NEWS

Leonard Farlinger's I'm Yours starring Rossif Sutherland and Karine Vanasse will have it's World Premiere at TIFF 2011 on Sunday, September 11, 2001. Check it out!

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010 TORONTO – Production has begun this week on the feature film I’M YOURS, written and being directed by Leonard Farlinger.
 
A road movie/romance that speaks to the illusive, cultural zeitgeist of the ‘Y’ generation, I’M YOURS is a sexy and irreverent two-hander that sees a disillusioned Wall Street broker kidnapped and blackmailed into taking a road trip with a beguiling free spirit. Inspired by classics like Breathless and Something Wild, I’M YOURS examines what it takes to make the leap into love when the deeply cynical world around you seems to be coming undone.
 
Beloved Canadian star Rossif Sutherland (High Life, Poor Boy’s Game) stars along with multi-award winning, French Canadian star Karine Vanasse (Polytechnique, Set Me Free) in the first English-speaking lead of her career.

Sean Cisterna's MOON POINT starring Nick McKinlay (Cooper's Camera), Paula Brancati (Being Erica, Degrassi: The Next Generation), Kyle Mac (Baxter, Valemont) and  a host of others is in Post Production.The film is produced by Sean Cisterna, Christian Potenza and is written by Robert Lazar.

MOON POINT has been accepted to 4 Canadian Film Festivals. You can see it at:

   Edmonton International Film Festival
   Calgary International Film Festival
   Sudbury Film Festival
   Northern Film Festival (Huntsville)

Hope to see you there!

MOON POINT is the charming, quirky story of Darryl Strozka, an ambitionless 24-year old who travels hundreds of miles in a wagon hooked onto the back of his friend’s electric wheelchair. He embarks on this quest in hopes of tracking down Sarah Cherry, his elementary school crush, now an obscure B-movie actress shooting a horror film in Moon Point. Darryl believes that taking Sarah to his cocky cousin’s upcoming wedding will finally prove to his family that he isn’t as worthless as they make him out to be.

Dead Before Dawn is now in post production with an expected early 2012 release.

June 24, 2010 – Playback Online - Wango Films enters production on Dead Before Dawn

Tim Doiron and April Mullen of Toronto-based indie prodco Wango Films are heading into production on Dead Before Dawn, the first fully Canadian 3D live-action film funded by Telefilm.

The adventure comedy follows a group of college kids who release a curse that turns people into zombie demons – zemons, to be exact – which Doiron describes as “Goonies meets Pineapple Express meets Shaun of the Dead.”

Dead Before Dawn will film in Niagara Falls for 20 days, starting June 26, with Doiron as writer/producer and Mullen as director/producer. Toronto’s Red Lab is on board for post-production, and companies involved include DJ Woods, 3D Camera Company and William F. White.

The pair (pictured) spent three years in development, and the project was conceived with 3D in mind.

“We were one of the first to shoot on the Red camera and are always on the cusp of technology,” Mullen tells Playback Daily. “It’s a major challenge for young producers to step up to the plate and we’ve been pushing as hard as we can to convince people that it is possible. There aren’t even inventions yet to put filters on the lens – you have to duct-tape them!”

“There’s a mecca of 3D technology and skills here in Toronto,” adds Doiron, “but no one’s really taken the reins and done a completely Canadian film [in 3D].”

While they couldn’t yet reveal the specifics of their budget, the pair did say that it was “very modest,” forcing them to be more creative with their approach.

“You can create a lot of cool ambiance in 3D if you plan the shots properly, it gets back to old school way of filmmaking,” explains Doiron, as he and Mullen use the example of shooting in a cemetery and moving the dolly slowly to create a grander effect.

Wango has landed a presale with Movie Central and The Movie Network, and are in discussions for theatrical distribution. (Their previous films, Rock Paper Scissors: The Way of the Tosser and Gravy Train were distributed by Alliance.)

Doiron is repped by Vancouver’s Trisko Talent Management, while Mullen is repped by Noble Caplan Abrams.

Dead Before Dawn is executive produced by Avi Federgreen (Score: A Hockey Musical).

Please check out the Dead Before Dawn Website at www.deadbeforedawnthemovie.com.

