In Development

Please join us August 5 at the Gas Station Theatre for our MadMen, Martinis and Movies Fundraiser, to support the production of Hello, Darling as well as the “Name that Feeling” Program of the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society, helping young people deal with mental illness of a family member.

A wonderful chance to support independent film in Manitoba, raise awareness for a community organization, and have a GREAT time!

Set in the 1960’s, Positron Media’s upcoming production of Hello, Darling is a touching story of a young girl and the tensions that develop in a family dealing with mental illness, written and directed by festival-favorite Canadian writer-director Shelagh Carter.

In support of this beautiful period film, and with hopes to raise awareness for Name that Feeling (a program for children developed by the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society), we’re hosting a 1960’s themed fundraiser (inspired by our film and in the style of the TV series MadMen) with a portion of the proceeds benefiting this very important program.

There will be swinging jazz, a rainbow of martini flavours, moving picture entertainment, and a costume contest.

Save the date and start picking out your outfit!

Tickets are $15 and $20.

If you can’t make the evening, but want to support us, please visit our IndieGoGo page.

We’re so pleased to announce that as part of our funding efforts for Hello, Darling, we have launched an IndieGoGo funding site.

Please take a look at the video we made to talk about the project, and if you are so inclined, join our growing list of supporters!

If you are short on cash to offer, I’ll be posting other ways to help in the coming weeks!

For starters, please join the Hello, Darling Facebook group and we’ll keep you updated there too. We go to camera August 9, so the countdown has definitely begun!

Thanks so much for your support!

We will be holding auditions for Hello, Darling by writer-director Shelagh Carter on the weekend of June 19th and 20th. See below for character descriptions.

If you wish to submit for consideration, please do so to Lori at Next Casting.
Or mailing address: P.O. Box 69010 Tuxedo, Winnipeg, MB. R3P 2G9

Those in consideration will be contacted with audition time and location and sides.

FYI, this project falls under the CIPIP Super-Low-Budget agreement.

SARAH M  – Female – 11/12 yrs.   LEAD
Inherited her mother’s good looks and hasn’t quite had her growth spurt yet. Mature for her age when dealing with family matters while still struggling with her own puberty. A Daddy’s girl, Sarah is a social misfit at school with just one friend – a boy who introduces her to the world of pin-ups. Must be able to play intense scenes dealing with her mother’s mental illness and observing sexually seductive behaviour. Drawing skills an asset.

BEATRICE M  – Female – 35yrs.    LEAD
Sarah’s mother. Fiercely intelligent. Captivatingly Attractive – she uses this to garner the attention she so desperately seeks to make her the centre of attention again only she is really masking a deep insecurity and inner unhappiness. Increasingly unpredictable in her behaviour, Beatrice is in the throes of a devastating mental illness. Her mood swings and manic conduct will affect her family and marriage adversely, and with tragic consequence.

DAVID M  – Male – 38yrs.      LEAD
Sarah’s father. Attractive, successful professional businessman. A good man, David loves his wife and children and is determined to hold his marriage and family together. His commitment to love Beatrice forever through good times and bad (and believing every beautiful woman has a secret in her soul) places him in denial thus never truly helping his family deal with his wife’s illness.

MYRA  -  Female – 36yrs.         SUPPORTING
Beatrice’s best friend from College. Beautiful, outspoken and from an affluent family. Myra and Beatrice had once been forces to be reckoned with in their college days. Beatrice got married right out of college and Myra went on to live the exciting jet setting life they both dreamed of. Now on her second marriage, and very happy – Myra has re-entered Beatrice’s life. Always one to be spectacularly honest, this trait will play out against the Marshall family’s dysfunction and David’s denial in particular.

‘WILD’ BILL (WILLIAM) FINN CASPER  – 45yrs.    PRINCIPAL
Myra’s beloved husband. Comes from old money – banking. Adores his wife, reserved but not without a dry sense of humour. Served in the army but seldom talks about it. Not quite sure what to make of Beatrice although he can appreciate her beauty and see how she and Myra were once close.

CONSTANCE M – 65yrs.   PRINCIPAL
David’s mother – ‘Nana’ – as Sarah and Thomas know her. Well meaning but Beatrice and her have always had a cool relationship. Constance speaks her mind – at times too bluntly – her British nature too sharp/critical of how Beatrice cares for her family, leaving David in the middle and the situation reaching the catalyst of the film.

THOMAS M – 6 yrs.   PRINCIPAL
Sarah’s beloved younger brother. Sweet, gentle little boy – quite fearful and cautious in contrast to Sarah’s precocious nature. Thomas is adored by Sarah even though it is clear Beatrice favours him. Must be able to react to the death of the family pet which will make him panic and retreat to a catatonic state.

