The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom

Big Week

2012-01-23T05:04:00.000-08:00

This week may be the One We've Been Waiting For, but last week brought us good news very much worth celebrating as well: Jean-François Bergeron was nominated for a Genie in the Best Achievement in Editing category for his fine work on our film!

Once again, congratulations to JF, much deserved! I wish all the talented people who gave this movie life could have been nominated alongside him, but it's also kind of fitting that the guy who tied so much of so many people's great work together was named for the whole.

And lest you think that that the Genie Awards must be the illustrious end of the journey for a little film, let me tell you, there's more road ahead... The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom has been selected to official competition at the BUFF Film Festival in Malmo, Sweden! And we'll also be featured in the regular programming of this year's edition of Les Rendezvous du cinéma québécois (where our film was premiered last year).

And of course that's not all! As of today, we are poised on the 24-hour edge of the film's US release by the good guys at Osiris Entertainment. Since acquiring US distribution rights last year, Osiris' VP of Marketing, Doug Dohmen has been working hard on getting the film into as many outlets as possible south of the border. As of last week, here's the abundant fruit of his labours:

Tomorrow, Tuesday January 24th, the film will go live on VOD (Verizon FiOs, Charter, AT&T U-Verse, Mediacom, Insight, Suddenlink, etc.) and be available for purchase on DVD (over 146 Hastings stores and Ingles Markets) and online (Amazon, CDUniverse as well as right on the Osiris Entertainment website).

As you can see, there'll be many ways for our good neighbours to get some northern exposure. Spread the word!

Oh, and also happening tomorrow, a little thing called the Academy Awards will announce its final Oscar nominations for 2012!! We're all getting up early and pulling for Québec's favourite son, Philippe Falardeau and his film, Monsieur Lazhar to make the cut in the Best Foreign Language Film category! MERDE, Philippe!

Caw, Caw

2012-01-16T06:41:00.000-08:00

Have any of you out there (if there ARE any of you still out there) ever fallen off the wagon - whatever your particular wagon is - so hard and for so long that you can't even see the wagon in the distance anymore? I'm talking, not even in the far-off, speck-on-the-horizon distance anymore? In fact, you can't even see the dust of the memory of that wagon anymore?

Well if you have, then you have some inkling of how hard it gets with each passing day to even find a way back to that wagon, let alone get the amount of momentum you'll need to catch up to it, and then somehow hoist yourself back on.

In my case, the wagon I've been running (okay, trotting) after for the last while is this very blog (there are other runaway wagons in my life, but there's probably not enough space in this particular forum to discuss them).

Some of you may have noticed that since I went to Whitehorse way back in October(!), I haven't made a single peep in this space. I honestly meant to write about my wonderful Yukon adventure and my gracious hosts as soon as I got back. But then I didn't.

And then I got busy on a directing job. And then I was off to Poland for another amazing adventure as an international jury member at the Ale Kino! Film Festival in December. And I was going to write all about THAT incredible experience as soon as I got back. But then I didn't. And then it was Christmas. And I was going to use the down time to write a kind of "year in review" post in the blog. But then I didn't (really, Christmas? Down time?). And then it was January 1st and I was going to turn over a new leaf - start the year off right. And write. But then I didn't.

And yet, here I finally am.

So then, you might ask, what DID I finally use as my magical motivator, my special occasion, my momentum, to catch up to - and actually jump back on - that remote, runaway wagon?

Well, it IS January 16th after all - but it's not that. And this morning, I did finally unpack my suitcase from last year's trips (don't ask), but as much as my boyfriend insists that that is a more special occasion than Christmas and New Year's combined, it's actually not that either. So then what WAS it?

It was a sign.

If you have seen the film for which this blog was created, I think you'll appreciate the layers of meaning in the anecdote I'm about to share....

So, there I was, watching football and notably NOT writing this blog, when a random thought came into my head. For some reason, I suddenly thought about Akalu Meekis. He plays the Métis man with the magpie tattoo in our film. His character gives Marion and Elizabeth directions to their destination, and by virtue of their common interest in the magpie, some indication as to Elizabeth's destiny - that of messenger.

Okay, so I'm sitting there watching football and Akalu crosses my mind out of the blue. I haven't seen him since the film premiered in Winnipeg in June, where we had a brief chat about his plans for the future. So I casually wondered if he had finished school as he planned. And if so, if he was still considering pursuing an acting career.

And then something happened in the game and my attention turned back to football.

An hour or so later, I got an email. From Akalu Meekis.

He and I have never exchanged a single email.

That coincidence alone was freaky enough. But then, here is what his message (and I use the term very consciously) said:

It started with the subject line: Greetings!

And then without any salutation, Akalu launched into his brief, direct email by saying he had just been standing outside his school residence minutes before, deep in thought, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bird approaching from the east. As it perched on top of a tree, he saw it was a magpie. And he thought of me.

Then he finished off with, "How are things?"

But what I saw was this: "Start &%*?$ writing!!! Caw, Caw! Right *&?%! now! Caw, Caw!"

To wit, please see above. And to note, please note below:

Tuesday, January 24th

On that day, Osiris Entertainment releases our film on DVD in the U.S. !! American cousins, check it out and let us know what you think on our Facebook Fan Page. We're very happy about this auspicious step in our film's life and so keen to hear from you. And I have a lot of catching up to do, so I will write you back. Lots!

If It's Wednesday, This Must Be Whitehorse!

2011-09-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

Four... Three... Two... No, that's not me reading out the forecast highs for Whitehorse next week, that's actually me counting down to one of my most highly anticipated events to come out of this filmmaking experience yet...

Dolly Day Celebration Yukon, here I come!

I'm flying out this Wednesday to Whitehorse, where I'll be presenting the film (at both English and French screenings), meeting with the public as well as local filmmakers, journalists, and most importantly, Claire Derome . She's the woman who's responsible for bringing our film to the Yukon as the centrepiece of "Dolly Day" - a unique fund-raising event she created this year for the local chapter of the Imagination Library (read more here).

Originally founded by Dolly herself in Tennessee, the Imagination Library's mission is to fight illiteracy by providing one free book per month to every child enrolled in a local program from birth to 5 years of age. And Claire tells me that since its inception in 2006, her chapter of the Imagination Library has been in constant expansion. The overwhelming popularity of the program will see The Yukon Imagination Library distribute a total of 15,000 books to over 60 percent of the region's children by 2013!

In order for this non-profit organization to keep up with the almost viral demand, funds and awareness are always in desperate need of being raised. It was when Claire heard an interview I did on Radio-Canada about the film and Dolly's implication in it that she had the idea for bringing me and the film to the Yukon and creating the "Dolly Day Celebration" around it.

The event involves a screening of the film, a meet and greet with me and a whole evening's festivities featuring the fantastic blue-grass band, "Second Cousin" playing the film's music as part of their repertoire. Everyone involved has waived their fees (thanks again to @MongrelMedia!) and all proceeds of this event will go to the Yukon Imagination Library. I'm so thrilled to be able to contribute to this organization and its important work. And I so love the "full-circleness" of the whole thing - the film that Dolly helped to make has now become a way to help Dolly's cause!

I'm very much looking forward to actively "giving back" to Dolly in this small way. The fact that I will also, finally, get to experience a part of this country that has long-fascinated me from afar is just a really juicy cherry on top.

Birth Order

2011-09-16T07:17:00.000-07:00

Much like the fate of a family's second-born, my recent experience in Frankfurt at Lucas Film Festival may seem to have suffered from a little attention-deficit just by virtue of coming AFTER my first international festival. Not that I was any less enamoured of the people, places and pleasures afforded by this latest experience - far from it! But let's just say I was a little less compulsive about photographing and documenting every little detail and hiccup of this trip than I was when I had my first.

Nonetheless, I do have images. And there are stories. And I flat out LOVED Lucas.

More to the point, I loved the vibe, the people and especially the community that spontaneously formed amongst my fellow filmmakers, festival organizers, volunteers and audiences. At the end of the week, we seriously felt like one big film-y family.

The fact that most of us were staying in a hotel smack in the middle of Frankfurt's red light district probably helped create that sense of stick-togetherness - especially when walking home through the Smack-riddled, never-ending nightlife - whether it was in the wee hours or at high noon. But even beyond the safety in numbers imperative, we really fused in a way that - even now, a week later and so many thousands of miles away - feels real.

And I have to say that coming home to the official word that Osiris Entertainment has picked up our film for U.S. distribution has done nothing to dim the glow I brought back from Deutschland!

But next up is a project I'm probably the MOST excited about - Dolly's Day in the Yukon. Inspired by the story of how our film came about and Dolly's role in it, community leader Claire Derome created Dolly's Day, using our film as a centrepiece to help raise awareness and funds for the local children's literacy foundation, Dolly's Imagination Library.

This is exactly the kind of thing that is so in keeping with Dolly's generous spirit and humanity. The fact that she helped me make this film has afforded me the chance to contribute to a really worthy cause. To give back. To Dolly. To kids. And their community. It's so full-circle it's gorgeous.

And, as the film's master mixer, Gavin Fernandes points out, the fact that tickets for this event are sold at M&M Meats in Whitehorse is so... Yukon Gold!

Horizons

2011-08-28T08:54:00.001-07:00

With Irene churning up the Eastern Seaboard and all the emotions of Jack Layton's state funeral still churning in our collective psyches, it's not a stretch to say this has been a turbulent and eventful end to summer.

On the film front things are also pretty dynamic, albeit less dramatic...

The Canada-wide DVD release is not even two weeks old, our sold-out screening at the 1st annual Eastern Townships Film Festival is still a fresh and very special memory (thanks again, Pepita and company!) and in less than a week, I'm off to Frankfurt for the LUCAS Film Festival where the film is once again in international competition.

To top it all off, there's another, as-yet-unnamed, soon-to-be announced development on the near horizon.

Whew!

Oh, and that's not all... at the end of this month, there's the first ever "Dolly Day" up in the Yukon! A unique initiative that Claire Derome and the folks at the Whitehorse Rotary Club have cooked up specially around our film and its connection to Dolly. I'll be accompanying the movie up there, where it will be featured in a celebratory day of movie, music and meetings dedicated to raising awareness and funds for the regional Imagination Library, Dolly's literacy project for children.

I'm thrilled to be part of it. This event is such a wonderful by-product of making this film and Dolly's involvement in our whole story. Not to mention, it's a very direct opportunity for us to give something back to Dolly by supporting a cause that is so important to her. To that end, thanks go to our distributor Mongrel Media, who graciously agreed to waive the screening fees.

So, lots still happening now and into the fall... Check back here or on our Facebook Fan Page for all the latest updates!

Coming Out

2011-08-16T05:43:00.000-07:00

Today's the day ... another landmark in the long journey of making a movie is here... A whole new chapter in our film's life has begun. And even though many people put many long weeks of work into it, this morning it still seems to have happened a little magically.

Because in something reminiscent of "The Night Before Christmas", we all lay down last night for a sultry summer's sleep in a world where our movie existed only on film and in theatres.

While we slept though, all snug in our beds with visions of bonus features dancing in our heads, way off in the distance all manner of planes, trains and trucks were busy criss-crossing the country, tossing sacks full of something special into every Blockbuster, Future Shop, Walmart and HMV store in sight.

And as these stores open their doors this morning, what to our wondering eyes would appear.... but the brand new DVD of our film lining their shelves, my dear!

Very cool.

The movie is something else now. Something somebody can rent or own. Something somebody can take home. Don't know why, but that tickles me.

The Outremont and Other Old, Beautiful Buildings

2011-08-02T09:57:00.001-07:00

Last night's screening at the storied Théâtre Outremont was a very fitting, chapter-closer for our film and its makers.

We screened our French subtitled 35mm print to a largely francophone and very receptive audience. Then followed it up with a Q & A session that travelled back and forth between French and English with lots of smart, sensitive questions for Barbara, Rebecca and myself. Apart from the Outremont's savvy regular clientele, the house was also filled with many friends and family who had come from far-flung parts of the province to either see the last big screen screening for the first, second or even third time.

After the Q & A ended, we were gently asked to leave the theatre but only made it as far as the lobby where we all clumped up in the lobby - kisses, hugs, comments, questions continuing - and finally wound up closing the place down (much to the chagrin of some gracious staff who hadn't planned on a late night) by carrying the stimulating conversations out to the sidewalk.

A nice surprise of the evening: Quebec singing star, Isabelle Boulay had come along to the screening with some mutual friends. She was very keen to see the film especially because she herself has recently reached out and made a special connection with Dolly - the two of them are now set to perform a song together in the near future. Isabelle said that she too had received Dolly's gracious response and acceptance via fax!

So now that the last scheduled Canadian big screen projection of our film has come and gone, we can turn our energy and attention to...

- the DVD release! Coming out on rental and retail shelves across the country August 16th!

- being the Closing Film at the inaugural edition of Eastern Townships Film Festival, August 21st!

- being in competition at LUCAS Film Festival, Frankfurt, Germany, September 4 - 11!

- having the privilege of participating in a very special, Dolly-driven, Imagination Library awareness-raising event in Whitehorse, Yukon!!! September 29th

- being mindful and grateful for all the gifts this film has brought and continues to bring

And now that we've gone far into the future, why not journey back into the very distant past.... The third instalment of my Italian adventure's photo commentary is up here !

Second Wave d'Italia and Last Picture Show de Dolly

2011-07-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

Quick dispatch to tell you that the second batch of Italy pics (and commentary) are up here!

And, a reminder that the subtitled version of the film will be shown for one last-ish time in all its 35mm glory on the big screen here in Montreal tomorrow, Monday August 1st (coincidentally, also my dad's 70th birthday!). More info here.

One way or another, see you at the pictures!

And a very happy birthday, Dad! xoxo

Primo Giorno

2011-07-26T11:08:00.000-07:00

As I mention in the meatier post below, here then, is the first entry in the photo journal of my Giffoni Experience...

Are You "Experience"'d?

2011-07-23T04:05:00.000-07:00

As I sit here awake at a ridiculously early hour on my first morning back from Italy, I'm filled with so many memories, impressions, opinions and desires, but only one real dread: having to face my first North American "espresso".

I was up for 23 hours yesterday travelling and have now slept a scant 5 back in my own bed in Montreal so I'm desperately craving a coffee to smooth out the jagged edges of my jet lag but oh god, I am loathe to do anything to corrupt or contaminate this still intense, sensory memory of the dark, hot, rich ambrosia I shamelessly binged on overseas!

Right. I know. Overkill. But can I just tell you that there is NO COMPARISON between theirs and ours? And I'm not just talking about the flavour or the texture or the intensity of the actual drink. Or about the majestic, offhanded elegance of their whole ubiquitous ritual. I'm talking about the buzz.

As in, there is none.

Well, at least none of that jangly new-world kind anyway. And even though I regularly exceeded my usual maximum intake of two per day while I was away, I never not once EVER experienced that raunchy, acid-stomach after-burn from any Italian coffee - espresso, macchiato, cappuccino or otherwise - that passed my grateful lips at all times of day and night.

It's like the difference between the pure stuff. And the stuff that's been cut with something.

Or, like the difference between a festival that exists for the pure celebration of films and their audiences. And the other kind.

"The Giffoni Experience", as it's officially called, is exactly that. 100%. Panoramic. Technicolor. 3-D. Experience. It's a full-hearted, richly textured carnival of (for, by and about) kids - and the many kinds of cinema they respond to.

And for those of us ex-kids who were lucky enough to be invited in, it's also a regular, written-down reminder that a festival of film can (and should) be a whole, living, breathing, 360 degree, multi-levelled, cultural and interpersonal EXPERIENCE!

As it was for me and so many of the people I met there. So in the coming days, I'll post photos, faces and some stories that go with them. I'm not reporting in "real time" I know. It's already all happened and behind me. So yeah, I'll be sharing it in slight retrospect and I realize that makes me a dinosaur in this, the "instantaneous information age", but so be it. I've always been someone who likes to eat slowly, savour the meal, then respond and recount (also, internet access was sporadic there and a bit of a pain in my lazy butt).

So, with the exception of any "breaking news", which you know I'd tell you as soon as I possibly could, I figure if I introduce you to some people, tell you some stories and show you some pictures after having been as present in the moment as possible, it will feel as instantaneous as it needs to for you - and as fully-lived as it needs to for me.

Meantime, it's not even 9 am here and I'm feeling all heavy with fatigue and "black bliss" withdrawal... so ... do you think it's the actual espresso machines over there that make all the difference?... or the beans? ... or the way they're ground? ... or the water?

...or the whole unbeatable, unrepeatable experience...

Is That Your Final Answer?

2011-07-08T08:40:00.001-07:00

Had a great (late) interview with Tyler, Logan and Scott last night - otherwise known as the Reel to Reel crew on CFCR Radio, Saskatoon...

While I struggled on my end to put together complete sentences at 11:30 pm (way past my bedtime!), on their end those boys were alert, alive and eerily well-informed about me, the film, and my every move before, during and after its upcoming run in their fair city!

So in case you haven't been able to do the same exhaustive research that the Reel to Reel guys have, I'll lay some of it out for you here:

The film (partially inspired by my childhood spent in the backseat of our family car, crossing the prairie between Calgary and Saskatoon) opens tonight at the Broadway Theatre right there in Saskabush (as we fondly called it)! Yet another "homecoming" of sorts for a film that has its roots spread practically right across this country (with apologies to the Maritimes and Northern Territories).

And then directly on the heels of this, our final Canadian stop on what's been a great first run for our little film, it's on to international screens - starting with (sigh) Italia...! I just found out that I'll be staying in Salerno right on the Amalfi Coast, overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea and commuting by shuttle every day to the Giffoni Film Festival. There, I'll be able to take in all the screenings and networking opportunities provided by the likes of such an internationally reputable festival as this.

But while I get all my promotional materials together and brush up on my (non-existent) Italian, I'm also studying a little of the history and geography of the area - hoping to take in a some of the local flavour and "spirit" while I'm there.

Beyond that - well, there's the DVD coming out very soon (just gave final comments on the art work and text!) as well as a one-night-only screening at our very own Théâtre Outremont here on August 1st. Then later that month, the film will have the privilege of screening at the inaugural edition of The Eastern Townships Film Festival!! After that, it's back to Europe for for the Lucas Film Festival in Frankfurt. And then... who knows...?

Meantime, I'll sign off by putting to you the same final question the Reel to Reel boys put to me last night:

What upcoming film are you most looking forward to in 2011?

....

My brain seized up on that question on the radio at midnight. But this morning(!) I woke up with at least two that I'm salivating to see when things calm down a little:

"The Tree of Life"

and

"Cowboys and Aliens"

I like a nice balanced diet.

Viva Italia!

2011-06-29T05:53:00.000-07:00

If you're following us on our Facebook Fan page, you know by now that the film's international premiere is slated for Italy!

