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December 31, 2013

My Resolutions for 2014

Okay 2014, I'm ready for you! Here's what we're gonna get done this year:

1. Break bread with as many interesting, creative, effective, and real people as possible.

2. Inspire, encourage, and/or enrich the life of at least one person every day.

3. Resist all negativity, distractions, and apparent defeat like Teflon, living every day by the mantra, "Stay positive, stay focused, and do the work!"

4. Complete two feature film screenplays by the end of March. (Deadlines are my friends.)

5. Entertain all manner of story ideas, however wild, woolly, or improbable. Mold, shape, and polish to a well-constructed, universally-appealing, commercially-viable luster.

6. Record one album of original songs. (Riches and glory may come along for the ride if they wish, but I'm taking the trip regardless.)

7. Finish that children's book I started when I was 19 and send it to my publisher by the end of May.

8. Get a publisher. And an agent.

9. Make at least one film, however small, about something that moves me deeply.

10. End the year healthier, wealthier, wiser, and happier than I started it.

11. Recognize that resolutions and lists are totally meaningless unless carried out in full.

You hear me, 2014? I'm comin' after ya!!

December 15, 2013

Scoring Films - Part 2: Ten Questions To Ask Your Director

I was 15 when I got my first job flipping patties for his royal highness, the Burger King. As anyone who has plied the fast food trade knows, the burger-making process is the essence of streamlined simplicity with a final product that is utterly predictable, every time.

If you've never had the privilege, trust me, it's a riot. Heel, ketchup, mustard, pickles, patty, cheese, crown, wrap, and down the chute. Over and over again. Oh, to relive those glory days all over again. I knew exactly what was expected and if I didn't do it right, my boss and I knew exactly why.

Composing a score for a movie is, as you might imagine, nothing like making burgers. The process is anything but simple, and nobody - not even you - has the slightest idea what will come out on the other side. Sure, you have a boss called the director who expects you to deliver something that will satisfy his customers. But as mentioned in part one of this series, directors often have no clear idea what they want, what their story needs, or even what they're talking about. They just want it done. It's your job to figure out what "it" is.


I have had the opportunity (though not always the pleasure) to work with directors ranging from the musically well-versed to the musically illiterate, from type A to type Z-z-z, from collaborative to downright despotic. Some did, in fact, know exactly what they wanted in terms of tone and pacing while others didn't have the foggiest. I'm fine with either. What matters to me is that they're willing to sit down together and build a plan.

For that to work, of course the composer needs to instill confidence in the director that he or she is up to the task. (We'll talk in Part 3 about some of the basic and necessary groundwork a person must do before they're qualified to start composing.) A productive composer-director relationship also requires that you clearly understand why a score exists, which is primarily to serve the needs of the film and satisfy the director's vision. But let's assume for now that you get all that, you've been approached to score a production, and you're good to go.

Rule #1: Before you take another step, meet with your director. (Not the writer, the producer, or the music-lovin' sound editor. The director.) Rule #2: Don't let them leave the room until you've had the following questions answered (or they need to use the washroom). Don't just let someone pass you a DVD with a rough cut of the film and wish you good luck, trusting that you'll just magically "know" what to do. If no one else has bothered to do it, call a meeting immediately.

Then, with pen and notepad at your side, ask the following 10 questions to help clarify your objectives and get you to the composer's chair as soon as possible:

1) What format/venue are we dealing with?
Is this a short film, feature film, TV show, web series, radio commercial, video game, audio book, corporate promo video, etc? While not radically different, each format or venue tends to have it's own unique flavour, function, and set of audience expectations.

2) Who’s your intended audience?
Not all productions are designed for general audiences. Who is the director hoping will watch this? Sometimes, a production is targeting a specific group of people. For example, a flashy promotional piece designed to wow buyers will probably seek to arouse a different set of emotions than would a documentary about mosaic tile artists. (And remember, manipulating people's feelings is what the music is all about!) Know who they are and be prepared to tailor your music accordingly.

3) What's the genre?
Is this going to be a comedy or a dramatic piece? Are we in horror territory or is it a spy thriller?

4) What's the tone?
Somewhat understandably, people sometimes confuse genre and tone. However, they're not the same thing. For instance, compare the equally excellent scores of The Ring and Drag Me To Hell. While both are horror movies in terms of their genre, tone-wise, Hans Zimmer's gentle and understated approach to the former is utterly unlike Christopher Young's intentionally bombastic, cliché-riddled take on the latter. Even within a franchise, tone can often shift as the story and characters evolve. Compare John Williams' relatively light and playful score for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone with Alexandre Desplat's brooding requiem in The Deathly Hallows Part 2 and you'll know what I mean.

5) What’s the story?
As mentioned in my previous post, a good score is much more than background music: it's a critical part of telling the story and conveying key emotions at the right times. Which means you have to know what the story is. If a rough or final cut of the production is not available, get a hold of the script or have your director walk you through the story. Besides further clarifying the tone, this will help you determine what kinds of people your characters are, what's at stake, how and in what ways the action rises, where the conflict and tension should be, and how it all goes down in the end. It will also give you a bit of a head-start mapping out the timing of your tracks and big dramatic moments.

