www.jeremylalonde.com

Greetings all!  I've finally redone my website - which I was hating on quite a bit for the longest time and it just became that thing that I didn't want to deal with...
So check it out - I've uploaded stills from all my films - more from Sex After Kids will be coming soon.  There's some videos on there, including a short I did years ago called Hoff's New Direction.  But most importantly I'll be starting a NEW BLOG!  I'm not abandoning this one, but I'll be using the one on my main website to talk more about my creative process, projects, and myself in the industry, where I'll keep using this blog to talk about the stuff I'm watching, reading, etc... My goal will be to update it once a week or so.  People were complaining that all my film news was getting lost in the other posts here so I thought I'd make it cleaner for all of you!  So check back often - I've got something else I'm cooking up that I hope to start releasing in the fall...

1703 - Teenage Paparazzo

This film was on the festival circuit around the same time as TUWOPS was, but I never got a chance to see it when I was touring with my own film, so I was glad to see it on netflix now. 
Celebrity culture is an interesting thing, and so when Adrien Grener discovers a fourteen year old kid amongst the paparazzi it makes him wonder if it's gotten to an extra stage of 'yuck'. 
I'm friends with some people who you could classify as celebrities and so it's interesting to witness this now from their point of view.  I work behind the camera, and I'm a pretty lame family type guy, so I'm never going to have to worry about this kind of thing but it's an interesting and sad thing how some people end up having to exchange their privacy for fame and fortune.  And for this kid who starts to become popular, he's faced with the very problem head on.  He has no issues being in celebrities faces all the time, but when it turns around that people want to watch him 24/7 he starts to realize just the kind of world he's gotten into.
This is a fair documentary that looks at various angles of a interesting topic.  It doesn't try to cast the blame on any one person in particular.  If anything Adrien is just trying to make sense of the madness (as if there is sense to be made).
It's interesting and entertaining for those who are interested in celebrity lifestyle and how the paparazzi work and think, so if that's your thing it's totally worth a view.  If not... you'll find something else that's lovely and watch that.

Paul Shepard: REVIEW ROUND-UP!

Today is the day!  Anyone living in the greater Toronto area needs to get their butts to the Carlton this weekend to see my film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard, screening at 4:25pm and 9:20pm daily.  For those who don't know, the opening weekend of any film, particularly small films, is crucial.  For a film like ours it's the difference between only running one week in one city, and get expanded.  If we do well this weekend the chances of the film moving on to another city is very good, as well as getting an extra week in Toronto.
So, to the reviews.  A lot of filmmakers will claim they don't read reviews, and I'm sure some don't.  I haven't been doing this long enough not to care what other people think.  For a small film like ours a review can be the deciding factor on whether or not someone wants to give it a shot.  So without further adieu, here they are... Click on the name of the paper (the heading) to get the actual review, otherwise I'll just talk about it briefly:

The National Post:  I'd be lying if I didn't say that getting this three star review meant a lot to me.  But what meant even more was that this reviewer really seemed to "get" the film.  And to boot they said some really lovely things.

The Toronto Sun: While I'm sure she doesn't remember it, Liz Braun reviewed a short film festival a few years back where she commented on my film and said that I had done in five minutes what others like it couldn't do at feature length.  It was a nice thing to say.  And she has more nice things here, in particular that this is a film that should make Canadians proud.

The Toronto Star: Not our biggest supporter, but still nothing to shake your fist at.  No film is for everyone and considering how routinely romantic comedies get slammed by critics, I think we did just fine here.  

The Grid:  The black sheep of our reviews.  I very well can't post all the positive and leave out the negative.  I'm trying to avoid reviewing the reviews, however I can't help but think that from reading this one that this reviewer just hates the mockumentary format to begin with - so it's no surprise that we didn't get much love.  You can't win them all!

These are all the reviews I've seen so far, if anyone spots any more please let me know - post in the comments.  Otherwise, get your butt to the theatre and tell everyone you know!

