More on Brokeback's Tourism Effect

The Chicago Tribune also comments on the tourism effects of Brokeback Mountain:

Erica Backus of the Savannah Convention and Visitors Bureau witnessed firsthand the phenomenal interest created in the Georgia city a decade ago by the book, then the movie, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

"It's amazing," she said, "what cinema can bring out in a person, how the need to go see and touch and hear scenes from their favorite movies can really influence their vacation decisions."

and:

There may be no more beautiful stretch of mountain scenery in the world than the Rockies from Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, which straddles the Montana-Alberta border, through Banff and Jasper National Parks.

Unlike most of Wyoming's Bighorn region, the Rockies along the Alberta-British Columbia line have been a serious tourist draw for generations, spawning world-class hotels, spas and ski resorts. Diversity, of all kinds, is nothing new.

"There's always been a gay-friendly community here," said Judy Love Rondau, representing Travel Alberta. But she insists the increased interest in her region has little to do with the gay story line.

"The beauty of the scenery actually overwhelms the story," she said. "Everybody I know who's seen the movie, whether they like the story line or not, says, `My gosh, it looks like it goes on forever.'

"I don't think people realize there's countryside like this left."

Calgary, major airline port of entry for the region, is excited.

"It'll help our tourism a ton," said Joe Connelly of Tourism Calgary. "People are already talking about seeing that movie and that fact that the vistas are absolutely beautiful, and we want to make sure nothing impedes individuals from having a look at that."

The article also mentions the negative image some Wyoming residents feel they are receiving, as well as how inspirational locations are just as favorable for tourists as the actual filming locations.

OhmyNews Interview Revised

The OhmyNews International interview I participated in for reporter Todd Kipp regarding Alberta film production has been revised. One paragraph, if it stood on it's own could have implied that I held resentment to the Alberta film locations and productions. This is in fact not the case.

The wonderful thing about the Internet and publishing on the web is being able to do revisions rather quickly. Todd revised the paragraph so it reads as follows:

"Despite Hollywood's occasional bitterness towards the productions and often the locations they choose, Chad Kerychuk, who operates The Alberta Movie Guide, says interest in Alberta film production is rising. He recently received a request from a Convention and Visitor's Bureau executive in St. Joseph, Missouri regarding The Assassination of Jesse James."

Thanks Todd! Full article at this link.

Brokeback Mountain Could Spark Tourism Boom

Billings Gazette discusses the effect of Ang Lee's latest film on Wyoming's tourist industry:

Fans of Brokeback Mountain don't seem to care the movie was actually filmed in Canada.

They want the Wyoming experience.

The Wyoming Business Council's travel and tourism department has received hundreds of calls asking about scenery in the movie, which is based on Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Proulx's short story about two gay Wyoming cowboys.

"When we tell them it was shot in Canada, they're still interested in Wyoming," said Michell Howard, manager of the council's film, arts and entertainment office. "They don't hang up and call Alberta. They're intrigued in the story."

Wyoming Business Council spokesman Chuck Coon said he hasn't seen a movie generate this much interest in the state during his 15 years with the travel and tourism department.

"In terms of phone calls and Internet requests, it's usually slow this time of the year," he said. "This movie has changed that."

The article also talks about Wyoming's attempts to increase film production within the state and train more local residents to work on film sets.

I'm betting that Brokeback Mountain will also have a significant impact on Alberta's tourism industry. In fact, the stats I've analyzed from this blog (including searches performed by visitors) seem to back up my guess. Add the list of past films producted in our province, the diverse scenery within short driving distances, and amazing people, and we can expect more movie fans to flock to Alberta hoping to be a part of the magic of movies.

Ang Lee Wins DGA Award

Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee has received the award for Oustanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2005 from the Director's Guild of America. It is his second DGA award. The previous honors came for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon which Lee directed in 2000. He was also nominated for Sense and Sensibility.

Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven) also received the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award for "Leadership and Extraordinary Efforts in Enhancing the Welfare and Image of the Directors Guild of America and the Industry."