While the venerable Venice Film Festival had also requested copies of all Canadian films that were shortlisted for Cannes (of which we were one!), we weren't going to get an answer from the programmers until late into the summer so with time a-wasting and playing the odds, we made the decision to accept the gracious invitation from the Giffoni Film Festival. I'm heading there via Rome in mid-July and can't wait!

This will be our first appearance on the international circuit and we're very proud to have been chosen in competition at the oldest, most prestigious children and youth film festival in Europe. From there, we will be going to the Frankfurt Film Festival in late August (while not October, still a good time for beer and sausages, I'm told) where we're also in competition.

And after that, who knows?

In honour of this new and exotic phase in our film's career, I'd like to share this little "film" with you. A "festival" cautionary tale of sorts....

Click here and enjoy!

Fight, Flight or Festival?

2011-06-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

First, I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to our own self-proclaimed, social (media) butterfly, Theresapedia for filling in on the blog last week. And I'd like to extend an official invitation for her to "guest post" any time the mood strikes - especially now that she's going to be just lounging around doing nothing on mat-leave for the next whole year!

Yes, that's right. The time has come, or the term is full... either way, we must now bow to the will of the wild and reluctantly bid adieu to one of our key collaborators and most eloquent cheerleader as she leaves us to embark on a whole new kind of production - a "reproduction" if you will.

Wishing you and your growing family all the very best, T! You are going to be soooooo missed by me and everyone at Dolly HQ. Your contribution to this whole adventure has been more valuable than you can know. xoxo

But now, we must go back to the business... of show.

For things are starting to move ahead at a brisk pace. In fact, the summer is looking very warm and sunny for the second act of our film's story!

Fresh off its hearty "homecoming" in Winnipeg, the film is set to play in Victoria at the end of the month, and to my own admittedly sentimental satisfaction, we're booked to open in Saskatoon in July! Both sets of my grandparents, a beloved aunt and uncle as well as my closest cousin, Trevor lived in Saskatoon as I was growing up. So my childhood is crowded with memories of long, frequent car trips between Calgary and Saskatoon to visit them.

To this day, the smell of egg salad sandwiches still evokes the special mix of tedium and anticipation that characterized those trips toward the "Paris of the prairies" for me.

So the news that my film will be playing at Saskatoon's Broadway Theatre makes me a little nostalgic. Especially because that's the first theatre I ever went to without my parents - at the age of 8 my cousin Trev and I snuck out of his house and walked across the river, in the waning daylight to go see "Cinderella" at the Broadway. Who would've thunk that almost 40 years later, my own film would be playing at that very cinema...? Now that's a fairytale!

That Saskatoon seems to be the final Canadian city our film has been booked into doesn't make for an ending to this film's story though - oh no... far from it. As I mentioned in my Second Acts Can Suck post, there's still the festivals. Ahhh, the festivals. In that same post, I alluded to the challenges of navigating the international festival circuit... Let me explain what I meant: It's a bit of a chess game really, because what are known as the "A" festivals require that your film be at least an international premiere to be considered for selection. So, if you're in serious running for Cannes let's say (which we were - our film was one of only 7 Canadian films short-listed for two sections of the world's most prestigious film festival!!!), you cannot accept any other festival's invitations until you hear whether or not you're in Cannes. And so on...

So, starting with our short-listing and then our coming-up short (spoiler alert: we did not make the final selection) at Cannes, it's all been a bit of a waiting game - a juggle, a gamble, a weighing of the ifs, ands or buts... Do we say no to yet another lovely festival because we're being "considered" by an even bigger festival right around the corner? Given that our film was technically completed in Dec. 2010, our "best before" date is quickly approaching - so we've been facing the question: when do we finally close our eyes and finally just jump into an international premiere and start swimming in those warm waters?

Well, let me announce here that we are finally, officially poised to get nice and wet!

Stay tuned to find out where!

Post from the Peg!

2011-06-10T07:10:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody!

This is Theresapedia (Associate Producer and social media butterfly), filling in for Tara today as she is currently in Winnipeg for the film's opening out there.

She sent me the following photos to 1) make me jealous and 2) so that I could post them here to share with y'all!

As an nearly-8-months pregnant person, I can confirm that pictures of cake are always a win for me. But even for all you non-knocked-up readers, these photos will make you drool because look! It's a The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom CUSTOM-MADE CAKE!

Is that amazing or what?

Thanks to the folks at Cake-ology, the cast-and-crew party last night had an extra dose of awesome. (Bonus: if you squint a little, you can also spot producers Barbara Shrier and Liz Jarvis in the background of this photo having lunch.)

This is the designer whose name I don't have (if you know her, send me an email at info@palomarfilms.com) but look how cute she is!

**UPDATE: Pamela from Cake-ology let me know that this lovely lady is Samantha Repa, one of their talented cake decorators. Thanks Pamela, nice work Samantha!**

Super cool.

Were you at the screening in Winnipeg last night? At the party? Did you get to try this fabulous confection? Drop us a line on the Facebook page, I'm DYING to know how it tasted. No, seriously, I NEED TO KNOW.

The film opens at the Cinematheque tonight in Winnipeg and plays until June 12 and then again June 15-16.

Happy Anniversary

2011-05-31T05:38:00.000-07:00

One year ago, we wrapped principal photography on The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom. On a secondary highway about an hour and a half outside of Winnipeg in the rain and fading light, we shot our final scene of the film - and of the whole production.

Even though I remember that moment like it was yesterday, so much has transpired in the 365 days or so since. But now, quite appropriately, a year later we are marking our first year production anniversary by heading back to the Peg - to where it all wrapped up. With a finished film tucked under our seat - or in the overhead bin, I'm not sure... Where does one stow a 35 mm print representing the labour of love of so many people over so many months and years? Truth be told, it deserves a seat in first class.

One way or another, the film is finally going home. Going home to the other half of cast and crew that helped create it. With the exception of our dear co-producer, Liz Jarvis, none of the Manitobans have seen the fruits of their labours yet! So I am totally looking forward to our cast and crew screening at the Cinematheque next week - to show the film of course, but also to see these amazing people again! Because through all the film's "coming out" moments these past months, we've been missing them. We've been accepting credit and compliments in their stead. The whole experience hasn't felt really and truly complete as long as the Winnipeg group hasn't been part of it.

So, full circle here we come! And after our private screening, the film will play for the rest of the week at the Cinematheque in the Peg - with hopes of staying on a little longer if luck and numbers are on our side. If Manitoban hospitality is anything to go by, I think it will have a long and very happy stay!

P.S. Has anyone seen a missing blog post titled "Priceless"? It was last seen in this very spot - until sometime on May 13 (Friday, May 13 that is) when it up and disappeared without a trace. If you find this post which is of sentimental value to its owner, kindly contact us at: info@palomarfilms.com

New(s) Cycle

2011-05-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm throwing my own bulletin into what is arguably the biggest mother of all news days in recent memory.

That's right, I'm choosing this very noisy news moment to jump in to the fray even though my little blurb can't hope to be heard over the reports of the long-awaited capture/assassination/burial-at-sea of the World's Most Wanted Man. Nor can it hold a candle to the Orange Wave blowing political winds of change (and shamelessly mixed metaphors) across an unexpectedly electrified Canadian electorate. In fact, it probably can't even stand toe to toe with whatever "shocking" thing happened on Celebrity Apprentice last night...

But share it I will, because my news is really more like a feeling. An intuition if you will - based on anecdotal, if carefully catalogued, observations. Coming off the circuit of Canadian cinema these last few months, I'm getting the feeling like there might be the first whisperings of a gentle, yet persistent shift in perception...

And if you listen very closely - that's it, with your ear pressed firmly to the ground or the tree - you too might hear the earliest, most primordial creakings and yawnings of a new trend emerging. In one word, that trend is ...

Chicks.

Canuck Chicks, to be geographically exact. Making movies. Gaining in numbers and recognition and respect. Starting, slowly but surely, to take their rightful place in this country's cinematic landscape.

Case in point: In these last few weeks alone, no less than FOUR feature films by Canadian female writer/directors have opened in Canadian (and some U.S.) cinemas : From Katrin Bowen's "Amazon Falls" to Deborah Chow's "High Cost of Living" to Penelope Buitenhuis' "A Wake" to you know who's film, it's slowly starting to feel like women's voices and views are occupying a slightly more proportionate amount of theatrical real estate than ever before! Maybe the captain of the Orange Wave, Jack Layton's whole "proportional representation" thing is catching on in more than just the political arena...

Anyway, as "Dolly" leaves Regina and Charlottetown and heads to Ottawa - with stops tonight in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Friday in Hudson, before moving on to Winnipeg in June, etc. - it feels more and more like we're coming home.

Second Acts Can Suck

2011-04-21T12:41:00.000-07:00

Notoriously the hardest chunk of story for any writer to tame, the daunting spectre of the Second Act often looms like a large and blurry bête noire between the Snappy Opening of the First Act and the Satisfying Ending of the Third. Between those distinct narrative bookends that are usually the first to form themselves in the writer's mind - because these are the things that get them juiced and keep them going when the going gets tough - lies the vast, often arid, seemingly unnavigable land of The Middle.

Its name alone is an onomatopoeic omen of the murky challenges to come: "middle" is so perilously close to its ambiguous cousin, "muddle". And not too genetically far removed from "muffle", "waffle" and thus, "wander"...

And so, it is often the place where a good story can go astray. Or, at the very least, lose steam.

Popular wisdom goes that, in order to avoid these classic Second Act pitfalls, there is just one prescription: Raise the stakes. Throw increasingly bigger obstacles in the protagonist's way.

In other words, put your hero(ine) up a tree. And then proceed to throw rocks at him/her. Start with pebbles, go to gravel, continue to work your way through the various geological mineral formations and finish with a nice, fat bolder.

According to the pundits, that'll keep the narrative moving through the marshy, mushy landscape of The Middle to usher the story artfully and effectively to its ultimately satisfying Third Act.

Here then, is about where the river stones should start coming at us. Having sailed through our opening act of major openings in Montreal, Toronto, and most recently Vancouver, our film's theatrical life is now hitting the middle of its story.

With many scheduled, if limited engagements coming up in various places across Canada, we are entering a hopefully long and steady second act. And happily for the sake of sustaining tension in the story, despite generally fantastic press and good word of mouth, all our efforts to build audiences and box office in our snappy First Act are being challenged by the movie-going audience's increasingly solicited entertainment dollar and sundry other sticks and stones in the Second Act.

Duly following the prescription for a tight, tense narrative though, we have raised the stakes by also trying to navigate our way through the unchartered and sometimes mystifying territory of the international festival circuit. And according to the rules of good storytelling, we are still winding up in more valleys than peaks, but on we trek - jumping from tree to tree and working on our stone-dodging techniques.

Homing In

2011-04-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

Vancouver welcomed me with clearing skies and shimmering seas. And cherry blossoms, like pink popcorn lacing the trees.

This town always seduces me and turns me into a bit of a pastoral sap. It lifts my spirit. Fills my lungs with fresh, tangy air and my head with visions of a healthy lifestyle and a hard body. When the sun is shining, the ocean is pungent and the mountains are lording it over all us latté loving Vancouverites, the only thing we want to do is be out in it.

But when it's raining - where better to be than out of it and in a cinema? Keeping dry and dreaming different dreams... Right?

I hope. I hope for rain. All weekend. For we open our film here on Friday and it's not been an easy Spring for the Lower Mainland. Beautiful weekend weather would be a box office death knell.

Since I have absolutely no control over the weather however, I came out here a bit early to press some palms and plaster some posters around my old hometown.

So far, my door to door director schtick has mostly been met with a very laid-back nod, a half-smile and a casual point to where I can put up the poster wherever I go. In contrast to Montreal or even Toronto, where it would cost me a good half an hour every stop because people were so eager to talk about the film, my role in it, what it was about... Maybe because this is a bit more of an industry town, people take films and their makers more in stride. Sort of like patrons in a Los Angeles restaurant finding out their waiter is really an actor....

Anyway, so far, that part has been very sociologically interesting - not unpleasant, but not on fire either. The flip side of this, though. is the reaction we've had from acting schools, filmmaking students, filmmaking collectives and local press... There is a real hunger in those circles for the stories behind making movies. And I've already been met and welcomed into a very vibrant fold of filmmakers - spearheaded by people like Paul Armstrong of the Celluloid Social Club, Javier of Raindance (a filmmakers' networking organization originating in Britian and making its way across Canada to Montreal). At their event on Monday, I met Katrin Bowen, writer/director and one-woman powerhouse behind the lauded film, "Amazon Falls" which débuted at TIFF last year and is opening in Vancouver April 15th - an exciting event to which yours truly got invited!

Also this week Julia's mom, Sue Chappel has been gathering likeminded people together for a sort of film-y "salon" at her place on Thursday night, not to mention organizing and throwing the after-party with husband Wayne in honour of our first night's screening on Friday. Sue's sort of like a den mother/mentor/booster to many burgeoning actors, writers, directors here in town and has also hooked me up with an inspiring young man, Julian LeBlanc (alias "Gossip Boy") who is on the rise as an actor and filmmaker but also as a strong voice for Canadian cinema on his blog of the same alias.

Finally but not leastly, my terrific publicist Bonne Smith has created many media opportunities for me here even though she's based in Toronto. If the stimulating, in-depth interviews I've had to date are anything to go by, well then there is actually more to Vancouver than meets the eye. And already, what an eye-full!

Dispatches from a Door-to-Door Director

2011-03-19T06:27:00.000-07:00

By far the best part of promoting the film has been the face-to-face part...

After shaking hands and kissing babies all the way around the Cineplex that's showing our film here in Montreal (held over now for a fourth week!), I loaded my poster-ettes, my CD's and my thermos into my car and hit my 401.

I arrived at Toronto's Cumberland theatre in time to see people getting seated - and man, were there ever a lot of seats. In fact, the seats outnumbered the people about 6 to 1. But what they lacked in numbers, the people made up for in enthusiasm and warmth. Only two people left when the credits ended, everyone else stayed behind for the Q & A session after. It was lively, engaged and engaging. And then even after that, people came to talk to me one on one - and buy a CD of the soundtrack.

Nonetheless, the low attendance on our "opening night" in the T-dot had taken its toll... Holed up in my hotel room the next day with a bad cold, ear infection and tender morale, the last thing I felt like doing was venturing out into the naked city to show my blotchy face - let alone engage with anyone. But I needed an espresso something bad, so finally my taste for caffeine triumphed over my pride and off I set - grabbing my bag of posterettes on my way out the door...

And in less than an hour, I'd not only put up four posters in busy shops, but met a fellow filmmaker who's got a company called Sharona Films, met a fellow prairie girl hailing from Winnipeg who invited me to another Winnipeg'ers art opening that afternoon and Joanne Kim, who owns City Bakery next to the hotel, and has the warmest, most open smile of any human I know.

And she has a running group! After I signed a poster-ette to hang on Joanne's "wall of fame" just above the coffee condiments, she told me she was going running the next morning with her group, going for brunch, then taking them to see my movie.

We then spent some time swapping titles of our other favourite "sleeper" films we'd discovered by happenstance (hers is "Unthinkable", mine "Junebug"). I polished off the best avocado, hummus, brie sandwich on multi-grain in town and headed out to find the gallery where Winnipeg artist, Janet Werner was opening her show.

When I walked into that gallery, the woman I'd met in the bakery was there with her daughter, holding the poster-ette I'd given her and talking about our meeting to a circle of - as it turns out - other prairie girls! We're everywhere!

After chatting to them for a bit, about the movie and other stuff, I had to get back to the hotel to meet Brad Horvath (my first door to Dolly) for a "congratulatory" drink before presenting the film at the Cumberland again. At the bar, I took out a poster-ette to sign for his office and the bartender came over exclaiming, "The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom! That's the movie my girls want to see! We saw the trailer last night and they said, 'Daddy, can we go to see that?'"

I mentioned that if he didn't want to disappoint those moppets with impeccable taste he would have to hurry, because it was likely the film would not be playing long. He brushed my worry aside and asked if I would sign a posterette for his girls. He ran out to the lobby and came back with a Sharpie. Then offered us another drink - on the house. No self-respecting door-to-door director should ever turn down a free drink but alas, I had to get to the theatre.

Buoyed by all this good will and synchronicity, I jumped in a taxi and sped to the Cumberland...

Where the seat-to-people ratio was even higher than the night before. The valiant, seriously outnumbered people who had come out, stuck together though and every single one of them stayed afterward to participate in another lively, even longer Q & A. And I sold twice as many CD's as the night before!

Despite the dismal box office, I still drove out of Toronto the Trying the next day, the trunk of my car - and my heart - lighter than when I drove in. All because of the people.

Missing Metaphors

2011-03-12T14:03:00.000-08:00

Try as I might (and I really have tried), I just cannot come up with a better way to describe the whole process of writing, directing and promoting a feature film than the old tried and true saw: It's a lot like having a baby.

As dramatic as it may sound, child birth seems to be the most appropriate metaphor to explain what a life-changing, all-absorbing experience it really is.

Even though I am not a mother myself in the biological sense, I do have enough friends and family who are mothers to know that once you have a child you are constantly inhabited on some level by the responsibility, love, concern and yes, guilt you feel toward that child. That helpless being you brought into the world haunts your consciousness 24-7. Its welfare is the last thing you think of before you fall asleep at night and the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning.

Such is the experience of making and then nurturing an independent film. In fact, so many parallels can be drawn between parenting and low-budget filmmaking that no other metaphor comes close to being a viable contender. So I've surrendered myself to just going with it...

However that logic does break down when you consider that even after gestating the film for an unbelievable six years, it still ends up in an incubator as soon as it enters the world.... its life literally hanging in the balance from the second it's born.

And you wonder, how can something seemingly so "ripe in the womb" still be so incredibly fragile once it finally emerges?

Then again, they say it takes a village to raise a child.... And everyone knows how hard it is in this day and age to rally a whole village to take care of any one thing, let alone someone else's baby.

Okay, there's that damn metaphor again.

Don't get me wrong, plenty of people - family, friends and strangers alike have already gone out of their way, dropping by to see the "baby" during visiting hours. Almost all have had warm, positive and emotional reactions to it. They've written newspaper articles about it. Featured it on t.v., radio and the web. They've wanted to know more about it, about how it was made, about what hopes we have for its future, about how it makes them feel. They wish it well. They tell their friends about it.

It's been a joyous, but equally tenuous, time. The reality is that incubators are at a premium in this country and our visiting hours have already been cut back. Only a week into its life and I know my "baby's" days are numbered.

So like any mother would, I lay awake at night - still counting my many blessings - but wondering if there's something - anything - more that I should have done, or that I still can do, to keep my baby alive... No metaphor intended!

Yet Another Eve

2011-03-03T17:17:00.000-08:00

Poised for another "big step" on this last leg of the filmmaker's journey, I feel like I really should have written about the previous "big step" while the afterglow was still hovering at nuclear levels. Because, frankly by now I'm a little strung out about what's around the corner...