Three 2 Five Questions: Kris Holden-Ried

I was lucky enough to get a chance to sit down with the wonderful Mr. Kris Holden-Ried to do one of these interviews.  He's the star of my film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard and he'll be attending our screening and Q&A tomorrow evening following the 9:20pm screening.  So be there if you want to meet Kris in addition to other members of our lovely cast including Zoie Palmer, Mary Krohnert, and Tricia Braun!

Three 2 Five Questions: Mary Krohnert

It's been a while since I've done one of these - I have another that will be up in the days to come - but for now, it's all about the lovely Mary Krohnert!  One of the stars of my film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard which is having it's theatrical release starting this Friday at the Carlton in Toronto.  4:25pm and 9:20pm daily!  Mary will be at the Friday night screening for part of the Q&A.
So the audio, as usual, is what it is, I did this outside of the Film Canteen at the Bell Lightbox.  I hope you enjoy it!  Mary will also be appearing in an upcoming episode of Flashpoint, and Little Mosque on the Prarie.

The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard THEATRICAL RELEASE!

At long last my first feature is being released in to the theatres!  For those that live in the GTA (or that feel like traveling at all!)  It will be screening at the Carlton (Yonge/Carlton) from Friday, Oct 21st to Thursday, Oct 27th.  The showtimes are 4:25pm and 9:20pm (apologies that there are no early evening screenings - I have absolutely no control over that). 
We've been nominated for several awards along the way as well as having played as several of Canada's top film festivals, and others around the world.  The programmer at the Calgary International Film Festival had this to say about the film:

Part HIGH FIDELITY, part THE OFFICE with a dash of SPINAL TAP thrown in for good measure, THE UNTITLED WORK OF PAUL SHEPARD is a mockumentary with genuine heart to go with the genuine laughs.

So get your butt out and support a great Canadian film!  And on Friday and Saturday nights get a chance to meet some of the cast at the Q&As!  We are expecting reviews in all the major papers, so we'll post them here as well (unless they absolutely trash the film, and then I'll say that 'I don't read reviews...')
Looking forward to seeing you all out there.  Spread the word!!!

1596 - The Freebie

I really dig Katie Aselton from the other Duplass projects and I was excited by the idea of this film when I'd heard about it - and then even more excited when I learned that it would be playing at the Calgary International Film Festival in the same program as my film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard - but then disappointed when I learned that it was screening in the same slot in another theatre.  Alas!
So I picked this up in a Blockbuster closing sale.  For those that are unfamiliar it's a film about a couple that hasn't had sex in a long time, and doesn't really have a strong desire to.  They love each other, but their relationship is closer to best friends than lovers - so they pose the question... what if we both had a one night stand to try and put the spark back into our relationship?  What follows is the exploration of that idea, what goes through your mind in the lead-up to it, in the aftermath, etc...
This isn't a film for everyone, shot in an off-the-cuff improvised style, but I don't think that you go into a film like this without having an interest in alternative-indpendant cinema. 
Anyone that's been in a long term relationship knows the issues that these characters face.  For it's 77 minute running time Aselton packs a lot into this film and it turns out really lovely performances by herself and Dax Shepard.  For those who like relationship films that are on the talky-side and explore ideas, this will probably be up your alley - for those looking for a quirky rom-com, this ain't it.
Enjoy!
The Freebie

P.E.I.: Day Fifteen

It feels good to come home.  Today was our last day on The Island, so the morning was spent packing up the Summer House and giving it a bit of a clean up.  The weather was gorgeous so we headed to what Ephraim refers to as "Ephraim's Park", also known as Victoria Park in Charlottetown, and just puttered around the town today.  We ate lunch at the vegetarian place for lunch that we ate at when we first arrived, and I'm not exaggerating when I say we ordered practically the entire menu.  So damn delicious. 
Then we hit the Wharf, which is just a lot of tourist stuff.  Emily bought some old Golden Books and I stopped myself from buying the entire Fraggle Rock stuffed animal line-up.  Because we are pretty much over Cows, we went to a place for ice cream called Billy Timbre, and their picture of the banana split looked amazing, and since I'm going to go off treats upon our return, I figured why not go out with a blast. 