6) Who are the characters (especially the protagonist and antagonist) and what do they want?
Composers often assign themes or motifs to major characters, depending on their personalities, what they're chasing after, and what is motivating them to do so. John Williams' soundtrack for The Empire Strikes Back or Howard Shore's for The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring are classic examples. Williams' assigns unique melodies and even instruments to Luke, Leia, Yoda, and most famously, Darth Vader, while Shore gives not only characters but entire kingdoms their own anthems. While not absolutely necessary, these assigned themes and motifs can be powerful tools for a composer, especially when interwoven in scenes where characters either clash or come together.   

7) Can you think of a film, or films, that have a score similar to what you're going for?
Some might feel nervous asking this one. After all, you don't want to rip off another composer or sound derivative. It can also add unnecessary confusion to the process as the director racks his brain for answers that may not exist. And in the end, even if they can point at a particular film's score, it may be absolutely wrong for the film you're making. But I still think it's a good question to ask because if you do get a solid answer, it can save you a whole lot of time figuring out where the score should go. Feel free to make a few suggestions of your own, by the way. My approach is to get answers to the previous questions, then refer to film scores I think fit the project's story and mood. Not to copy, just to get in the ballpark.

8) How do you see the film's music and visual elements working together to tell the story?
Some productions are highly stylized, rely heavily on visual storytelling, or for other reasons require a closely choreographed relationship between sight and sound. Animation, kids' shows, and screwball comedy are also great examples. On the other hand, some films work best when the music and visuals are free to move in their own directions and yet still work together, kind of like jazz musicians. This includes knowing where not put music, so the audience's brain can take a rest or because the suspense of a scene is better-built in silence. In the beginning your director may not know or care, but it's still worth asking.

9) How soon will I get to see a rough cut and the final edit?
Even though I've listed this as my final question, it's always my first. If I have a copy of the film, I'm off to the races. I still meet with my director, but now the meeting is fast-tracked as we watch and map out the music together, answering every question along the way. Very important to ask about that final edit, by the way. If you've timed, scored, and locked everything to a rough cut, be prepared for some changes. The editor has invariably shortened, extended, and/or completely altered certain scenes for the final cut.

10) What are our deadlines and when am I getting paid?
In most cases, there will be a final deadline and several milestones attached to future meetings along the way, all determined by the size, scope and stakeholders involved. Rate of pay will be similarly determined by the amount of music you write, the size of the production's budget, your experience and standing in the industry, and other factors. Contract and payment may or may not have been sorted out already prior to your first meeting, but either way, it's wise to confirm here.

Other questions require attention, including post-production considerations such as the format in which your sound editor prefers to receive recorded tracks and "stems". But these should get you started.

Happy scoring!

NEXT POST: 7 Steps to Becoming a Film Composer
LAST POST: Where to Begin?

December 6, 2013

Mandela to Me

I still remember the first time I bought a "Free Mandela" pin.

Sting concert, BC Place in Vancouver, 1987. Amnesty International had a table of assorted pamphlets and wares and I picked the button partly because it was the most colourful thing they had, but mostly because it was hip to display back then - even if, like me, you had no idea who Nelson Mandela was.

The pin did, however, get me thinking. Who was this person the world seemed to think had been treated unjustly, I wondered. So, as we did in those primordial pre-Wikipedia days, I went to my local library and spent an afternoon looking into the life of the man who, by then, had already spent over two decades in prison.

Quickly, words like "apartheid" and "keffer" and the grim reality of state-sanctioned racial segregation in the modern world were burned into my consciousness, sad reminders that we still had a long, long road to walk en route to Mr. Lennon's dream of a universal brotherhood of man.

That same year saw the release of Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom, with Denzel Washington as Stephen Biko. Now it was on. I tore through the biographies and published writings of the real Stephen Biko, then Gandhi, then Bishop Desmond Tutu, then Martin Luther King. With each passing page, new light was shed on the historical, worldwide struggle for equality and human rights.

And yet South Africa as a nation, as a people, remained an unfathomable mystery to me. My girlfriend at the time (coincidentally a native of Pretoria) tried her best to bring me up to speed on how and in what ways racism had managed to sustain itself for so long as a part of the national fabric, but I still didn't get it. It merely convinced me that whatever else was true, Mandela was never, ever going to be set free.

And then, in 1990, he was. Finally, I could throw that old pin away. (I didn't.)

For a while, no one could believe it. I wondered secretly how long it would take before the government realized what it had done and throw him back in prison. But then he was meeting with every world leader on the planet regardless of political or philosophical stripe, from the Pope and Fidel Castro to Muammar Gaddafi and President George H.W. Bush. In 1993, he and South African president F.W. de Klerk jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize.

Then in 1994, the unthinkable happened: the people of South Africa elected him as their President. That same year, he published his autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom.

He was 76.

Then things got really scary. After all, in a country with a black-to-white ration of roughly 4:1, one could reasonably assume that payback was about to become, as I believe Plato put it, a "nastly, old bitch". It was then that Mandela ceased being just a profoundly important political figure to me and became my hero.

