Alberta Film in Hong Kong

Alberta is #1!
Originally uploaded by hotrocket.

Alberta Film @ Filmart
Originally uploaded by hotrocket.

Some photos from our pal Ken (Hotrocket) taken during the Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum in Hong Kong.

Funding Delays Passchendaele

Passchendaele, the World War I film Paul Gross was supposed to shoot in Alberta last summer, has been delayed due to funding issues. Alexandra Burroughs and Stephen Hunt discussed the matter surrounding the postponement of the production for the Calgary Herald and the Edmonton Journal.

"It's been a monster to put together," he adds, "because we've never really attempted to do anything like this in our domestic cinema history. We've done some co-productions that have been large, but as a purely Canadian domestic production, it's well outside the normal model.

"The ceiling on a pure Canadian film is about $7 (million) or $8 million. And we're aiming for somewhere closer to $20 million.

"I hope we're going to go to camera probably Aug. 1," Gross adds. "Shooting for, I don't know, 50 days I think. Plus weekends, so somewhere into the fall."

Passchendaele tells the story of a large battalion of Alberta soldiers who participated in the third Battle of Ypres, in Belgium, during the First World War. The film got a $5.5-million kickstart during Alberta's 2005 centennial celebrations, when Gross pitched the project to then premier Ralph Klein.

For more information, check out the full article at this link.

Decoys 2: The Second Seduction Available on DVD

Decoys: The Second Seduction, the shot-in-Edmonton sequel to the cult favorite Decoys, is now available on DVD and there's a few websites with some goodies to share. The film stars Corey Sevier (Decoys, North Shore), Kim Poirier (Decoys, HypaSpace), Tobin Bell (Saw, 24), and Dina Meyer (Starship Troopers, Saw II).


Image: CHUD.com.

CHUD.com has some fun Decoys 2 digital decorations for you including wallpaper, iPod photos, and AIM icons at this link. (Note: Some links are currently down.)

You can also check out two video clips at CHUD.com from the film by clicking here.

Dread Central has an exclusive first look from the film, including images like the one below:

Photo courtesy of Dread Central.

Head over to the Edmonton Journal to read an article on Screwtape Lewis, one of the bands which performed in the film.

Calgary Film Commissioner Stepping Down

Beth Thompson is stepping down from her post as Calgary Film Commissioner at the end of March according to Playback Daily:

"There is a combination of things that made me decide," Thompson tells Playback Daily. "There is certainly a frustration that the industry hasn't changed a great deal since I started, and I think we need to take a stronger position."

She says changing the limits on the Alberta Film Development Fund -- currently at $14 million per year and $1.5 million per project -- would be a good start, as would tax incentives like those offered in other provinces.

Projects that shot in her city had a combined budget of $110 million to $130 million she says. "The numbers here haven't changed in six or seven years. We can see in other provinces there is considerable growth. We're in a market that should be doing really well.... but for some reason we're not."

You can read the full article at the above link. The Alberta Movie Guide wishes Beth the best of luck in her future endeavours.