Let me say something, the photo didn't do it justice, I had no idea what I was in for:
Large waffle bowl
Four scoops of ice cream
Real fudge
Lots of whipped cream
Fresh raspberry sauce
Crushed Almonds
Cherry

I got through a little over half, and did I ever feel sick afterwards, don't get me wrong - it was tasty as hell, and I'd go back in a second, but it's something best split between at least two people.  Probably more.
Found a nice nearby park to kill some time in and then headed back to the Wharf where a man played some songs on his guitar for Ephraim before we headed to the airport.

So we're home now, safe and sound.  It's nice to be back.  In the end, I think two weeks was too long to spend in P.E.I. with a two-year old.  We had a great time, great weather for the most part, but unless you want to spend the whole time on a beach or in a park (which we can do here) you run out of things to do rather quickly.  Perhaps that comes from being used to the options of Toronto as well though.

I still have a few days before I start my next show, so tomorrow will all be about decompressing, unpacking, relaxing.  I was going to be a good boy and hit the gym tomorrow.  We'll see how the morning goes.

Well thanks for following along.  That's in for the vacation blogs, although stay tuned - I should have news about my film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard (aka The Girlfriend Project) very soon!

TUWOPS - Canadian Comedy Award nomination!

Today the Canadian Comedy Awards announced their nominations and we were fortunate to get a nod in the Best Directing category for my feature film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard.  This came as a wonderful surprise and it's the kind of thing that means a lot to me, mostly because it means more people are going to discover the film, and potentially it might help the next film get made as well.  Here is the list of my fellow nominees and I'd like to take this chance to congratulate all.  Of them I've only had the chance to see Good Neighbours, but I look forward to tracking them all down over the next few months!

Jacob Tierney - Good Neighbours
Jeremy LaLonde - The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard
Jesse Shamata - Break A Leg
Jacob Medjuck - Summerhood
Seth W. Owen - Peepers

For a complete list of nominees in all categories check out this link here.
For those who keep asking me when the film is going to be released I sadly do not have an answer, but I'm on good authority that we should know very very soon.  So thank you for being patient and thank you for all of the support you've shown the film thus far!  It's not easy to get a film made, but it's even harder to get people to watch it - so thanks for giving a damn!

Our Break-In - The Happy Ending!

