Library & Resources

Rollercoaster

Rollercoaster takes off
Writer-Director Scott Smith launched his first feature Rollercoaster on the festival circuit this fall with a world premiere at Toronto, followed by screenings at the Atlantic Film Festival, the IFFM in New York, and the Vancouver International Film Festival (where it opened the Canadian images series on September 24).

Rollercoaster spends a day with five aimless teenagers who break into an abandoned amusement park as a diversion from their drab lives in a group home. It's produced by Connie Dolphin, stars Brendan Fletcher, Kett Turton and Crystal Buble, and was shot by Robert Aschmann, a graduate of the SFU film program like Scott himself. The film is licensed by CBC and The Movie Network.

Rollercoaster was developed in the relatively short span from August 1996, when inspiration struck, to September 1998 when shooting began. During that time it shifted from a thriller to a character study which explores the idea of suicide as an escape from lives with no future.

After receiving early development funding from the agencies, Scott was invited to the NSI Pitching Workshop at the Vancouver Film Festival. There, he said, "I realized that the story on the page and the film in my head were completely different. That began the very, very slow process of taking out the suspense elements that were skewing the film."

The script was workshopped at Praxis in Fall 1997 with Advisor Gary Fisher, "who simply by asking the right questions forced me to answer why I was telling this story, what moved me about it, and helped me find a concrete emotional foundation for what I was trying to say."

This was followed by a script reading at Praxis with Advisor John Frizzell, just three months before production began in September 1999. Scott worked with Frizzell throughout the summer to whip the screenplay into shape before putting on his director's cap.

"At this point the script had been stripped of any thriller elements, but the importance placed on 'intrigue' had prevented any exploration of the relationships. I've learned that the relationships are the key. I don't think I've learned a bigger lesson than that, and it's affected my directing as well, and the way that I shoot, even. So the final process was finding connections for these characters that would allow us to explore the ideas I wanted to explore -- five characters' relationship to fear."

Scott, a Vancouverite, attended the Canadian Film Centre as a Directing Resident, where he made the acclaimed short film Ssshh! While developing Rollercoaster, he moved into directing episodic television -- most recently Traders and Phil Savath and Susan Duligal's new series These Arms of Mine.

Rollercoaster's website is www.rollercoasterthemovie.com.

News

Acting Director: Laël McCall
Laël McCall is taking over Praxis while Patricia Gruben takes time off until December to work on personal projects.

Laël McCall
McCall, now an independent producer in Vancouver, spent seven years at Alliance, most recently as VP of Alliance Pictures, where she oversaw Canadian acquisitions and produced/executive-produced a number of international co-productions (Turning April, On My Own) and The Boys Club. Prior to that, she was Creative Affairs Executive at United British Artists Developments (Castaway, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne, Windprints) and was a charter Resident at the Canadian Film Centre.

Laël will work to expand our national and international profile, and consider new ideas for enhancing the relationship between writers and producers.

Working with Laël while Patricia is away is longtime Praxis maven Doreen Holmes, who will continue to look after the day-to-day operations of Praxis.


Scripts for Option on the Web
For the last several years we’ve published a pamphlet of Praxis Scripts for Option with synopses of the latest projects from our Feature Film workshops. This publication is sent to producers across Canada and the U.S. Many of the screenplays have been optioned and a number — including Cadillac Girls, Touched and Silence — have been subsequently produced. Each year though, due to printing costs, we’ve had to delete promising projects from past workshops.

We are now retrieving some of the earlier projects to include them in a comprehensive listing on our website. Praxis fellows from past years can apply to have their synopses on the web, identified by genre. The listing should be complete by late November and available to producers and directors looking for new material.

The Vancouver film community mourns the loss of screenwriter Sharon Gibbon who died of cancer on July 28, leaving behind her husband, filmmaker Tony Papa and her young daughter, Talia.

Sharon was best known for her script The War Between Us, which was workshopped at Praxis in 1988 and made into a CBC Movie directed by Anne Wheeler in 1995. The War Between Us was based on Sharon’s mother’s friendship with members of a Japanese internment camp in Cranbrook, BC, where Sharon grew up. She also worked with Tony Papa on numerous dramatic and documentary projects. She was known as a generous and gentle soul. She was 36, and will be missed.

