NBFC E-news - Friday, Oct 16, 2009
Spotlight!
Red Carpet will roll out for the 9th Annual Silver Wave Film Festival Launch
New Brunswick's most exciting Film Festival is bigger and better than ever. Organizers of the 9th Annual Silver Wave Film Festival will officially unveil its full programme and website on Thursday, October 22 at 12 pm in the Charlotte Street Arts Centre.
The Festival runs from November 5 - 8th this year. While last year's festival screened around 60 films, this year Silver Wave will screen more than 80 films including three new shorts programmes, additional shorts from away screenings and a special showcase screening of Cultural Capital shorts celebrating Fredericton as a Cultural Capital for 2009.
NB Film Co-op Executive Director Tony Merzetti said this year the Festival received twice as many submissions as last year.
"We are thrilled to be showcasing an even stronger line up of New Brunswick, Canadian and International films." he said. "Filmmakers from all over are starting to take note of the Silver Wave Film Festival."
This year the Festival will feature new shorts programmes specifically for high school, film school, and contest shorts. Merzetti said these are where many of tomorrow's filmmakers get their start.
The Festival will also recognize the New Brunswick Filmmaker's Co-op 30th anniversary. Founded in 1979, the co-op has grown to be the single most important outlet in developing filmmaking in New Brunswick. "This province doesn't have a separate film school like The Canadian Film Centre or the Vancouver Film School so the Film Co-op has played a significant role in training and developing emerging filmmakers," Merzetti said. "We're extremely proud of the role the Film Co-op has played in fostering filmmaking in New Brunswick over the past 30 years."
Organizers will also use the launch to unveil the opening night gala film. Traditionally the opening night film has a strong New Brunswick connection although organizers say people will have to wait until the 22nd to find out whether that holds true again this year.
Full Festival passes can be purchased at the NB Film Co-op starting October 30th ($40.00 (call 455-1632). All other Tickets sold at the door of each venue only at the time of each screening.
The organizers, festival team, sponsors, guest filmmakers and media will be present and there will be complimentary refreshment and guest speakers.
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The 7th Annual Silver Wave Film Festival is pleased to have the support of the following Major Sponsors: New Brunswick Film, City of Fredericton, Le Centre communautaire Sainte-Anne, CBC Television and Radio, Crowne Plaza, University of
New Brunswick - Faculty of Arts and The Canada Council for the Arts.
For more information, please contact:
Jim Lavoie, Publicist/Cat LeBlanc, Membership Services
NB Film Co-op/Silver Wave Film Festival
Tel: 506-455-1632
Email: info@nbfilmcoop.com
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Festivals
THINGS TO DO SOON TO PREPARE FOR SILVER WAVE 09
CHORE #1 - Out-of-town sponsors, supporters and attending filmmakers, hurry up and book your room at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Fredericton! The festival rate is $124/night and the Hotel is a major sponsor this year hosting multiple parties for us as well as providing us with beautiful rooms at a reduced rate.
Call: Toll Free Reservations 1-877-579-7666
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ONE-ON-ONES WITH BOYNE CLARKE & THE ROYAL BANK AT SILVER WAVE
Christene Hirschfeld, Partner, Boyne Clarke, Barristers and Solicitors & Nan MacDonald, Relationship Manager, Media & Entertainment, Royal Bank of Canada will be available for one-on-ones with Film Co-op member filmmakers & producers, industry producers and filmmakers from away while at SWFF.
Take this opportunity to ask everything you ever wanted to know about legal and banking issues as they relate to film, television and new media production.
Biography -
Christene is a partner at the law firm of Boyne Clarke in Nova Scotia, and lives in Queensland, Nova Scotia. Her practice focuses on commercial law, with an emphasis on entertainment and technology law. Christene is a lecturer at Dalhousie University Law School, an Associate of the Law & Technology Institute, an Affiliate of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada, past Chair of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Intellectual Property section, past Chair of the Nova Scotia Chapter of Canadian Women in Communication, and a past director of the Information Technology Industry Alliance of Nova Scotia.