Even More Brokeback Mountain Links

The Age

altpress online

azcentral.com

The Celebrity Cafe

The Daily Telegraph

Daytona Beach News-Journal Online

Forbes.com

Hollywood.com

iFMagazine.com

NBC17.com

Polytechnic Online

Star-Telegram Online

Sydney Morning Herald

Taipei Times

The Tartan Online

The Western Herald Online

Touch the Top of the World

Photos of Sunshine Village by Gerald Vander Pyl.

The Banff Crag & Canyon reports on the filming of Touch the Top of the World at Sunshine Village. Erik Weihenmayer, who climbed Mount Everest in 2001, and played by Sean Johnson, is the subject of the television movie:

Eda Lishman, co-producer of the American film starring mostly Canadian actors, was pleased with both Banff National Park and the ski resort as a location for filming.

“It’s an amazing location,” Lishman said, inside the comfort of the Sunshine Inn.

Weihenmayer himself was on the set for some of the filming at the ski resort, and made quite an impression on Lishman and others involved in the filming.

“It’s really hard to describe someone that you are completely humbled by,” Lishman said of working with Weihenmayer.

“There are these special people that come along in the world and I guess Erik is just one of them. He is so down to earth, so self-deprecating.”

Lishman noted Weihenmayer’s sense of humour and positive attitude about life as his most notable attributes.

“He catches us off guard when he makes jokes about his own disability. Within a minute of meeting him you completely forget that this man has an impairment of this magnitude.

The cast and crew were also set to film at Fortress Mountain and Calgary. Full article at the above link.

Alberta's Oil Sands on 60 Minutes

Alberta's oil sands were documented on 60 Minutes as noted in this Globe and Mail article:

Normally, a visit from the 60 Minutes film crew isn't exactly a good omen, unless you enjoy getting sued or going to jail.

But the CBS program's glowing take on Alberta's oil sands may have been just the push Canada's stock market needed to soar to a fresh record yesterday.

Portraying the vast oil sands as the answer to America's energy woes for decades to come, the program quoted one energy executive, Shell Canada boss Clive Mather, predicting the region could ultimately hold two trillion barrels of oil, or roughly eight times the reserves of Saudi Arabia.

Full article at this link.

Brokeback Mountain Wins Producer Award

Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain was named Best Picture of the Year by the Producer's Guild of America:

In 11 of the past 16 years, the winner has gone on take home the Academy Award for best picture. Last year was an exception with The Aviator winning the Producers Guild Award but losing the Oscar race to Million Dollar Baby.

This recent award for the Alberta-filmed movie looks like it should help solidify its Oscar status. Full article can be found here.

OhmyNews International Alberta Film Interview

Todd Kipp, a Calgary filmmaker and writer, recently interviewed me for OhmyNews International, an online Korean news publication. In the article, Todd and myself discuss the Alberta film industry:

Ideally located where the prairies roll into the foothills and rise into the Rocky Mountains, a wide range of rugged settings provide breathtaking backdrops.

"From extraterrestrial looks of Northern Alberta's oil sands projects, to arid, prehistoric Badlands of Drumheller, to fast-paced metropolitan life of Edmonton and Calgary, to the epic, chilling mountain ranges of Banff and Kananaskis, and the amber waves of grain in central Alberta, all locations are within a few hours of each other," said Kerychuk. "If a film production requires snow for one scene and blistering heat for another, Alberta can provide that, sometimes even offering both at once and with or without the help of Mother Nature."

You can read the full article at this link.

Brokeback Mountain and Lost Win at Golden Globes

Producer James Schamus, screenwriter Diana Ossana and director Ang Lee celebrate Brokeback Mountain's Golden Globe wins. 63rd Golden Globe Awards ® 2006 - © MMVI Hollywood Foreign Press Association®.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association handed out the 2006 Golden Globe Awards last night. There were a few Alberta connections to the winners.