Summer Workshop

Our Summer Workshop featured readings and further work on six scripts selected from the Fall and Spring sessions. The Advisors -- Noel Baker, Shelley Gillen, John Frizzell and Peter Behrens -- were joined by the actors for an in-depth discussion of each script after its reading.

Two of the scripts are in the late stages of development and are already attracting interest from producers, while the others continue to grind and polish toward that final perfect draft.

Before Christmas and After
by Clem Martini

Advisor Peter Behrens

Two teenage boys try to cope with life's temptations after their father is sent to prison and their mother's alcoholic brother comes to stay. This script is full of surprises and wonderful character writing.

Clem teaches Drama at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, and has written several produced plays and television dramas.


Dark Hearts
by Robert Chomiak

Advisor John Frizzell

Dark Hearts is part Psycho, part Slacker -- Housewives and bankers alike, infected with gluttony, murder each other in pursuit of a winning lottery ticket.

Robert, a former Simon Fraser University film student, has written several feature scripts including Fido, which is in development with Toronto's Mainline Productions, and a pilot for Twisteeria (YTV).


Early Bait
by John Shinnick

Advisor Peter Behrens

Warren Early grows up fatherless in a small town where his forbidden Uncle Charlie is a magnet for his adolescent curiosity. But as he is initiated into Charlie's world of white supremacist conspiracy, Warren endangers himself as well as his uncle's many victims.

John is an editor and publisher who has written for Macleans, Saturday Night, Harrowsmith and CBC Radio.


Double Duke
by William Zmak

Advisor John Frizzell

Double Duke is about three poker hustlers who try to cheat the most ruthless gangster in town out of half a million dollars.

Wil is a graduate of the York University Film Production program. He spent two years hanging out with cardsharps and grifters preparing to write this script.


Summer Fallow
 by Jason Brink

Advisor Peter Behrens

A coming-of-age drama about a troubled boy who is sent to a prairie farm after the death of his sister, where he develops an unusual relationship with an elderly hermit.

Jason graduated from the University of Victoria with a degree in writing. He wrote and directed a short film Ramona Moans Alone and his fiction has been published in the Inner Harbour Review.


Orange
by Allison Dempsey

Advisor Noel Baker

Orange is a dark comedy that follows a fateful night in the life of Frances, a teenager who has to grow up fast while baby-sitting in a rundown motel.

Allison works as an editor for a weekly newspaper in Oakville, Ontario. Her fiction and poetry has been published in Canadian Author & Bookman Magazine, Quarry and the Alberta Poetry Yearbook.

 
I.A.T.S.E. Local 891
Also this summer, Praxis has taken on a project for I.A.T.S.E. Local 891 (craft crew other than Teamsters and camera). For the past few years Local 891 has held a contest for its members for projects in development -- (everything from documentary shorts to TV series) -- and to support them in finding funding for production. Now this contest is being handled by Praxis with a customized development process for the chosen scripts.

This year’s winner is boom operator Bob Holbroke, with Photo Finish, a thriller set at the racetrack. He’ll receive story editing and marketing advice from producer and Praxis acting director Laël McCall, culminating in a trip to the Trade Forum at the Vancouver International Film Festival where he’ll be assisted in pitching his script.

Three other projects were awarded Honourable Mention, with mentoring from local film professionals. These included The Crew, an educational TV series on film crew members at work, developed by set decorator Michael Rouse; Into the Mystic, a series on occult philosophies written by production coordinator Michael Ireland; and Beneath the Surface by script supervisor Patti Henderson, a mystery about a young woman searching for her friend, a CIA agent caught up in the intrigues of post-glasnost Hungary. Michael Rouse and Michael Ireland were advised on packaging and marketing their projects by Michael Boucher, a programming director at the Knowledge Network; Patti Henderson will work with story editor Katharine Montagu.

Online Resources for Screenwriters

by Montgomery Burt

The Script Shop
www.scriptshop.com

The Writers Website
writerswebsite.com/ww/scrnplays

These sites are where to go if you want to buy scripts in the correct format or you just want to see how What Dreams May Come looked like on paper. The Script Shop and The Writers Website stock thousands of movie screenplays, including new releases playing in theaters everywhere.