Determined to prevent a bloody civil war and help South Africa become a bona fide multicultural democracy, Mandela worked hard to rally black support for the reviled national rugby team, the Springboks, at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, then followed it up by forming the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a body committed to investigating crimes committed by both the government and his own African National Congress during the apartheid years. Forgiveness and healing would come, but only after properly reckoning with the past. We're going to do this the hard way, he seemed to be saying, because that's the only path to a true and lasting peace.

The rest is history.

On December 5, 2013, he passed away at the age of 95. Earlier this evening, I attended a candlelight tribute in his honour. Though it's sad to know he's gone, it's hard to stay so for very long, given the life he lived and the powerful legacy he left behind.

Bottom line: Forget DC or Marvel; Mandela's life is real superhero stuff.

*                     *                    *

Catch Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom starring Idris Elba, in theatres now. 

You can also see Mandela's life portrayed in:

  • Invictus (starring Morgan Freeman) 
  • Mandela (starring Danny Glover)
  • Mandela and de Klerk (starring Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine) 
  • Goodbye Bafana (starring Dennis Haysbert)
  • Mrs Mandela (BBC telefilm starring David Harewood)  

December 4, 2013

Scoring Films - Part 1: Where To Begin?

Visit Paul's YouTube channel to hear his music in films 

Occasionally, over a glass of this or that, I get asked the question: "When you scored that last film, how did you know what music to put where? And how did you come up with that stuff in the first place?"

I wish the answer was simple. It would sure make me sound smarter at dinner parties. But as any songwriter knows, creating music always involves some strange dance of mathematical, mechanical, and mystical processes that leaves even us scratching our heads half the time.

Truth is, we know and we don't know where the music comes from. Dreams, memories, rational thought, random emotions, skill, impulse, self-flagellation, booze, and more than a little "borrowing" from our fellow artists and heroes, let's be honest. It all goes in the soup. And in the end we, too, are often surprised by how it tastes.

But it's not all muses and pixie dust. Composing, particularly for commercial entertainment purposes, is also a carefully applied science. Certain rules apply, even if those rules are subject to wild and woolly tinkering. And of course, there are expectations. From the director, occasionally from the producers, and always from the most important people of all: the audience.

A good score isn't just filler or background noise. Sure, it used to be back in the era of silent film and Max Winkler, but those days are long gone. For a long time now, movie soundtracks have performed a very specific function - namely, to give directors "superpowers" as they tell their stories. How so? By drawing the audience's attention to certain things happening on the screen and manipulating them to feel a certain way, often without them realizing it.

Sidney Lumet said it best: "Almost every picture is improved by a good musical score. To start with, music is a quick way to reach people emotionally. Over the years, movie music has developed so many cliches of its own that the audience immediately absorbs the intention of the moment: the music tells them, sometimes even in advance." (Making Movies)

I mean, just imagine the following scenes without the music: 
  • A woman jumps into the ocean for a midnight swim when suddenly a shark's fin appears.
  • The words "Star Wars" burst forth in neon yellow then fade into a starry background, followed by a slow, seemingly infinite crawl of story background details.
  • A little girl dressed in red weaves in and out of a crowd in a Warsaw ghetto as Nazi soldiers round everyone up for extermination.
  • William Wallace breathes hope and courage into his troops with a pre-battle speech that would make Bill Clinton jealous.  
That's right, composers play with audiences' emotions for a living. And, of course, the audience loves it!

Which brings us back to our original question: How do composers know what music to put where? Or more precisely, How do they know what music will create the desired emotional effect at any given point? 

I pause here to mention a little cheat I have. Some might even call it an "advantage". You see, I'm also a screenwriter, trained in the art of storytelling and more specifically, story structure. I understand approximately where a good story should start, where it should go, and how it should end - in terms of the audience's reaction, that is. Does this experience help me when it comes to scoring? Without question, just like it can help you. Therefore, while not absolutely necessary, I always recommend composers spend a little time studying the art of effective storytelling.

So, here it is - my process for scoring a film. Everyone is different, of course, but this is what works for me. Notice the recurring theme:

1. Sit down and talk with the director.
2. Do some basic research on the film and story.
3. Sit down and talk with the director.
4. Experiment with a few initial ideas and sounds.
5. Sit down and talk with the director.
6. Start building major themes, usually around key characters and events.
7. Sit down and talk with the director.
8. Watch the completed film (with the director) to nail down the big dramatic moments, the associated emotional ups and downs, and those parts of the film where silence is golden.
9. Sit down and talk with the director.
10. Draw up a "map" indicating exactly when music will start, stop or change direction based on #8 above.
11. Sit down and talk with the director.
12. Compose and record!
13. Sit down and talk with the director.
14. Change, fix, edit, revise, or modify until the director is happy.
15. Mix down the final product into the required stems/format (usually .WAV).
16. Forward files to sound editor (and the director).

By the way, when it comes to all those meetings with the director along the way, be aware that he/she may not always know (a) what he/she is talking about, (b) what he/she wants, or (c) what the film actually needs in terms of music. So take it for what it's worth. After all, you're the expert - that's why they hired you!

At the same time, this is their baby. So listen to their ideas and give them an honest try at the keyboard (or whatever default instrument you score with). Just don't be afraid to present them with something completely different that you think might work better.