Brokeback Mountain claimed honors in:

Best Motion Picture - Drama

Best Director - Ang Lee

Best Screenplay - Larry McMurty and Diana Ossana

Best Original Song - "A Love That Will Never Grow Old" - Gustavo Santaolalla, Bernie Taupin

The feature film was also nominated in several other categories. Ang Lee was presented the Best Director Award by Clint Eastwood, who shot his award-winning western, Unforgiven in Alberta.

The ABC series Lost (which just commenced airing of the second season) won for Best Television Series - Drama. Alberta-born Evangeline Lilly stars as Kate in the riveting show about survivors of a plane crash on a mysterious island.

Sir Anthony Hopkins (who starred in the Alberta-shot Legends of the Fall and The Edge) received the Cecil B. DeMille Award, honoring his outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.

Event: Prizefighter Productions Fundraiser

Calgary-based Prizefighter Productions will be holding another Feature Film Fundraiser.

The event will feature performances from Simeon Ross of Members of the Press, Cryptomaniacs, The Wet Secrets and The Vertical Struts.

Great Door Prizes from sponsors including Broken City, Steam Whistle, Bird Dog Video, The Uptown, Stage West....and more.

LOCATION/TIME:
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Broken City
932, 17th Ave. S.W.
Calgary, Alberta
Doors open: 8:00 p.m.
Tickets: $10.00 in advance at Megatunes

CONTACT:
E-mail: prizefighterfilms@gmail.com

If you or your company would like to sponsor this event please contact Prizefighter Productions. Your generosity will be greatly received!

**Broken City is open from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 a.m., and can be found at 613 - 11th Ave. S.W.

HD Production Conference Follow-up

This weekend, I was fortunate to attend the HD Production Conference here in Edmonton. I understand nearly 300 attended the 2-day conference in Calgary and around 200 packed the sessions in Edmonton. It was great to see a lot of familiar faces, meet some new ones, and learn about all the new HD productions from Albertans. And the two fantastic lunches were a bonus!

It was a little daunting to see some of the financial figures people were dealing with but since HD is a relatively new media, a higher production cost can be expected. The quality available through HD is outstanding and for those productions that want that clarity, detail, rich colors, and an immersive experience, HD is definitely the way to go.

A few key points surfaced during the various presentations and breakout sessions:

If you've shot on film or continue to shoot on film, you're already working in HD. The resolution provided by film is still one of the highest quality formats available.

With 16x9 HD productions producers, directors, and cinematographers need to think cinematically. With HD, producers and directors are back in the movie business.

The picture is wide...the sound is wide. If you're thinking cinematically, you can't forget the whole experience, which includes sound, hopefully in 5.1 digital audio.

Not only is the picture wide, but deep. Because of the clarity of the HD, viewers are able to see deeper into the picture, showcasing a world not seen in Standard Definition broadcasts.

Expect to see more dramatic recreations of historic events. Archival footage from older film video productions may not hold up to HD's standards. Of course, it depends on the footage and viewers will be forgiving if the story is compelling, but broadcasters are demanding the highest quality material.

Not everything needs to be shot on HD. If your production has a planned short shelf life, there is no need to spend the extra cost to produce in HD.

It was also clear that despite the different format variables, HD will allow for great distribution globally. Expect to see a lot more HD productions surface in 2006 with Albertans forging ahead.

Hopefully I will also have a production to add to the growing list.

Alberta: God's Screen Country

Back To God's Country poster. Courtesy of Richard C. Allen and Northeast Historic Film.

A bit of Alberta's film history is discussed in an article by Erik Floren for the Edmonton Sun. The article commences with Back to God's Country, filmed in Alberta around 1919, and moves on to more recent features such as Brokeback Mountain:

In addition to Lesser Slave Lake standing in for "God's Country," areas of Alberta have stood in for various places around the world for production companies shooting on location here.

The most popular hat Alberta seems to wear is American, especially cowboy - from the Wild West of The Assassination of Jesse James, starring Brad Pitt, which hits theatres later this year - to the more modern Brokeback Mountain, which was set for a Dec. 23 local release but is now postponed until Jan 13.