So before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's just dwell a little on the past, shall we? It's nice and warm and cozy there...

Our "world premiere" was last Saturday night when the film made its début by closing our beloved Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois festival. The "big" theatre at the local Cineplex was full of well-wishers and warm smiles worn by friends, family and fellow filmmakers. The best way to bring our baby into the world really.

After the big love fest that was our "premiere" faded into memory and hangovers, some advance press - positive at best, benign at worst - came out and naive, novice filmmaker that I am, I thought that was it - the ultimate test... And it was feeling like we passed.

Not so fast.

If you're lucky and the press has been paying attention (which we are and it has), then the day or two before the film takes up official residence in its respective theatres, early reviews start coming out. Yup, just like in the movies.

And the calls and the emails and the posts start flying... we got 3 stars here, 3.5 stars there, oh don't read that one, you'll see stars - and not the good kind... Yup, just like in the cartoons.

But even though my head is swirling with stars and a few scars, I'm more buoyed by the many, "real-people reviews" we received after our premiere and "word-of-mouth" advance screenings last week... If all the unsolicited, often emotional outpourings of comments are anything to go by, the film actually touches a lot of people. It makes a lot of very different kinds of people feel a lot of things - good things.

And I've been lucky enough to be there to hear both men and women, young and old talk about it. That's like a spa for my tired, but now satisfied soul. And it's already more than worth what it took to get this little story told.

The Flurries of February

2011-02-25T05:41:00.000-08:00

Batten down the hatches...

I knew February was going to be intense, but so much seems to be happening all at once now that our (really well-reviewed!) album has been launched this week, the film is poised to close the Rendez-vous festival tomorrow night and then is scheduled to come out in Quebec theatres next Friday - with a preview screening this Monday thrown in for good measure ...

Marked by the opening of the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois and interview requests starting to trickle in from across Canada, finishing the French version of the film (have I mentioned how really good it is?), hammering out the finicky details of the poster in both official languages, preparing the film's coming out in Quebec and then R.O.C., this whole, foreshortened month of my birth as well as my film's, has been a breathtaking whirlwind.

But the winds of whirl turned up to hurricane force this past week...

Our young star Julia and her fabulous mom, Sue (notably referred to as "Ju and Sulia" by yours truly during a thank you speech recently!) landed in town on Tuesday just in time for the album launch party. Then along with Macha and Barbara, we spent the next day doing a carousel of multi-media interviews at a great Mile End diner called Nouveau Palais. You have to be in it to believe it, but the game of musical chairs they call a "press junket" I can only liken to "speed dating" - of marathon proportions.

For Julia and I, this was our first press junket experience. So we were both a bit nervous. But at the end of that long day (10 am to 3:30 pm) of sitting in a booth in front of one journalist, telling our story into a microphone (or cell phone, or camera), getting the tap from Mélanie Mingotaud (publicist extraordinaire) to get up and move to the next booth and start all over again... after doing that ad inifinitum all day, we were naturally exhausted. But also, exhilarated.

For the most part, it seemed that the journalists really wanted to talk about the film. Many of them talked to us about their experience watching the film, how they felt, what touched them. Unless these reporters are better actors than my actors - whose performances many of them noted are downright remarkable - I think there was a very positive vibe in the room. Okay, those warm, homemade mango-cranberry muffins supplied by Nouveau Palais might have softened a few of the crustier types up, but all in all, if this HAD been a speed-dating event, I'm pretty sure we would have got lucky!

Since then, it's been a non-stop sprint toward the first of our many imminent finish lines, the closing night gala screening of our film tomorrow. This "closing" marks our beginning... the first time our film will go out in the world, on its own. In the flurries of February.

I feel nervous and protective and excited. I'm trying very hard to stay "in the moment". Every single one of the many million of them. Wanting to soak all of this goodness, all this newness, up.

There is only ever one "first time". And so far, mine has been ALREADY been all I could hope for - and more....

Happy Birthday, little movie. I love you and wish you, many, many happy (box office) returns.

Swinging Both Ways

2011-02-16T05:56:00.000-08:00

In the wake of Arcade Fire's now infamous French/English thank you speech at the Grammys AND the sound mix of the frankly fantastic French version of our film, let me tell you, "Bi" is in, baby!

Okay, time for full disclosure here - I've always been straight. Always liked my movies the old-fashioned way : original, the way the creator intended them. Don't give me any of this foreign monkey business - laying strangers' voices over actor's faces. It's just wrong. And downright unnatural.

Here in Quebec, this kind of thing is a far more common occurrence than many of you living in less "bi-friendly" places may realize. For example, all the big Hollywood films are dubbed into French by local actors so that when Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts or Brad Pitt opens their mouth, someone else's voice and language and even breathing comes out!

Lots of people are fine with that. But for my money, even if the whole movie's in Serbo-Croatian, it's always better to experience the original version with subtitles. That way, even if the specific meaning of their words escapes me, I still hear the actual actors' voices, intonations, colours, subtleties. So I can rest assured that the original intentions of the people on the screen - and behind the scenes - are intact.

Well yesterday, I took a walk on the wild side and have to come clean about something ...

It's actually not so bad once you try it.

But - and this is a big but - it really depends on WHO you try it with.

And as I understand it, ours was not your run-of-the-mill dabble in alternatives. This one was special. Yes, we had a wonderful director and team taking care of us. And yes, we had great actors who specialize in the very particular art of oral filmmaking - the most outstanding of whom is Macha who can actually "dub" herself...

But the final outcome still goes far beyond just a reasonable French "copy" of the original. It is instead, its very own, original "version" of the original. With its very own particular charms and subtleties and delights. The French version of our English film is, in my wide-eyed opinion, every bit as faithful to the creator's intentions as the original.

And like I say, it all depends on who you do "it" with. There's no doubt in my mind that this first experience and the finished product was largely so gratifying and successful because Barbara never once lost sight of the film's essence, never once let go of any step in the process - from the translation to the casting to the performance. Not a single detail. Along with a team that was able to rise to this rather unprecedented challenge, she achieved what could be, and hopefully will still become, the gold standard for this necessary step in our national cinema - creating a living, second language alternative that can stand toe to toe with the original. And offer up its own set of goodies for those in the club.

Dolly has a line in our film that goes something like this: "I don't care if you're black or white. Or both. I don't care if you're gay or straight, bisexual or whatever... Whatever you are, just be that. And be good at it!".

As usual, Dolly has her finger on the right pulse...

An Offspring is Born!

2011-02-03T03:44:00.000-08:00

...or at least, delivered...

Early this week I packed my car with a very small but precious cargo, printed out a Google map and drove very carefully, following many convoluted directions, to a barren building on the side of an industrial freeway just outside of Montreal.

I protected my thin little bundle from the frigid winter winds by holding it under my coat all the way across the vast parking lot. Once we got inside the building, I carefully cradled it in the palm of my hands, transporting it across the lobby, up the stairs and through the doors to a non-descript office, where I personally handed off the MASTER of our soundtrack to the woman who will see that it goes forth and multiplies - into many beautiful, bouncing CD's!

What this all means, is that the OFFICIAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK of The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom featuring Dolly Parton, Nelly Furtado, Martha Wainwright, Coral Egan, The Wailin' Jennys, Geneviève Toupin and Luc Sicard's original score will be obtainable, listenable, available to everyone by February 22nd - four days before the film premieres at Les Rendezvous du cinéma québécois!

The long and completely joyous process of "building" this creation officially came to an end last Sunday night when Luc and I finished the mastering of the album with the mother of all masterers Ryan Morey (check him out at: http://www.ryebreadmastering.net/, he's worked on some of the most groundbreaking indie albums of our time).

And now, in a matter of a few short weeks, it's all going to be out there for the listening... and the talking about.... across the whole country.

Stay tuned here and on the Facebook fan page for exclusive sneak previews of some of the coolest cuts COMING SOON!

Big News Day!!! (or "Here Ye, Here Ye!")

2011-01-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

Not only did one of our favourite sons and his film, "Incendies" just get nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category - yay, Denis! (and cast and crew) - but a relatively small, quiet, powerful film written and directed by a woman got four major nominations, not least of which is Best Picture. Bravo, "Winter's Bone"!

Also, members of our own extended family, Dolly distributors Mongrel Media and Métropole Films boast a total 7 films in official Oscar contention. Congratulations to them!

Oh, and even closer to home, a huge exclusive just hit our Facebook Fan Page!!! Click HERE to be one of the very first people to see the official trailer for "The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom" - hot off the ... - machine of some kind - and not yet in theatres. Let us know what you think!

You might think all that excitement would be enough for one week, but wait - there's more!

Tomorrow, Barbara, Macha and I are heading up to St-Sauveur in the Laurentians for a very important event called, "Ciné-Québec". This annual film distributor's convention is a 24-hour do or die "do" where the province's distributors get to showcase their roster of upcoming films for theatre owners in the market for movies to show.

So, splashy theatrical trailers, big artwork, name actors, producers and directors will be on-site for theatre owners to look at, listen to, do a little tire-kicking thereof, and thereby decide to which films they want to give screens, and then how many and for how long. It's a mighty big deal.

But we feel pretty prepared - as you know - we already have ourselves a trailer! (Have you seen it lately, by the way? If not, you can check it out again here...) We also have a pretty rocking banner-sized poster and one of the best speech-givers in the business (hint: Barbara).

So, Macha, Barbara and I will have a few minutes to get up and do our little pitch during a luncheon hosted by our Quebec distributor, Métropole Films (whose name you will have noticed in our trailer when you last saw it - what's that? You didn't notice their name? Well, then, why not check it out again here and make sure I've got my facts straight?)

And, once that's all done, we'll move into another room, where a rumour of alcohol has been circulating to speak with journalists, who will hopefully be interested in talking to us about our film.

That's tomorrow.

The next day, my attention comes back to putting the finishing touches on the soundtrack album - whose launch, you will of course hear about here first! And, maybe even get a little preview, a taster, an appetizer of the full meal deal before it hits stores and the cybersphere at large!

Y'all come back now, y'here?

Closings and Openings

2011-01-18T14:13:00.000-08:00

Well, it's now official!!! I can say it out loud! The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom has been selected to be the Closing Gala Film at Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois!

This is a very special invitation for many reasons... Les Rendezvous is a hometown festival that celebrates Quebec production and nurtures homegrown talent. They gave me my first window on the world way back in 2001 when my short film, Killing Time was screened in front of Denis Villeneuve's much acclaimed second feature, Maelstrom. And look where it got Denis! (for those of you who aren't familiar with his name, Denis is the director of a very important and by now almost notorious film, Incendies which is Canada's Oscar entry this year).

Seriously, though, beyond the fact that they have been very good to me in the past, and despite the visibility this kind of prestigious platform will provide our movie in Quebec, it is very significant and, in my mind, very courageous of the programmers to select an English language film to close this particular festival. However, Ségolène Roederer, the elegant director of Les Rendezvous admitted she is possibly most excited about the "female factor" of this film. She is totally grooving on the unabashed "chickness" of not only the story, but the crew and the cast that put it together. Apparently this is still a rare recipe in the indie cinema world!

Anyway, no matter what made the package extra attractive, I know both Ségolène and her colleague Dominique Dugas first loved the film enough to invite us to close their festival.

And that can only open other doors!

Merci beaucoup aux Rendezvous! And if you're in Montreal on February the 26th... Rendez-vous!

Dolly Déja Vu All Over Again

2011-01-05T08:54:00.000-08:00

We're baaaack!

First thing this week, a valiant few of us emerged from our cozy warrens, where we'd retreated to take a little snowy r and r over the holidays and we jumped right back in where we left off... The album!

Still with a little glow-on from the amazing musical compliments that Dolly sent along just before Christmas (see previous post), we began the New Year by mixing the last remaining cuts destined for our soundtrack album - specifically, six tracks of selected score from Luc's original compositions...

Just before Christmas, we were faced with the difficult task of having to pick only half a dozen out of 15 equally beloved pieces of score that would make it on the album. About as easy as choosing favourites among your children... But with a little creative mixing, matching and titling, we managed to come up with ways to group the cuts that I think really respects the palette of the whole score - and leaves very few children out.

Then over the holidays, Luc found time to revisit those lucky cuts. By tying a few movements together in inspired ways, re-playing and re-recording some instruments to give the occasional track a longer life or more elegant end, he came up with the final 6 mixing templates.

And so as I write this, Élie (Ely) Jalbert is madly sliding back and forth across the floor in front of his analog mixing board at Studio Victor - balancing, tweaking, wetting, drying, delaying and washing his way through the lush, intimate instrumentation that characterizes our score. Getting closer and closer to a real, honest to goodness record all the time...!

That full, finished album - which combines Luc's original compostions with Dolly's tunes (as reinterpreted by Nelly Furtado, Martha Wainwright, Coral Egan, The Wailin' Jennys and Geneviève Toupin) - is due out a few weeks before March 4, which is when the film is scheduled to hit screens in Quebec and then the rest of Canada soon after.

So even as we finish mixing tonight, we're already looking towards mastering the album with Ryan Morey next week, finalizing poster art and graphics with Alexandre Renzo, designing the CD cover and inserts, oh, and attending a press conference where a very special announcement will be made - (more on that when I can officially talk about it...!)

So far, feels like a very Happy New Year!

The Year Christmas Came from Nashville

2010-12-23T10:03:00.000-08:00

So as soon as our film was mixed, Luc and I put together a special CD of our five finished Dolly Parton "remakes" (as arranged by Alex Cattaneo and interpreted by Martha Wainwright, Coral Egan, Geneviève Toupin, The Wailin' Jennys and Nelly Furtado), and we sent this very limited edition (1 of 1) CD to Dolly Parton - care of her fantastic right-hand gal in Nashville last week.

Believe it or not, in her mind-bogglingly busy schedule, Dolly actually took the time to listen to our offering right away... And this is the little Christmas miracle that came back over the fax last night!

So, with the spirit of Dolly filling my heart to the brim, I want to wish you all the magic and abundance of this Christmas season...

Enjoy your families, your friends and your feasts, but rest up!

2011 is going to be a big movie-going year!

Merry Multi-Tasking!

2010-12-17T04:40:00.000-08:00

Something crazy seems to happen to the space-time continuum at this time of the year.

It seems to suddenly shrink. And curl up into itself. So that the days fly by in bundles of three and five instead of one at a time. Catapulting us all headlong, at warp speed, into D Day.

In other words, Christmas.

Don't know why this black hole in our calendar always catches me by surprise, but here it is looming in front of me again, and as usual, I'm behind on everything - including the blog...

So, in the spirit of the season, I'd like to update you on all that's happening to get the film out into the world by writing this post in the only dialect I'm using these days ...

To Do List:

- Consult on graphics and animation for the film's theatrical trailer, freshly edited by Arthur Tarnowski

- Attend auditions for voice-over actors playing the roles of Elizabeth and Annabelle in the French! version of the film, "Dolly Parton, ma mère et moi"

- Review proposal for film's website homepage! designed by "Cri"

- Lock down the number and "names" of pieces of score to be included in the soundtrack

- Review and approve the film's poster! with Métropole and Mongrel

- Find generous and/or hungry graphic designer for the soundtrack album cover, use poster art work as model

- Finalize album song line-up

- Secure all licences

- Mix selected score

- Master all tracks

- Drink wine

That last item is a floater - it can pretty much be inserted anywhere in the list. Like, for instance, right at the top.

Well, time's flying and I've got a lot to do, so... better start working my way down the list!

Title Bout

2010-12-06T11:26:00.000-08:00

In preparing to write this blog every week, I work pretty much the same way I did when I started writing the film: I get an idea of what it is I want to say. What story I want to tell. And then I come up with some groovy title that gets my juices flowing and I use it as a springboard to plunge into the writing of the thing ....

Well I have to tell you, I've had one hell of a time coming up with a title for this week's blog post.

And that is almost always a sign that I'm avoiding telling the story ...

See, in last week's entry, I talked about how we are now all about launching into this next, uber important phase of filmmaking: the "showing it" part. And how we and our partners are going to talk about getting the film seen the way it's meant to be seen : In cinemas. By people. (however I use the plural in both cases advisedly).

Now everyone knows that homegrown (albeit French) cinema is alive and thriving in an enviable way here in la belle province. But those very same celebrated and SUCCESSFUL films rarely travel beyond Quebec's borders to the rest of Canada, or beyond. And unfortunately everyone also knows how notoriously difficult it is to get English Canadian films to be seen by English Canadians in English Canada - let alone anywhere else.

But because our little project is something of a cross-cultural cocktail : an English-language film coming out of French-speaking Québec, starring a high-profile Québécoise actress, an exciting young newcomer from Vancouver and featuring internationally acclaimed singer Dolly Parton AND her music, with the added advantage of being backed by well-respected distributors in both Toronto and Montreal, you might think we have managed to combine the best of a few worlds... That we just might have what it takes to erase borders and apathy and actually "cross over".

I know I promised last week I would tell you how it all went down in our marketing meeting with our respective distributors but I guess you've probably figured out that this is the part of the story I'm having trouble telling. So maybe the blog titles I've been agonizing over will help give you some idea of why. Here's what I've got so far:

"Managing Expectations"

"Why Even Bother?"

"The Two Solitudes - Cinema Style"

"You'll never do a whole lot unless you're brave enough to try"

- Dolly Parton

Okay, you know what, I'm going with that last one. Because that's the tone I ultimately want to set for the tale that's about to unfold over the coming months... the tale of some plucky Filmmakers Without Borders who triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds and apathy to actually get their film seen in cinemas, by people!

We all know it's a multi-media jungle out there. And they say if you don't have an American star headlining your little indie Canadian film, you don't have a hope in hell of drawing an audience. Oh, but wait, just because you HAVE an American star headlining your film, don't think you have a hope in hell either.

And if your film doesn't have a major festival/award as a springboard into the movie-going consciousness, or it doesn't have some high-concept hook to hang it on, or a Hollywood look, or an ethnic angle - you may as well just start making space in your DVD rack right now, Bunky, because there's pretty much no way your film's going to break through.

Although, plenty of films that have some or all of the above going for them didn't break through either.

Okay, but what if it has a good story? Strong performances? Tasty sights and sounds?

And a killer, head-turning title?

Yeah, it all starts with the title.

Taking the Show on the Road

2010-11-28T04:54:00.000-08:00

Well, the deed is truly done.

Last Friday, Francine G. (our fantastic, patient and positive post-production coordinator), Barbara, Claudine and I all screened - and approved - the glorious 35 mm answer print of our finished film!

In French, the answer print is called "copy zero" - meaning: the only way to go is up. Meaning: from hereon in, the film goes forth and multiplies!

And so do we - in the sense that we now hope to grow the number of people who have seen the movie by many multiples!

And so the "distribution and promotion" phase of this adventure begins....