On Boxing Day of 2009 we got a phone call from our neighbour letting us know that our kitchen window had been smashed in.  We were out of the city with family, and so we raced back in to find that we had, indeed, been robbed.  To our fault, we didn't have a security system and the back porch light had been burnt out for some time.  I hadn't done a very good job of deterring criminals. 
When we got the call my first thought was - please not my computer - but more importantly - please not my external harddrives.  Just before the holidays I had finished editing my feature The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard and it was on there.  Of course, it was gone - along with pretty much all of my back-ups.  Months of work gone, and months to redo.  I'd be lying if I didn't admit to having shed a few tears.  But nothing was as heart breaking as realizing that my wife's grandmother's wedding and engagement ring had also been taken from us.
Now, fast forward almost a year and a half.  Last week I got a call from the police department letting us know that they had arrested two people in conjunction with the string of robberies in our area, dozens of counts, and that it looked like some of our stuff was there.  So last night we were able to go and retrieve it.  First off, we never expected to see ANY of our stuff again - when something like this happens it sucks, you get angry, you feel violated, but you find a way to move on and get over the loss - in many cases it's just stuff - in the case of the jewelry it's a little more painful because of the sentimental attachment.  We had seen a news report the night before and so we knew that my iMac was there (I have coloured editing keys on the keyboard), but we were amazed to see that my old laptop, my harddrive, and our WiiFit was there as well.  But what surprised us the most - Emily's grandmother's rings!  She almost cried she was so relieved to have seen them - she really beat herself up when she thought that they were lost together - as if it was her fault that someone would do something like this.  And what's even more bizarre was that yesterday was her grandparent's wedding anniversary.  The world works in mysterious ways.
So when we got home I plugged the iMac.  Now, I had wondered why it was still there - a lot of people's computers never showed up - and despite it not being the newest model - it was a pretty awesome iMac - I had it suped up with as much memory and space it could hold - and then upon taking a quick look around I realized why they hadn't gotten rid of it - they were using it as their own personal computer.  The woman had renamed the hard-drive and changed all the passwords and made herself the administrator.  My login was still there - but my old password didn't work.  Based on how much space was gone on the drive I knew that my stuff was probably in there somewhere - but I couldn't get to it.  Alas.  I looked around some more - some documents (including an admittance letter to a meth clinic) - and then into the internet browser history to discover a whack load of stuff - their connections to ebay accounts, storage lockers, a disturbing amount of porn, and a lot of websites where they were clearly looking up the prices for some of the items they'd gotten.  I made a copy of all of it for the police to help them with the case.  Who knows, maybe they'll even find a storage locker with more people's stuff.
After several hours, and my brain shifting back to my formative years where I was a big computer nerd, I figured out a back-door way through "terminal" (which is like the MS-DOS version of a Mac) and was able to reset the master password and gain access to my original login.  MY MUSIC WAS ALL THERE!!!  Which was amazing - I had amassed an ass-load of music over the years and had given away most of the CDs.  I haven't gone through the entire contents to see what's all there - but it's more than I expected (need to spend time sorting through my external harddrive as well).  Some teenage girl had apparently taken over my login as the desktop image had changed in addition to a lot of iSight pictures of herself making "sexy poses".  So while I'm glad to have my computer back, I need to spray the thing down and clean out the keyboard - based on the kinds of porn I'd found downloaded, I know that my desktop was not used for good!
But now to the saddest part of the whole thing - the two people above charged in this whole affair (the teenage girl who graces my computer was apparently not charged) are Diane Grise and Charles "Chuck" Craig, and they lived one street over from us.  I know there house.  We've walked past it.  And I'm pretty sure I've seen both of them as well as the girl around the neighbourhood.  I'm from a small town and so I've never gotten as close to our neighbours as I did when I was younger - but still - you never expect this from the people that live close to you - and I suppose that's the lesson learned.  I'm not trying to say that people should live in fear - but it's worth being aware that there are a lot of sad and desperate people out there, and they don't care about you or your things.  We were lucky in that we weren't home (although the police said they never broke in to a house where people were sleeping), we were extremely lucky to get what we got back - but I can't imagine not having our alarm system now.  Maybe it's being silly, but it's enough to make people like this think twice.
So that's that - happy ending so far.  I'll be curious to see how the trial plays out for these two and what their punishment is for their crimes.

Three 2 Five Questions: Christine Horne

I have a notebook in my office where I keep a list of names of actors that impress me, ones that I'll hopefully be lucky enough to work with at some point.  When I came home from seeing The Stone Angel the first thing I did was add Christine Horne's name to that list.  Then, sometime later, when we were casting The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard, I was delighted to see her name on our audition list.  If you live in Toronto and you're a theatre goer you probably recognize her from various theatrical productions - just this past summer she was Juliet in this year's Dream in High Park production of Romeo & Juliet, and last year she won a Dora Award for Turn of the Screw.
Without further delay I present the interview I did with her.  Keep in mind, as per usual, the audio isn't spectacular and the location was fairly under lit.
Mid way through the interview Christine mentions something that I should share a link to.  Click here for that.




UPDATE!
The lovely people over at The Mind Reels found the commercial of Christine! Here it is below...

TUWOPS - Zoie Palmer nominated for ACTRA Award's best female performance!

It is my extremely proud honor to announce that Zoie Palmer has been nominated for 'best female performance' ACTRA Award for her role in my film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard. Pictured above, an outtake from the scene which I'm pretty darn certain went a long way in getting her nominated.

