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 Now that Silver Wave is over for this year, the Film Co-op staff are coming up for air and able to focus on regular Co-op activities. (Photo by Stephen MacGillivray) Back L-R: Ashley Phinney, Matt Carr. Front L-R Tony Merzett, Cat Leblanc.
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FILM DIARY - ALEX BREWER - BLACK AND WHITE AND BRITANY HATED THE TITLE
A few weeks back I premiered my directorial debut Black and White and Dead All Over at Silver Wave. It was a long road getting there. I wrote the script 10 years ago (literally). It never got made because I didn't want to direct it myself (I wanted the movie to be good) but no one else wanted to direct it either. Last year I decided it was finally time to push it into production but even in late 2015 I was still trying to weasel out of directing it myself (ask Cat).
I had already been involved in film for 12 years and had worked on dozens of films before trying to direct something so I had a decent idea of what to expect, but it proved to be about five times more time consuming than I expected. And incredibly stressful, both in pre-production and production. So many details didn't come together until the last minute: cast, crew, the vintage car, art department, practical effects, etc. It was a marathon. Post-production was a long process too, though my editor (Alex) and composer (Bryan) were extremely accommodating.
Though I felt pretty good about the finished film, it was still scary premiering it at Silver Wave. The screening went well, and we arguably scored the biggest reaction of the festival. The film received nominations for Best Actor (Jon) and Art Direction (Jared), and finished 4th for Viewer's Choice out of 82 films, making it the highest placing comedy in what had been a strong year for comedy.
I was a first time director making a 15 page period piece with special effects and the only funding I had was a $300 co-op grant. This thing should have been a train wreck. It turned out as well as it did because I surrounded myself with great people. I was asking advice from Alex, Jesse, Britany, and Jared at every turn. My volunteer cast and crew gave it their all while enduring long hours and many litres of chocolate syrup. Thanks everyone!
Crew picture from the last day of filming. Photo by Dan Blustein. Missing from photo: Alex Vietinghoff, Annick Blizzard, Evan Pemberton, Gary Belding, Célia Thompson, Justin Gaudet, Camille Coulombe, and Paul Angers.
FILM ETIQUETTE - THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING DEPENDABLE
By Ashley Phinney
Ashley working in her comfort clothing at the Film Co-op
There is something to be said about someone who follows through on their word. We all have times in our lives where we get too busy, we get stressed, and we drop things, or shut down entirely. Sometimes something happens that takes priority over other things and we push things back.
99% of us are guilty of this. Maybe it isn't all the time. Maybe it is. But either way, when we do this we not only hurt ourselves, but we also hurt other people.
In the indie film world when you don’t show up or do your part it not only effects you, it effects every single other person working on the project. If you were supposed to make a prop and 'didn't have time' then the whole production suffers. If you were late showing up, everyone is now late. If you didn't show up, then, they either can't shoot, or have to find someone to replace you immediately. Headaches, headaches, headaches.
We can avoid these issues:
Call ahead. If you can't be there, and you have a legitimate reason, then just call and tell someone. It's that simple.
Ask for help. If you are overwhelmed by a task that you said you would complete, there is no shame in asking for help.
Set a limit for yourself. So there are 6 shoots in 3 months that you have been asked to work on. Say no to some of them. You can't adequately do your job on all of them. Some will suffer. That isn't fair to anyone.
An extension of the #3 is don't go back on your word. If you have said yes to the first three projects, say no to the next three. It's that simple. Yes it might be more exciting, yes it might be more your speed, but that doesn't mean you should back out on someone else who is counting on you.
If you absolutely must back out of a project. Find a replacement for yourself. If the director isn't happy with your choice that’s fine, but at least you haven't left them with no one.
If you do not do something to help those you've left in the lurch then you can expect that eventually you will no longer be asked to work on sets and the help you receive on your own projects will decrease. It doesn't matter if you are the best at what you do. If you are not reliable, then there is no reason to have you on a crew.
