Herland Film and Video Festival Closing

Due to the effects of funding cutbacks, it looks like the Herland Film and Video Festival had its last showing this year according to the Calgary Herald:

I'm very disappointed," says festival board member Tamrin Hildebrant, 33.

"Herland is the only film festival in Calgary that really focuses on films by women. We focus on topics that aren't covered in other film festivals."

For 17 years, Herland has provided a home to films that covered a range feminist-related topics not typically seen in the mainstream. From films about queer culture to movies by and for aboriginal women, women of colour and women with disabilities, the festival has hosted hundreds of independent movies throughout the years.

It began in 1989 when the Calgary Status of Women Action Committee, a feminist collective, joined with the Women of Colour Collective to host a film-focused fundraiser. Building up its audience throughout the years, the festival peaked in 2003-04 with an audience of about 1,700. The next year, however, the audience fell to 1,000."

Though I missed posting about this last month, it's still important to note the effects that government funding cutbacks have on smaller organizations.

You can read the full article at the link above.

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.

2006 Alberta Film and Television Wrap Party Website

Update: The final ticket push is commencing so be sure to log on to the website and find out how to purchase your tickets for what is sure to be an exciting Industry Wrap Party!



The website for the 2006 Alberta Film and Television Wrap Party is now active. The event will be held December 2 at the Artists of the World Gallery in Calgary.

You can find the link and ticket info at this link.

Tony Scott Talks Jesse James

Kevin Williams (Calgary Sun) spoke with producer Tony Scott regarding the change in release scheduling (Feb. 2007) for the Brad Pitt film, The Assassination of Jesse James:

“It’s great. We have to be careful how we market it because it’s like a Terrence Malick film,” he says, referring to the legendary director of such visually sumptuous epics as The Thin Red Line and The New World.

“But it’s really good and Brad’s terrific in it — he just gets better with age.”

In addition to Pitt and Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James also stars Sam Rockwell, Sam Shepard, Mary-Louise Parker and Zooey Deschanel.

Scott, an avid rock climber, is no stranger to Calgary, frequently coming here to shoot commercials for the overseas markets — when he’s not scaling mountains.

“I love it there.”

You can read the rest of the article at the above link.

Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Fort Edmonton Park Key Location for Brad Pitt Western

Edmonton Economic Development Corporation released the following news release today regarding Fort Edmonton Park's use in The Assassination of Jesse James currently filming in Alberta:

EDMONTON, Aug. 30 /CNW/ - Fort Edmonton Park, Canada's largest historical park, will shine in the glare of the Hollywood spotlight as one of the primary locations for the western, The Assassination of Jesse James.

Brad Pitt, one of the film industry's global superstars, will play the lead in the major Warner Bros. movie that will use locations throughout Alberta beginning yesterday and continuing into the fall. The Edmonton Film Commission, operated by Edmonton Economic Development Corp. (EEDC), the Alberta Film Commission and Fort Edmonton Park partnered to bring one third of the production to Edmonton.

Other locations for this film include various rural areas in southern Alberta, Winnipeg and Calgary's Heritage Park. The set is closed to the public and media at all locations.

"Attracting a film of this magnitude to Edmonton and Alberta is a credit to the members of our film industry who have made a concerted effort to sell Edmonton as a production destination," says Mayor Stephen Mandel. "I'm confident the filming of this movie is a sign of great things to come in Alberta's growing film industry. With magnificent assets such as Fort Edmonton Park, the City of Edmonton is well poised for future opportunities."

Greater Edmonton hotels, restaurants, caterers, lumber yards, hardware stores, trades people, car rentals, transportation, personal services and other businesses all stand to benefit from the $30-million (US) production.

"This film will significantly boost global awareness of Edmonton as a major film location and travel destination," says Allan Scott, EEDC President and CEO. "The value of international media exposure garnered from this kind of production for our city and province is immeasurable."

Mayor Mandel urges all Edmontonians to warmly welcome our special guests to the city as we do with all visitors, but to please respect the cast and crew's privacy.

"As Edmonton continues to position itself as a major film location, it is important that the industry feels welcome and views Edmonton as a film-friendly, professional destination," says Mandel.

The Assassination of Jesse James is one of several major film productions in Edmonton this year, including CBS Television's The Christmas Blessing, Lifetime USA's For the Love of a Child, and CBC's Waking Walter. Other major films are considering using Edmonton's scenic settings and world-class film crews for their productions.

For more information about Greater Edmonton and its multi-million dollar film industry visit www.edmonton.com.