Alberta also represented the U.S. west in such classic oaters as Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning Unforgiven, Dustin Hoffman's Little Big Man and Paul Newman's Buffalo Bill and the Indians. And don't forget Texas Rangers, The Virginian, Shanghai Noon and Kevin Costner's Open Range.

As well, Alberta has masqueraded as the Old American South in Children of the Dust, Montana and First World War Europe in Legends of the Fall, the far North in Ordeal in the Arctic, Japan in Heaven & Earth and Running Brave - and both Metropolis and Smallville in the Superman trilogy.

The province played the future as well, as in Firebird 2015, which featured the badlands of Drumheller

According to information supplied by the Alberta Film Commission, the province has provided location for many other film productions since 1942. Here are just a few: Almost American, Hard Rain, Rat Race, Caitlin's Way, Anthrax, War Bride, Last of the Dogmen, Cool Runnings, Samurai Cowboy, Days of Heaven, The Silver Streak, Millionaire Express, Paper Marriage, Eastern Condor, Hand in Hand, The Edge, Lonesome Dove, Destiny Ridge, How the West was Fun, Snow Day, The Sheldon Kennedy Story, The Arrangement, Mystery Alaska, In Cold Blood (the remake), Loyalties, Dead Bang, Bye Bye Blues and Cowboys Don't Cry...

Beside being the site for an assortment of American cities, small towns and states, Alberta has stood in for Austria, Russia, Scotland and even Mars.

In a little bit less of a stretch, Alberta countryside filled in for that of our provincial neighbour when Alan Ladd came here in 1950 to film Saskatchewan. Our scenery must have looked fantastic back in Hollywood. Less than two years later, Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum were up here busy filming River of No Return in Banff and Jasper, and Jimmy Stewart arrived to shoot The Far Country.

Read the full article at this link.

I'll be discussing more of Alberta's film history on here and in the eventual book version of The Alberta Movie Guide. So stay tuned!

Robert Duvall, Olivia Cheng, and Alberta

Robert Duvall, speaks about Alberta and Walter Hill's latest U.S. cable feature Broken Trail in which he and Thomas Haden Church star. From the Edmonton Sun article by Bill Brioux:

"Alberta is OK."

That's Robert Duvall's take on Canada, never his favourite place to work.

The Academy Award-winning actor was at the TV critics press tour Wednesday to promote the U.S. cable feature Broken Trail, a four-hour, two night western directed by Walter Hill and co-starring Sideways star Thomas Haden Church. It's coming to one of the Corus-owned stations in Canada, probably in June.

A native Californian, Duvall has been blunt in the past about runaway film and TV production. Shooting this movie seems to have softened his stand somewhat. "I like Alberta more than the rest of Canada," he told a conference room full of mostly U.S. critics. "They're more like us. Calgary, Alberta, is more like Texas without the accent, really."

Duvall, who turned 75 last week, comes by his tough talk naturally - he's a direct descendant of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. In the past, he's dismissed Canadian actors as short on talent.

"I eat my words when I said there weren't good actors there," he declared Wednesday. "But you have to look for them because the system keeps showing you the same ones over and over again.""

Brioux also interviews Oliva Cheng, an Edmontonian who is a reporter and journalist, who also acts in Broken Trail:

She's one of four Chinese-Canadian actresses who co-star in the film as young women who have been sold into prostitution. Hardened cowboys Print Ritter (Duvall) and his nephew Tom Harte (Church) come upon them in the middle of a 1,000-mile horse drive and attempt to set them free.

"It was so good to be around such energy," Duvall said of Cheng and his young Canadian co-stars.

Known for her hip-hop and culture reports, Cheng said she offered to teach Duvall some hip-hop moves if he'd teach her to tango. (She was a fan of his 2001 film Assassination Tango). "And he goes, 'What the hell's a hip-hop?' " says Cheng, who managed to show him a few arm roll moves.

Duvall says he never really got it, but joked that "she wasn't very good at the tango, either."