Communication, balls, and teamwork are everything. Well, that plus a muse and some pixie dust!

NEXT POST: 10 Questions to ask your director when preparing to score a film

Visit Paul's YouTube channel to hear his music in films

November 16, 2013

Living That Dream: It's Never Too Late To Get Started!

 Though admittedly unconventional and definitely unpaid, my first writing gig took place at age 5. For reasons I can't recall exactly, I felt that L. Frank Baum could have done better with The Wizard of Oz. So I rewrote it. The whole thing. Then performed it live in my grandparent's living room for any neighbour willing to pay the low, low price of twenty-five cents.

Four people showed up. In my mind, it was a smash hit (after all, a dollar could buy two chocolate bars back then) and my young, brilliantly naive mind raced with visions of future glory as a writer.

For the next decade and a half, I pumped out short stories, essays, radio plays, and comic books with a zest and vigor that would make Stephen King look like a bum. I wrote for the sheer delight of it, for the excitement of creating whole new worlds, making people say and do what I would never dare to do in real life, and seeing where the muse would take me next.

I enlisted friends to play the parts in the plays we recorded. Wrote and produced my first film at age ten. Had stories published in mainstream creative writing journals at age 12. Earned a spot as arts and entertainment editor with Simon Fraser University's student paper, The Peak at 19. Began writing and illustrating my first children's book at 20. There was absolutely no question where my life was headed and I could hardly wait for the book tours to begin!


Flash forward twenty years. I'll spare you the gory details, let's just say life intervened. Financial realities, career detours, marriage, kids, divorce, new financial realities, new detours, etc. If you once had big dreams, then watched time throw up wall after wall between those dreams and you, you know what I'm talking about. I continued to write during those years, as a journalist, blogger, and sometimes creative writer, but it was all very much "on the side" and "in my spare time".

Hopes of becoming a writer professionallyone of those special few who get to do it for a living, receded more fully into the horizon with each passing day. I came to accept that it just wasn't meant to be. That there was nothing wrong with being a really, really good corporate HR specialist in the oil and gas industry. And that somehow, I would find a way to die happy, despite knowing I had never accomplished my life's passion and soul's purpose.

And then I woke up, handed in my recruiter's cap, and went to film school. I was 41.

It's never too late.

Hey, I wasn't stupid about it. I assessed the risks, counted the costs, sought advice, deliberated, and agonized. I even cried a little. I knew there were no guarantees I'd pop out the other end of Vancouver Film School's writing program into an executive's chair at NBC. But I didn't care, because it was quite simply time. Time to finally do what I'd always wanted to do.

As you get older, the choice becomes relatively straightforward: Either you go after what you love or you find a way not to love it anymore. It's the only way to silence those crazy, incessant voices inside your head. When you're twenty, you still have the luxury of time, of weighing options, of apparently infinite trial runs, of thinking your opportunities are always and forever ahead of you. When you're twice that age, desperation moves in and becomes a more or less permanent roommate, quiet and respectful at first, then gradually leaving socks everywhere and constantly cranking the stereo to ten.

Sometimes, desperation is a good thing. It was for me. It drove me to finally become a paid, professional writer.

I'm not making millions (yet), I'm not even doing it full-time (working at it), but for the first time in years, I'm doing what I was born to do. More than that, I've proven to myself that all the excuses I use to dole out about how my dreams had moved beyond reach were simply the things good people tell themselves to try and feel better about allowing their dreams to slip away. (P.S. If you're a parent, prone to spouting off about how important it is for your kids to follow their dreams, be prepared for them to serve you your own words for lunch one day if you don't eventually follow yours!)

Crazy voices abound, particularly the aforementioned ones in your own brain. Once you make the decision to chase after your dreams, the voice that shouts "It's too late!" is replaced by the one that screams "You're gonna fail!" Just voices, that's all. And because they're in your head, don't forget you are at liberty to tell them to shut the hell up.

Still think it's too late? That you're too old? That opportunity has passed you by?

Check it out:

Andrea Bocelli waited till age 34 to trade in his lawyer's briefcase for life as a world-class singer.

Julia Child enrolled in cooking school at 36.

Phyllis Diller began her stand-up comedy career at 37.

John Mahoney, Kelsey Grammer's father on Frasier, got into acting at 37.

Stan Lee was 43 when he began crafting superheros, and Fantastic Four partner Jack Kirby was 44.

Charles Darwin was 50 when he finally converted his life's work into On The Origin of Species.


Laura Ingalls Wilder started as a newspaper columnist in her 40's and didn't get down to business with Little House on the Prairie until her 60's!

Colonel Sanders was 65 when he began selling chicken with eleven herbs and spices.

Frank McCourt was 66 when his breakthrough novel, Angela's Ashes became an international hit. His next two books were written at ages 69 and 74.

Grandma Moses took up painting later in life when arthritis ended her embroidering career. She was 80 when her first solo exhibit won rave national reviews. At her death (she was 101), she had over 1,600 paintings under her belt.

It's never too late!