Biography -
Nan MacDonald Senior Account Manager, Media & Entertainment has provided interim financing to numerous Canadian film industry projects including feature films, television series, documentaries and animation programming; as well as complex international co-productions. Nan brings a wide and diverse range of skills to her position. Before joining RBC, she was the Director Business Development for Discovery Centre in Halifax and spent 14 years as a Forensic Scientist in Ontario. Nan holds a Bachelor of Science from St. Francis Xavier University and a Masters of Business Administration from Saint Mary's University.
(please visit:
www.rbc.com
)
Please email Cat at info@nbfilmcoop.com to set up an appointment with one or both of them.
Sponsored by Boyne Clarke, Royal Bank of Canada , Silver Wave Film Festival and New Brunswick Film
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PITCH YOUR PROGRAM IDEA TO CBC DURING SILVER WAVE
Pitch your program idea to CBC - Friday, Nov 6 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
WHERE: Charlotte Streets Arts Centre,
Basement Film Co-op resource centre, 732 Charlotte Street, Fredericton.
Peter Hall will be booking one-on-one pitching sessions, please book your session through Lori Wheeler,Sr. Communications Officer CBC New Brunswick. (lori.wheeler@cbc.ca ) 451-4080.
Peter is happy to hear all program ideas suitable for the CBC
regionally and for the network.
Peter Hall is the Senior Manager, Regional Non-News Programming for CBC Television, Maritimes. He helped establish CBC Newsworld in Halifax when the all news network was created in 1989. He has worked for the three major Canadian networks with experience in news, current affairs, magazine and documentary television.
Currently Peter is responsible for all CBC non-news programming in the three Maritime Provinces including independent production.
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WIFT at SWFF!
WOMEN IN FILM AND TELEVISION-ATLANTIC with the SILVER WAVE FILM FESTIVAL Present:
In The Beginning…It starts with the Script
WHERE: Charlotte Street Arts Centre - upstairs Multipurpose Room (right beside the auditorium), 732 Charlotte Street, Fredericton, NB
Delicious pastries and refreshments will be served following the event compliments of Sweet Belgian Desire Cafe
WHEN: Friday, November 6, 2009
TIME: 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm.
Join award winning New Brunswick filmmaker Gretchen Kelbaugh in conversation with Louise Lalonde, Tim Hogan, Tony Sekulich and others. All who have worked with screenwriters or have a body of work as screenwriters themselves.
Gretchen will ask the questions that writers too often don’t have the chance to ask: What opportunities are there to develop screenwriting skills? What can a writer do to improve the chances of their work being produced?
What do producers look for in a writer beyond just a good idea? Is it possible for a writer to apply for development $ to write a script? When should a writer link up with a producer? When should a writer work with a story editor? How do you get your script to a producer? Can a writer approach a Broadcaster with an idea? When should a writer pitch their idea? What elements should a writer bring with them to pitch their idea?
Come join us in this lively interactive discussion during the Silver Wave Film Festival in Fredericton. For more information please contact Pamela Lovelace, creativepam@gmail.com or visit www.wift-at.com
Sponsored by WIFT-Atlantic, Silver Wave Film Festival and New Brunswick Film
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SWFF INDUSTRY WORKSHOP!
GET YOUR STORY STRAIGHT
Learn the basics of developing a treatment for a feature film or television series by viewing an exceptional Canadian film and re-creating the treatment by comparing writing a treatment for a feature and a television series. No previous experience or training is required and you don't have to have a script on the go.
Click here to watch the promo video
People can register with Louise directly at: louise@peiscreenwritersbootcamp.net (This workshop is $30)
WHEN: 9:30am to 4:30pm, November 7, Saturday, NBFC Resource Centre, 732 Charlotte Street Arts Centre, Fredericton
Space is limited for this workshop so register now while you can!
Louise Lalonde Biography
Louise graduated from the Trebas Institute in Film and Television Production in 2001. Since then she has initiated and managed training and mentoring programs for the Island Media Arts Coop beginning with a six-month full time training program Running With Scissors that saw eight participants work as a production team on several video shorts.