For further information:
Media contact(s): Jim Rudolph, Corporate Communications,
Edmonton Economic Development Corporation,
Phone: (780) 917-7894,
Toll-free: 1-800-661-6965,
Cell: (780) 722-3788,
E-mail: jrudolph@edmonton.com,
Web: www.edmonton.com/eedc

Calgarian Designs Costumes For The Cave

Calgarian Wendy Partridge and her associates created costumes for the feature film 'The Cave' as mentioned in this article at CANOE -- JAM! Showbiz.

The Gang's All Here

A 'weather report' of sorts is delivered on CANOE -- JAM! Movies in regards to The Assassination of Jesse James:

Brad Pitt is like a mailman. Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow will keep him from delivering his lines.

Though Pitt and his fellow producers of The Assassination of Jesse James would prefer sunshine come Monday, no one is talking delays because of the weather.

"Come hell or high water we'll be filming on Monday. There are always ways to shoot around weather if you have committed actors and crew," said a spokesperson for Jesse Films.

The Assassination of Jesse James is only scheduled to shoot in the Calgary area for one week before moving to Edmonton for three weeks of shooting.

The production then returns to Calgary until Oct. 22 when it moves to Winnipeg for five days.

Then it's back to Calgary for the rest of the Alberta portion of the shoot.

Producers are hoping for snow in October or November as all four seasons are represented in the screenplay.

The article also has information on additional actors cast in the film.

Extras Casting Call: The Assassination of Jesse James

Originally published in the Edmonton Journal, July 19, 2005
NOTE: Extras casting location information at the bottom of the article.

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Old-school extras needed for Pitt's local scenes

RICK McCONNELL
Journal Culture Writer
EDMONTON

Wanted: Hundreds of men, women and children who dream of seeing themselves on the silver screen in a big-budget Hollywood film.

Reward: $9 an hour — and perhaps the chance to see Brad Pitt, up close and in person.

Be on the lookout for an open casting call being held Sunday in Edmonton to hire extras for a movie about the life and death of outlaw Jesse James. Shooting is scheduled to start Aug. 29 and wrap up by December, with scenes filmed in or around Edmonton and Calgary, and perhaps Winnipeg and Montreal.

Few details have been released about the movie, based on the Ron Hansen novel The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

What is certain is Brad Pitt will play Jesse James, and hundreds of extras will be needed to help recreate the town of St. Joseph, Mo., where the train and bankrobber was murdered in 1882, and Creede, Colo., the mining camp where Robert Ford was assassinated a decade later.

At least 600 men, women and children are needed for non-speaking roles, says Louise Mackiewicz of The Casting Line Canada Inc., who has done casting work on several films, including Open Range, Shanghai Noon and Mystery, Alaska.

Since the Jesse James movie is set in the 1880s and 1890s, men with "great character looks, especially facial hair," and women with long hair will be particularly prized, Mackiewicz says.

It's not known yet exactly when the Edmonton filming will be done, or even where.

"We will be in the Edmonton area for a three-week period," Mackiewicz says. "Some of our biggest scenes may require upwards of 350 people for one day."

It's thought some scenes will be shot at Fort Edmonton Park, where 1885 Street has buildings that would fit the time period.

The town of Creede, high in the mountains west of Denver, may be harder to recreate.

"They're looking at building a town on Fortress Mountain in K-Country," Mackiewicz says.

The movie is being directed by Andrew Dominik and produced by Pitt's company. Plan B Films, in conjunction with Scott Free Productions, owned by directors Ridley and Tony Scott.

There are more than a dozen speaking parts. Principal casting is being handled out of Calgary by Deb Green Casting. Green was in Vancouver this week looking for actors, including someone to play Robert Ford.

Edmonton's open casting call will be held Sunday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Ramada Inn and Conference Centre at 11834 Kingsway Ave.

rmcconnell@theiournal.canwest.com

Former Calgarian Produces Horror Film

Here's a link to a Calgary Sun article about a former Calgarian named Blake Corbet who went from owning a landscaping and construction company to become a movie producer.

"In the construction industry, Corbet says, "People are clean and straight-shooters and honest ... The people who manage movie stars are incredible. I'm not saying that they're all liars and thieves, but the ethical boundaries are a lot more broad."

Corbet sold his landscaping and construction business after moving it to Vancouver in 1998. He has devoted the past eight years to learning filmmaking. About the shift in careers and future of his movie producing role:

"I'm middle aged. I've got a family. It's insanely risky (to go into moviemaking) ... My 15 year old said when (filming Fido) seemed at risk, he said, 'If you don't pull this off, I'm out of here. I'm going to turn myself over to the state. It's too much."

Whether Fido which stars Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix Trilogy), Billy Connolly, Dylan Baker, Henry Czerny, and Tim Black Nelson, has been picked up by Lion's Gate, which will release the film in 2006.

Brad Pitt Coming Back To Alberta?

Brad Pitt as Tristan Ludlow in Legends of the Fall. © 1994 TriStar Pictures, Inc.