Cheng said working with Duvall was intimidating at first, but not for long. "In the movie, he's a surrogate father to us, and in real life he made a real effort to get to know us. He was so kind and generous and immediately put us at ease.

Read the full article at this link.

Cheng also has features an interview with Duvall on her official website.
Photo of Robert Duvall from the film Open Range. © 2003 Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc.
Olivia Cheng photo courtesy of OliviaCheng.com.

Nathan Fillion, Firefly, and Serenity

I'll admit to not being a rabid Buffy or Angel fan, but have watched several episodes with interest. Initially, I was turned off by Firefly, as I wasn't sure about the rumored 'cowboys in space' theme. However, on repeated viewings of the complete series on DVD, I found this to be one of the most entertaining shows I've watched in a long time.

Nathan Fillion, Firefly's Capt. Malcolm Reynolds, portrays the character with such perfection, one almost forgets he's acting. His seemingly rogue-like ventures are actually hiding a blend of authority, charm, and playfulness that alludes to another famous starship captain. Star Wars hero Han Solo; a tell-it-like-it-is smuggler turned Rebel Alliance member. Creator Joss Whedon even mentions Han and his ship, the Millennium Falcon, in 'making-of' segments so it's safe to say there's a connection. Reynolds, like Solo, is the 'everyman' character audiences associate with. A Captain that doesn't just stand around delivering orders, but one that almost prefers to be among the action himself. While that kind of character was missing from the Star Wars prequels, Whedon delivers him to us instead.


The crew of Serenity. © 2005 Univeral Pictures.

Yet, Capt. Reynolds is different from Han. Instead of travelling with a single trusted companion like Chewbacca, he travels with an ensemble cast of characters that each bring their own trait to Firefly and Serenity, the feature film based on the cancelled TV series. From Zoe, Malcom's loyal war-time partner and now ship's First Mate, to Jayne, the shoot-first-ask-questions-later Mercenary, to the cheerful, dedicated mechanic Kaylee, and the mysterious River, a young woman with extraordinary abilities who seems to have a symbiotic relationship with the ship, Serenity. Add the unforgettable shipmates Wash, Simon, Shepherd Book, and Inara and you have one of the most interesting casts in science fiction since Stargate: SG-1 and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Serenity was one of the best films of 2005 and easily one of the most enjoyable science fiction films in years. It begins with an energy that doesn't let up and carries us further into Whedon's Firefly universe without alienating new viewers. The Operative, played outstandingly by Chiwetel Ejiofor, is one of the most charismatic screen villains since Ricardo Montalban's Khan. The effects are on par with films nearly triple its budget, and Nathan Fillion brings it all together with such honesty, you're demanding a sequel (or new show) before the credits finish.

Fillion has mentioned his love for the role and I suspect we'll see more Serenity adventures with Captain Malcom Reynolds at the helm.

Bring it on.

Firefly and Serenity are both availble on DVD.

Edmonton Journal Interviews Serenity Star

Scott McKeen, with the Edmonton Journal, recently interviewed Edmonton-born Nathan Fillion, about Serenity, the feature film based on Joss Whedon's Firefly series:

"Critics loved it," says Fillion. "The worst we did was in Entertainment Weekly. And they gave us a B-plus."

I confess to Fillion I felt a few butterflies before interviewing him. Strange, what Hollywood hype does to us. Fillion, because he's been in a movie, is thereby granted the status of Really Cool Guy.

"I'm glad to hear that because the truth is I'm a dork," says Fillion. "I collected comics. I still love cartoons. I'd rather be at home on a Friday night than out at some club.

"My sense of humour is that of a geek. My likes and dislikes are that of a geek. I've memorized every crappy sci-fi movie there is, but still haven't seen Schindler's List."

Full article at this link.

Back to Brokeback

Robert W. Butler, with the Kansas City Star, writes about being on the set of Ang Lee's latest picture:

Thirty miles east of Calgary the glorious Canadian Rockies are little more than a thin blue haze on the western horizon. Here the vast Alberta plain is flat and unremarkable, each field looking much like the last.