We are all human. We all have our days. Things will come up that we do not expect. But in order to stay at the top of our game, and to keep our name clean we must do our best to stick to the production plan and not let others down.
People are understanding, but only if you give them something to be understanding about. Or, at the very least respect them enough to do everything you can to not leave them hanging.
PAYPAL LINKS ARE UP FOR NBFC MEMBERSHIPS FOR 2017
Co-op staff Ashley Phinney has recovered from SWFF behind the scenes work, and is now painting Cat's office! She's a machine!
Hey there, you don't have to wait until 2017 to renew your co-op membership or join for the first time says Co-op staff Ashley Phinney! The paypal links for memberships for 2017 are up on the co-op website, be an early bird and you may win two full comp passes to SWFF 2017! - http://nbfilmcoop.com/joining
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 Filmmakers, submit your short dramas and comedies to the NSI Film Festival!
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BUZZ
TORONTO - OUT OF THE FOG: FILMS FROM ATLANTIC CANADA 1970S AND 80S
Credit: New Brunswick Filmmakers' Co-op/1987
The Spectre of Rexton/Drama
Kevin Holden/24:00 minutes
The students of Ryerson University’s Master of Arts program in Film + Photography Preservation and Collections Management are pleased to present Out of the Fog: Films from Atlantic Canada 1970s and ‘80s. This free screening of short films starts at 7pm on Thursday, December 8 featuring rarely screened work by artists from the Atlantic provinces. The programme mines the vaults of the East Coast film archives and co-ops to juxtapose experimental, documentary, and narrative works from the 1970s and ‘80s by Lulu Keating, John Brett, Tony Merzetti, and more.
Out of the Fog illustrates the drive of independent filmmakers during this period to step away from commercial cinema forms towards collaborative and community-oriented filmmaking practices. A sense of displacement tied to the Atlantic landscape is captured in this slate of films, along with a sense of the strange, the supernatural, and the darkly humorous. Many of the films in Out of the Fog will be screened on 16mm archival prints. This screening is a rare opportunity to view films from Atlantic Canada made during this important period in Canadian film history on their original formats. Full lineup of films will be announced closer to the screening date.
Admission FREE and open to the public.
FREE refreshments will be available.
Seating on a first-come, first-served basis.
School of Image Arts (Ryerson University)
122 Bond Street (near Yonge and Dundas)
Room IMA 307
Wheelchair accessible
Visit http://www.imagearts.ryerson.ca/ or call 416-979-5167 for more information.
Curated by Olivia Babler, Rachael Crawley, Mike Marlatt, Alex Robichaud, Olivia Wong, and Aisling Yeoman, with help from Professor Izabella Pruska-Oldenhof.
SUBMIT YOUR FILM TO THE NSI ONLINE SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
$4,750 in cash awards are available to be won through the National Screen Institute’s Online Short Film Festival. Films are accepted exclusively through FilmFreeway until Friday, December 2, 2016.
Films that meet award criteria are eligible for the $1,250 A&E Short Filmmakers Award, the $1,000 Brian Linehan Actors Award and the $1,000 Corus Fearless Female Director Award. These awards are presented four times a year. The $1,500 Blue Ant MediaDocumentary Award is presented twice a year. Read more about the awards.
How to submit your film.
Entries must be under 30 minutes – the shorter the better. Drama, comedy, animation, documentary, sci-fi, horror, music video and experimental are all eligible but must be made by a Canadian writer, director or producer. The festival accepts films released after January 1, 2011.
The NSI Online Short Film Festival, now in its ninth year, is a year-round Canadian short film showcase with new films added every week.The festival has programmed hundreds of films, many of which are available to watch in the archives.
All NSI Online Short Film Festival winners receive a complimentary Friend membership for the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.