To officially kick it off, we will be screening the answer print for our investors and distributor (Métropole) here in Montreal on Monday and then Barbara, Theresapedia and I will once again travel that well-worn trail of celluloid dreams to Toronto, cans of film in the trunk and high hopes in our hearts.

Once we've shown the finished film to both our Quebec and Toronto-based distributors (Mongrel), we'll sit down with both offices to discuss distribution and marketing strategy. Will the approaches be different in Quebec and the ROC? What festivals will the film be submitted to? When will the film be released in theatres? What can we do to draw people to those theatres? What means and media can we exploit?

If all goes according to plan, we'll have theatrical trailers to cut, posters to design, web sites to build and god help me, interviews to give!

I'll keep you posted on all of that as we go, but in the meantime, we (Barbara, Luc and I) have started a very cool side project, a natural offshoot of the film ...

We're putting together a kickass soundtrack album! A whole new frontier, but with familiar faces - very cool.

Oh, and Go Als!

Road to Recovery

2010-11-17T06:40:00.000-08:00

I wrote a fellow filmmaker last night, "As much as making a film is probably the most challenging thing I've ever done, the next most challenging thing is letting go of that thing and finding the sense of my life again."

In the wake of the last big push before sending this creation out into the world, I am starting to have a better understanding of why Woody Allen "chain filmmakes" - essentially sparking up his next film off the dying ember of the last with barely a breath in between.

Call it separation anxiety. Or adrenaline dependence. Or gluttony for punishment. Call it what you like, but now that I'm actually here, practically on the other side of making my first film, I find I'm in a nostalgic limbo. Not an entirely unpleasant one because there still is a whole exciting stage left to this project - the showing it part - and there is the delicious luxury of finding the next inspiration ahead of me - but I find I'm in a longing limbo nonetheless. A bit floaty, a bit foggy, a bit gushy... especially over the people who have brought me so far towards achieving my dream...

To all my talented collaborators, each one of whom I've mentioned here over the months, each one of whom has worked so tirelessly to hook into my vision and help me realize it and more, I give my heartfelt thanks.

And in keeping with my gushy, mushy mood, let me paraphrase a saccharin Jack Nicholson:

"You all make me want to be a better filmmaker."

In the meantime, I'm thinking of taking up the clarinet...

Melancholy Mix Mania

2010-11-09T08:37:00.000-08:00

It's Final Playback Eve here in Studio E and so it appears we are really, truly nearing the very end of our run....

"Mix"ed emotions abound.

We just placed the last of our Dolly remake tunes over the final credits (if there was a Juno/Genie combo award for best end credits, I would say we'd be a serious contender! Nelly and Geneviève have done a fantastic job taking us out of our film but making us want to stay in our seats to read all the credits of all the folks who worked so hard making this picture).

Even though the "crafty" part is coming to an end though, there's more film fun to come. Soon we'll be submitting the finished film to festivals and start planning for the Canada-wide theatrical release and who knows - maybe doing some promo junkets.

Road trip anyone?

Mixing it Up

2010-10-28T06:45:00.000-07:00

Music is almost done! Luc locked his final original composition for the score last night. Gorgeous.

All the elements except our Dolly remakes, which are being pre-mixed this week and next, have found their way into the mixing studio. Into the huge, NASA-like console in Studio E. And so we now begin mixing all the aural layers of the film together this afternoon with Mr. Gavin Fernandes. I do believe we're in the home stretch, everyone! The "making" part of filmmaking is slowly but surely drawing to a close - and soon the "film" part will emerge to stand on its own.

An important finale is just around the corner. An ending that will become a whole other beginning.

Bittersweetness.

See What We're Hearing

2010-10-21T09:00:00.001-07:00

If you weren't lucky enough to have been within earshot of Studio Victor in Montreal (home of RCA Victor) last week, you can check out some photos of The Montreal Sessions on our Facebook Fan Page.

We had our ears and hearts caressed by the sweetest sounds of Geneviève Toupin and Martha Wainwright and their accompanying musicians,

José Major; drums,
Andrée-Anne Tremblay; violin,
Rick Haworth; dobro, lap steel, harmonica
Mario Légaré; Double bass
Luc Sicard; guitar
Alex Cattaneo; original arrangements, guitar, mandolin
Elie Jalbert: sound engineer

all assembled for the recording of the first two of five Dolly "remakes" we're doing for our film.

One week later, I'm writing you this very moment from that same studio, where we have the same musical backbone - with the notable additions of Bob Stagg on keyboards, Joseph Perrault on drums and Carl Bastien on guitar - supporting the voluptuous, visceral sounds of Coral Egan for "The Grass is Blue".

One of my very favourite songs in the film is being made even more delicious than I thought possible by the chemistry between Alex's arrangements and these divine and eloquent artists.

Give me (and likely our resident whiz kid, Theresapedia) a few minutes but we'll get some visual support up on the fan page so you can see a little of what we're hearing!

Okay, the video has started to flow! See Composer (compositeur d'oeuvre commandé) Luc Sicard channel his inner maestro here.

K-Tel, Eat Your Heart Out!

2010-10-11T07:44:00.000-07:00

So much is happening on the music front, I'm all out of breath and feeling flushed! In the very best possible way....

While my talented composer Luc Sicard continues creating beautiful, original cuts for the film's soundtrack at a superhuman pace, much behind-the-scenes arranging and deal-making has been going on in preparation for the recording of some select Dolly songs by some very special guest artists.

This other, equally important prong of our soundtrack - the actual line-up of Dolly's music - has required a veritable army of people and good will to pull off. It all began (and couldn't have gone anywhere without) the original generous offer from Dolly Parton herself to help us acquire the publishing rights to her songs.

Although Dolly had made this amazing offer to me in a personal letter, that was way back at the script stage and almost two years later, we were very careful not to take anything for granted.

But when we finished the picture edit and our final musical wish list was sent out, Dolly and her people at Velvet Apple came through big time, granting us the publishing rights to nine of Dolly's greatest hits for - well, a song. On the shiny list are, the inimitable, "Jolene", "I Will Always Love You" and "Love is Like a Butterfly"!!!

The ultimate plan for the film has always been to feature some of Dolly's original recordings as well as her compositions re-imagined by our brilliant producer/arranger, Alex Cattaneo and a hand-picked roster of guest artists.

So now, I have the absolute pleasure of saying here that, thanks to the efforts of so many generous people, we have just confirmed my DREAM line-up for the guest artists!

Check this out...

The official soundtrack for "The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom" will feature:

Miss Dolly Parton herself!

along with ...

Nelly Furtado!

Martha Wainwright!

Wailin' Jennys!

Coral Egan!

and Franco-Manitoban (now Québécoise) up-and-comer...

Geneviève Toupin!

Alex and Luc have recruited some of this city's - this country's - best musicians to record the songs. We'll be in studio on the 14th and then again on the 21st to lay down tracks and in some cases capture the vocals live off the floor for what we're calling our Dolly "remakes". Stay tuned here and on the Facebook fan page for more stuff!

Post-Parton Party

2010-09-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's come to that - paraphrasing my own self.

But what this title lacks in originality, it makes up for in accuracy. Because my dears, this post part is a pure, unadulterated blast! From the composition of the original MUSIC with the inspired and talented Luc Sicard, to the alchemy of choosing the best artists for original interpretations of Dolly tunes with Alex Cattaneo, to the re-recording of dialogue and "presences" with our eerily talented lead actors, Julia Stone and Macha Grenon - who were expertly guided by Benoît Leduc and Marcel Pothier, to the colour correction of Ms. Sauvé's stunning images with the soulful Nico Iliès, artist and gentleman - I feel like a kid in a craft-y candy shop!

I have to say - with no bias whatsoever - that all the artists and craftspeople who've worked and are still working on this film are the very BEST a girl could ask for!

In many ways, this part of the production is like a whole other shoot! But instead of the crew being all together on the set or in the production office, they're hidden away in their individual workshops - creating their own kind of quiet, but equally important magic.

It is so exciting to be finally seeing, and hearing, it all come together - all the layers of sound, music, movement, air, texture, colour, light and shadow that finish bringing the film to vivid life - and its final destination - a cinema near you.

p.s. Check out some of Sue's photos of the ADR experience on our Facebook Fan page and see little Julia all growed-up!

TIFF for tat

2010-09-14T22:43:00.001-07:00

Okay, we're back from TIFF. And yes Sue, I took photos! ;-) However, I spent all day today in the dialogue listening session (surely there's a better way to say that - the French, écoute technique is so much more elegant!), then had a first look at our visual effects by the guys at Mokko, and am off early tomorrow morning to New York so will post the TIFF photos from there in a day or so... Suffice it to say, TIFF was all tat - a blur of parties, people, pretensions and possibilities...

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2010-09-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

We're going back! To a school of sorts... This Friday, Barbara and I are making our third annual pilgrimage to Toronto to swirl among the glitterati in that big snow globe of cinematic schmooze affectionately known as TIFF.

Once again, we head on down the 401 to pay our respects to many of the people who have been instrumental in getting our film made and who will be instrumental in getting our film seen once it's finished.

And we also go every year to pay our respects to all the films that actually ARE finished (a herculean accomplishment unto itself). We go to support films that have, first and foremost, been made by people we know and love! And have been selected to screen at one of the most important film festivals in the world ...

Films like :

"Score: A Hockey Musical" opening the festival, this vaguely Canadian-sounding project is distributed by our own Mongrel Media and showcases an honorary "Dolly" alumnus, Nelly Furtado. What's not to love?

"The High Cost of Living", shot by our own fabulous cinematographer, Claudine Sauvé (second year in a row a film shot by her has been selected for TIFF) written and directed by Deborah Chow - a talented young filmmaker we were introduced to at last year's TIFF. Way to go, Deborah and Claudine!

"Barney's Version", featuring our own dear Macha Grenon in the juicy role of Solange. This is a star-studded, big-ticket film based on Mordecai Richler's book of the same name. Can't wait!

"Trigger" starring Molly Parker and Tracy Wright as ex-rock n roll bandmates, written by Daniel McIvor and directed by Bruce McDonald. Need I say more?

So somewhere between the overlapping parties and the business meetings actually scheduled to take place in a hotel lobby, we hope to get to see a couple of these movies. Hoping you'll all get a chance to go out and see them soon at a theatre near you too!

Care and Feeding of a Filmmaker

2010-08-29T08:37:00.000-07:00

Picture Lock.

That phrase conjures up action, doesn't it? Makes you think there's something dynamic about this momentous step in the filmmaking process. You'd imagine there'd be some fan fare around it. Some distinctive noise of some kind. If not vuvuzuelas (or however you spell them), then maybe the impressive noise of a big strong lead-lined door closing and combinations dialling, or even the satisfying sound of tumblers and keys clicking tightly, firmly, into place.

Either way, there must be some significant sound and sense of closure involved in something called a Picture Lock. Right?

Wrong. I've found it's quite the opposite. Quite a quiet, passive experience in fact. Because instead of DOING something, you essentially just STOP DOING it. The pressure's on, time runs out and you just stop editing. And walk away.

And then you live with the fact that you have to live with every frame of the film that way, the way you left it, for time immemorial.

Oh, there's the noise.

Sounds like, .... finality. (with apologies to Duvall and Coppola)

Finality. That's a hard noise to get out of your head. Especially when your head's a bit of a hamster cage like mine can be. So, to drown out the noise, I've just carried on editing for the past week - in my dreams.

The same thing happened when we wrapped shooting actually. My subconscious started hounding me with the imperative to shoot whatever it was I was dreaming. For literally weeks after wrap, I'd be in the middle of some nonsensical nocturnal narrative and be suddenly struck by the urgency to shoot it for the film. But, how could I when my film takes place in the 70's and my dream was all contemporary? Anxiety usually ensued and I'd start rushing around trying to find a way to change the decor in my dream to match the period of my film.

Same kind of deal with the end of editing.

Now that we've begun the sound effects and music composition process, though, things should change. Like the wood shavings on the bottom of the cage. And maybe the water. I'm going to need fresh water for sure.

This Just In...

2010-08-21T00:46:00.000-07:00

Dateline : Montreal, August 21, 2010

At 2:43 am, PICTURE LOCK was officially proclaimed (we know it was official because champagne was uncorked) on The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom movie. While neither Jeff nor Tara could be reached for comment, insiders do say the team looked bedraggled but happy in the aftermath.

So now what's next for this little film that could?

The sound of music. And the music of sound.

Play on!

The Playoffs

2010-08-19T11:04:00.000-07:00

We're heading into the finals! I know this not because our post-production calendar says so, not even because the film is getting tighter and better every day, but because my editor, Jeff Bergeron has stopped shaving entirely. Yes, sports fans, he's growing a full-on playoff beard! Et ça sent la coupe!

You've heard me speak highly of him. You've seen his name in this very blog. But you've never seen the man himself. The man who has laboured from morning to night in semi-obscurity from the beginning of this most sunny of summers to almost its end. Fuelled exclusively by coffee, cigarettes, banana milkshakes and a Guru or two, Jean-François (a.k.a. J-F, Jeff) Bergeron has forsaken a healthy skin tone to make magic for our film.

Because his painstaking efforts are so successful though, you won't even notice all his hard work when you watch the film! That's the Catch-22 of great editing: to be good, it must be invisible to the naked eye.

So, while his great work must necessarily stay hidden - his lair, his hair and his playoff beard shall not!

And, oh, ET Canada, in case you're reading this - the stories about J-F and the magpie having anything other than a strictly professional relationship are filthy rumours! The man just REALLY loves his work!

M.I.E.

2010-08-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

Despite all evidence to the contrary, I have NOT abandoned the blog! I have just been M.I.E.

Mired In Editing.

It's an all-engrossing occupation, this cutting together of the film. In reality, it's the final re-write. The last chance to make it all make sense - the last chance to make it all really mean something.

As an editor by training and a director by tenacity, I can now fully endorse the opinion of Orson Welles who said: "For my style of cinema, editing is not simply one aspect, it is the aspect....The only time one is able to exercise control over the film is in the editing. The images themselves are not sufficient. They're very important, but they're only images. What's essential is the duration of each image and that which follows each image: the whole eloquence of cinema is that it's achieved in the editing room."

If anyone can talk about eloquence in film, Mr. Welles, it's surely you.

I would take his point further though and say that in most auteur-style films, there are many "authors" who could legitimately co-sign the finished film - the writer, the director, of course. But also the producer, the cinematographer and the editor. Although filmmaking is a fully collaborative creative pursuit and every single person involved along the way contributes something essential to "birthing the film", these particular people actually influence and shape the film's very DNA.

In our case, the "first assembly" of the film was more or less a literal translation of the shooting script on screen and it all "worked"! (much to my joyful relief) It worked on a very basic level, because the script worked. It was as easy to watch as the script was to read. But then began the very delicate, very labour-intensive and very necessary process of turning that visual rendering of the script into a living, breathing, fully fledged film.

And that's wherein I've been mired these past weeks. My talented cutter, J-F Bergeron and I have been sculpting the material, layer by layer, character by character, emotion by emotion, frame by frame - to make the final film as eloquent and as meaningful as possible.

We owe that much to everyone who helped create "her"!

More Photo Ops

2010-07-10T10:20:00.000-07:00

As promised in a previous entry, I've posted a few other photos from my recent, brief but momentous trip to Nashville to record Ms. Dolly Parton for her role in our film!

You can check them out here.

Reality Check

2010-07-08T09:22:00.000-07:00

Just woke up from one of those recurring dreams - you know the kind: You're standing in front of a room full of your peers only to realize, to your horror, that you're naked?

Oh no, wait, that wasn't a dream - it was my first cut screening. Twice over.

Kind of the same feeling though. Except you never wake up!

Seriously, though, overall I'd say the reaction was positive (to the film, I mean). In Montreal, people chuckled in lots of good places (and only one bad one). Some cried (I hope it was in the good places!). In Toronto, there wasn't as much overt reaction either way. But lots of good, constructive comments after the lights went up.

The bottom line is, my naissant film is still very much a work in progress and everyone in the respective rooms was there to help us, the filmmakers, towards making the best film possible. Their reactions and input were invaluable at this stage. What I have in front of me now, though, is a pretty big challenge. Time is running out on the editing phase of the process and there's still so much work to be done if we're going to achieve our ultimate goal: making the best film possible.

Nonetheless, my editor, J-F and I are taking a few valuable days to absorb all the feedback and replenish our creative juices before launching back in to the edit for the final push.

Think I'll go crank some Dolly now! (and put some clothes back on)

Post-Parton...

2010-07-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

... and first cut. All in one week.

While one milestone has been memorialized in an image, one mile (or thereabouts) of images is on the verge of being presented...

Tomorrow morning first thing, we will show our first cut to the first of our investors. To get to this turning point, my editor, Jean-François Bergeron and I have been burning the midnight patio lanterns to carve out something that is palatable for the first-time viewer, while still remaining very obviously "a work in progress...".

And with no objectivity left in me at all, I would say that we've achieved our goal: What we have - after 7 straight days of pretty methodical montage - is, I think, a well-prepared canvas that reveals a "sketch" of what the final work could look like....

So to sum up: so far so good.

I think.

The reaction of others - tomorrow in Montreal and then Wednesday in Toronto - will, however, tell much more of the other sides of the story than I can right now. I'll let you know what goes down...

Meantime, I'll put up some photos I took on my inaugural visit to the Sound Kitchen Studios in anticipation of meeting, and working with the one and only, Ms. Dolly Parton!

Dolly Dazzle

2010-06-28T01:05:00.000-07:00

It happened in slow motion and yet was over in a flash. Everything was a blur and yet each moment was vividly sharp.

It's two days after the fact, and I'm still absorbing the very real and yet entirely surreal experience of meeting Dolly Parton.

She is everything people say she is - engaging, unpretentious, generous. A superstar with all the approachability of a good friend.

But don't worry, I didn't let that get in the way of my being star-struck! I think I may even have uttered the word "icon" at some point...

Will post photos and a little account of how it went down with the great Dolly Parton at the hospitable Sound Kitchen studios in Nashville, Tennessee this week - all the while rushing like a madwoman to get our "first cut" ready for the investors' screening in exactly ONE WEEK!

Go, Team J-F!

Hello Dolly!

2010-06-22T06:30:00.001-07:00

Before I can indulge in looking back on the whole complex experience of shooting a first feature, I need to chronicle for you what's coming up just around the corner...! And believe me, it's a doozy!

For the next little while here on the blog, I thought I'd be mostly just waxing nostalgic on the shoot and counting down the nail-bitingly few number of days until we have to present a strong "first cut" of the film to all our important investors and partners - all of whom have a big say in what they see - a high-pressure event which is scheduled, in a by the way, just two weeks from tomorrow!

But I am instead, now counting down the THREE measly days until I - little Tara Johns from Canada - will be meeting, face-to-face, the one and the very only, Dolly Parton!!! In Nashville, y'all. Not to mention, "directing" Miss Parton in her cameo for my humble film!