October 15, 2013

In Memory of My Incessant Cheerleader, Auntie Barb

I was eight years old when I decided I wanted to be just like my Auntie Barb. At the time, she was the lead singer of the Vancouver band, Broadway. (My dad was the guitar player.) I remember because I had painstakingly learned all the words to Bonnie Tyler's "It's A Heartache" and was invited by my aunt at the last minute to get up and sing it at Vancouver's Kejack's nightclub where Broadway was playing that evening.

It was the Spring of 1979 and totally normal for an eight year-old to be sitting at a bar at ten o'clock on a Friday night, so long as he was related to a member of the band.

I had never felt such an intoxicating mixture of electric superstar excitement and run-for-the-hills terror. But with her unquestionable faith in my ability to knock it out of the park, and her knack for working a crowd, I took control of my bladder, jumped down from my stool, and made my way to the stage.

When I was done, I received a standing ovation and a bowl of spumone ice cream on the house.

My life changed that night. In ways I couldn't have foreseen at the time, music would now somehow be a part of my life forever. All because she had faith in me when I didn't have it in myself. Because she saw a golden opportunity where my limited imagination was only able to detect failure and embarrassment.

Every eight year-old should be so lucky.

For the next thirty-five years, Barb stood behind every single creative endeavour I pursued without the faintest whiff of doubt that I would succeed. Every band I played in, every song I wrote, every novel or script idea I came up with, every film I scored music for. Not oblivious to the fact that every aunt believes her nephew was delivered directly from the gods, I also sought the unbiased feedback of professionals to my creative work, just in case. Meanwhile, she continued to listen, to stand in awe and smile, to assure me with a zealot's belief that I could do anything - absolutely anything - I put my mind to.

A faith that extended beyond my art to my relationships, my parenting, my work life, and. . .well, pretty much everything else.

Don't get me wrong, she was no Pollyanna. She wasn't afraid to tell me when she thought I was spinning my wheels, wasting my time, squandering my opportunities, or generally full of shit. But in all things and at all times, she was my tireless cheerleader. The sun in my life that simply never, ever went down.

Until October 12, 2013 when at age 60, she ended her battle with cancer and sank into a sweet sleep.

It's funny how life smacks us in the head sometimes and gets us back in the driver's seat. For the past year, I've drifted in and out of what I'm assuming is the mid-life crisis I was certain I had avoided when I turned 40. A period of intense introspection, anxiety, and self-doubt my older friends keep telling me is "perfectly natural" (though, I might add, "completely unwelcome") when you suddenly realize you've got as many years behind you as you do ahead. What am I doing with my life, what difference will I have made, and all that stuff. I've got to admit, it's left me more than a little unhinged at times.

But as I looked into my auntie's face for the last time in the dimly-lit silence of her hospice room, I suddenly remembered that night in 1979. I remembered her stepping down from the stage in the middle of her set and taking my trembling, eight year-old hand. I remembered her prepping the audience, assuring them that this next number was going to blow their minds. I remembered her smiling from ear to ear when it was all over, clapping and cheering wildly.

And as I stood to leave her room for the last time, I blew my cheerleader a final kiss and made her a promise: I would never let fear stop me from doing anything. Ever. Till the day I died.

Love you, Auntie Barb.

September 5, 2013

Orillia Gears Up For First Annual Film Festival

Visit the O.F.F. website for more details.
ORILLIA, Ontario - Local ophthalmologist Tim Hillson not only has an eye for film, he knows a good opportunity when he sees one. Why else would he take upon himself the mammoth task of orchestrating the famous town's first annual film festival?

"I've always loved film," says Hillson. "Watching my kids and others enjoy making their own movies, I started to see how much more accessible film-making is with the explosion of new and affordable technology that allows the user to share their creativity in a really appealing way. And I thought it would be a great thing to have something that puts that creativity on show in our city."

Hillson's plan looked fairly straight-forward on paper: Make a national call for short film entries, show the selections over the course of an evening, and hand out prizes to the best ones. Sounds easy if you say it fast enough. But anyone who has worked TIFF, VIFF, or any of Canada's other notable annual festivals knows that running an event like this is anything but easy, never mind starting one from scratch.

"You know it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," says Hillson, no stranger to building a business from the ground up.  "I looked at some other communities doing something similar and how they were doing it. I shamelessly cut and paste good language from other websites when I found it.  I reserved the website name, created a non-profit corporation, then broke the tasks down. Getting sponsors, getting volunteers, getting submissions, getting an audience. After that, it was really just grunt work."

Grunt work that included sending letters to film schools across the country. Soliciting volunteer workers from local high schools. Tapping the synergistic advertising might of Facebook, Twitter, and Withoutabox. Blanketing the area with posters and post cards. And perhaps most significantly, securing Orillia's gorgeous Opera House as the festival's venue.

"We wanted to say right off the bat, 'this is going to be great' to our potential audience," Hillson continues. "I think if we had picked a budget venue it would have cut the interest significantly. Once I put the deposit down, I knew it was going to actually happen!"

Orillia, made famous in Stephen Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (under the fictional town moniker "Mariposa"), attracts tens of thousands of tourists each year, due largely to its breathtaking waterfront views, groovy arts milieu, and annual Mariposa Folk Festival which has hosted greats like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, The Proclaimers, Blue Rodeo, Barenaked Ladies, and of course hometown boy and legendary songsmith, Gordon Lightfoot.