If you want you can check out the various articles that mention her nomination, amongst the other nominees. Here are some links thus far:
The CBC
The Toronto Star
The Amherst Daily News

I love Zoie Palmer the actor only second to Zoie Palmer the person. I'm extremely fortunate in how many amazing people I've met and formed friendships with from having made this film, and Zoie is no exception. If you follow the tag below you'll find an interview I did with her back in the fall for my Three 2 Five series. Working with Zoie is a delight because she revels in playing, in discovering, and yet she so respects the work that's come before her. She's the kind of actress that is going to work forever, and be in great demand, because of that and many many other traits.
It goes without saying that I think every single member of our cast deserved to be nominated for their fantastic performances this film, but I think Zoie represents us all well, and I appreciate the extra attention that the film will get from having this honor bestowed upon it as Zoie.

1477 - Young People Fucking

I decided to forgo my usual still photo to show then entire ensemble - it's so strong that it's really not fair to leave anyone else. I first saw this film back when we were casting The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard, and while no one from this cast ended up in our film it's absolutely no reflection on how good this cast is - in fact the main reason I initially watched it (outside of sheer interest) was to check out the casting director's work, Jenny Lewis and Sara Kay, whom we were lucky enough to have to put together our cast. I'm also now fortunate enough to know several of the cast from this film - in fact I'm currently working with two of them on a tv series that I'm editing - more on that in the upcoming months as it gets ready to air.

I love good ensembles, I think it's because I'm big on the idea of exploring different angles of a theme and ensembles really give you the latitude to do that. I like the structure that this has going for it as well and it makes me think I might want to do something in that vein as well with something that I'm currently developing.

This is now on netflix in Canada and so I encourage you all to check it out - it's a pretty simple film, five groups of people explore the idea of intimate relations over the course of a single sexual encounter. Some might consider this a talking-head film, but it's more dynamic than that - and even if it was, the heads are saying some pretty fantastic stuff. This is easily one of the stronger Canadian films I've seen in recent years - and it's the kind of film that I can see myself revisiting more and more. It's rare for me to watch the same film more than once these days, so there's that alone for the recommendation. If absolutely nothing else, check it out for the assortment of fantastic talent, a lot of which are still working in our home and native land.

The Most Interesting Album of the Year (and it's FREE!)

So I shall state my bias up front. This album is from one of my dearest friends, Mr. Tom Kratz. He's the kind friend whom, despite the fact we only seen each other once in a blue moon, I correspond with frequently and whose exchanges I value and look forward to. For the last two years I've been fortunate enough to preview some of the music Tom has been working on, one of the tracks made it's way into my film The Untitled Work of Paul Shepard, several others have gained some cult status on the CBC, and from what he tells me a few of the pieces here are inspired by a project that I have in development.

Tom is also a writer of some note, he's be published throughout North America for his short fiction work and is currently working away on a novella and some other projects. I don't think that it's any exaggeration to say that Tom will be known as a kind of Leonard Cohen of his time. But enough about how much I love Tom, about the album.

The first thing you should know is that Tom had a offer for this album, but instead decided to self-distribute. It's a wise decision - he wants people to hear his music - he wants to get it out to as many people - and in an effort to do that, he's offering his album at a pay-what-you-can rate. Hell, should you choose you can even pay nothing, or download it, listen, and then decide how much you think it's worth. So it costs you absolutely nothing besides your time to give this album a shot - and I promise you, it's well worth your time.

The Betty White Sessions is an eclectic album, and while not all of it is for everyone, there is something on it for everybody. The variety of styles is something you won't see on most albums, and I promise you that you've never heard the phrase "All that's here is shit" sung so sweetly or uplifting.

This is the kind of album that can only exist in a situation where there is no limit on the creativity, no one telling the artist that they must exist within a certain context. It is the perfect forum for someone like Kratz who is eclectic, evocative, and a slew of other words that start with the letter 'e'. If there could be any criticism of this work at all it's that it doesn't play like a traditional album - it would be unfair to listen to one track and make your decision on whether you like it or not - you really need to give it a few tracks. So do yourself a favour and grab this fine album, like I said it's free or pay-what-you-can so there's no loss whatsoever outside of your own time. And if you like it, pass it along! And feel free to post your thoughts here or on Tom's page!