For three years running, Louise has coordinated and managed the PEI Screenwriters' Bootcamp that to date has offered forty-four emerging writers from Atlantic Canada the opportunity to develop their skills as screenwriters and learn about the industry. The Screenwriters' Bootcamp is a week-long retreat style workshop that has attracted mentors such as Tom Shoebridge founder of the Canadian Screen Training Centre; Alex Epstein, television producer and author of writing guides for both film and television; and Jennifer Podemski, actor, screenwriter, and producer for Redcloud Studios Inc.
Louise is also a writer in her own right with several feature-length scripts and television series in development and has written, directed, and produced several shorts on film and video. She is presently developing a bible for a reality show.
Before entering the world of film and television, Louise was a vocational teacher for many years. She also owned and operated a Bed & Breakfast, The Stratford Inn, for a few summers, worked as a chef and eventually a restauranteur managed her own small café, The Garden of Eatin.' Prior to her foray into the hospitality industry, she worked as an executive assistant on Parliament Hill.
Louise came to PEI on May 1, 1984 to visit friends, enjoy some lobster and a few sunsets and never left. She is now happily settled in Charlottetown.
Sponsored by New Brunswick Film, New Brunswick Filmmakers' Co-operative, Telefilm Canada, Island Media Arts Co-op and techpei.
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The Arts
FREDERICTON MONDAY NIGHT FILM SERIES
ADAM
October 19, 8pm at Tilley Hall, UNB Campus
Director: Max Mayer
Screenwriter: Max Mayer
Cast: Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Frankie Faison, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, Mark Linn-Baker
Run Time: 95 minutes
Country: USA
Year: 2009
Language: English
In movies, when two twentysomethings serendipitously wind up under the same Manhattan roof, witty repartee usually transpires, then sparks fly, and eventually they fall into bed. But the boy and the girl in Adam are no ordinary characters, and their romance is anything but familiar. Soon after moving in, Beth, a brainy, beautiful writer, encounters Adam, the handsome, but odd, fellow in the downstairs apartment. A pleasant chemistry flows, but his awkwardness is perplexing. Whether avoiding eye contact or standing by blithely while Beth drags a heavy load up steep stairs, Adam seems utterly oblivious to social convention.
Then one night, Adam regales Beth with an elaborate outer-space light show. It’s a magical moment, tainted slightly by his obsessively thorough astronomical explanation. Their connection is palpable. It becomes clear that Adam's inability to decipher nonverbal signals is beyond his control. And yet Beth doesn’t balk. Their mutual interest tentatively takes root.
What makes this rare story about obstacles to human intimacy credible is its tremendous psychological wisdom; what makes it transcendent is the intelligence and authenticity radiating from actors Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne. Though their particular challenges are extraordinary, Beth and Adam’s tricky relationship elucidates something universal: truly reaching another person means bravely stretching into discomfiting territory—and the shake-up can be liberating.
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Biz & Indie Film News
CREATIVE UPDATES - WALLY MACKINNON
Well, it’s that time of the year again. Summer is over and the beauty of fall is upon us. Everyone’s films are in the can and getting ready for the Silver Wave Film Festival.
The last 6 or 7 months have been very productive for me starting in early spring with the film The Magnifier. The film was a half hour short written by Michel McDonald from Saint John, and Directed by Marcel Gallant from Moncton. I played a hard nose, x-military captain (very bad hair cut) who tries to push his out of date views on his son. The film was shot in Saint John, with a great cast including Walter Learning, Andrew Johnston, and Emily Bartlett. The trailer can be seen on YouTube here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0us4b2bJ42A
It won't be ready for SWFF this year but hope to see the guys submit it next year.
I then landed the role of Detective Depuy in Global Universal Pictures production of American Sunset. Produced by Jacqueline Giroux and directed by Michael Masucci, this film was shot in both Fredericton and Moncton. It is due out this fall on the Movie Network. It is so great to see films from out of town using the very talented cast and crew members from New Brunswick.
It was a great experience working with Michael Masucci. He is what we call an actors director. As an actor he understands what we want and need from a director, and takes time to talk about your role and up coming scenes. He was also interested in what you thought about the scene. This is very rare in a director. On most of these types of films it’s here is your lines, hit your mark, now roll camera. But with Michael he made you feel that you were an important part of his film. This helps take the pressure off so you can do the work you were hired to do. It was a fun project to work on.