I was already a mild wreck contemplating this auspiciously surreal occasion - wondering things like, what's the protocol here? Do I curtsy? Bow? Do I take a gift? If so, what does one even give a dynasty? Can I ask for her autograph? On what part of my body?, etc. - and then Barbara called and said, "But what are you going to wear???"

Oh, god.

Wall to Wall Wonders!

2010-06-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

Well, okay, not quite wall to wall - there's still plenty of work to do! But, honestly, my virgin screening of Jean-François' well-built "first assembly" was - ... well, the only word I have for it is:

Rejuvenating.

In fact, screening the 2hour 4minute foundation of what will become my finished film was far, far more energizing than these last two weeks of "vacation" I just put myself through! Yup, this was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Hallelujah, we're making a movie again!

Awakenings

2010-06-15T09:21:00.000-07:00

A kind of coma...is the best way I can describe my state of body and mind these two weeks following the official (or at least, ornothological) wrap of shooting our film.

I've had a generalized feeling of being completely emptied out that's actually allowed me to almost float through this recommended break from filmmaking without (very much) nagging guilt about what I should be doing next.

Today, however, it's time to snap out of that blissful ignorance, for the next phase has officially begun: Editing.

Even while we were shooting, Jean-François Bergeron - editor extraordinaire - was assembling the scenes. And this afternoon, for the first time ever, I will be able to sit down and look at the film, put together, from A to Z according to the script. No art, though. Just the bare, unflinching facts.

From all accounts, this part is hard on us director types. Because this is the moment we are faced, not with the "aspirational" version of the film we've been carrying around in our heads and hearts this whole time, but with what really "is". With what is our new reality. This, from now on, is all there is. Every frame of the film we've ACTUALLY made is all there - in its most raw, gangly and un-finessed state. Warts, wonders and all.

I'm secretly expecting there to be way more wonders than warts, but we'll see!

And then the real work begins after that.

I know I've been M.I.A. during the really exciting part - the shoot - and that I'm now back in the blogosphere just in time for one of the more tedious spectator sports to begin - the editing - , but I fully intend to use this next phase to work backwards - to get all nostalgic on your ass and write a bit of a reflective account on what shooting my first (and I'm currently using that term loosely) feature film was like.

Oh, and I'll be sure to throw in the occasional real-time account of any notable events as they happen - like my upcoming trip to Nashville to meet the one and only Dolly Parton!

Stay tuned...

Re-entry

2010-05-28T10:53:00.000-07:00

WRAPPED. In the rain. Or was it tears? Such an incredible journey. So much to tell... First things first though, thanks to ALL our cast, crew and colleagues who gave everything they had here in the Peg and in Montreal to help realize such an ambitious venture.

Mission accomplished!

Now, back on earth, I'm looking up at the stars and feeling blessed. Not to mention, completely exhausted.

Back to the blog next week to start to tell the tales (with a little perspective and rest to make it coherent).

New Deal

2010-05-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

Just overcoming a major handicap - had no internet in my Winnipeg digs until just now. So, hi all! Sorry I'm late. Am right in the eye of the hurricane here in the Peg (wrapped shooting in Montreal Saturday night, had some sausages expertly grilled by Claudine The Sizzler Sauvé with the crew and then hopped on a plane Sunday night in flip-flops to arrive in the prairies expecting snow).

Since then, we've been on a marathon two-day tech survey - ranging across the province to show - and in some cases see for the first time - the locations we'll be shooting at here in Manitoba. No rest for the wicked as they say. Under the expert guidance of Jack our driver and Manchester Mike our locations manager, we criss-crossed the southern half of this province and I really feel like I've only begun to scratch the surface of all the rich vistas and period-perfect locations Winnipeg and environs have to offer.

Today, am racing to see and approve the final props, decor, casting and costumes we need in order to start shooting on Sunday. Still have changes to make to the script (to better fit locations, time, budget and credibility). And try to unpack somewhere in there!

It's all going incredibly fast and I wish I could put a camera in my forehead and just share all the moments with you as they unfold as I am in a race for time before we start shooting again, but I'll do my level best to drop as many anecdotes along the way as I can.

Beyond that though, we now have a fabulous writer/photographer embedded with us. Sue Chappel has already started posting on our Facebook Fan Page. Check her out - she'll keep you really plugged in as we go!

Snapshot of a Typical Morning on the Shoot...

2010-04-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

Permanent jet lag.

Cappuccino.

Kisses.

CCM (costume, coiffeur, maquillage)

Set.

Blocking.

Crisis of confidence.

Creative euphoria.

Cappuccino.

Touch-Ups.

Stage fright.

State of grace.

"Action".

Week One

2010-04-18T19:05:00.001-07:00

The irony here is, now that the really exciting bit - the actual film making - is happening, I have no time or energy to talk about it! But I'll try...

We have put in five hard, exciting, scary, thrilling, fun, moving and ultimately REWARDING days already on this shoot. I have been surrounded, supported and impressed by my cast and crew on every level. There have been only a couple shots we weren't able to get and we went one hour over on Friday due to the capricious bands of rain that decided to hold off until the second we were very ready to shoot our only exterior here in Montreal.

All in all, a really good first week on a first, and by all accounts, ambitious feature.

We've got a great set photographer, Sebastien and soon a very engaged filmmaker in his own right, Rémy will be shooting the "making of", so hopefully I'll be able to share some of their images with you.

Until then, though, I'll just say this:

I've never had a child of my own, but from what I've heard, this experience is very akin to that of being a new mother. You're perpetually sleep-deprived, you can't even remember what it's like to drink a coffee when it's still hot, let alone tepid. And shower? what shower? Your roots are showing, your toenails are growing and you ultimately don't care (or don't have the energy to). Because the thing you gestated and brought into the world needs your every cell and every second of your attention to survive right now.

I'm well aware, however that most new moms don't have the good fortune of being surrounded by a crew of thirty or so skilled professionals all assembled to ensure that that baby not only survives, but grows and thrives.

Now I know how Angelina feels!

So a huge thank you and good night to each and every one of my nannies! I couldn't do this without you!

Fade Up:

2010-04-11T09:30:00.001-07:00

On the day before...

... the big show begins.

In the wee hours between tonight and tomorrow morning, a whole huge, gangly, good-willed machine made of people and costumes and make-up and muscle and lights and film and gray matter and caffeine will shudder to life and will proceed to run full-time at breakneck speed from now until June 1 - all to make this crazy dream of mine a celluloid reality.

And as I try to take a "day off" today before running away to join my circus, I find myself in some weird place between Kansas and Oz, sitting here in my bathrobe (the same one in which the idea for the film was conceived lo, these five years ago), drinking my coffee (different one than the original) and just trying to grasp what is actually happening...

I AM MAKING A FEATURE FILM.

Or at least I am poised on the very pin-thin precipice of beginning to shoot what I trust will eventually turn into a feature film! It's all so surreal and all so very, gut-wrenchingly real at the same time that I'm a study in simultaneous states of stoned and stimulated.

And alliteration.

The writer's dead. Long live the writer.

But seriously, it's now time for the director of this show to take over. And tomorrow, I know the director will be looking to find her footing. Even though this is not everyone's first time making a film, it is most definitely everyone's first time making THIS film, so I figure we'll all be finding our way, figuring it out together.

And even though we haven't had near the time we all would have liked to get us here, here we are all the same.

And I sense we are ready.

It's time...

Knock, Knock...

2010-04-07T05:07:00.000-07:00

I know I've been a little scarce these days... It's not because I have nothing to say - it's because there never seems to be enough time to say it!

I started this month of pre-production by saying that I would be dismounting from my regular weekly posts in favour of a more "lightning round" style of blogging... i.e. little blurts here and there.

Last time I "blurted", it was to let you know that Julia was in town for fittings and hanging outs and some script work. In the blink of an eye, she's back. For good this time! Because in five short days, we will be make-upped, costumed, decorated, crewed, lit and shooting our first scene on location.

Like my sound guy, Pierre Bertrand said, we're in the sling shot now - and the film is just about to let go!

I don't know how to begin to express the crazy range of emotions I'm experiencing as the first day of principal photography on my first feature film looms larger and larger on the horizon. As I picture us all being catapulted into the cosmos.

From wanting to shout from the rooftops to wanting to curl into a little ball might start to sum it up though I think.

It's a crazy, scary, thrilling, paralyzing, moving time. As Fellini famously said, "You start out thinking you're going to direct your movie, then you realize, your movie is directing you."

Having the strength to pull it all together is one thing, but knowing when it's okay to let it go is another...

...who's there?

Julia in Town

2010-03-29T04:31:00.001-07:00

Just spent a great working weekend in Montreal with Miss Julia Stone and Macha Grenon. "Daughter" and "Mother" had brunch together on Saturday and Julia learned much from her fellow actor and mentor, Macha, including a great Dolly quote. Apparently, when asked how she came to be so successful, Ms. Parton replied, "Well, I guess everyone thought I was as silly as I looked!"

We left Macha and went to Mariane Carter's well-hidden studio in Lachine, where we proceeded to play dress-up with our living doll, Julia!

Two weeks to the day before we go to camera and looks like Elizabeth and Ruby have tons to wear!

Thanks to Julia, her mom Sue, Macha, Mariane, her seamstress Marielle and Artful Art for a very rich weekend of work and wardrobe.

If Wishes Were Horses...

2010-03-24T18:49:00.000-07:00

...we'd be having a stampede!

Sweaty but smiling, Barbara, Claudine and I emerged from the production office today - triumphant. Finally, we have determined that we will be shooting our film on - wait for it - FILM!

All Super 16mm of it.

We could never have made this piece of the puzzle work within our budget were it not for the generosity of Gaston at Kodak and the hard work and determination of Barbara.

Thanks to you both, we now have film stock to shoot on! And a few more fish to fry before the whole package is in place.

So let's turn up the heat! Because apparently, we do love to sweat.

Win a Place in the Film's Climax!

2010-03-23T19:51:00.000-07:00

Attention: All Dolly Lookalikes, Worshippers and Wannabes - win a chance to be in the film we're making in Montreal!

Go to our Fan Page and read all about it! Can't wait to see you knock our socks off!

Right This Way

2010-03-22T19:11:00.001-07:00

Hi! Welcome to the production office.

The beginning of last week, the offices were up and running and looking swank - big shout out to JEAN-MAURICE who gave us the ways and means and walls and light to start us off with a bang. He worked miracles to get us out of the gate on time.

So now that you're here, come and meet a few of the gang:

Virginie (leggo of my P.O.) Léger!

My faithful sidekick, first assistant director, Francine (already seeing double) - Langlois.

Always looking on the bright side of life, D.O.P., Claudine Sauvé.

First crew read through.

From Fracine (left to right) Mariane (costume designer), Pierre (props), Suzanne (art dept. coordinator).

Tough room.

But lots of love!

Hubba Hubby!

2010-03-19T13:11:00.000-07:00

As of 3 pm EDT, we have our Phil! Our entire Gray family is cast!

Gil Bellows (Shawshank Redemption, Ally McBeal, Love and a .45) is now officially husband to Macha Grenon's Marion and dad to Julia Stone's Elizabeth.

I am ecstatic about Gil's valuable addition to our film. A wonderful actor, he's also a red-blooded Canadian boy who's always stayed true to his Canuck roots by working on homegrown productions, while still spreading his wings far beyond our borders.

Welcome home, Gil!

Manitoba Moments

2010-03-19T11:18:00.000-07:00

Day 3 of our 3-day Manitoba scout:

Just as the omnipresent fog had lifted, we backed our 12-seater beast up to take a good look at the flat splendor before us, and... well, when they say a picture is worth a thousand you-know-what's, I think they had something like this particular picture in mind...

Posting Pics from the Peg

2010-03-15T20:26:00.000-07:00

Day 1 of OFFICIAL PREP!

As I said on the Facebook Fan Page:

"I am just now starting to realize that this is actually really happening! Walking in to a production office all up and running just because I had an idea over coffee in my kitchen about 5 years ago was a pretty effective way to bring it all home to me today, though! The thought, "What have I done?" briefly crossed my mind.

But then it went away. And left an overwhelming sense of wonder. Which was then quickly replaced by a feeling that I was catching on fire..."

We returned yesterday from our intense and oh-so fruitful scout of Winnipeg and outlying areas only to walk in to our brand new, very own production office - created solely for the purposes of making this movie. And let me tell you, the whole thing is a major rush!

Speaking of rushes though - now that it's almost midnight here in Montreal, we are four weeks less a day out from our first day of principal photography. Untold amounts of big, medium and small things to do and think about and lock down between now and then. And they're all important.

So I'll be changing things up a bit here from now on - instead of keeping to my regularly scheduled weekly posts, I'll be flash blogging! Basically just spitting out pieces of news how, when and where I can.

For tonight, let me introduce you to a few of the places and people we were lucky enough to see and spend time with these last few days in Winnipeg... (pictures below). A big shout-out to Manchester Mike (our fearless, resourceful Locations Manager), Larry La Art Director (and a shrewd problem-solver) Wanda-ful (our production manager out Manitoba way), Marlow (the man so mysterious even his wife calls him by his last name), Martin Ellis (2nd Assistant Director who moonlighted to scout a lot of our locations together for us at a distance - Quit your day job, Martin! Come play with us!) Jim Heber Master Caster, Joe and Monique running the office and of course, our Buffalo Gal producer, Liz (Loves Her Art) Jarvis. WE WOULD BE LOST IN THE PRAIRIES WITHOUT YOU!!!

With all the crazy fog every single day we were there, we were almost lost in the prairies WITH you!

One big happy, full family...

And of course, the Manitoba mammothness in the dessert department continues...

Stay tuned for more of our adventures on (and off) the road!

What a Woman!

2010-03-08T12:20:00.000-08:00

I cannot think of any greater poetic justice than Kathryn Bigelow's historic win at the Academy Awards last night.

For the first time in its 82-year history, the Academy saw fit to honour a WOMAN in the "Best Director" - and 5 other categories - including the really big kahoona, the one so glorious they save it for dessert: "Best Picture"!

Even though 1 in 82 still equals a lot of catching up to do, there is undeniable justice to be celebrated in this recognition.

The poetic part though, comes in the timing.

And I don't just mean that in the way, as Babs opined, "The time has come", but in the way that it happened at exactly the right moment in time to really give it some poetry ...

I mean, how delicious that this very resounding and very public shattering of such a solid glass ceiling took place on the "eve" of International Women's Day?

That kind of irresistible coincidence really only happens in the movies, after all...

And how fun, that on the eve of us making a movie called, The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom - which is nothing if not a film for, by and about women finding their voices - that this historic breakthrough is ringing in our ears as the camera is about to roll on a Dolly-driven dream?

Finally, and here's the best part, Kathryn Bigelow's acceptance speech... Given the same podium and opportunity others before her have taken to make all manner of loaded political statements, here is what the first woman ever to win an Oscar for Best Director in 82 years of the Academy's existence had to say:

There is no other way to describe this. It's the moment of a lifetime. First of all -- this is so extraordinary to be in the company of such powerful -- my fellow nominees -- such powerful film makers who have inspired me and I have admired for -- some of whom -- for decades. Thank you to every member of the Academy. This is again the moment of a lifetime.

I would not be standing here if it wasn't for Mark Bohl who risked his life for the words on the page and wrote such a courageous screenplay that I was fortunate enough to have a great cast bring that screenplay to life. Jeremy Renner. Anthony Mackey and Brian Garrity.

And I think the secret to directing is collaborating and I had truly an extraordinary group of collaborators in my crew: Barry Akroyd and Kelly Juliason, and Bob Murawski, Chris Innis, Ray Beckett, Richard Stutzman. And if I could also just thank my producing partners, Greg Shapiro and my wonderful agent Brian Suberal, and the people of Jordan who were so hospitable to us when we were shooting.

And I'd like to dedicate this to the women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily basis in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world and may they come home safe.

Thank you.

Spoken like a true girl. And how awesome is that?

We are Family...

2010-03-01T18:06:00.000-08:00

It's the day after those thrilling Olympic Games ended and there's most definitely something new in the air...

Something about Gold. Something about Canada. Something about Vancouver.

Something about Julia.

Throughout this exhaustive casting process, we've been blessed with many very strong, very talented candidates for the role of Elizabeth from all across Canada. After seeing and/or spending valuable time with all of them, the very difficult choice has been made at long last:

I am thrilled to announce that young Ms. Julia Stone from Vancouver, BC is our Elizabeth!

Some of you might remember - we first saw her on the Facebook Fan Page. Her tape was posted just before Christmas. Even as we continued to explore our short list of possible Elizabeths, there was something to Julia's tape that made us want to see more of her. We requested another self-tape - and in the space of the six or seven weeks between the first and second tape, we saw some really exciting growth in Julia's acting skills and on-screen presence.

Then as we continued to narrow down our choice bit by bit, this bright, soulful young lady came out to Montreal from Vancouver with her dynamic young mom on a complete act of faith to workshop with us! We all understood it was a long shot. Nonetheless, it didn't take long for everyone in the room to feel she had a real shot. Macha (who will play Marion), Barbara and I all felt and saw very quickly that Julia had that "je ne sais quoi" that, with a little work and time, translated into - Elizabeth.

So, I'd like to officially say here, Welcome, Julia! Or as they say in Vancouver: Bienvenue!

We are SO glad to have you on our team, and in our family - both on and off-screen...

I'd also like to say a big thank you again to all the girls who auditioned. It's been a real privilege for me that each of you would give your time and your talent to audition for this character. I just wish I had a movie big enough for every one of you to have a role! If you love to act, though, please just keep doing what you love - it's bound to pay off in some way!

Homecoming

2010-02-22T14:46:00.000-08:00

It's a beautiful day.

A day of reckoning. And recognizing.

A while back, I talked about how at one point the film itself starts dictating what it needs. How, regardless of external forces or preconceived notions, there comes a time when the film starts calling its own shots.

A very vivid example of this phenomenon happened last week - around the casting of Marion.

Let me say here that Theresapedia assures me the kind of "call and rejection" process we've been dutifully pursuing happens on all kinds of projects all the time. She said that on almost every other production she's done, countless numbers of impassioned and sincere letters go out to remote "names" on a list - proposing the given role, one at a time, to a raft of potential actors who have some kind of "cachet" according to some of the people, some of the time - until some one of them finally says "yes".

Well, by last week, by my calculations, we'd invested a very respectable amount of time and energy going down a respectable, yet remote list. And except for the very genuine interest expressed by Rachel Griffiths, we still had not much to show for our efforts - except experience.

And if experience has taught me anything, it's to listen to my gut - or the film - whichever talks the loudest. So when it happened that we put out a breakdown for the role of Stella and hometown darling Macha Grenon was submitted for the part, my gut started growling. Or maybe it was the film confabulating... Either way, something had spoken.