Click HERE TO GO TO GREAT MOUNTAIN'S DOWNLOAD PAGE!

Film Fest Tour: Day 9 & 10

5:15pm I had a pretty relaxed morning. I spent most of it doing a polish on, what will hopefully be, my next feature. Then I headed downtown to walk around, met up with the one and only Kris Holden-Ried who arrived safely from Newfoundland. Ironically both he and Christine Horne shot back-to-back episodes of Republic of Doyle so look for that in the near future! We did some shopping, I got some gifts for the loved ones back home and then we parked ourselves at a bar. And now I'm brewing some coffee in the hotel sweet 'cause I got a little more saucy than I had intended. It was nice to see a familiar face after a few days of being on my own, and I have a particular fondness for Kris. The guy makes me smile from ear to ear. So we're drying out in our respective hotel rooms before heading out for dinner and then to screen the film. I'm excited for tonight's screenings - at both Edmonton and Sudbury we had afternoon screenings and I think the evenings have a different vibe to them so it should be interesting. I've really enjoyed my time on the road touring this film. I love how it plays, I love how people respond to it. But I'm really looking forward to tomorrow afternoon when I get to pick Ephraim up from daycare. This Saturday we've got the final screening of this little tour in Toronto at the Indie-Can festival. So if you haven't seen the film check it out there. It's Saturday night, at the Innis Town College Theatre, 2 Sussex Ave, 8:30pm and it's a FREE SCREENING. So that means no tickets, which means you might want to get there early.
Okay. Time for coffee.

6:17am I'm tired. We went out for dinner and drinks with Kris' friends from Calgary, and for some reason Kris and I thought it would be a good idea to have an espresso shot around 8:30pm to help keep us going through the film. I think I slept for maybe an hour all night with our
5:00am wake up to go to the airport. I'm beat.
That being said, the screening was fantastic. Really solid crowd, good energy, lots of laughs, lots of reactions. Good Q&A afterwards and discussion outside the theatre following the film. It plays pretty well to an audience, I'm sure that it's not everyone's cup of tea but enough people enjoy it so it does have an audience. Sitting in the airport waiting for my plane - Kris and I are on different airlines, but the same flight time back to Toronto, so we're racing to see who gets there first :) It's been a blast visiting these cities and showing the film, but I'm ready to go home. I miss my family. Can't wait to pick Ephraim up today. And again, for those who haven't seen it, we've got a screening this Saturday at Innis Town Theatre, 8:30pm.
Here's hoping I sleep on the flight...

Film Fest Tour: Day 8

8:43am I actually slept in this morning! Which is good 'cause I was stupid tired last night. Headed down for the breakfast buffet, which is loaded with awesome, but a little pricey. Alas. Here's to treating yourself! And as part of it they bring you over a canteen full of coffee AND a take-out cup if you don't finish it. Now that's my kind of breakfast! By the time I got back to my room the little elves had already made my bed. Then I decided to catch up on some work I haven't had time to do.

4:44pm The screening at the University of Calgary went pretty well. The film played well and got a decent amount of laughs and then we had a really good discussion afterwards. It's been raining so now I'm just back checking in on some e-mail before I head off to meet up with Brenda, the head programmer for dinner. Then more movies…

11:53pm Had dinner with Brenda as well as Jennifer another programmer. What's been really great on this entire trip is getting to talk with programmers and other filmmakers and discuss not so much the art of film, but the business of it. This trip has been extremely valuable for that alone. Caught two films from the world cinema program At World's End and A Somewhat Gentle Man. Then headed straight to bed.