There's been rumblings about Brad Pitt filming in Alberta again for quite a while now. When I was conducting research for the print version of The Alberta Movie Guide a few years ago, locals in southern Alberta towns mentioned hearing about his return for a feature film production. It's been rumored that he's already visited Alberta several times in addition to filming Legends of the Fall and that he has property in Bragg Creek near Calgary, though he denies it saying if he owned land in all the places people said he did, he'd be "quite the land baron." A month ago, I heard the rumor resurface and was told that Pitt had recently made a visit to Alberta to scout locations including Fort Edmonton Park. Calgary and Edmonton media outlets have been buzzing with the news, but no official announcements have been made.

The Assassination of Jesse James, one of many flicks about the infamous outlaw, is to be directed by Chopper's Andrew Dominik and produced by Ridley and Tony Scott's Scott Free Productions.

If you've never been to Fort Edmonton Park, it's worth visiting not only for it's historic atmosphere, great location, and cultural history, but to see it up close before it appears on film again. I've had the good fortune to visit it many times during school and family outings, celebrate special occassions and film weddings there. I've even traveled down the North Saskatchewan River by canoe to stay overnight at Fort Edmonton, just as Hudson's Bay Company Fur Traders used to do many years ago. Fort Edmonton Park remains one of my favorite locations in the city. I'll have more on Fort Edmonton Park's role in films at a later date.

Note: Please don't send requests asking where Brad and other stars will be staying or what time they'll be at a certain place as I won't be providing that specific kind of information. The film production needs to run smoothly and though there'll probably be some kind of media photo opportunity if they do film here, the cast and crew don't need delays in work or hassles during the off-production hours. Just like you or I, they have a job to do. Perhaps serving as an extra on the film might be your shot at getting a glimpse of Mr. Pitt?

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Originally published in the Edmonton Journal, June 22, 2005:

Details of Pitt visit as elusive as James gang
Hot actor coming to Edmonton for film about Wild West outlaw

Rick McConnell
The Edmonton Journal
June 22, 2005

EDMONTON - Wanted: Information leading to some arresting details about the new Brad Pitt western coming to a city very near you.

The blond, heart-throb leading man will soon be back in Alberta to film his new Jesse James movie, which will be shot at historic Fort Edmonton Park and in the wide-open spaces outside Calgary.

Beyond that, there are few eyewitness reports about the $30-million drama. Reporters seeking tips about the movie and its big-name star followed a cold trail Tuesday.

"This is the best news a film commissioner can get," said Edmonton Film Commissioner Patti Tucker, who, as it turned out, couldn't offer an accurate description about who will do what to whom, or when, or how.

"I'm as frustrated as you are," Tucker said when asked to confirm the whole Brad-Pitt-is-coming-to-town story.

"We need to get this good news out, but it's got to come from (Alberta Film Commissioner) Dan Chugg. I can't say one word to anybody, and I've been working on this for three months."

Chugg, who oversees the province's film industry and reports to Economic Development Minister Clint Dunford, was out of the office and unavailable for comment.

Requests for information were passed to the department's communications branch, but no one from that office called back to confirm one of the biggest film projects to hit the province in years.

Still, despite efforts to keep word from leaking out, those tracking the story were able to learn that Plan B Films, a company started by Pitt and his estranged wife, Jennifer Aniston, will co-produce the movie, along with Scott Free Productions, owned by brothers Tony and Ridley Scott.

Pitt will play Jesse James, who was living under the alias Tom Howard in St. Joseph, Mo., when he was gunned down in his living room on April 3, 1882, by his cousin, Bob Ford, a former member of his gang.

The movie, based on the 1983 Ron Hansen novel The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, will be good news to Alberta's film industry.

But to the people who will one day market the movie, good news is apparently no news at all.

At Warner Bros. Pictures offices in Los Angeles, one publicist after another said, more or less, "they went thataway," and finally suggested information might be forthcoming from the company's Canadian headquarters in Toronto.

There, however, a harassed publicist was dealing with a power outage and had no time to talk. Hours later, the Toronto publicist called back and passed the bouncing ball back to another Warner spokesperson in Hollywood, who confirmed that Pitt and the Scotts are indeed involved, but wouldn't say much more.

Is there anyone from Warner Bros., the spokesperson was asked, who can talk about this project?

"No," the spokesperson said.

Could you tell us why that is?

"No," the spokesperson said. "If we put out a press release in which we announce this, then the head of production would make the announcement. When we put out a formal announcement, then it will come from the head of the studio."

Over at the Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association offices, things seemed a little more certain.

"I understand there are quite a few locations around Alberta, not just Calgary and Edmonton," said executive director Alan Brooks. "It means a lot of work for a lot of people in this industry."