Macha and I first met last summer just as she was finishing filming a biopic about André Mathieu, a famous Quebec child prodigy. Back then you might remember, we had just received the bulk of our financing and we were actually considering maybe trying to shoot by August. Macha and I had a wonderful meeting of minds. Shortly afterward, she told me that she would have loved to get on board as Marion and I would have loved to have her, but the role required a flawless English with a little prairie music to it. Although she is completely bilingual, Macha is still a native francophone so was uncomfortable taking on such a role without more preparation time. So we agreed to stay in touch and she went off to shoot "Barney's Version" with Paul Giamatti and I went off to wend my way through getting this film made.

Much water has passed under the bridge since that first meeting and there's been a drifting into unchartered territory on our part. But Macha's always remained the "prototype" for Marion - for the kind of actor I should be so lucky to make my first film with... And when she came back into this film's life by way of submitting for Stella's role, well, let's just say - it suddenly felt like coming home.

So to finally cut to the chase then, the wonderful Ms. Macha Grenon has just been cast in the role of Marion. She has a heart and soul as wide and open as the prairies where this film is set and we are all thrilled to have her, to have Marion - right here in our own backyard.

Happy President's/Family/Louis Riel Day

2010-02-15T18:01:00.000-08:00

Although last Monday was our official deadline on Will's offer, the deadline came and went and there was no news at all and then there was "all hope is lost" kind of news and then there was, no wait, no news doesn't necessarily mean no and then there was - no news. And then there was President's Day.

Wonder what tomorrow will bring...?

Worse than no news, there was also some sad news last week - yours truly got her computer stolen. Nice. I'm still a little discombobulated and generally out of sorts with the kind of world that actually invents a device discreet and sensitive enough to detect the presence of a laptop in some random dark and locked car.

Apparently, all thieves have to do is walk through a parking lot with this thing and they can get an exact read on whether there's a computer in any given vehicle and where exactly it is hidden. Then it's one quick smack of something (probably the same device that detects the computer in the first place - sort of a multi-purpose, Slap Chop kind of thing) to break the window and presto -

Pure chaos.

At least that's how it feels for the first while after it happens. But order is slowly being restored now and all my energy and attention is back on making the movie - as well as a few new memories (that you can be sure I'll be backing up)!

Making Time

2010-02-08T14:44:00.000-08:00

It's only 3:00 pm in L.A. ... still 3 odd hours before our offer to Will Arnett "expires". So far however, the silence is kind of deafening.

Not that it's been a complete vacuum... After a few false starts, we successfully made contact early last week. We were informed that Will's "people" indeed received our package. The appropriate agent subsequently read the script and agreed to pass it along to his client. But he threw us no other bones.

So, we shall see... and I will, of course, let you know when I do.

Meantime, I am preparing to shoot a commercial tomorrow - a tampon commercial!! As one of only a few women directing commercials in Quebec, I figured it was only a matter of time before I got tapped to do one of those. But it's completely cool - a fun concept, sort of "in your face", anti-advertising kind of thing. A nice challenge. And helps to keep my mind off waiting to hear from Will He or Will He Not...

Having been down this road a few times already, however, I am ready for anything. No matter what happens, there will be a next step to take - the main thing is to just keep moving forward... (any resemblance to Wile E. Coyote making good time running in mid-air over the chasm - until he looks down - is pure coincidence).

Meep! Meep!

Blog blah blah

2010-02-01T21:02:00.000-08:00

This is one of those.

A touch-base, update...

No news from Will or Will's people yet. Our electronic package has been getting to see a lot of beautiful downtown Beverly Hills though; passing from one agent's assistant's laptop to another - very scenic route, I'm sure.

Meantime, we're starting the casting in Montreal for some of our other key roles - Stella, for one. Ideally, we wanted to try and cast her AFTER we had our Marion as the two characters are intended to be "counterpoints" to one another, but seeing as the role of Marion could still be said to be waiting for its perfect fit, we have decided to move ahead on the other characters. We tell ourselves that by putting one thing in place, we are bound to create an avalanche of action on several other fronts.

More than that though, what I'm really starting to believe is: There just comes a time when - above all the hoopla and blah, blah - that the film itself will finally tell you what it needs... . And you just have to be quiet enough - long enough - to listen.

Shhhhh.....

All 401 and 401 for All

2010-01-18T17:05:00.000-08:00

Been there, done that. But this time, I saw a different side of Toronto...

In the on-going process of casting Elizabeth, we long-ago screened many self-tapes, did some call-backs in September and now we're finally following up on the short list of girls we selected for a second round of call-backs from that first round.

I drove to Toronto to meet with them this weekend and in spending time with each one, got treated to a "girl's-eye-view" of some parts of the Big Smoke I would probably never have visited on my own.

However, as every trip I've taken to Toronto throughout this filmmaking journey has resulted in some kind of loss - points on my license, my keys (temporarily), my newly acquired iPhone - I was of course braced to part company (involuntarily) with something again this time around. It's become part of the deal.

But here I am now - back in Montreal and although I have not done a complete inventory - I do believe I came back with everything intact. The tides, dare I say, seemed to have turned.

Even before I got there, in fact, things "felt" different than usual. On my drive down the 401 on Friday, I spotted wave after wave after wave of geese flying BACK north to Canada after wintering down south. Wait - but it's JANUARY! What's going on? Upside Down world.

Then when I flipped on the TV in my room that night, there was a woman standing on stage at the Broadcast Film Critics Association with an award in her hand - and she wasn't a movie star, or a presenter - she was a director. Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman ever to win for Best Film and Best Director in the history of Hollywood.

Upside Down.

Okay, so maybe none of those are airtight signs for a complete reversal of fortune - and in fact the geese may quite possibly be harbingers of environmental catastrophe - but one way or another, it still feels to me like there's a slight shift in the wind...

P.S. Have you read Wednesday's post (below)? It was an exceptional mid-week edition.

Chicken and Egg. And Beans.

2010-01-13T10:16:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've got news.

Before I spill my beans, let me say I'm well aware that what I'm about to divulge is likely going to rattle the cages of our most vocal and articulate followers to date. I am referring of course to that resounding and passionate population who made it abundantly clear that casting anything other than all-Canadians on a Canadian film would be something close to a travesty. (see all 31 comments in response to September 28, 2009 post: What Do You Think?)

While we all agree that this country is full of crazy amounts of under-used talent, and that audiences will only cultivate a taste for something they're properly presented and consistently fed. And that Canadian filmmakers should, in theory, be able to cast 100% Canadian actors to help them tell their stories, the reality is that in many cases the financing, as well as the level of exposure, of the film is still very dependent on the casting having "Marquee" value.

While none of what was said here, or in my broader cinema/Canuckophile circles, has fallen on deaf ears - there's just one problem, the lead adult role in our film is for a woman : And to date, no Canadian WOMAN is considered enough of a marquee name for the powers-that-be. And yes, I fully recognize the chicken-and-egg irony in all of this.

But in this restless place between what should be and what is, I have, above all, to think of my film - what's best for the film, the story and the characters that inhabit it. Like any director, I primarily want to find the right actors to bring each one of my characters to life - to realize their fullest potential. To lift this story off the page and make it alive. And I also want this film - what amounts to a long labour of love for so many of us - to be seen by the greatest amount of people possible when it's finally all said and done.

So, while the all-Canadian door is not closed, I am obliged to fully explore the Marquee portal. Without further ado, then, here's what's been going on behind the scenes on the Casting Couch :

Last November, with the help of Heidi Levitt, we got our script into the hands of Rachel Griffiths (an Australian native with wide-open, frontier topography in her blood, Rachel is best known for her roles in the Oscar-nominated film, "Hilary and Jackie" and HBO's "Six Feet Under"). Word came back quite quickly that she really liked the script, and she suggested we speak. She and I had a stimulating, thoughtful, fun! phone conversation about the script, about me, about Marion, about her and about the next steps toward her accepting the role. I was elated and full of admiration for the actor, and also the woman who had just had her third child and was actually considering doing my film in her upcoming hiatus!

Finally, however, as much as she loved the project and our exchange, Rachel could not come to terms with the logistical realities of our multi-week, "remote shoot", three children under 6 and us needing an answer so far (in Hollywood terms) in advance of the shoot, that she regretfully and graciously had to pass.

After this news, we took some time to regroup and eventually submitted the project for Maggie Gyllenhaal's consideration right before Christmas. Maggie is admittedly on the very young side of Marion, but she has such an old-soul energy that makes her a very compelling, timeless actor. Our script was first read and greeted with enthusiasm by her manager. It was then sent on to Maggie. Early yesterday we learned that Maggie passed - explaining that she did not see herself playing the mother of a child hitting puberty.

Fair enough.

Every time it's a little bit of a heartbreak, but ultimately I am really grateful to EVERY actor who has ever read, auditioned, considered, even passed on this project - because in doing so, every single one of them has given me something of themselves. Every one of them has caused me to stretch my mind, open my imagination a little bit more in order to encompass something they offer, something they represent. It is all a gift and an experience - for me, and I trust, for them as well. It's all part of the creative process.

And so, onward...

Time Zoned Out

2010-01-11T14:16:00.001-08:00

I've been trying to stall this week's post for as long as possible - hoping against hope I would have something to tell you! Something good!

But, alas, I am being held hostage by a part of the population that apparently works on a different clock than I do.

As I've so often been on the other end of this request I'm about to make, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about doing it to you, but I need to ask for a slight extension. In the interests of (hopefully) having something concrete to report, I'll get back to you here by Wednesday (EST) at the latest with a more complete post.

Meantime, for those of you who are lucky enough to get HBO, check out "Bloodletting", a new Canadian-produced mini-series based on Vincent Lam's Governor General Award-Winning fiction AND starring a very gifted Canadian actor and dear friend, Kim Bubbs. It's airing tonight!

If you do see it, have your people contact my people and let me know what you think !

New Year's Revolutions

2010-01-04T14:15:00.000-08:00

In the sense of turning...

As of tomorrow, we will have made one complete turn around the calendar with this blog. This, then, is our first year anniversary.

This is also the year The Year gets made.

So in the spirit of anniversaries and in the tradition of new years, I'd like to take a look back at how far we've come.

Here then, are my Top Ten Highlights (in chronological order) of the year before The Year becomes a movie :

- Infiltrating the Toronto International Film Festival for the first time - consequently meeting Melanie Hartley, the heart of Telefilm's English program in Quebec and being kissed (on the cheeks) by Viggo Mortensen while he was wearing Alex Kovalev's Canadiens jersey.

- Receiving the key to Dolly's inner sanctum from producer extra-ordinary, Brad Horvath.

- Receiving that heart-stopping and heart-swelling fax from her Dollyness, giving me her boundless blessing in her inimitable voice.

- Seeing the look on Barbara's face when she saw said fax.

- The two of us hopping in the car and barreling to Toronto to meet the people we hoped with all our hearts would want to be our distributors. An exhilirating experience topped only by finding out a few weeks later that they did - Yay, Mongrel! (Locking our keys in the car at some lonely highway McDonald's in a snowstorm on the way home should get an honorable mention here - or rather, a dishonorable one. Same must be said for the intestinal crisis I succumbed to later that same night because of McSomething I ate.)

- Liz Jarvis and her fellow BUFFALO GALS showing us big love and becoming our prairie production partners!!!

- Making my first Telefilm and SODEC submissions for production financing of my first feature film. Popping my pitching cherry some weeks later.

- Getting the blurry, beautiful, improbable news that BOTH Telefilm and SODEC said a big, fat, generous YES!!! Followed closely, and no less beauti/bountifully by the Harold Greenberg Fund and the Shaw Rocket Fund.

- Going to Manitoba to meet our own personal Buffalo Gal, Liz Jarvis for the first time, see that part of our country's assets, meet the area's top film personnel and be treated to the sparkling company and generosity of Ms. Carole Vivier, our Manitoba Film and Music benefactor. (Bonding with my two key creatives, Claudine and Normand was a Buffalo-sized bonus).

- This final category is ex aqueo - shared equally amongst the fabulous people who have wholeheartedly embarked on the project - each and every one of them a highlight in their own right: Andrea Kenyon and her casting team, Claudine Sauvé - D.O.P. , Virginie Léger - Production Manager, Normand Sarrazin - Art Director, Peo Rousseau on locations, Francine Langlois - 1st Assistant Director, Mariane Carter - Costume Designer, Heidi Levitt - US casting, Pierre Bertrand - Sound Dude, and YOU...

To be continued...

The Many Faces of Elizabeth

2009-12-28T07:31:00.000-08:00

Today is our blended family's second "official" Christmas, so suddenly there's much ado about turkey and tinsel all over again. I have benefitted a bit from the practice I got from the first run though, so this morning - between the wrapping and the stuffing - I found myself the time and space to properly look at the audition tapes we've received so far on our Facebook fan page. And one word comes to mind: generosity.

Have the rest of you had a chance to see Julia, Melissa and Shelby's auditions on the fan page? Wow, girls - good work, all of you. And let me say, each one of you clearly has the courage and determination that Elizabeth eventually discovers in herself - in spades!

I know everyone else is in holiday mode as well this week, but I would encourage all of you to try and look at the work of these young women at some point over the next few days or so - they've all given a lot of thought and time to these tapes - and it shows.

Once you've done that, then I would really like to hear from you - I'd like to know what kind of reactions you have to the scenes as interpreted so well and so differently by each of these young artists. Let me know what you think! Comment here or on the fan page or both - that way, I'll be sure to hear you above the din of the family mish-mash, who are even as I write this, starting to crowd around our valiant, but overworked Christmas tree. Better go run crowd control - meantime, happy continuing holidays!

Tiding House

2009-12-21T10:40:00.000-08:00

For those of you who enjoyed my mom's blog entry last week, I'd just like to say she's flattered by the attention. And that she will consider contributing another entry or two in the future - from her next roost, Ajijic, Mexico.

In the meantime, you're stuck with me! Well, most of me - at least the me that remains after my titan (and ongoing) struggle with microscopic visitors that, unlike my mom, seem determined to overstay their welcome...

And speaking of hospitality, we have been receiving some emails from Elizabeth auditioners saying that they were having trouble posting their self-tapes to our Facebook page. Although one savvy candidate did manage to do it (way to go!), I think there may be some compatibility issues with certain computers...? Either way, we have received a couple directly to our email address so where there's a will, there's a way. For everyone who's already contacted us - thank you! We'll be in touch after the holidays. Meantime, check the fan page here.

Due to the interface complications (does it show I have limited computer literacy?) which some people may have experienced, we will be happy to extend the deadline and continue to receive your self-tapes over the holiday period either via email (info@palomarfilms) or directly posted to the Facebook Fan Page. Just know that Theresapedia is enjoying a well-deserved vacation from today until January 4, 2010, so you can only expect to hear from her after that date.

Someone who will be working over the holidays is our champion first Assistant Director, Francine Langlois - our newest and much needed, long-awaited member of the team. She's got the fresh version of the script and will be labouring over it between now and New Year's to give us a real nuts and bolts picture of how much we're shooting, where, with whom and for how long - according to the words I've put on paper. Big thanks to her for the work that lies ahead.

Also reading this new version over the holidays is the actor - our as yet uncommitted but interested heart's desire - for the part of Marion... Hope to have some concrete news for you early in the New Year!

As I sign off, let me wish every one of you a healthy and happy holiday with your loved ones. Thank you for being "out there" for me. I look forward to many more fruitful exchanges in 2010 - The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom Becomes a Movie!

Note from Home

2009-12-14T12:37:00.000-08:00

Dear Faithful Blog Readers,

This is Tara's Mom - as I'm sure you can tell by the handwriting.

I am writing this note to ask you to please excuse Tara from handing in her usual weekly assignment. You see, she spent most of today in one of those walk-in clinics, where you actually do walk in, but then you wait for four and a half hours until the place has emptied out and someone finally calls your name. And then you go into the doctor's office and he doesn't even look up from his other patients' charts at you when you come in all hungry and dehydrated from your morning in the waiting room. And then when you describe the problem that's concerning you to the point you're willing to waste an entire half a day just waiting around NOT writing your blog OR your script rewrite which is due on Wednesday, he doesn't even bother to stand up and come around to the other side of the desk to take a proper look at you.

Instead, he sits there and types something in his computer and swings the monitor around to show you what you've got - on WIKIPEDIA! Gee, you think, if you'd only gone to medical school for seven years, maybe you would have been able to figure out how to do a Google search and become a doctor too! And then when you ask if he would mind taking your blood pressure on an unrelated, but equally bothersome matter, he smiles and says you can use the machine in the pharmacy while you're waiting to have your prescription filled.

So, in light of this eventful morning, I hope you will go easy on Tara just for this week. Also, she's coming to pick me up at the airport in an hour and I don't want her to be late (or god forbid, get in an accident because she's rushing)!

Thank you very much for your understanding,

Sincerely,

Tara's mom (really!)

This One Goes Out to Agnes...

2009-12-07T08:31:00.000-08:00

...and all the other fine folks at the Shaw Rocket Fund who read our script, considered our project and as of last Friday committed to come on board this crazy train!

This amazing financing news could not have come at a better time. With our scheduled shooting date looming ever closer and us still missing almost half a million dollars from our target (albeit bare-bones) budget, we were facing the very real possibility of me having to rewrite the script yet again - but this time in order to cut characters and whole chunks of story that we would simply not have been able to afford to shoot.

So, I am not overselling our genuine joy and relief when the good news came... And it came, as these things seem wont to do in our project, at an especially banal and yet incredibly serendipitous moment...

Barbara and I had long-ago scheduled a meeting for that afternoon with a gentleman whose house we would very much like to shoot in (as the Gray family's home) here in Montreal. While we waited for Gentleman Tom to arrive at the little café, Barbara told me she'd asked Theresapedia NOT to text or call during lunch if BAD news came in from Shaw. Barbara said she left express instructions that Theresapedia was only to CALL Barbara's cell if GOOD news came in.

I tried my best to put this out of my mind altogether. I hate waiting for the phone to ring.

So, Gentleman Tom arrived and we three started having a convivial meeting with Barbara doing much of the talking - G.T. having professed to being curious as to what an independent film producer actually does.

So, we ordered and ate and turned around several of the many aspects that make up a producer's job description... and as Barbara was detailing the process of raising production money, she mentioned where we were at in our film's budget: "As a matter of fact..." (okay and here I confess I was already hearing bells - but I told myself to chill, that was NOT Barbara's cell phone ringing) "... as a matter of fact", she continued, "we're still trying to raise money to complete ..." (seriously, that ringing sound's coming from inside her bag right beside my feet) "...our target budget, and actually, we're waiting today for an answer from the Shaw Rocket Fu - Is that - ?" (oh God) "- that's my phone!"