Culturally vibrant and scenically nestled between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe, this town is, in other words, the perfect place to hold a film festival.

"I think Orillia is ready for this," says Hillson proudly. "We already have a strong arts community and a long history of artistic leanings. Orillia as a city has an open mind to new things and I think this could really take off."

So far, the community response has been overwhelmingly positive.

"Finding sponsors for the festival has been remarkably easy.  I took the old 'ask a thousand people and ten will say yes' approach but the ratio has been much better than that.  The medical community has stepped up, as has the city and a number of businesses.  We even have some big software company sponsors which has been great!"

In the hands of Hillson and team, and with strong local support, things are sizing up nicely for one heck of an evening. But the good doctor's vision extends well beyond October 4.

"In the years to come, I'd love to see the Orillia Film Festival as a multi-day festival with shorts and full length films and maybe a 48 hour film challenge component that takes over Orillia for a few days.  We also have a partnership with Lakehead University that I would really like to see developed into a summer film camp or maybe even a film school.  Orillia is a great place to shoot a film. The sky's the limit, really."

For more information, visit the official Orillia Film Festival website.

August 17, 2013

Happy Anniversary, Fellow VFS Writing Comrades!

A year ago today, I and my fellow writing students at Vancouver Film School donned our Golden Bagels (you had to be there) and ventured out into the sunset to see what opportunities and fortunes awaited.

At the time, we were frankly glad just to be done and to get on with our lives as, well, whatever we'd end up becoming after insane months of perpetual scribbling. But we also knew that we had just experienced one of the greatest years of our lives and met some of the most intelligent and enjoyable people we'd ever know.

Sap that I am, I can't help but get a little emotional looking back. Wishing I could sit in that lecture theatre, listen to our teachers wax eloquent (or even not so eloquent), take part in a workshop - heck, just stand in line ordering a coffee and commiserating about an assignment! - one more time. I know we're supposed to move on and it looks like we've all done a pretty good job of that. I just miss it sometimes, dagnabbit!

A few of my personal highlights from that golden (bagel) year:

1. Sitting in the back corner during lecture with Jeff McEnery, Mike Reimer, et al, making fun of, well, everybody.

2. Kat Montagu telling us what's what in the movie biz, complete with powerful personal affirmations and four-letter words.

3. Fighting over fourth-floor laptops.

4. Paul Jensen and John Meadows exchanging gleeful, Parkinsonian cackles over their favourite films.

5. "Uncle" Rodger Cove, suave and sagacious, sitting cross-legged and explaining how story works.

6. Listening to Michael Baser celebrate the golden age of television while reminding us that L.A. is full of sweethearts and douchebags.

7. Steve, Bobby, and Dionne (our trusty TAs) popping into lecture like whack-a-moles with the latest school announcement.

8. Erik Jovanovic's multitudinous last words.

9. Having my work disemboweled, dissected, reconstituted, and revived with fresh, new hope in workshop. (Whether or not it felt like it at the time!)

10. Homework over VFS Cafe quesadillas. (They weren't great but somehow they taste good in my head today.)

11. The total lack of leg room in the theatre. (Like the quesadillas, it somehow warms my heart in hindsight.)

12. We got to watch movies nearly every day for a whole damn year! (My body still aches from all the pinches I gave myself. Keep your comments to yourself, Mr. McEnery.)

13. Walking home at the end of each school day feeling like a million bucks, like my life had real purpose, and that I was becoming a real writer!

For the rest of my days, I'll look back at that year as one of the most satisfying, most profound, most personally enriching and kick-assest of my life. The last year hasn't panned out exactly as I'd hoped, but it has been full of great surprises and opportunities I could never have anticipated. And if I ever wonder if it was worth it, I only have to think back to those days when I was making a fortune in the Alberta oil fields but feeling utterly soulless, and realize I'd still be sitting on my dreams had I never taken the plunge and made that phone call to VFS. That's one move I will never regret.

Congratulations, my brothers and sisters in arms. We made it and still very much on our way to bigger and better things!

August 2, 2013

The Shaka Zulu Project: How Great Stories Come Together

In the 19th century, one man changed the face of South Africa forever: Shaka Zulu. Combining innovative battle strategies, brutal military training, and a complete top-down reorganization of Zulu society, he united the fractured tribes of the vast region in a manner that rivaled the campaigns of William Wallace and Alexander the Great. 

But was Shaka a hero or a villain? It is a question that continues to embroil historians, with cultural ripples that alternately inspire and haunt South Africans to this very day.

In July 2012, new South African producer and fellow VFS student Alfred Ngubane invited me to write the script for a comic book, tentatively titled The Shaka Zulu Project, that would serve as his final assignment in the Entertainment Business Management (EBM) program. The plan was simple: complete one, eight-page "proof of concept" issue with a story centered around a key historical battle and Shaka's subsequent rise to power. Alfred would secure the artist. My job was to write the script based on a concept he had developed. He would take it from there.

Having seen the 1986 mini-series, I was as familiar with Shaka's history as television could make me. In other words, I had a lot of research to do. I accepted and we met in the first of a series of meetings that would transport us back in time, halfway around the world, and into a story that remains a hot topic of African debate.