CHARLIE SPENCER – 12 yrs. old    PRINCIPAL
Smart, nerdy kid with horn rimmed glasses of the era. He befriends Sarah, winning her trust after sticking up for her when she is bullied by some female classmates about her eccentric mother. Charlie is the only person Sarah lets ‘in’. Sarah comes to seek solace in Charlie’s “normal” home. Thinking it’s cool, and Sarah will be interested because she draws, he also innocently turns her on to “pin-up” pictures.

DR. H   – 55yrs. old         PRINCIPAL
Beatrice’s psychiatrist. Tries to get David to understand the seriousness of his wife’s illness. He also tries to help Sarah with her anger and to consol Thomas. In the end recommending Beatrice be hospitalized and have shock treatment.

VIVIAN LAWSON  – 75 yrs. old    PRINCIPAL
Beatrice’s estranged mother. Lives in a nursing home with an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s. She was never able to connect with Beatrice having suffered from Depression most of her life.

(All roles are WASPy-white for this 60’s period piece)

I will be presenting a talk/demo of multiple uses of social media platforms with Liz Hover on Tuesday April 13 at the third Winnipeg Geek Girl Dinners. Come out and join us. Men are welcome, but only in the company of at least one female!

Also, I have started a new blog called Screen Living to talk about more general topics of screen convergance and proliferation, and people who are trying to get their content into this Brave New World of scattered attention. I will reserve this space mainly for updates on projects produced by Positron Media, or workshops, etc. that I’m involved with.

I’ll be leading a two-part class on production at the Winnipeg Film Group over the next two Saturdays. There will be plenty of time given to answer specific questions about people’s current and upcoming projects. Hope to see you there!

Class 1 – PRODUCTION PLANNING AND BUDGETING
Saturday February 27  | 1 – 5 pm

You have a great script and want to turn it into a film, but you’re not really sure what steps you need to take to get there. To have a smooth shoot and get all the footage you want and need, good planning is essential!

We’ll look at how certain key decisions will determine your path from paper to screening. We’ll take a sample script and break it down to learn how to figure out how many locations you have, number of days of shooting required, and how to make a production schedule, shot list and call sheet. We’ll also review the roles of key crew.

Learn how to estimate what your costs are going to be for equipment, crew, actors, film/video stock, and post-production. See why a production schedule comes in handy here, and how to make a realistic budget to use in funding applications.

Class 2 – FUNDING, MARKETING & DISTRIBUTION
Saturday March 6  | 1 – 5 pm

If you’d rather not pay for your film solely out of your own pocket, you should be applying for funding. There are several great sources of funding for made-in-Manitoba films. Learn what kind of projects qualify for which funding, when and how to apply for each, and how to make  your application as strong as possible. Bonus: learn how to get funding to get more training!

We’ll also look at what happens after the film is made: how to apply to festivals, the role of a distributor, potential television broadcasters, online marketing and broadcasting, and how to create professional marketing materials to get people excited about seeing your film.

ONLINE REGISTRATION AVAILABLE

• Dates: Sat Feb 27 & Sat Mar 6 (1PM – 5PM)
• Fee: $125/mem | $155/non
• Instructor: Polly Washburn

For more information on workshops, please contact the Training & Outreach Programs Coordinator at 925-3450 or darcy@winnipegfilmgroup.com

Go to the actual LIST.

I half-heartedly tried to keep the list to 50, but the interesting connections between the directors and actors across the list pushing into the next 30 were too interesting to pass up!

There are of course several films sitting near the top of other posted lists that I’ve not seen yet, in particular: Cache, Yi Yi, Dancer in the Dark, Oldboy, Requiem for a Dream, I’m not There, The Beat that My Heart Skipped, Control, Atanarjuat (Fast Runner), Encouters at the End of the World, The Fall, Flags of our Fathers, Le scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Vals Im Bashir (Waltz with Bashir)…

Some others I missed that I still want to take in: Secretary, Grizzly Man, Être et Avoir, Gomorrah, The Gleaners and I, Fugitive Pieces, Ginger Snaps, The Kid Stays in the Picture, Murderball, Persepolis, Once, and several 2009 films.

But really, the list is finite — and rectifiable with another few months of diligent visits to the rental store!

Out of the 2400 potential films I tracked down, I had seen 490, or just over 20%. That works out to nearly one per week. (and I probably watch another couple non-recent films per month as I work my way through the Classics).

So how did I narrow it down to these? The list is made up of a mix of enjoyment experienced, impression made, images of beauty or anguish burned into my head, and awe at cinematic achievement, acting performance, and depth, vision and unique voice in story.