The sameness was just what director Ang Lee had been looking for.

On a bright, pleasant morning in July 2004 the Taiwanese filmmaker and his crew assembled at an old farmhouse abandoned for decades but restored to look like it might have in 1983.

They were shooting one of the final scenes of Brokeback Mountain.

Based on Annie Proulx’s celebrated short story, Brokeback Mountain is about two young Wyoming ranch hands who in 1963 fall in love and spend the next 20 years struggling with their secret passion.

As conceived by Lee and production designer Judy Becker, the film is a visual balancing act between the beauty of the Rockies and the drabness of the flatlands. In the film’s iconography, mountains represent escape and freedom. That’s where over the years the lovers Ennis Del Mar (Australian actor Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) go to be alone together, free from prying eyes.

But most of their lives are spent in unremarkable locales like this one, on desolate ranches or in drab, windblown towns where both marry and raise families. And where a man who loves another man had best keep it to himself.

Read Robert's full report at this link.

Filming Sheep for Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain © 2005 Focus Features.

Patrick Goldstein with the Los Angeles Times reports on an amusing story about filming sheep for Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain:

While shooting Brokeback Mountain near Calgary, Alberta, director Ang Lee spent hours one day attempting a sequence with sheep drinking from a babbling brook.

As the day wore on, co-writer and producer Diana Ossana got on the phone with novelist Larry McMurtry — who had collaborated on the script with her.

McMurtry, a native Texan, knew just what Ossana was thinking:

‘‘Hasn’t anyone told him sheep won’t drink from a brook? They’ll only drink from still water."

Lee eventually gave up on the shot.

The article discusses McMurty's role on the film and his past experience. It can be found at this link.

Brad For Business

Brad Pitt in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
Photo © Warner Bros Pictures. All rights reserved.

The Calgary Sun reported on how Brad Pitt affected Alberta cast and crew while shooting The Assasination of Jesse James:

“He was delightful,” one source says of Pitt. “He was professional and easygoing and very easy to work with.”

The source says that sentiment was echoed by others working on the project, noting everyone had “nothing but good things” to say about Pitt, before adding, “shockingly good things.”

The insider says they know of no blowups or any of the other incidents that can sometimes occur when you’re working long hours with people who, some might say, can afford to be less than gracious.

“You’re working all night long and he was just so accommodating to everybody,” the crew member says. “We worked nights in Edmonton until the sun came up and people were sure in good moods.”

The source says that extended to Jolie [Tomb Raider, Mr. & Mrs. Smith], who was a regular visitor on the set with her adopted children. The crew member says Jolie came up and introduced herself as “Angie” on the very first day.

“She was just super low-key but nice to everybody,” adding that “her kids would have playdates with some of the kid actors.”

The article goes on to talk about locations involved in the film and the Alberta film industry:

The Assassination began filming in southern Alberta in the McKinnon Flats area southwest of the city and subsequently filmed in Heritage Park, the Fairmont Palliser Hotel, the Kananaskis area and on several private ranches near Millarville, Turner Valley, Longview and Cochrane.

The production team recreated the town of Creed, Colorado near Goat Creek north of Canmore at the cost of $1 million. On Nov. 25, Ron Liepert, the MLA for Calgary West conducted a four-day visit to this set for himself and five other MLAs.

“It is the government’s desire to see the film industry become a $400-million-a-year industry in the province in the near future. We realize this means creating incentives that will bring more films like The Assassination of Jesse James to the province and that is one of our priorities,” says Liepert, who is the co-chairman of the Alberta Film Commission.

According to a Sun source close to the Jesse James production, it’s not just Alberta’s natural resources that are so attractive.

“It’s the expertise of the crews in the province that continue to impress producers like David Valdes, who also produced Unforgiven and Open Range,” says the source.

More than 250 local extras were used for a ballroom scene filmed in the Palliser Hotel.

They were chosen from the more than 3,000 who turned out for an extras casting call in August, the biggest turn-out for any movie filmed in the province. Calgary youngsters Dustin Bollinger, 7, and Brooklynn Proulx, 6, won the coveted roles of Jesse’s children, Tim and Mary James.