As the summer was approaching, I was preparing my family and myself to once again be away for the whole summer working, because that is when most theatre festivals run. (It’s a crazy life we lead) I think I have only been home 1 or 2 summers over the past 14 years. But now having a child makes it much more difficult to go away. My son turned 6 in May; I realized how fast he was growing and knew I had to be at home with him and my wife. She carries twice the load when I am away, but is very supportive of what I do. She is a very strong woman. And I love her for that. This is a very important factor in our business;
make sure that the people closest to you are supportive and understand the demands on your time.
As luck would have it, I received a call from the Notable Acts Festival here in Fredericton to read for one of their main stage plays. I was pleased to hear that I had landed the part. It was a new play by Marcel-Romain Theriault called On And Off The Shelf. This was the first time this play was performed in English.
I played the role of Pierre Lachance along side the very charming and talented stage and film actor Jane Wheeler. Jane had just recently moved here with her husband and family from Montreal and is a wonderful addition to our talent pool here in New Brunswick. Another bonus was that the play was being directed by the very talented Mr. Marshall Button. I have known Marshall for a few years, but had not had the opportunity to work with him. It was a real treat. He is one of the best directors I have had the good fortune to work with. He is very caring, giving, and understanding. Now I look forward to sharing the stage
with him sometime.
While in the middle of rehearsal for On And Off The Shelf, I had the chance to work on a project with a fairly new company called Pixa Tale Media owned by Sebastian Maclean and his business partner Rodrigo Gutierrez (who are members of the Film Co-op). I had a lot of fun working with these guys, they produced a great product and I wish them all the best with their company.
One of my sidelines and favourite things to do is to play music. This summer I had the opportunity to showcase my 3-piece band at the River Jam Music Festival held at the Delta Hotel in July. It was my very first year performing there, and we were lucky enough to get the nine o’clock spot on the patio. It was one of the few days it didn’t rain in July. It was a beautiful night, the patio was full, there were all kinds of boats moored on the river, and the sun was setting behind the trees. For me, it really was a magical night. Hey, we even got an encore. You can’t ask for better than that. I sure hope to do it
again next year. (If I’m not away working)
Presently, I am preparing for my ninth year (wow, time flies) teaching Acting For Film and Television at U.N.B. Starting in January.
One of the biggest things I stress in my class to want-to-be actors is the great opportunity that is offered through the NB Film Co-op. It is the best place to get in front of the camera and practice your chops. Up and coming directors are always looking for acting talent and it is a great way to network and meet people who are passionate about film. I have gotten to work with and for a lot of the students who have gone through my classes. And that is so great to see. Tony and Cat are great, accessible and knowledgeable and are always willing to help. We are very fortunate to have the Film Co-op in NB.
My latest good news is that I have been cast in the role of Rollie Waters in Theatre New Brunswick’s production of Skin Flick, a new comedy written by Canada’s most produced playwright, Norm Foster, and directed by Fredericton’s own new Artist Producer Caleb Marshall. The play opens in March of 2010. Hope you all get a chance to come.
My thanks to Cat for asking me to write a little something about what I have been up to.
And for those of you who have their films in the SWFF, good luck, and I look forward to seeing all of your hard work on the Silver Screen. I also wish the Film Co-op a happy 30th anniversary!
As we say in the business
Break A Leg!
Wally MacKinnon
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Advertise
MONCTON FILMMAKER LOOKING FOR ASSISTANCE
I go to Film school in Newfoundland and I am coming home to NB from the 6th of Nov to the 15th and wanted to get some footage for my film.
I was just wondering if anyone knew of anywhere I could rent a camera and what it would cost. I live in Moncton so it would be more convenient if I could rent a camera there.
Thanks
Alex Jane Hopper
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CASTING CALL
Short Film Series
Looking for female/male actors ranging from ages 20-40 years, +1 male 40-50
Please prepare a short monologue for audition (of any interest).
Actors should bring a copy of their CV and headshot.
Acting experience an asset but not necessary.
Casting to be done at:
Centre for Arts and Technology
130 Carleton Street
Room 206, Sat October 17th, 10am -5pm
Please feel free to contact us with any questions
Ask for John at (506) 999-0634
Or e-mail
stephaniemarin@msn.com