Two months and several revisions later, I delivered the goods and neurotically waited to see would come of it. We writers, you see, worry about whether our stories will be faithfully - heck, even intelligently - translated, or whether they'll be butchered and Frankensteined into monstrosities utterly unlike what we original thunk up. No offense to Mr. Ngubane, but I've worked with a number of producers and directors who talk big and deliver small or who simply don't get story, even when the original idea is their own.

When Alfred handed me the final product, I was elated. Angel Rams Figueroa's artwork was fantastic, the packaging on par with anything I'd find at the comic store down the road, and most amazingly, the story was fully intact, exactly as I'd written it. Not that I would have been offended if he had made a few alterations to clear things up. A writer has to expect that now and again, almost always in fact. But in the case of Shaka Zulu, the original vision and story design had managed to travel right through to the end and culminate in a final product that was deeply gratifying.

How did we pull it off? How did a "good idea" that could have stagnated  in a jar somewhere actually come to fruition?

I attribute our success to at least five factors:

1. A good leader with a clear vision. Alfred knew exactly what he wanted to execute, conceptually and product-wise. He knew what needed to get done. If he didn't, he called on a network of strategically-chosen resources to help out, whether VFS teachers, family, academic experts or connections back home. He was culturally connected to the story and therefore both passionate and "in the know" about his subject - always a good idea. He organized his affairs via action items, milestones and deadlines. He communicated regularly with his team. He was decisive without being dogmatic, remaining open at all times to our ideas and to story changes necessitated by new research. He was (and continues to be) the consummate team leader.

2. A riveting story. No spoilers here. Suffice to say, you're gonna love it! I will say, however, that we spent a lot of hours making sure it appealed to as a broad an audience as possible, whether or not readers have any previous knowledge of the events covered. Love, betrayal, revenge, redemption, blood and guts, sex - it's all there.

3. Lots of research. "Have you heard the one about the South African producer who gets a Canadian who has never been to Africa to write a story about a Zulu king?" As previously confessed, I knew next to nothing about Shaka's story or about South African history in general. Nothing wrong with that, writers venture into unfamiliar subjects all the time. That's what research is for, especially when accuracy and cultural sensitivity are non-negotiable. So for a long time, I sat at Alfred's feet and listened. And read. And Googled. And trolled bookstores when I exhausted my online resources. And fact-checked. And cross-referenced. And revised as new information came to light. It hasn't stopped. And I suspect it never will.

4. A disciplined writing process. Alfred and I met regularly to discuss, share research, review, edit, and celebrate our progress. We started by discussing major story objectives then drew up an outline that we systematically and aggressively massaged until we were comfortable moving forward. Then I went to pages with Alfred periodically checking in to see where things were at until the fat lady finished singing. If ever I needed proof that "two is better than one" and that accountability is the mother of progress, this was Exhibit A.

5. A positive writer-producer relationship. From the beginning, Alfred graciously invited me to absorb and participate in his vision, allowing me to share my thoughts, ideas and opinions without censoring or shutting me down. He may not have always agreed and he was clear about what he wanted to stay put in the story, but he always listened. And I reciprocated. Don't get me wrong, we're a couple of opinionated guys with healthy egos. We couldn't move this rock up the mountain otherwise. But somehow our love for the story, our commitment to its faithful execution, and our interpersonal chemistry combined to make the whole thing a pleasure rather than a pain. A relationship like this is not always possible, so if you're lucky enough to find yourself in the middle of one, cherish it!

Alfred Ngubane with Professor Jabulani S. Maphalala 
As it turned out, Alfred had bigger plans for Shaka than a mere ten pages. Last month, after several weeks of further development, I handed off the script for episode two, a 32-page whopper that will contribute to a ten-part graphic novel the man plans to publish and distribute worldwide in the near future. As I type this, I'm currently working on episode three.

It all began with one person, one big idea, and most importantly, the commitment and work ethic to carry it through to the end. The rest was blood, sweat and teamwork.

Si-gi-di!

Follow our progress on The Shaka Zulu Project Facebook page or at www.ShakaZuluProject.com.

June 24, 2013

My Top 60 All-Time Favourite Screenwriters

Too often overlooked, without a writer you simply have no story. No movie. Nada.

These are my personal choices, based on:
  • Originality of concept and characters 
  • Strength of story elements (characters, dialogue, plot, arc, tone, overall structure)
  • Coherence and effectiveness in storytelling
  • The writer's influence on other writers, filmmakers, and society
  • The sheer pleasure I got watching their films, critics and box office be damned!
Whether a co-writer, adapting another writer's work, or making it all up by themselves, I pay homage to the incredible contributions that this hardworking, hair-pulling bunch has made, and the life-changing moments we've enjoyed as a result. 

The movies listed are the ones I love most. Enjoy! 

1. Woody Allen
Where to begin and where to end? No other writer has shaped both my writing and my life like Woody. Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Zelig, Midnight in Paris and 2013's Blue Jasmine.

