Goldstein and
Brent Fidler won performing arts pro-
gram nominations for directing Poe-Th e
Last Days of the Raven and Philip Lyall
and Nimisha Mukerji won documen-
tary program directing nominations for
65 Red Roses.
BC actors and hosts nominated in-
cluded Landon Liboiron who is nomi-
nated in the children’s program cat-
egory for Degrassi: the Next Generation;
Christopher Heyerdahl, a best guest
role nominee for Sanctuary; Grace
Park, a nominee for her continuing role
in the drama Th e Border and Anna &
Kristina’s Grocery Bag co-hosts Kristi-
na Matisic and Anna Wallner, who are
nominated in the lifestyle/practical in-
formation or performing arts category.
Th e Geminis will be presented over
the course of three nights in Toronto.
Th e Industry Gala Presentations
will take place on Tuesday Novem-
ber 2nd and Wednesday November
3rd at the Kool Haus Entertainment
Complex while the Broadcast Gala
will take place on Saturday Novem-
ber 13th at the Winter Garden Th e-
atre and will be broadcast live-to-tape
on Global and Showcase. ■
LensRebates
Beginnings continued from page 15
Gemini Nominations cont. from page 30
in many departments and, in par-
ticular, in catering and construction.
I’m sure anyone who has spent any
time on set knows how rare it is these
days to eat with anything but plastic
utensils and has seen the mounds of
garbage hauled off set every day.
Th e BC Film Commission is on the
cutting edge with a website that has
been created by Gordon Hardwick.
Called reelgreen (www.reelgreen.
bc.ca), the site identifi es suppliers
who are already taking green initia-
tives and suggests best practices for
conservation during production.
BC Film is also taking the lead
in this area, introducing an on-line
application process in 2008 for the
Production Service Tax Credit and
for Film Incentive BC in 2009. BC
Film was the fi rst in the country to
do this and their system allows for
all supporting documentation to be
submitted electronically.
Sometimes the only way to
change habits is to say there is no
other choice. Every time a new pro-
duction starts up, there is an op-
portunity to change the rules. As
a result, producers are in a unique
position to make conservation ev-
eryone’s choice. ■
Paper trail cont. from previous
REEL WEST SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 201030
Two western Canada-shot television
shows were amongst the leaders when
the Academy of Canadian Cinema
and Television announced its 2010
Gemini nominations. BC’s Stargate
Universe won nominations in nine
categories while Manitoba’s Less Th an
Kind won eight nominations. Th e only
productions to score more nods than
Stargate were the Toronto-shot Flash-
point, which won 15 nominations, in-
cluding four for cast and crew living
in BC, and the Vancouver 2010 Olym-
pics with 13 nominations (mostly for
its Toronto-based crew and hosts.)
Stargate Universe’s BC cast and
crew won nominations for best dra-
matic series, visual eff ects, (Krista
McLean, Andrew Karr, Mark Save-
la, Craig Vandenbiggelaar, Brenda
Campbell, Alec Mclymont, Michael
Lowers, Viv Jim, Shannon Gurney
and Kodie MacKenzie) picture edit-
ing (Rick Martin), direction (Andy
Mikita), lead actor (Louis Ferreira
and Robert Carlyle), musical score
(Joel Goldsmith) and cinematogra-
phy (Jim Menard.)
Less Th an Kind won a best comedy
series nomination for its Manitoba
producer Phyllis Laing. Th e show’s
Winnipeg-based actor Lisa Durupt,
is nominated in the best individual
performance in a comedy category.
Other Manitoba-based nominees
included Jamie Brown, who won a
nomination for Til Debt Do Us Part
(lifestyle/information series); Shawn
Pierce, who is nominated for scoring
the documentary Th e Secret World of
Shoplifting; production designer Re-
jean Labrie and costume designer Pa-
tricia Henderson, both nominated in
their respective trades for their work
on the TV movie Keep Your Head Up
Kid: Th e Don Cherry Story and Ray
Turnbull, who won a best sports ana-
lyst nomination for his coverage of the
2010 Tim Horton’s Brier.
Manitoba producer Merit Jensen
Carr won a nomination for best sci-
ence, technology, nature, environment
or adventure documentary for One
Ocean: Mysteries of the Deep and joined
Virgil Kanne, Alexandra Rosentreter
and Kevin Glasier as a nominee for the
interactive version of the show, which
is up for best cross-platform project.
And the producers of CBC Winnipeg’s
news won a nomination for best local
newscast in a large market.