Brooks said he was told production officials involved with the project visited the Alberta capital months ago.

"They fell in love with Fort Edmonton Park," he said. "It was absolutely perfect for the movie."

"We have no information," said the person answering telephones at the park, who then suggested Patti Tucker might be the person to call.

With a posse of reporters still hot on the story's trail, by the end of the day the film's director had been identified as Andrew Dominik, who once wrote and directed a film called Chopper (2000), which starred an actor named Eric Bana, who later worked in a film called Troy, which starred a certain shy fellow named Pitt, who might remember Alberta from his work a decade ago on Legends of the Fall, which some people say was filmed here.

But that might be a rumour.

rmcconnell@thejournal.canwest.com

--

The Calgary Sun also has a report on the 'Pitt-stop' at this link.

Wanted: An Edmonton film school

Back on March 24, Todd Babiak of The Edmonton Journal wrote the following article about Red Deer College's Motion Picture Arts Program and commented on the cinematic direction and training for Alberta's creative talent.

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Wanted: An Edmonton film School
Will Red Deer lead us to cinematic promised land?
by Todd Babiak - Originally published in The Edmonton Journal

In the Woody Allen movies of the 1970s, every character is writing a novel. In the real world of 2005, every character is making a Woody Allen movie. Or a Christopher Guest movie. Or a really embarrassing John Woo movie.

Not long ago, the motion-picture industry was an exotic cult that only accepted the ultra-rich, the ultra-lucky, the Ultra-beautiful and the extended family of Francis Ford Coppola. Thanks to the wonders of digital technology, a broadcast-quality camera and editing suite is now about the same price as two years of university tuition. Anyone can make a feature, and apparently they are; at a weekly rate, Edmontonians are directing, editing and releasing films into the local market, a market that barely exists.

This is good news, isn't it? We humans long to express ourselves, to share our stories, and we were constrained too long by the prohibitive economic realities of the movie industry. Independent film is on the same level as independent music and small-press publishing, with a libertarian, outlaw quality. Who needs Hollywood? We can rent the Garneau for a weekend!

The keyword here is "rent."

Technical expertise is suddenly available to everyone. What is less available, and rarer than a Whooping Crane, is the ability to conceive and tell a good story. We can cheer the efforts of young and aggressive local filmmakers. We can put their pictures in the newspaper. But no one can pass a lie detector test claiming that any of the locally produced features screened in Edmonton in the last few years approaches mediocre. Either they're mock documentaries filled with unfocused improvisation or they're loud, cliche-ridden messes masquerading as American genre films.

NAIT offers a two-year Radio and Television Arts diploma. The University of Alberta offers a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media Studies. One of these programs produces all the gaffers and grips the province will ever need. The other graduates experts in narratology and la nouvelle vague francaise. Neither of these programs trains screenwriters or creative directors.

"Maybe our goal is to create a local pool of technicians," says U of A Film and Media Studies professor Jerry White.

"But an environment where people who are creative are encouraged to develop as artists? That's a different thing altogether. A BFA (bachelor of fine arts) in film production in Edmonton would help, depending on what you want, but the networks that allow people to get into the film industry, whether they have a degree in film or not, are very informal."

Making a good movie, a movie worth watching, is ridiculously difficult. Finding an audience for an English-Canadian film is even more difficult, as the faintly audible cricket sounds during Monday night's Genie Awards presentation demonstrated. Even in Toronto and Vancouver, the twin cities of Canadian film, there isn't a genuine opportunity for those informal networks to develop and thrive. After the Genies, professionals talked about how we just need one great Canadian film to capture the nation and the world, creating a measure of interest and activity. Since things can't get much worse, anywhere. Alberta is as good a place as any to develop and release that one great Canadian film. But greatness is unlikely when competence is scarce and making money is just about impossible.

"We've studied film programs across the country, to see what they've done wrong," says Don Armstrong, head of production at Red Deer College's Motion Picture Arts program, a two-year applied after-degree in production or performance.

"We're trying to produce entrepreneurs instead of employees, so we're taking them through pitch sessions and teaching them about the business and the art of film. If you want a job in the industry, you don't have to go to school.

What we're trying to do is help build an industry in Alberta by having students form companies and initiate professional projects."

The latest film to come out of Red Deer College, To The Victor, is nominated for three AMPIA (Alberta Motion Picture Industry Association) awards. The program's last collaborative feature, Naked Frailties, has been distributed around the world.

So far, film programs in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal have been unable to create la nouvelle vague canadienne.

So far, universities in Edmonton and Calgary aren't bothering to try. There isn't much time left, as iMacs [Apple Computer] and editing software transform the art of film into little more than a hobby for the vain and the curious, tightening Hollywood's hold on the industry.

Come on, Red Deer.