Full article at this link.
Photo courtesy of movies.about.com.

Helfer to Host Canada's Next Top Model

Alberta-born Tricia Helfer (Cylon Model Number 6 in the Battlestar Galactica remake) will produce and host a new reality series for Citytv titled Canada's Next Top Model which films this year. From a 2005 CanWest News Service article:

"What excites me the most is spending time with the girls and trying to impress upon them the fact that this is a business. It's not all glamour, parties and first class service -- it's work, it's hard work," says Helfer, who grew up on a grain farm in Donalda, Alta.

"To be a top model you have to be tough. You have to be independently strong, you have to be able to take care of yourself."

Helfer burst onto the fashion scene in 1992 at the age of 18 when she won the Ford Super Model of the World Contest and left Alberta to travel the world as an international model.

Appearing in major campaigns for Chanel, Giorgio Armani, Saks Fifth Avenue and Victoria's Secret, Helfer has appeared on the catwalk for designers such as Versace, Oscar de la Renta, Salvatore Ferragamo, Christian Dior, and Givenchy. She has also graced the covers of numerous fashion magazines including Elle and Cosmopolitan.

While her modelling career was still hot, Helfer made the switch to acting with appearances on CSI: Miami and The Collector, and in 2006 she will star opposite Dennis Hopper and Billy Zane in Memore.

Now based in Los Angeles, Helfer and her husband will begin building a new home in Alberta next year.

Full article at this link. Helfer was discovered by Mode Models Founder and President Kelly Streit while standing in line at a movie theatre.

Photo © 2003 and courtesy of Sci Fi. All rights reserved.

Santa's Slay Article at Fangoria

Fangoria, a horror film publication, features an online article regarding the filmed-in-Alberta Santa's Slay starring Bill Goldberg. From the article:

Ever since Bill Gaines published “And All Through the House” in the VAULT OF HORROR comic book, that Yuletide icon, Santa, has been fair, but cautious, game for horror storytellers. Writer/director David Steiman is the latest to give us his take on a demonic Kris Kringle in SANTA’S SLAY, [now on DVD.] This time he’s a spawn of Satan who loses a contest with an angel and is forced to do good as Santa Claus for 1,000 years. This doesn’t sit too well with the demon, who can hardly wait for the millennium to end—and it does this year.

Inspired by the antics of action star Jackie Chan, Steiman wrote the script for SANTA’S SLAY during down time on the set of RUSH HOUR 2, one of three films (also including RED DRAGON) on which he served as assistant to director Brett Ratner. “I was watching Jackie,” Steiman recalls, “and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if someone used those Jackie Chan moves to be a bad guy instead of a good guy?’ I love that type of action, because he never uses a weapon; he just uses whatever props are around him. I was playing around with words, and I thought that if you change Santa around you get Satan, so I merged those two ideas together. Since it’s Santa, I could use Christmas props; instead of walking around with some kind of weapon like an ax or a knife, what if he just uses whatever is around him—and at Christmastime, there are so many possibilities.”

You can read the entire article at this link.

More Brokeback Mountain Links

The Calgary Sun

Edmonton's Vue Weekly

The Edmonton Sun

The Ottawa Citizen - 1 and 2

The Toronto Star - 1 and 2

The Hollywood Reporter

The Village Voice

Sacramento Bee

The Pitch

Salt Lake City Weekly

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Summit Daily News - bottom two stories

The Seattle Times

Scotland on Sunday

HeraldNet - Washington

Chicago Tribune - Metromix.com

straight.com

Monterey Herald

Detroit Free Press

Denver Post

The Definitive HD Seminar

Today is the last day to register for the Calgary portion (January 11-12) of the Alberta HD Production Seminar. I'll be attending the Edmonton portion which takes place on January 14-15 and it seems there's still room for that one as well. Deadline for the Edmonton event is January 10. You are encouraged to call 403.284.8337 to inquire if room is still available after the deadlines.