Alberta’ X-Weighted Families did
well in the general/human interest
series category with nominations for
best series and best direction (Patri-
cia Harris Seeley.) Other Alberta
shows that did well included Broke,
which won Rosie Dransfi eld nomi-
nations for the Donald Brittain Award
and best direction for a documentary;
Johnny Reid: Live at the Jubilee which
won best sound nominations for Dave
Harrison and Francesco Russo; On
Home Ice which won nominations for
best sport analysis for both Gord Re-
del and Don Metz and Th e Canadian
Country Music Awards 2009 which
won nominations for best music, va-
riety program or series and direction
(Morris Abraham.)
Individual nominations went to Al-
berta-based Wapos Bay actor DerRick
Starlight for best performance in an
animated program, to James Fonnyadt
for providing sound to the drama Riv-
erworld and Michael Molineux who
was nominated for a best sound Gemini
for a comedy variety or performing arts
program for Th e 2010 Juno Awards.
Wapos Bay contributed several
nominations to the Saskatchewan list.
Th e show won nominations for Gemi-
nis for best animated program or series
and category awards for direction and
writing (Trevor Cameron) and origi-
nal score (Ross Nykiforuk.) Also far-
ing well were Silent Bombs: All for the
Motherland, which won Rob King a
directing nomination in the documen-
tary program category; Saskatchewan
River Delta, which won sound nomina-
tions in the information/documentary
category for Cary Ciesielski, David
Taylor and Lucas Hart and a pho-
tography nomination for Ian Toews.
Hell on Hooves won nominations for
best general human interest series and
a writing nomination in the same cat-
egory for Doug Hudema. CBC News
Saskatchewan won a nomination as
best local newscast in a small market
while Hiccups DOP Anton Krawczyk
won a comedy program nomination
for his photography.
BC’s nominations list was led by
Stargate Universal and a trio of pop and
rock stars. Bob Rock, who was a found-
er of the iconic punk band Th e Payolas,
and Vancouver-based singer Michael
Buble are nominated for At the Concert
Hall. Rock is nominated for best sound
while Buble is nominated for hosting
the show. Elvis Costello is nominated
for Best Talk Series for the show Spec-
tacle: Elvis Costello With…
Several BC-shot shows are nomi-
nated in their individual categories.
Kid vs. Kat, from Studio B is up for
best animated program or series; Al-
ice is nominated for best dramatic
mini-series as well as for Vancouver-
ite Matt Frewer’s performance, the
make-up supplied by Lisa Love and
Paul Edwards and for Angus Strath-
ie’s costume design. Word Travels is
nominated for a Gemini as best docu-
mentary series and Th e Cupcake Girls
is nominated for the best reality show
Gemini and for best direction of a re-
ality show (Grant Greschuk.)
News and sports cast and crew
brought several nominations to BC.
Global BC News won a nomination in
the best newscast, large market catego-
ry while Global National won a nomi-
nation in the best breaking news cate-
gory for its Catastrophe in Haiti series.
Brian Grahn won a writing nomina-
tion in the information and news cat-
egory for his work on Global National
and is also nominated for producing
best news series nominee Everyday
Hero Special. Glen Suitor won a best
sports analyst nomination for TSN’s
coverage of the 2009 Grey Cup. Ron
Forsythe won a best direction nomi-
nation for his work on Hockey Night in
Canada’s playoff coverage.
Th ree Vancouverites won nomi-
nations for CBC news shows. Erica
Johnson is nominated as best host or
interviewer for a news program for
CBC News: Marketplace while Shane
Foxman and Ian Hanomansing are
nominated for CBC News Vancouver,
in, respectively, the sportscaster/an-
chor and news anchor categories. A
CBC Vancouver crew also won nomi-
nations for best special event coverage
for Canada Remembers.
BC nominees in new media catego-
ries included Sanctuary, which was
nominated for a best cross-platform
project Gemini in the fi ction category;
Waterlife.nfb.ca, a nominee for best
original show produced for digital
media in the non-fi ction category and
the shows Vetala and My Pal Satan
which won nominations in the best
original digital media show category.
Flashpoint was one of several series
that were produced elsewhere but won
nominations for BC residents. Flash-
point won dramatic series category
nominations for writing (Ian Weir),
guest role performance (Ona Grau-
er), direction (David Frazee) and ed-
iting (Lara Mazur.) Jared Keeso won
a best performance nomination and
Glen MacPherson won a photogra-
FINAL EDIT
BRENT FIDLER WON PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAM NOMINATIONS FOR DIRECTING POE-THE LAST DAYS OF THE RAVEN FIDLER
It’s a Kind Universe for Western Television
Gemini Nominations cont. on page 29