 IN RELEASE

SCORE: A Hockey Musical is now available on DVD at all Blockbuster, Rogers Video Stores and also at HMV, Walmart, Amazon.ca, ITunes, and Cineplex.com. The full soundtrack from the film is available online now at ITunes, HMVdigital, 7digital.ca, Puretracks, Archambault (zik.ca), Rogers TELUS, Aeroplan Music Store, MSN Music Store, SCENE Music Store, Napster
and eMusic.

It can also be purchased at the following stores:
AMAZON.COM.CA, Walmart, Archambault (Groupe),CD Warehouse Inc., Compact Music, Criminal Records, Fran-An Enterprises, FRED'S LIMITED, HMV CANADA, J MAC MUSIC INC., L'ATELIER GRIGORIAN, LIBRARY BOUND INC.
MCNALLY ROBINSON BOOKSLR, RECORDS ON WHEELS, VIDEO ONE CANADA LTD., and WILSON & LEE LTD.

The Toronto  International Film Festival opened on September 9 with the premiere of SCORE: A HOCKEY MUSICAL. Cameron Bailey, Co-Director of TIFF, said, “It  continues our tradition of launching the very best in Canadian filmmaking; although in 35 years this is our first musical romance about hockey.” SCORE was written and directed by Michael McGowan, produced by McGowan and Avi Federgreen, with Jody Colero and Richard Hanet as executive producers. Filmed in Toronto, SCORE stars Noah Reid, Allie MacDonald, Olivia Newton-John, Marc Jordan, Stephen McHattie, and John Pyper-Ferguson. Special features are cameos from an impressive lineup of Canadian icons, including singers/songwriters Hawksley Workman, Nelly Furtado, Dave Bidini, journalist George Stroumboulopoulos, hockey dad Walter Gretzky, and hockey star Theo Fleury. SCORE: A HOCKEY MUSCIAL is also opening the Atlantic Film Festival, The Calgary Film Festival and Edmonton Film Festival. SCORE will also be appearing in the Vancouver Film Festival in October.

Look for George Ryga's HUNGRY HILLS to be released on DVD soon!

George Ryga's Hungry Hills was one of twelve foreign films selected for the Skip City D Cinema Festival in Tokyo. The festival is sponsored by Sony, among others, and is dedicated to films shot in digital formats. There were 810 entries from 85 countries this year, making it the largest digital festival in the world.

“Many films call themselves independent, but this one truly is. It's adapted from the work of a rebel writer and a true Canadian. It took 16 years
to get to the screen. Many say it's not a happy story. Bob Dylan said anyone can be happy but what good does that accomplish? Some said people don't want to watch period films. That they aren't relevant. This film is about a teenager with all the odds stacked against him in a community embittered by economic hardship. I say that's f#*+ing relevant. And audiences that have screened it around the world agree.”

Rob King
Director

George Ryga's HUNGRY HILLS was completed in August, 2009 in Regina, Saskatchewan. The film is directed by Rob King (Something More, Moccasin Flats, Redemption) and stars Keir Gilchrist (United States of Tara), John Pyper Ferguson (Brothers and Sisters), and Gabrielle Rose (Mothers & Daughters, and Grace).

     
LESLIE, MY NAME IS EVIL will be released in theatres this Spring and on DVD later this year. The film is directed by Reginald Harkema (Monkey Warfare) and stars Gregory Smith (Everwood, Guns), Kristen Hagar (Wanted) and Ryan Robbins (Battlestar Galactica, Sanctuary). The film had it's World Premiere at the 2009 Toronto International.

HIGH LIFE is currently in release across Canada. The film is directed by Gary Yates (Seven Times Lucky) and stars Timothy Olyphant (Deadwood), Steven E. McIntyre (FearX), Joe Anderson (Across The Universe), and Rossif Sutherland (Poor Boy’s Game). The film also had successful screenings in Berlin, Edinborough, and at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Look for the DVD release later in 2010.

     
ONE WEEK is now available on DVD and Blueray and is also available for download on Itunes and exceeding all sales expectations. ONE WEEK surpassed 1.2 million dollars in domestic box office. The film is directed by Michael McGowan (Saint Ralph) and stars Joshua Jackson (Fringe, Dawson's Creek) and Liane Balaban (Last Chance Harvey, New Waterford Girl).