The seminar is an Alberta Industry initiative courtesy of AMPIA, the Director's Guild of Canada - Alberta District Council, IATSE Alberta, Alberta Film, The Banff Centre, SAIT Polytechnic, NAIT, and the Government of Alberta. Various sponsors are also chipping in to make the event a success. From the website:

"High Definition (HD) is new technology revolutionizing film and television unlike anything seen in the industry. HD is not an upgrade of existing technology – it is the future and it is here now.

Anyone who is thinking of staying in the film and television industry will benefit from this exciting and informative seminar. It will speak to everyone involved who bring stories to life – creative and technical, on set or location, in the studio and in the production office.

What is the advent of HD going to mean to the industry? Who is now and who is going to be working in HD? Why should everyone in the industry care? How will it affect jobs and how can someone looking ahead to a career in the film and television industry integrate HD into his or her career?

The workshop and seminar topics have been designed to cover these key questions with the goal of having everyone walk away with not only the answers, but also a thorough working knowledge of the impact HD is going to have on Alberta’s growing film and television industry. Much has been said and written about HD and it is essential that HD be demystified for all who are going to be working in it."

Keynote speakers include:

Harold Protter, Senior Vice President, Technology, The WB Television Network

Mark Starowicz, Senior Executive Producer, English Television Documentary, CBC Television

Michael McEwan, President, Canadian Digital Television

Plus an amazing amount of highly-regarded Producers, Directors, Editors, Cinematographers, Audio Engineers, Designers, and Makeup Artists.

Hope to see you all there!

Gyllenhaal on Alberta Filming Experience

Louis B. Hobson with The Calgary Sun reported on co-star Jake Gyllenhaal's experiences in Alberta upon arrival to film Brokeback Mountain:

“We rehearsed our scenes in these really remote mountain locations when there was still snow on the ground,” says Gyllenhaal.

“I had just got my dog before we did the movie. He was running and jumping through the snow, just loving it.”

Gyllenhaal says “the amazing thing is when we returned to actually film in these locations all the snow had gone. It looked entirely different.”

The actor says these locations were “so remote that we rode our horses up a trail each day.”

Several Alberta towns were used for the film including Cowley, Carsland and Rockyford.

“Cowley is the windiest place I’ve ever been to in my life. The wind never stopped blowing. People told us it’s the windiest place in the province and maybe one of the windiest places in the world. I can vouch for that.”

Gyllenhaal recalls driving from his apartment in Calgary to Rockyford near Drumheller as "the straightest road I’ve ever driven on. There wasn’t even a bend in the road."

“Alberta has remarkable country and remarkable people. Everyone was so good to us from the crew to the people in the towns. You really had the sense everyone wanted us there and that they embraced the story we were trying to tell.”

Read the entire article at this link.
Photo © 2005 Focus Feaures.

Happy New Year!

A "Happy New Year" to all readers of The Alberta Movie Guide! Thanks for all the support during the past year while I continued to learn more about Alberta's film industry, the history and people behind it, and future productions and initiatives. Your e-mails, stories, and positive comments provide welcome encouragement to soldier on.

To measure the effectiveness of the blog, I've been analyzing the site's stats during 2005. It's exciting to see that readers are visiting from all over the world, (not just Albertans who are curious about being casted in productions) and that other film industries are watching Alberta in hopes of emulating our success. This is proof that the blog is having the desired effects I was aiming for:

Local and internationl promotion in support of the province's Film Commissions,

providing information for potential cast and crew, and

fostering appreciation for Alberta's film and television production legacy.

As I continue to develop the book version of The Alberta Movie Guide, I've also found it immensely helpful to have this blog as a repository of stories and news about the industry. However, this resource wouldn't be possible without the many talented (and dedicated) reporters, photographers, reviewers, and industry personnel that provide the articles and news about our film business.

Since I'm a proud Albertan who holds a stake in film and television production in our province, I look forward to continuing to promote our talent, locations, and crews in 2006. I hope you'll be able to continue the journey with us.

Cheers!