2. David Mamet
Then this guy, who gives Woody a run for his money. So to speak. The Verdict, Glengarry Glen Ross, Wag the Dog, The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Untouchables

3. Francis Ford Coppola
Patton, The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now

4. Oliver Stone
Midnight Express, Scarface, Platoon, Wall Street, Born on the Fourth of July, JFK

5. Martin Scorsese
Mean Streets, Goodfellas, The Age of Innocence, Casino

6. Robert Towne
Chinatown, The Last Detail, Frantic, Mission Impossible, The Firm, Tequilla Sunrise

7. Quentin Tarantino
Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, From Dusk Till Dawn, Natural Born Killers, Jackie Brown, Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained

8. Steven Zaillian
Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York, Awakenings, Clear and Present Danger, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Hannibal, American Gangster, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Moneyball, A Civil Action

9. Charlie Kaufman
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Adaptation, Being John Malkovich, The Dana Carvey Show

10. Paddy Chayefsky
Network, Marty, Altered States

11. Billy Wilder
Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, Sunset Boulevard, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment

12. Joel & Ethan Coen
Fargo, Raising Arizona, No Country For Old Men, Paris Je T’aime, The Big Lebowski, The Hudsucker Proxy, Blood Simple, Barton Fink, Burn After Reading, True Grit, O Brother Where Art Thou?

13. Tennessee Williams
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie, The Night of the Iguana

14. William Goldman
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men, A Bridge Too Far The Princess Bride, Misery. (Plus a gazillion others "uncredited"!)

15. Paul Schrader
Taxi Driver, American Gigolo, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ, Affliction

16. Robert Benton
Bonnie and Clyde, Superman, Kramer vs. Kramer, Places in the Heart, Nobody’s Fool

17. James L. Brooks
Broadcast News, As Good As It Gets, The Simpsons (TV), Rhoda (TV), Mary Tyler Moore, (TV), Taxi (TV), 

18. John Logan
Gladiator, The Aviator, The Last Samurai, Sweeney Todd, Rango, Hugo, Skyfall

19. Christopher Nolan
Batman Begins, The Dark Night, Inception, Memento

20. Kevin Smith
Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, Red State

21. Nora Ephron
Sleepless in Seattle?, When Harry Met Sally, Silkwood

22. Christopher Guest
Saturday Night Live (TV), This is Spinal Tap, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind

23. Robert Bolt
Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago

24. George Lucas
Star Wars, American Grafitti, THX 1138, Raiders of the Lost Ark (story)

25. John Carpenter
Halloween, Assault on Precinct 13, Escape From New York, The Fog, Prince of Darkness

26. Wes Craven
Paris Je T’aime, The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street

27. Harold Ramis
Groundhog Day, Bedazzled, Animal House, Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Meatballs, Analyze This, SCTV (TV)

28. James Cameron
Terminator 2, Titanic, The Abyss, True Lies, Avatar

29. Paul Thomas Anderson
There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights

30. Tom Stoppard
Brazil, Shakespeare in Love, Empire of the Sun, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Russia House, Anna Karenina

31. Sofia Coppola
The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, New York Stories

32. Mel Brooks
Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, The Producers, Spaceballs, Your Show of Shows (TV), Caesar's Hour (TV), Get Smart (TV)

33. Frank Darabont
The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, The Walking Dead, The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, The Mist, Godzilla

34. Horton Foote
To Kill a Mockingbird, Tender Mercies

35. Judd Apatow
40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Ben Stiller Show, The Larry Sanders Show, Freaks & Geeks, Pineapple Express

36. Lawrence Kasdan
The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Body Heat, The Big Chill, Silverado, The Accidental Tourist, Grand Canyon, Wyatt Earp 

37. Cameron Crowe
Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Say Anything Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous


38. Waldo Salt
Midnight Cowboy, Coming Home

39. Larry McMurtry
The Last Picture Show, Brokeback Mountain

40. Mardik Martin
Mean Streets, Raging Bull

41. Wes Anderson
The Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

42. Terry Gilliam
Brazil, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, Time Bandits, The Meaning of Life, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Monty Python's Flying Circus (TV)

43. Raymond Chandler
The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, The Blue Dahlia

44. David Webb Peebles
Blade Runner, Unforgiven, Hero, Twelve Monkeys

45. Eric Roth
The Insider, Forrest Gump, Suspect, Wolfen, Ali, Munich, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

46. Steven Gaghan
Traffic, Syriana, American Gothic

47. John Cleese
A Fish Called Wanda, Monty Python and the Holy Grail

48. Sam Raimi
The Evil Dead, Darkman, The Hudsucker Proxy, Drag Me To Hell

49. Peter Jackson
Bad Taste, Meet the Feebles, Heavenly Creatures, The Frighteners, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong, The Lovely Bones, The Hobbit

50. Alvin Sargent
Ordinary People, Paper Moon

51. Paul Haggis
Million Dollar Baby, Crash

52. Akiva Goldsman
A Time to Kill, A Beautiful Mind, Fringe (TV)

53. Orson Welles
Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil

54. Herman J. Mankiewicz
Citizen Kane

55. Ernest Lehman
The King and I, North by Northwest, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe? 

56. Dan O’Bannon
Alien, Total Recall

57. George A Romero
The Night of the Living Dead

58. Deric Washburn
The Deer Hunter, Silent Running

59. I.A.L. Diamond
Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Monkey Business

60. Christopher McQuarrie
The Usual Suspects