Barbara interrupts herself to dive into her bag to get to the phone before it stops ringing and I'm left, frozen-smiling across the table at Gentleman Tom, telling the butterflies in my stomach not to get their hopes up. Just because Barbara's phone's ringing RIGHT at the moment she's talking about getting an answer from the Shaw people in no way means that it IS -

But Barbara's frantically waving her hand up and down, yelling into the phone for Theresapedia to stop screaming, she can't understand her... nonetheless the message soon became loud and clear to the entire café... WE GOT IT!!! They said yes! The Fund's president, Ms. Agnes Augustin herself called the office to say they love the project and to give us the good news. The Godsend.

Amidst some tears and a lot of goosebumps, we eventually learned that we have been granted the amount we asked for, the maximum allocated by the Fund. So in that glorious Friday afternoon, the amount we have been missing to make this film was suddenly cut in half! There are, of course, reader's notes to look at and address in the next rewrite, but the bottom line is that with the generous investment from the Shaw Rocket Fund, we no longer have to cut people or story from our little film - and we are one whole giant step closer to our final destination!

Looking for Elizabeth...

2009-11-30T09:22:00.000-08:00

I've just emerged from my great Grey Cup goings-on to make this equally exciting announcement.... Please forgive the rather formal tone to follow; I gave all my best lines to the television yesterday to get those Alouettes out of the gutter! (hats off to Saskatchewan - you Roughies were sublime! A most worthy adversary!)

So now back to the announcement:

As promised in previous blogs, today we are officially opening up the "cyber floor" to all possible Elizabeths far and wide...!

The search for the actor who will play our 11-year old heroine is heating up. As some of you may know, we are presently in the midst of spending quality time with our seven short-listed candidates across the country, but still want to throw open the process to anyone who would like to be part of our on-line search for Elizabeth.

Anyone who is female, Canadian and between the ages of 9 and 15 (but LOOKS 11) is eligible! Whether you've already auditioned for us through the formal casting process or not, we will be thrilled to see you this time around.

To find out exactly what we're looking for and how to submit your self-tape for consideration : simply click here to link to our Facebook Fan Page.

Once you've made your self-taped audition, you'll be able to post it to the Fan Page and readers will be able to vote for their favourite "Elizabeth". Submissions will be accepted until 5 pm EST on Monday, December 21, 2009.

We're looking forward to seeing you all! Good luck!

Playing "Ketchup"...

2009-11-23T13:07:00.000-08:00

...as in: Bringing you up-to-date, condiment-style.

In other words, the news will be more sauce than substance as I'm sprinting towards my latest Final Draft finish line...and have a chronic brain cramp to match the one in my typing fingers (which, since I was classically trained, means all 10 - not a single digit spared).

Tomorrow at 1 pm EST is the delivery deadline, so will do a little wrap-up for you before getting back to the all-demanding, unyielding cursor on the script-y page...

Item 1 - Although we thought we might have some vital $ news from the all-important Shaw Rocket Fund by this time, we got a general communiqué last week saying that they were needing more time to render the decisions. We were told that the news would come now on December 4. What did my true love give to me on the fourth day of Christmas...? Does the fourth day of Christmas even actually refer to the 4th of December - probably not but now that I've rambled on is it too late to go back or have I already exposed my sorry lack in knowledge of Christmas adventia? Gagaga.... Sorry - writer's fever...

Item 2 - The much-awaited 2nd phone call with the actor we're hoping will play Marion has NOT yet come to pass - we've been told there was a death in the family and that notwithstanding her serious interest in the project, we'll (understandably) be placed on stand-by while she attends to more important personal matters.

Item 3 - Theresapedia is waiting on me to supply her with a few key pieces to complete the parameters for our open casting of Elizabeth to be posted here and on our Facebook Fan Page by this time next week.

I'm getting there... Feeding Scriptress Valérie my latest version tomorrow at 1:00.

At 1:01, start doing everything else!

Priority Post

2009-11-16T12:37:00.000-08:00

I thought this was just too important to keep restricted to the "comments" section. This is definitely worth a post of its own...!

For some time now, Barbara and I have been toying with the idea; a while ago our unofficial blog deputy, Sue from Vancouver, was talking to us about it; and now "Melissa" is openly wondering... Is the casting for Elizabeth over? Will we open up the search for Elizabeth to the world (wide web, that is)?

Well, the answers are no, and yes, respectively!

While we have already seen a large quantity of self-tapes through our casting director, Andrea Kenyon, and while we were greatly impressed by the quality of the young performers submitted from across Canada, we necessarily narrowed our choice down to several girls in each city to see in person. And then we narrowed it down further to a handful of girls we feel strongly about and are just now starting to explore more in-depth.

But despite the fact that we may very well find that we already have the perfect Elizabeth in our midst, this important a search cannot just end with maybes...

So while we continue our more in-depth exploration with selected girls, there is still room, time and possibility to see anyone out there who is convinced she could be our Elizabeth! This includes GIRLS WHO HAVE NEVER DONE A DROP OF ACTING IN THEIR LIVES, as much as it includes GIRLS WHO MAY ALREADY HAVE SUBMITTED SELF-TAPES BUT WANT TO TAKE ANOTHER SHOT.

In other words: everyone who is female, Canadian and looks 11 years old.

And in this round, we want to let our fans and our readers have a say as to who will be added to our Elizabeth short list.

We still have some technical tinkering to do (thank god for Theresapedia) on the Facebook Fan Page before we can put out the official call and details, but I absolutely wanted to address the queries on this subject as soon as I knew for sure that we were going for it!

So, please stay tuned. We'll make the official announcement both here and on the Fan Page within the next two weeks!

Can't wait to see you all! Must get back to the script now - Scriptress Valérie's waiting for the next draft a week tomorrow and I'm behind schedule...!

All Fall Down

2009-11-09T08:08:00.001-08:00

Twenty years ago today, the Berlin Wall came tumbling down. Just listening to some of the personal accounts of people who were there, who were directly affected - the people of East Germany in particular - and it strikes me how there are some interesting parallels to be drawn between the fall of this wall in the Eastern bloc and the rise of women's rights in the West.

Oddly enough, the fall of the Iron Curtain, this physical symbol of socio-political oppression, didn't necessarily have the immediate and unanimously euphoric effect on the repressed population locked behind it that we might imagine...

Anecdotal evidence suggests that not everyone readily embraced the resulting shift away from a highly ordered world where social roles were strictly prescribed and personal ambitions admittedly curtailed but where the writing was very much on "the wall" and everyone was at least reading the same thing. If nothing else, it was a place where everyone knew what was expected of them and what to expect from each other.

Once the wall fell though, East Germans suddenly found themselves with comparatively boundless possibilities, endless choices, infinite freedoms. Without the navigational tools some of us take for granted, many of them floundered in the vast sea of possibility, while still others remained paralyzed in the sudden absence of social dictates that served as moorings, benchmarks. Many others embraced their newfound rights and liberties of course, but even today Germans from the East will tell you there is still a submerged stigma attached to their origins - that the perception of them as second class citizens by their West German counterparts is still something to be overcome...

So, the physical, visible barrier separating East and West has long since come down, but the psychological barrier will doubtless take generations to dismantle.

Sound familiar? I know this phenomenon can, of course, apply to any number of historically oppressed groups who finally achieve "equality" in their given society. I just find it very interesting - especially in light of my film's being set during the rise of feminism and my characters' struggles within that context - that politically endowed "freedom" can feel as limiting to some as "subjugation" to others. And that even when social equality has been politically declared and publicly embraced, it will probably take a long time before it truly resonates in the hearts and minds of the dominant culture.

Notes from the Underground

2009-11-02T11:15:00.001-08:00

Just finished my slam session with Valérie, the screenplay "doctor". We got very deep and very direct on the first act. It's almost there. Lots of detail, lots of discussion about dialogue and character throughout. The "second act cul-de-sac" as it's typically known in screenwriting parlance is exactly that in my case. The bulk of the work needs to be done there. The ending, well the ending is still in play much as it has been written - all events and characters just need to lead to it, that's all.

Despite the really deep tissue massage that still must be done, what we have is a film in the making that is more and more focussed on the mother-daughter dynamic - that cinematic black hole in the coming-of-age genre.

My next deadline for a new version is three weeks tomorrow.

Much will be happening between now and then though - we should be hearing back sometime this month from the Shaw Rocket Fund, I will be meeting with the first of our 6 short-listed "Elizabeth's" to begin a deeper exploration of the candidates, and lastly, I should be having a second conversation with the tremendously exciting actor I spoke with on Friday. We had a very long, very in-depth chat. She had much positive stuff to say about the script, many intelligent questions about how I see the film, the character, how I work... Anyway, it was great! Just having my script compared to that of "Lars and the Real Girl" was worth the price of missing the first in a James Bond double-header. Anyway, nothing's decided, we left it that she will read the script a second time with particular attention to what kind of commitment will be required from her for the role and look at my creative documents for my visual approach and we're set to talk again after that.

Stay tuned...

D-day

2009-10-26T17:08:00.000-07:00

D for Deadline.

D for Did I make it?

D for Drink - which is another way of saying yes. And no.

I don't mind telling you, I have been writing my ass off and I hope you don't mind hearing it. Because that is about all I've been doing. Getting to my office at the crack of 5 or 6 in the morning and dragging myself home at 8 or 9 at night. Somewhere in there I did manage to finish that short film we shot a couple weeks ago, attend a Habs game and brush my teeth. But that's about it.

So, when I hit "send" at ten minutes to one o'clock this afternoon - Valérie is a bit of a stickler on schedule - and let myself step off of the text treadmill (for a day or so), what do you think I did to take a break?

Started reading a book and writing the blog, of course.

Oh, and also started freeeeaking out about the unadulterated nakedness of the once "brilliant", now totally oblique mash-up of ideas and caffeine-fuelled inspiration that I'd just sent off to a smart, sticky stranger and Barbara to read before I even had time to.

Even though I did my level best to put all the usual caveats in my accompanying email... you know the drill: this is ROUGH - only a snapshot of a work in progress - a humble and hopeful offering of where I'm heading, not necessarily where I'm staying... even though I feel like I did some of my best writing in that damn email, I still feel like I just walked into my high school math class without any pants on. And all I can do now, is stand there and wait for everyone to look up.

Thus, the drink.

Also, this Friday, I'm scheduled to have a first phone conversation with an actor I greatly respect. She's read the script and is interested in the role of Marion, but we're a long way still from sealing any deals. I will definitely keep you posted if and when things develop on that front.

Anyway, I'm basically back. I made it - more or less - to that latest finish line. So, tell me, how're you doing? What have you been up to? Who's got more to say - pro or con - about Ginger Snaps? Or other films to suggest for our virtual Favourite Canadian Film Festival?

Meantime, here's my next pick: "Margaret's Museum", Mort Ransen. (I call Canadian director, distributor and story qualifies for the FCFF)....

Double Jeopardy

2009-10-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

One Week.

What is the title of the recent and successful Mongrel release starring Joshua Jackson?

Correct! But I also would have accepted:

What is the name of my current and growing chest pain?

One week from today I am scheduled to submit the next (and hopefully more ready for the silver screen) version of my screenplay. I am submitting it to the same savvy analyst, Valérie, who treated me to a truth-telling session about the paper-to-screen compatibility of my script early this summer. And although Valérie hasn't specified, I'm assuming she probably wants the script in like, written form - as opposed to the half-hieroglyphic-scrawl-on-recipe-cards-stuck-to-my-living-room-wall form it currently exists in. And even then, only two-thirds of the film is represented in any form at all - hieroglyphic or otherwise. The remaining third is still locked away somewhere in my head or heart or hard drive.

One week.

So here's the thing, I kinda gotta write - a lot - but, by extension, it also means I gotta write a little less here this week than I'd like...

With any luck, I'll catch up with myself - and everyone else - by next Monday evening. Meantime, since I forgot to list the second in my top five favourite Canadian films last week, here's two for you to chew on and/or add to...

2) Ginger Snaps, John Fawcett

3) The Hanging Garden, Thom Fitzgerald

Refresher Course

2009-10-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling very thankful this Thanksgiving. In the run-up to making my first big film, I got to make a little movie. Meaning, I got to start finding my way back into the cinematic saddle, with the invaluable and generous help of friends, family and other folks with big hearts.

It was a one-day shoot. Eight hours of filming for a one-minute piece featuring four locations for no money. So our living room became production central.

I'm considering keeping the still life...

The film, titled, "Hussain Explained" is a portrait of one of our most prolific, multi-talented and arguably, misunderstood filmmakers here in Quebec, Karim Hussain.

My girl, Claudine shot it.

Pierre was capturing sound.

And Mireille was bringing out the natural beauty in our subject at Palomar's office - one of our locations, courtesy of Barbara.

Martin and Laurent made everything run smoothly, while still managing to stay a little asleep.

Spoiler alert:

It's a happy ending!

P.S. Thanks to everyone who gave us what we needed - Francesca Chamberland (costumes), Mario Fortin and all the great people at Cinéma Beaubien (location and warmth), Philippe Athlan (wigs and wet dog noses), Maria and family (location), Barbara (location and connections), Andrew at Café Guerrero (tables and chairs).

And special thanks to Richard Duquette, whose camera, editing and hands-on production presence helped make this possible from a to z.

Um...

2009-10-05T17:51:00.000-07:00

...yeah.

I don't know about you guys, but I have been reading a lot of juicy stuff on my blog over the last week - all written by other people.

If you haven't done so already, you really should read last week's post and most especially, its subsequent comments. Very stimulating stuff (got me contemplating how to set up a guest-blogging spot).

If you don't have a good half a day to spend on it though, let me sum it up quick and dirty: Even though there's a consensus of conscience out there that Canadian films (this one included) should cast all-Canadian, there's also a complex and mostly illogical set of forces which fly in the face of that conscience.

And although this discussion is nowhere NEAR over (as Sue pointed out, we had a record comment load last week and the subject is still wide open), I think we could use a bit of a bon-bon after all that broccoli. So let's go to the movies!

Inspired by the eloquence and passion coming from all you thinkers/artists/cinephiles who wrote in the comments section last week - and all the other weeks for that matter - I'd love to hear about the Canadian film(s) you really love. What are the homegrown movies close to your heart? What drew you to them in the first place? What sets them apart over time?

I'll sign off with the first one of my five favourites. Canadian or otherwise, to me, these are just great must-see movies:

1. "Hard Core Logo" by Bruce McDonald

What Do You Think?

2009-09-28T08:10:00.000-07:00

I'm all ears this week....

After getting a crash course on the Electronic Era's imperative to GENERATE constant content to feed the ever-growing number of hungry platforms (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, blog, text, what's next?) and doing my level best to comply, I now find myself - not surprisingly perhaps - wanting to LISTEN for a while.

This week, I'd really like to hear what YOU think - on the subject of casting our Canadian film. Our English Canadian film, that is. I make this distinction because French Canadian film, better known as Québécois cinema, is simply not subject to the same Expectation vs. Reality paradox as the RoC (Rest of Canada) is.

In Québec, there is a well-established and well-fed star system that guarantees French-language filmmakers reasonable access to, and mass audience interest in, an appreciable pool of actors. When a home-grown film comes out in theatres here, people choose to go to see it over the X-Men's and Inglourious Basterds's for the very reason that it is HOME-GROWN.

This predilection for indigenous fare has not taken hold in the Rest of Canada - in fact, the trend is quite strongly in the opposite direction.

In the RoC, we are a tiny, if barely heard English voice in a very large English-speaking Sea where only the loudest talkers and the biggest fish seem to rise to the surface...

So, dear readers/cinephiles, I'm putting this prickly question to you:

What DO you think, or more importantly, how do you FEEL about our quest to cast a "name" actor (read: "famous", therefore read: "probably non-Canadian") in a lead role - for the purpose of trying to get our "Canadian" voices heard by as many people as possible?

After Math

2009-09-21T14:43:00.000-07:00

Now that TIFF 2009 is formally in the bag and I've had some time to take stock of the whole experience, let me just add it all up here:

1008. 86 kms

Plus

seven industry parties of varying degrees of glad-handing, glitz and glamour

Plus

two Jian Ghomeshi encounters: one accidental and almost resulting in injury (his), the other on purpose. Both encounters were engineered by Barbara, my producer, who's usually better at working the promotion angle than I am.

Minus

one drink : which, during that second encounter, I spilled on said producer's leg and possibly The Ghomeshi himself in the course of my nervous attempts to hold his attention.

Minus

one measure self-respect.

Plus

thirteen stellar young actors auditioning for the role of Elizabeth and making our selection process happily harder!

Plus

two true celebrity sightings : Salman Rushdie, Patricia Clarkson (at the sexy Mongrel Media party for Cairo Time).

Plus

two honest-to-god screenings: between the networking, casting and hypoglycemic episodes, we managed to see the highly entertaining film, The Trotsky by Jacob Tierney in a jam-packed house and the powerfully disturbing, Harry Brown starring Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer.

Minus

one Emily Mortimer: while there was a real hope that Ms. Mortimer (Match Point, Lars and the Real Girl) might have played Marion in our film and some real possibility that a meeting with her might be arranged while we were all in Toronto together, neither of those possibilities materialized.

Plus

one double dose of pride: Cairo Time directed by Ruba Nadda and distributed by our gang at Mongrel took the top prize for Canadian Feature at TIFF. AND, The Wild Hunt directed by Montrealer Alexandre Franchi and shot by our darling Claudine Sauvé won "Best First Feature" at this prestigious festival!!! Congratulations to the films and the people behind them!

Minus

one iPhone : last seen at the Timmy's rest stop on the 401 eastbound...

...all adds up to:

(WTF)2

In a TIFF

2009-09-14T09:00:00.001-07:00

Here we are - right in the (red) eye of the storm. TIFF 2009: where controversy cornered some celebrities faster than the paparazzi. The kerfuffle surrounding the signatories of the by-now infamous "Toronto Declaration" and its equally notable detractors has deftly taken the spotlight off Tel Aviv and focussed it instead on a timeless and, in my mind, irresolvable juxtaposition - that of big A Art and capital P Politics.

In response to the "Toronto Declaration", the great filmmaker, Norman Jewison declared yesterday at the Canadian Film Centre that, "We must not politicize art." That the content and quality of a film cannot and must not be linked to the city or state from which it emerged.

While in theory, I support the contention that a nation's cultural output should not be judged based on its foreign policy, I would just like to weigh in on his one other sweeping point...

Having spent the bulk of my time here at one of the world's largest, most important FILM festivals, NOT SEEING FILMS - but rather meeting, greeting and repeating in the spirit of a candidate on the hustings, I have to respectfully say to Mr. Jewison that our art is, and probably always will be, politicized.

The very fact that exactly one year ago at the same event, this same great man of cinema made a pointedly political speech decrying the Conservative Government for pulling the plug on arts funding - the lifeblood of this country's cinema - further proves that what he's calling for this year is quite impossible, if not contradictory. Art and politics are, in almost every arena and especially here in Toronto, incompatible yet quite unavoidable bedfellows.

