Gabriel Ricard: And I'm probably fucking this conference up with boring nonsense, so I'll shut up.
Jonathan Penton: I don't think we've started yet.
GR: Oh.
Matt Hoos: Here I thought I was doing well so far.
JP: Mark, you were brought in late, and I don't think Gabriel and Matt know much about what you do. Why don't you tell us what you've been working on?
Mark A. Lewis: Writing. Just writing for time being. My first feature has been through festival circuit. Did fairly well. Now I'm trying to keep the dream alive.
JP: Where did you go?
MH: What was your feature, Mark?
ML: Ill Fated. It went all over. Toronto, Slamdance, Shanghai, Mannheim, Mumbai (or the print did anyway).
MH: Which of them were you able to attend in person?
ML: Uh, Toronto, Slamdance, Mannheim - my producer went to Shanghai.
MH: Very cool. Was it produced in association with any of the usual national funding programs?
ML: Initially private money, but then provincial at 11th hour and finally federal after we had completed the film. To be honest it feels like a success story without the success.
GR: Heh. Well, at least you got some money.
JP: Tell us about the usual national funding programs.
MH: Basically in Canada (unlike the US) there is some (small) amount of government and provincial funding to support independent cinema. There's also several institutions which sponsor ultra-low and low-budget films (like the Canadian Film Centre, which funded Khaled, Cube, etc.)
ML: Very competitive. Very bureaucratic.
MH: The concept of public funding for cinema is pretty bizarre to the US, so I'm used to explaining it.
ML: It's still bizarre to me. But it can be a blessing and/or a curse.
MH: Brad Fox, my producer, deals with all of them as a day job working on large co-productions (20M plus) so he could tell you more if you want to know about it.
GR: Public funding for arts period... is pretty damn bizarre to the US.
MH: True, but private equity investment in Canada is nearly unheard of (outside of self-investment) as there's no domestic market. Where was your private money from, Mark? Generalize if you want.
ML: My producer had friends (young guys) investment bankers with extra cash. Not a lot of money at the end of the day but it got the ball rolling.
JP: it's funny that you mention Cube... as Gabriel's script largely revolves around a fictional "room" that does not exist in normal human experience, which brings up questions on the idea of making a story visual with little to no special effects.
GR: Well, I'm pretty much set up to write like that.
MH: The creative team I work with has always set out to create projects which can be done for no- to low-budget means as opposed to shoe-horning "dream projects" into that way of working.
GR: Well, that's how you have to operate on this level...
ML: Yeah, we had to have the mentality that we are doing what we're doing with or without money. We were casting the film with no money in place...
MH: I'm still amazed at how many people try to go head to head with Hollywood budgeted genres (action, sci-fi) without taking into account their budget realities. The results will all look "direct to video" at best when you do that.
GR: Not always.
MH: Well no... but many of times the films people trot out to make that argument, such as El Mariachi or Cube have much bigger issues going on under the surface that don't make that a fair comparison. Clever will always win out over "wads of cash and phoning it in."
ML: Of course.
GR: In a fair world, yeah.
ML: It's certainly an intricate business. Difficult to make a living in if you have any artistic inclinations... but somehow worth starving for.
MH: We just put together a big funding application for the aforementioned Canadian Film Centre. It was mind-boggling to me that anyone (other than us) would go to the hassle with such a competitive marketplace and little chance for reward - but when you're driven, you're driven, I guess.
GR: Yeah, it's like being the worst kind of junkie. Still, that's about the only thing making me want to go back to Canada... is the chance to be able to apply for film grants.
ML: The Film Centre doesn't offer very much.
MH: I laugh because Brad goes to talk to film schools, and it turns into half hour sessions of him begging them to get out of the industry. They never listen to him, even though he's right.