The NSI Online Short Film Festival is made possible through the support of Festival Partner Telefilm Canada; Supporting Sponsors Entertainment One, Super Channel, Corus Entertainment, Blue Ant Media, The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation and Breakthrough Entertainment; Award Sponsors A&E Television Networks, The Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation, Corus Entertainment and Blue Ant Media; and Industry Partner the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.
All media enquiries
Laura Friesen, Manager, Communications & Alumni Relations
Phone: 204.957.299 or email: laura.friesen@nsi-canada.ca
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The Monday Night Film Series presents CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
Monday November 28th at 7:30pm in Tilley 102, UNB.
120 mins, USA, 2015, English
The sophomore film from actor-director Matt Ross (best known for his roles on TV’s Big Love and Silicon Valley), Captain Fantastic offers a delightfully offbeat and heartwarming tale about love, duty, and family.
Ben (Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method, Eastern Promises) and his wife are non-conformists who have chosen to raise their six kids deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, where they have been taught to live off the land, trained to have the endurance of professional athletes, and instilled with advanced knowledge of philosophy, literature, and geopolitics (they consider soda “poison water” and celebrate “Noam Chomsky Day” in place of Christmas). When tragedy strikes and the delicate ecosystem of their counterculture paradise is thrown into disarray, Ben and his clan are forced to take a trip across the country in their camper van affectionately named “Steve.” Both heartbreak and hilarity ensue as the kids face some of their first social interactions with the wider world — and discover hot dogs. As his children see more of the world — and as his rebellious eldest son (George MacKay, Pride, Sunshine on Leith) becomes determined to march to the beat of his own drum — Ben begins to question whether shutting them off from it is the right decision.
Best known for his heavy-duty dramatic roles, Mortensen reveals a wonderful gift for comedy as the back-to-nature patriarch Ben, and his interactions with the young actors playing his children yields some truly laugh-out-loud moments (particularly when he doles out hunting knives to the older kids as presents, and bestows a copy of The Joy of Sex upon his six-year-old son). Boasting a stellar supporting cast that includes veterans Steve Zahn, Kathryn Hahn, and the great Frank Langella, Captain Fantastic is an irresistible comedy-drama that asks what it is that truly makes a family.
Captain Fantastic should connect in a major way with those looking to be swept up and moved by such a fundamental human experience.—Peter Debruge, Variety
This year, 30 limited release, independent foreign & Canadian films will be shown. Admission is $7/film, but a yearly $18 student film society membership reduces admission cost to $4/film. The series is open to all. Memberships are available at Tilley 102 every Monday night.
For further info, contact NB Film Co-op 455-1632 info@nbfilmcoop.com http://www.nbfilmcoop.com/exhibition/monday-night-film-series
The NB Film Co-op in partnership with the UNB Faculty of Arts and the Toronto Film Festival presents the series.
FREDERICTON - THEATRE UNB PRESENTS VENUS IN FUR BY DAVID IVES
WHEN: November 30-December 3
One of the hottest plays of the last five years, in all senses of the word, is coming soon to Theatre UNB. David Ives’ Tony Award-winning dark comedy Venus in Fur took the theatre world by storm upon its premiere in 2010 and was the most produced play in North America in 2013-14.
Playwright-director Thomas Novachek is holding auditions for the lead female role in his new play, an adaptation of the 1870 erotic novel Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (from whose name the term “masochism” was derived), when in walks Vanda Jordan. At first seemingly hopelessly unsuitable for the part, Vanda gradually reveals an amazing affinity for the play’s material, and what ensues is by turns hilarious, strange, and darkly compelling, as Thomas and Vanda take on the roles of Sacher-Mosoch’s protagonists and delve further and further into Venus in Furs’ dark world, engaging in a highly charged power play driven by desire and dominance. Along the way, roles become reversed, surprises abound, and the latest twist is never the last.