Unlike Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page - who look quite compatible indeed.

WTF 2.0

2009-09-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

For the next three days, I am doing my best to eat well, drink lots of (unspirited) fluids, and get plenty of rest. Because once Friday rolls around, I will be having none of that. For Friday's the day we land at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) and the day we give ourselves over to the grueling groove of "WTF" ("Working The Festival").

Okay, to the uninitiated, the term "working" may seem a bit whiny. After all, it is just a big bunch of movies, parties and stars and more movies and more parties and more - oops, sorry Mr. Mortensen, did I just step on your bare foot? Anyway, I grant that there is all that. And it is fun. But it's all so stacked up and stuffed in at such an unrelenting pace that by Day 3, you find yourself conjuring up that old movie about the girl who almost died trying to swim across the English Channel - if only for what tips you might be able to get on pacing.

In this, our second year at TIFF, we will actually be riding a bit of a wave. With our film almost fully financed and our project invited to IFF (International Financing Forum at TIFF) for a chance to complete that financing, we have a bit of momentum going in. And by "going in", I mean, "talking it up", "spreading the word", "creating a buzz" at this very important festival around our still unmade film. Crazy as it sounds. Apparently, it's never too early to start promoting your film. And never too late to start supporting others.

And so, promote and support we shall. Starting on Friday when we arrive. First up is the screening - world premiere screening mind you - of "The Trotsky" by Jacob Tierney. Jacob is a young wunderkind actor/writer/director from Montreal. This is his second feature and by all reports, it is a slam dunk to be one of this year's darlings.

Early in the evening, the SODEC is hosting a reception which we will attend, happy for the chance to pay our respects to the good people who have supported our efforts this whole journey long. Later on, there will be a party in honour of the premiere of Jacob's film. Jacob was an insightful reader for us on one of the versions of our script, so we absolutely have to go, you know, to say thanks.

The next morning, Barbara and I have a breakfast meeting with our international sales agent, the inimitable Charlotte Mickie. From there we go to our casting session to see a selection of Toronto-area girls who are auditioning for the role of Elizabeth. From there, we head to a reception hosted by Telefilm. Here again, we will have a chance to speak face to face with the good people who are throwing their all-important support behind our project.

Somewhere around here, we will no doubt hook up with Liz Jarvis - our Buffalo Gal/prairie co-prod extraordinaire. Liz and Buffalo Gal have a terrific film at the festival this year - Gary Yates' "High Life" will have three screenings at TIFF, starting Tuesday. It's a jam-packed 80 minutes of raw, righteous filmmaking. A must-see.

Sunday morning, the three of us will be executing strategic moves conceived to help us meet the people of interest we will have spotted over the previous two days. In the afternoon, Barbara heads off to the organized events of IFF while Theresapedia and I continue our spotting, stalking, talking tactics. Somewhere in there, we will slip away to see the film, "The Wild Hunt" by Montreal director, Alexandre Franchi shot by our very own D.O.P., Claudine Sauvé. We'll hook up with Claudine at the screening and then maybe drag her along with us for a P.R. prowl over the cocktail hour. Later that night, our esteemed distributor, Mongrel Media is hosting a party in honour of Ruba Nadda's film "Cairo Time" starring Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig. While we will certainly be taking this opportunity to catch our distribution team up on where we're at in the pre-pre-production process, we'll also have some time to just sit back and enjoy the scenery.

And then, that brings us to Monday. Which I think I'll leave for Monday's post. I'm frankly exhausted just writing what I know is ahead! For now, I'm off to bed...

Labour (Delay) Day

2009-09-07T13:29:00.000-07:00

It's Labour Day - last long weekend of the summer and I am indeed labouring. On my roof - and what's left of my tan.

I just came down for a glass of water and a quick spin around the blog to ask for a day's grace. There's lots to talk about given that Barbara, Theresapedia and I are loading up the truck and heading for the Centre of the Universe this Friday - Toronto, that is. Swimming pools and movie stars....

So I wonder if I can fill you in tomorrow on the goings on and the comings up of it all?

I'm sure you're all probably on your decks or docks or lawns or roofs (rooves?) yourselves today anyway, and in no particular hurry to come back down to earth either. So, wherever it is that you are, go on, stay there! I wish you every last golden drop of guilt-free sunshine you can get. There'll be plenty of time to catch up on everything tomorrow! And the day after that. And the day after that...

Hose 'Er

2009-08-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

I just re-read my last week's post and all I can say is, "Someone turn a hose on that girl!" (i.e. me)

Holy Moley. Surely there's SOME summer left to be squeezed out of the not-quite-September sky. And as for laying waste to my papery loved-ones, well, let's just say, I'll take advantage of the time it takes me to sharpen my axe to consider any valid pleas for clemency...

In other news, I met Heidi Levitt, our US-based casting director face-to-face the other day. Originally from Montreal, Heidi was up from L.A. for a family event and was able to meet with Barbara, Theresapedia and I for café au lait, toasted baguette and a jam-packed breakfast chat.

The conversation travelled from Montreal's West Island, to Vancouver Island's West Coast, making stops in New York and New Orleans along the way. Learning that Heidi's first big casting gig was assisting on Alan Parker's, "Angel Heart" impressed us - as much because she'd been given such a big break so young, as because it conjured up images of a still shockingly normal-looking Mickey Rourke.

Anyway, the big news from south of the border is that there's some solid interest in our project at a high-profile management company (which, I will double-check if I can name at this time). Anyway, with their hefty roster of talented and respected artists, we are now looking at the possibility of casting one non-Canuck role there. That is, if we don't end up going All-Canadian, eh.

Dog Days of Summer

2009-08-24T14:58:00.000-07:00

Even the most casual observer has probably noticed that our beloved and sadly truncated summer is already on the wane - everything is just that much limper, dustier, and a whole lot sluggishier.

As the cicadas whine relentlessly outside - and inside - my head, I find myself fully, physically inhabited by nature's invisible but palpable preparations for the Great Dying Off. The Cutting Back.

Every living, beautiful thing that helps make summer the seductive season it is will soon be shedding, drying, dying - cutting itself back to the branches. The stem. The soil. The root.

Like the natural world around me, I'm also preparing for a very drastic but necessary pruning. I know this - not just because I am also a little limp, a little dusty, and quite a lot sluggish - but because, like the natural world around me, I too am quietly preparing to kill my darlings.

After all, that is how nature - and writers for that matter - get back to the essence of whatever it is that had once been planted. Only by clearing away all the pretty stuff - all the frill and the fruit and the foliage - is it possible to return to the skeleton, the basic bare bones of original intention. The whole reason we both wanted to tell our stories in the first place.

So in keeping with the very natural cycle of birth, growth, death and regeneration, I am now steeling myself to commit very necessary darlingicide.

Back to the Blueprint

2009-08-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

I have to confess ... I've been in Vancouver all along. A certain brother of mine's surprise birthday party prevented me from openly discussing my left coast activities before now, but the party's been had and the cat's out of the bag, so now I can say publicly that Barbara and I both met the folks at Telefilm here in Vancouver last week.

We are hoping that our bi-regional coproduction status will provide us the possibility of accessing some Western financing. Because the film is set in the prairies and is told from my prairie-born perspective, there is a distinctive Western Canadian flavour to the whole thing. So although it will be a majority Quebec production, the film will be visibly identified as a prairie product - giving any Western investor big bang for their buck. We feel we had a good meeting with Bill and Vivianne, and left them with an appetite for the upcoming rewrite of the script.

Also, while we were out here, we had a chance to meet some of the Vancouver girls who had submitted their self-tapes for the role of Elizabeth. Every single girl who has auditioned has shown us great work - we are so impressed with the calibre of talent right across the country. Again, though, the process is much like peeling an onion ... everything's evolving in conjunction with everything else, constantly showing new shapes and textures, revealing more and more of the core the deeper we go.

There are still such big questions to ask - and answer - in my final pass of the script, so I've set my sights on an October deadline for the "polish". As I write this blog, I am mentally preparing myself for some heavy creative soul-searching and intellectual gymnastics.

It's such a beautiful problem to have, frankly - needing to make this practically fully financed script as strong, tight and REAL as I can between now and October...

But knowing that I'm really going to make this film is giving me a kind of kick in the cajones of my consciousness... For so long, the script was the selling tool - the way to entice perfect strangers to board my fantasy train. But now it's something else entirely - now it's a blueprint for building an actual film. A film that will exist in the physical world - a film I will want to live with for the rest of my life. Seen that way, there may be a few too many staircases in the wrong places and possibly some unnecessary doors and entire floors on this blueprint. So, in I go...

Midnight Oil

2009-08-10T22:55:00.001-07:00

I'm on a bit of a nocturnal schedule these days. As Theresapedia alluded to in the sidebar news, the extra time we've afforded ourselves in pre-pre-production is being used in part to make our good script even good-er. Having received a very lucid and soul-searching critique from script analyst extraordinaire, Valérie Beaugrand-Champagne, I am now in the throes of a fairly deep "polish".

Unfortunately the mundane demands of the "real world" make it so that I need a day job to earn a living while I write. Thus, I write at night - and thus, this late-ish posting.

Meanwhile though, much is brewing on all sorts of fronts... We received confirmation that the Harold Greenberg Fund has come on board for a cool chunk of change. We are thrilled, of course. This is another important portion of what we need to meet our target budget. Further to that end, Barbara will soon be meeting with the fine folks at Telefilm West who may be interested in participating in our bi-regional co-production. Also, we're very excited that our project is one of only five Canadian productions-in-progress invited to participate at IFF - the International Financing Forum taking place during the Toronto International Film Festival - providing us with a very privileged opportunity to raise additional financing by way of international buyers.

On the home front, we continue to be fed with increasingly exciting locations possibilities by both our scouts. We're seeing some very strong candidates for Elizabeth on the self-tapes Andrea has called for from around the country - and we'll be organizing callbacks for our Toronto girls while we're in town doing IFF.

In short, humming right along... Sweet dreams.

If It Works For NASA...

2009-08-03T18:03:00.000-07:00

It should work for us.

We've made the decision to push. And even though I am very sure it's for the best, there's a little mini-mourning to be done nonetheless.

I know we all feel more comfortable and more confident that we'll be able to make an even better film by taking a little more time. Time for everything. From locations to cast to crew to cash to script.

But there's still something to be said for the kind of heady, headlong momentum we had coming out of the starting blocks in June. As soon as that unbelievable news came that we had a huge part of our financing, we took the leap and put our faith in the flow of things that seemed to be telling us to make the most of the moment.

And that we most certainly did.

While we may not be fully ready to shoot this summer, we still succeeded in laying the kind of solid foundation that will surely make the experience of making our film even better. And with any luck, the finished film will follow that trend.

In the meantime, I'm adjusting to the slight drop of adrenaline levels in my system while keeping up a steady - and slightly saner - pace of building the launch pad for our film.

Blast off is now officially re-set for Spring 2010.

We are interrupting this program...

2009-07-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

...for the love of Dolly.

Check out the repeat broadcast of "Q" on CBC Radio One this evening at 10 pm. Listening to Jian Ghomeshi's interview with Dolly Parton this morning was like eavesdropping on two of my favourite people meeting for the first time - and bringing out the very best in each other.

Don't miss it.

(Now that's a Bleet.)

Finding Form

2009-07-27T08:10:00.000-07:00

Am I allowed to Twitter on a Blog?

I find myself with a small capsule of time and content that I'd like to share with you, but not enough of either to qualify for a proper blog entry - and possibly, now with this long preamble I've already written, too much of both for a Tweet. So then, maybe this would be a Blitter or a Twog. Or a Bleet.

Yeah, it's a Bleet, for sure.

We're setting up for a casting session at Palomar this afternoon. With Andrea Kenyon's able coordination, we're holding auditions for the role of Elizabeth at the production office. It's a more intimate, economical and hands-on approach over the long haul. Even though we're only still in early days, we've already seen some very strong candidates - both from here and across the country. Once we narrow down our choice, I'll ideally have some time to just hang with the chosen girl (or girls) - because time often reveals more than a few short, arbitrary auditions ever could.

We've now got two able location scouts working both sides of the Canadian Shield for us: The awesome Monsieur Péo Rousseau is handling the location search here in Montreal and surrounding area. Don't let his French-from-France name fool you though - he knows his adopted belle province like the back of his manicured hand! ;-) And then there's the fabulous Martin Ellis out in The Peg. He's only been on the case for about a week, but he's been delivering like crazy! I really feel like we're starting to roll steady now.

And on that note, we'll be looking at exactly where we're at this week. Taking the ready-to-shoot temperature and determining if we're indeed warm enough to go at the end of this summer (such as it is) or if we would be better to take more time in pre-preparation and shoot next spring (snow being the thing we need to avoid).

Go West!

2009-07-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

From the very beginning of this project, we've been yearning, needing to go out West. For my part, I've been yearning to reconnect with the geography of my childhood, where I chose to set my (fictional) story for this film. For Barbara's part, she's been needing to see for herself just what is so freaking special about the prairies and why I insist on setting my story way out there anyway.

Since words alone don't adequately describe how those razor-thin horizons and those endless skies can inspire both optimism and oppression in a person all at once, we just had to go there.

And by the grace of positive funding answers from Telefilm and SODEC, we finally did.

***

Two Wednesdays ago, more secure than ever in the knowledge that WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THIS MOVIE, Barbara and I flew to Winnipeg to meet our prairie co-producer, Liz Jarvis of Buffalo Gal Pictures and make the acquaintances of some of the other people and places that this part of the prairies has to offer.

After checking us in to our colourful downtown hotel, Liz took us to the Buffalo Gal offices overlooking Winnipeg's historic "Exchange District".

It may be a relatively small city, but The Peg's well-preserved period architecture has helped it pass for the likes of Chicago, New York and the American Mid-West in such major motion pictures as, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" and "Capote".

But, would it serve the barren, 70's suburban/frontier vision I have for "The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom"?

When the rest of our posse (Claudine Sauvé - Cinematographer and Normand Sarrazin - Production Designer) arrived from Montreal, we spent three very long days in a van with Liz and location scout, Sarah Jane Cundell trying to find out...

Here's some of what we saw...

At the end of our third day of cinematic "sight-seeing" - with some casting and creative crew meetings thrown in for good measure - we had not yet found everything we came looking for, but we did get a little bit closer. Closer to our goals and closer to each other.

Many thanks to my posse, and to all the Winnipeg'ers who made our first adventure out West one well worth repeating!

From left: Normand "Norm!" Sarrazin, Barbara "Co-Pilot" Shrier, Claudine "Backseat" Sauvé, and Sarah Jane "What A Laugh!" Cundell.

Manitoba Monuments

2009-07-14T20:39:00.001-07:00

I am still "finessing" my rudimentary grasp of blogging with pictures, so please bear with me a little longer as I continue to put together the scrapbook of our first location and production scout in Manitoba...

In the meantime (and as a sort of "dry run"), I've posted photos of the three Most Memorable Monuments I saw on the trip:

The famous Fort Garry Hotel (in foreground) as seen from my hotel room.

Manitoba's very own "Stonehenge". We found these ruins of giant old kilns in the middle of an isolated field just outside of Stonewall - the town named for its architecture predominantly built with the famous Tyndall stone that is indigenous to Manitoba.

The third and possibly most memorable monument of all was this display of Peanut Butter Mini-Marshmallow "Squares" that greeted us at Barney Gargles restaurant in beautiful downtown Selkirk. I let out a shriek of nostalgia as I have not laid eyes on this typical prairie treat since childhood. Seeing it again sent me right back to when I was 8 and my best friend's mom made it for us for the first time. Strange, though - usually the things we remember from childhood look incredibly small when we see them again with grown-up eyes. But this mouthwatering waterloo is the exception that makes that rule!

I bought one for old time's sake and carried it around in the warm van all day, on my lap. I couldn't eat it though - just looking at it practically put me into a diabetic coma.

There was a lively debate among us as to which would make a better paper weight - the chunk of Tyndall stone I found at the kilns, or this magnificently grotesque confection.

I'll never know for sure, though. I brought home the stone and left the dessert in the van.

The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom

Big Week

Caw, Caw

If It's Wednesday, This Must Be Whitehorse!

Birth Order

Horizons

Coming Out

The Outremont and Other Old, Beautiful Buildings

Second Wave d'Italia and Last Picture Show de Dolly

Primo Giorno

Are You "Experience"'d?

Is That Your Final Answer?

Viva Italia!

Fight, Flight or Festival?

Post from the Peg!

Happy Anniversary

New(s) Cycle

Second Acts Can Suck

Homing In

Dispatches from a Door-to-Door Director

Missing Metaphors

Yet Another Eve

The Flurries of February

Swinging Both Ways

An Offspring is Born!

Big News Day!!! (or "Here Ye, Here Ye!")

Closings and Openings

Dolly Déja Vu All Over Again

The Year Christmas Came from Nashville

Merry Multi-Tasking!

Title Bout

Taking the Show on the Road

Road to Recovery

Melancholy Mix Mania

Mixing it Up

See What We're Hearing

José Major; drums,Andrée-Anne Tremblay; violin,Rick Haworth; dobro, lap steel, harmonicaMario Légaré; Double bassLuc Sicard; guitarAlex Cattaneo; original arrangements, guitar, mandolinElie Jalbert: sound engineer

K-Tel, Eat Your Heart Out!

Post-Parton Party

TIFF for tat

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Care and Feeding of a Filmmaker

This Just In...

The Playoffs

M.I.E.

More Photo Ops

Reality Check

Post-Parton...

Dolly Dazzle

Hello Dolly!

Wall to Wall Wonders!

Awakenings

Re-entry

WRAPPED. In the rain. Or was it tears? Such an incredible journey. So much to tell... First things first though, thanks to ALL our cast, crew and colleagues who gave everything they had here in the Peg and in Montreal to help realize such an ambitious venture.

Mission accomplished!

Now, back on earth, I'm looking up at the stars and feeling blessed. Not to mention, completely exhausted.

Back to the blog next week to start to tell the tales (with a little perspective and rest to make it coherent).

New Deal

Snapshot of a Typical Morning on the Shoot...

Week One

Fade Up:

Knock, Knock...

Julia in Town

If Wishes Were Horses...

Win a Place in the Film's Climax!

Right This Way

Hubba Hubby!

Manitoba Moments

Posting Pics from the Peg

What a Woman!

We are Family...

Homecoming

Happy President's/Family/Louis Riel Day

Making Time

Blog blah blah

All 401 and 401 for All

Chicken and Egg. And Beans.

Time Zoned Out

New Year's Revolutions

The Many Faces of Elizabeth

José Major; drums,
Andrée-Anne Tremblay; violin,
Rick Haworth; dobro, lap steel, harmonica
Mario Légaré; Double bass
Luc Sicard; guitar
Alex Cattaneo; original arrangements, guitar, mandolin
Elie Jalbert: sound engineer