Some numbers for fun:

Breakdown by year:

2000      9
2001      6
2002      11
2003      9
2004      3
2005      8
2006      8
2007      9
2008      10
2009      8

Breakdown by Genre:
24 were action or what I would call drama/action (slow action?), plus 6 more action/sci-fi or action/fantasy
18 were drama/romance
4 dramas about historical events
4 documentaries plus one animation with interviews with philosophers
Only 2 comedies and 2 dramedies
And 20 straight-up dramas

Breakdown by country:

Bra/Fra – 1
Canada – 4
Can/UK/US – 1
Can/US – 2
Chi/Tai – 1
Chi/Tai/HK/US – 1
Den/Ger/Cze – 1
Fra – 1
Fra/Ita – 1
Fra/US/Mex – 1
Ger – 1
Ger/Tur/Ita – 1
HK – 2
Japan/UK/US – 1
Mex – 2
Multi-country – 1
NZ/Ger – 1
NZ/US – 2
Spa/Fra/US – 1
Swe – 1
UK – 4
UK/Fra – 1
UK/Fra/Can – 2
UK/Ger – 1
UK/USA – 1
US/Can/Fra – 1
US/UK – 3
US/Ger – 2
US/Ita – 1
US/Japan – 1

So a total of 45 out of the 80 had some non-American production element. 30 had no US involvement. 17 were in a language other than English, with several more including another language at some point in the film.

Only 33 were in the top 100 US box office for their year, and only 5 were in the top 10: (Dark Knight, Cast Away, Lord of the Rings, Ocean’s Eleven and the Bourne Ultimatum).

Several directors appeared multiple times in the list. Ang Lee and Christopher Nolan with three each, and Alfonso Cuarón, Anthony Minghella, David Cronenberg, Fernando Meirelles, Stepen Frears, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Martin Scorsese, Paul Greengrass, Paul Thomas Anderson, Richard Linklater, Steven Soderbergh and Thomas McCarthy with two each.

I didn’t notice a trend for writers but many of these are director-penned.

As for recurring actor appearances: Matt Damon and Viggo Mortensen appear in four of the films; Gael García Bernal, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, and Benicio Del Toro appear in three films each from the list, and Aaron Eckhart, , Bill Murray, Brad Pitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Christian Bale, Clive Owen, Daniel Day-Lewis, Don Cheadle, Elijah Wood, Emilio Echevarría, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Jude Law, Leonardo DiCaprio, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Mullen, Ralph Fiennes, Ryan Gosling, Scarlett Johansson, Sigourney Weaver, Tom Hanks, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Michelle Rodriguez, and Will Ferrell appear in two each.

SO? Agree, disagree? Have a link to your own list? Let me know!

For an explanation of how this list was figured out and a breakdown of some of the numbers involved, read this!

There you have it! Agree, disagree? Have a link to your own list? Let me know!

Need help remembering the films of the last decade, check out my mega-list of 2400 films.

Thanks to my involvement with the NSI Features First program, I was able to attend TIFF on an industry pass this year. I was inspired and encouraged by the people I met and the films I saw. By far the most valuable aspect of attending TIFF for me was having the opportunity to meet with producers, directors and writers, of all levels. I had a good chance to talk with NSI and CFC alumni.

The social events were fun opportunities to connect with old acquaintances and make some new ones. The Manitoba Party was one of the hottest tickets, and an awesome night of networking with Manitobans and expats.

I took in about 18 features. My biggest impression was that the chances people are taking in making films on very low budgets are paying off. I was inspired to hear stories of producers and directors taking on low-budget projects and making them happen.

The audience response to Canadian films like The Trotsky, Gun to the Head, Chloe and Passenger Side was gratifying to witness. I was completely impressed with the reach of Ruba Nadda’s Cairo Time, especially as a second feature, and the calibre of actors she was able to attract to the project. The shorts were definitely worth watching to get a feel for the breadth of Canadian filmmaking, especially as it incorporates landscape.

Three non-Canadian films I loved: Bright Star, Un prophète, and An Education.

On a personal creative level, I was inspired by the films as both a producer and as a writer. I have new lists of ideas, research, connections and applications to carry out this fall/winter!

Matthew Etches has been running a radio show called Focus on CKUW, talking to other local filmmakers about their own films, and films that have influenced them.

A few weeks ago, he interviewed me. We talked about my films, and my progression from a writer to director to producer. Not that I’m only one of those now! That interview aired on Monday, but you can go to the archives to hear it, as well as the last several interviews.

Focus airs on CKUW (95.9) in Winnipeg on Mondays at 3 p.m.

And in case you’re wondering, the three films I gave him were:
- Room with a View
- Groundhog Day
- Lost in Translation