The Writers Computer Store
www.writerscomputer.com/store/writing_production_software.htm

If you want to know what's available in script formatting programs, brainstorming software, and plot-development devices, peruse their electronic catalogue of products. The big stars here aren't Cruise, Stone, and Scorsese but rather ScriptThing, Final Draft and Collaborator. They also carry an extensive list of books of interest to screenwriters on everything from the art of writing to how to market your work.


Firstuse.com
www.firstuse.com

This international copyright registration service allows screenwriters to protect their work at any stage from synopsis to final draft. For a small fee, Firstuse.com provides 24-hour confidential digital fingerprinting and time-stamped registration of your material. Since the strength of a copyright case boils down to how well your work is documented — including a trail of the original idea, treatments, multiple drafts, and who you exposed the script to — this system offers more protection than registering your final draft with the WGC or WGA. Firstuse.com is being used in more than twenty countries and is sanctioned by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.


Playback Magazine
www.playbackmag.com

Playback bills itself as Canada's Broadcast and Production Journal and this site, like its printed counterpart, includes news, feature articles, production listings, and a database of industry contacts across Canada. If you're researching a certain subject in the film biz, you can call up complete articles from their archives.


Reel West Digest
www.reelwest.com

This is the on-line version of the comprehensive production bible for Western Canada. You'll find complete listings of film and TV producers as well as related services from animal handlers to claymation animators. And, of course, screenwriters. It includes a section called What's Happening Locally that helps you keep up to date on film and TV productions shot in B.C. This is also where you can search back issues of Reel West Magazine.


Mediastate
www.mediastate.com

The most extensive source of information on independent production in the province, Mediastate's B.C. Indie Film List outlines over 75 projects in various stages of production. Along with articles on local production and classified ads, the site also includes The Virtual Callboard, an on-line crew database with space for workers in every filmmaking category — including screenwriting — to list their credits and philosophy.


Telefilm
www.telefilm.gc.ca/cgi-bin/annua_e.idc?

The Telefilm site features the on-line version of the Directory of the Canadian Film, Television and Video Industry. With 4,000 entries, it lists the complete names and addresses of production companies, distributors, government agencies, and film and TV festivals. The Directory is updated each month and is an indispensable reference for anyone working in the Canadian film and TV industry.


B.C. Film
www.bcfilm.bc.ca

B.C. Film provides updates about program guidelines, funding approvals, and other initiatives that interest the local production community. The site also features a Client Directory which displays companies actively writing and producing feature films, documentaries, movies-of-the-week, television series, and pilots in British Columbia.


The IFVA
www.culturenet.ca/ifva/index2.html

The Independent Film & Video Alliance is a Canada-wide network of 41 artist-run centers promoting the production and distribution of independent media art. Based in Montreal, they publish an electronic newsletter promoting the indie scene in Canada.


Writers Guild of Canada
http://screenwriter.ca

Among its many services, including writing seminars and script registration, the Writers Guild publishes a list of Canadian agents.


Celebsite
www.celebsite.com

Celebsite features 600 celebrity profiles from established stars to the latest flavour of the month. If you're trying to get your script read by a star, their agent's name and address is listed here. And where else would you find a link to the Jennifer Lopez Page in Turkish?


All-Movie Guide
http://allmovie.com

The All-Movie Guide tries to find and rate ALL feature movies and major documentaries — past or present, b&w or color, current blockbuster, or only seen on the festival circuit. For each movie, you are given a plot synopsis and background information on the cast and production personnel, with links to related movies. It's also great place to look up a director's body of work or get a list of all the cheesy blaxploitation movies Pam Grier starred in before Jackie Brown.


Mr. Cranky Rates the Movies
http://www.mrcranky.com

Before you head off to the Monstroplex this weekend, be sure to consult Mr. Cranky for the lowdown on what's playing. This guy writes as if he woke up on the wrong side of the carpet every day. Mr. Cranky rates Hollywood movies on a bomb scale between "Almost tolerable" all the way down to "So godawful that it ruptured the very fabric of space and time with the sheer overpowering force of its mediocrity." The worse the movie, the better his review.