Directed by Kyra Lake and starring Hilary Ready and Djordje Lepir, Venus in Fur will be performed at 7:30 PM nightly, Wednesday,November 30th through Saturday, December 3rd, at Memorial Hall on the UNB campus. Tickets ($14 regular, $10 senior/underwaged, and $8 for students) will be available at the door. For more information, email lfalken@unb.ca or phone 506 447-3078.
SAINT JOHN - CANADA SHORTS INVITES YOU TO TWO FREE SCREENINGS
Canada Shorts 2016 is delighted to invite you to two free screening events on Saturday Dec 10th in Saint John (N.B.) of an outstanding selection of award winning Canadian and International short films.
The shorts being screened are best-of-category and award winners at Canada Shorts. They include short films from Canada, United States, Chile and Belgium.
The screenings will take place in the elegant Mary Oland Theatre of the New Brunswick Museum.
The screenings will be in two blocks on Saturday Dec 10th:
Block #1 ... 11am to 12.30pm
A Perfect Day ... Grand Prize Winner / Best International Short / Best Director / Best Screenplay
Therapy ... Best Drama
Servant ... Best Crime/Action/Suspense
Innocence ... Best Family/Animated
Block #2 ... 1.30pm to 3pm
The Path of Grey Owl ... Best Canadian Short / Best Documentary / Best Cinematography
Don't Let Them In ... Best Thriller/Horror
Moonshot ... Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Thornbird ... Best Experimental Film
Entelechy ... Best Music Score
Some shorts may not be suitable for children.
For additional details see the Canada Shorts website:
http://canadashorts.com/2016.php
Tickets are free and available via this link:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/canada-shorts-2016-canadian-and-internationa...
SAINT JOHN - CALL FOR ARTIST SUBMISSIONS – Faces of FUSION 2017
fusion_saint_john_call_for_artist_submissions.pdf
FUSION Saint John never settles down for a long winter’s nap. The annual Faces of FUSION is being celebrated Friday, January 27th, 2016. FUSION’s Arts+Culture Director is accepting submissions for a visual arts commission for display at the awards gala.
FUSION Saint John is an action organization representing the under-40 demographic of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. It is a multi-disciplinary group whose mandate is to be a voice for action in a variety of capacities that serve the social, economic, and cultural prosperity of our region.
Central to FUSION’s mandate is the commitment to supporting and delivering cultural products that help achieve the overarching goal of cultural diversity and prosperity. We welcome submissions from visual artists to develop a medium-scale pieces for display at the awards gala, showcasing the winter event theme and ‘faces’ of FUSION, and designed to allow for attendees to encounter art in a meaningful way as part of this event. The submission will be adaptable to setup in various venues, all multi-story, indoor events spaces in Uptown Saint John.
In 2017 specifically, this art must be suitable to act as a major showpiece in the Diamond Jubilee cruise ship terminal: https://www.sjport.com/venues/_/meetings/our-space/. Submissions that rely on a gallery type setting will not be accepted. The pieces need to possess a scale suitable for display at an awards event with hundreds of people. Artists should keep in mind the large number of participants – there are typically 300-400 guests. Projects must be easily viewed/experienced by the entire audience, along with smaller, interactive features. Those that offer a live art experience and an opportunity for the public to engage with the artwork (and artist) will be preferred.
Successful submissions will be showcased as a feature component of the event Friday, January 27th, 2017, and at future Faces events.
Submissions for time-based projects should last no longer than 45 seconds, and must include other two or three dimensional mediums that would be in place throughout the event.
Some components of the display may be lent to the event rather than part of the commission if an artist already has pieces in a collection that would be suitable to include. These cannot comprise more than 20% of the overall concept.
Artists' fees between $500 - $1000, depending on the scope of the project, will be awarded. This will include all necessary setup and teardown of the pieces at the venue, along with designing with reasonable means of transport in mind. Volunteers can be made available to assist with setup and teardown if suitably arranged in advance.
Faces of FUSION Submission Guidelines:
Late or incomplete submissions will not be accepted
• project description (500-word maximum in attached .doc or PDF format only)
• up to 5 images (attached files under 1M each, jpg, tiff, png, or gif) of proposed project and past work
• or, for time-based projects, please include no more than 2 minutes of video-support material (attached as mov or youtube in your project description)
• an up-to-date CV/Resume (in attached .doc or PDF format only)
• please submit proposals by e-mail to connect@fusionsaintjohn.ca by midnight Sunday, December 11th, 2016. Successful candidates will be notified by December 27th, providing one month for project finalization and completion.
• e-mailed submission must be titled “Faces of FUSION Arts Submission 2017” and follow the guidelines above. All text and image files should be attached, not embedded in your e-mail. If you have a link (for vimeo or youtube video only) please be sure to include it in your project description and not in the body of your e-mail.
If you have any further questions about the submissions process, please don’t hesitate to contact us at fusionsjinc@gmail.com.
FEATURE EXHIBITION ENTRY FORM
APPLICATION DEADLINE: December 14, 2016
Event: Faces of FUSION
Contact: Stephany Peterson, Arts+Culture Director
Email: infusion.stephany@gmail.com
Description Of Event: An invitational exhibit of artwork, for the purposes of annual display, to showcase the concept of ‘faces’ of the organization and the event concept. Both two and three-dimensional work is eligible.
Open to all visual artists under-40 from the Greater Saint John Area.
To Apply:
1. Complete the Entry Form and Feature Exhibition Disclaimer
2. Email to Stephany Peterson, infusion.stephany@gmail.com and cc: michaelwatkins@national.ca along with fusionsjinc@gmail.com.
**Make sure to include on the subject line ”Faces of FUSION Arts Submission”
Deadline:
Entry Deadline is midnight Sunday, December 11th, 2016.
Each entry must be unique, you may not submit the same works for multiple exhibitions. The successful artist will be notified of their acceptance on or before December 27, 2016. If accepted, the Director will follow up with any additional informational details regarding time of set-up, etc.
Name _________________________________ Date_______________________
Email ________________________ Phone number ________________________
Website ______________________ Address ______________________________
Medium ______________________ ______________________________
Briefly Describe the Concept Behind Your Work:
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Submit 3 digital images representative of the work you would like to submit.
You may include a sketch of the display concept if you desire.
Name each JPG with your first initial, last name and image number (example: JSmith1.jpg JSmith2.jpg, JSmith3.jpg).
Image Number 1 (name JPG: firstinitiallastname1.jpg)
Title___________________________________________________________
Medium_________________________________________________________
Size/Dimensions__________________________________________________
Date___________________________________________________________
Image Number 2 (name JPG: firstinitiallastname2.jpg)
Title___________________________________________________________
Medium_________________________________________________________
Size/Dimensions__________________________________________________
Date___________________________________________________________
Image Number 3 (name JPG: firstinitiallastname2.jpg)
Title___________________________________________________________
Medium_________________________________________________________
Size/Dimensions__________________________________________________
Date___________________________________________________________
IMPORTANT
• All decisions of the Director is final.
• If you are accepted, by submitting your entry you give FUSION Saint John and its partners the right to publish your images for publicity purposes for this specific event or FUSION in general (All credits to artist will be included). We may ask select artists to provide higher resolution jpegs suitable for publishing.
FEATURE EXHIBITION DISCLAIMER
(ONLY USED UPON ACCEPTANCE)
*Required for Participation in the Faces of FUSION awards gala
Please sign and submit this form with your submission to it can be included with artwork
I, the undersigned, hereby develop and create the following work (s) or other materials for FUSION Saint John. I hereby release the FUSION Saint John, its organization, Board of Directors, and the venue of the event from any responsibility for loss or damage. The organization retains full rights to the artwork and its use, along with any images of the artwork, to be used in perpetuity.
Name ______________________________ Address _______________________________
Phone______________________________ Email _________________________________
Website _____________________________________________________________________
Signature ___________________________________ Date_______________________