Film Fest Tour: Day 7

4:00pm Got up this morning and barely caught the deluxe breakfast. Apparently the weekday times are much shorter. Got ready to head to the airport, but then got a little concerned when no one picked me up. So I called in and apparently the transport guy is no longer working for the festival and he neglected to mention that I needed a ride to the airport. But the Edmonton guys stepped into action and I got to the airport in plenty of time. Landed in Calgary just after lunch. Picked up by a lovely girl (who had a card with my name on it!) and we talked about our children on the way to the Delta.
Got settled in and then walked over to the festival office, which was hard to find inside the mall. Each festival is quite a bit different. I tried asking about other filmmakers that were in town, etc… but I get the sense that they don't do the networking thing here, which is kind of a shame… There is a Fubar 2 party tonight, so I'm debating going to that, although there's a film I really want to see so who knows… And in the festival office they were giving away free copies of the True Blood comic book. Sweet. Also their program book is pretty awesome. We're in the 'Hump Night' section and I really like the write-up they did for the film. Wish we would have had something more like it in the write-ups for Sudbury and Edmonton.
I got back to my hotel and a little elf had left me a welcome note from the festival as well as a chocolate boot with chocolate bark inside. Partially flattered, partially creeped out that someone came into my room. But they left chocolate, so the flattered side of me wins :)
I was hoping to see a theatre show called Blind Date while I'm in town tomorrow night so I called for tickets and it looks like it's sold out. Which is a drag. So I guess I'll just see more movies…

11:21pm I came into my room. The lights were on. The radio was on. The television was on. My bed had been stripped of the fancy pillows and unnecessary covers. Also a bottle of water and chocolates beside my bed. Again, I'm creeped out… except… there's chocolate… I call the front desk:
"Hello, Mr. LaLonde."
"Um. I think someone was in my room. Lots of stuff is turned on."
"It's part of our complimentary turn down service."
"It's a little creepy."
"A lot of people think that at first."
"And then they think it's not creepy?"
"They find it comforting."
"They're comforted by all the wasted electricity?"
"… the chocolate."
So today was pretty tame. I treated myself to a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant. Tomorrow I'll be more adventurous and eat in the city. I walked around a bit and then took in Small Town Murder Songs and Bummer Summer, then had a nice walk back to the hotel, whereupon I was creeped out by my room.
I think I'm actually going to get to bed at a decent time tonight. Tomorrow I've been asked to come to the University of Calgary to screen my film for the students and do a Q&A.

Film Fest Tour: Day 6

11:37am Today is a pretty casual day. Got up and had breakfast with Christine and then we said our goodbyes. She's got some work to do, and I want to check out the city. But first I headed over to her friend Patricia's place. She added me as a friend on facebook and I was browsing around and noticed that she does this great children's art. Check out here website here (http://www.pattyzee.com/). So I went down and bought something for Ephraim, whom I miss terrible. (I miss you too Emily, don't worry!)
Checking in on some e-mail. A good friend of mine (whom wrote the closing credit song for our film) sent me some tracks that he wrote from being inspired by the script that (we hope) is next for us to make. So that was a pretty nice treat to get. Now I'm just waiting for a ride to head down to Whyte Ave, which everyone says is the 'must-see-street' in Edmonton.

3:56pm Did a good little walkabout. Whyte Ave is nice, I'm sure that there are far more interesting shops than I went into, but my usual hunts are only for books, comics and movies. I had planned to perhaps do some clothing shopping whilst on my trip - perhaps in Calgary. So I had a nice 5K walk today, over the river - which with the leaves changing is pretty damn gorgeous.

12:21am I got to the cinema early and went out with some of the EIFF staff for drinks, including Guy the feature programer and Kerrie the festival producer. Really great people, and I can only imagine how hard they work their ass off to make this festival happen. Checked out Heartbeats, I couldn't get in to see The Pharmacist because it's a local film and everyone and their grandmother showed up to see it, so I went to see Frozen (which broke my all-Canadian-streak for this festival) instead, and then headed back for some much needed sleep. Head to Calgary tomorrow.

Film Fest Tour: Day 5

7:52am Been awake for about an hour, which means I've adjusted to the new time zone, but it also confirms that my body will pretty much only let me sleep for six hours at a time. The hotel has a "Deluxe Continental Breakfast" so I'm very curious to see what's "deluxe" about it. I think I'm going to walk around and explore a bit as well. Our film screens this afternoon, and I might check out the film before it, Two Indians Talking which is supposed to be good. As for our film, I just really want people to show up at the screening :)

8:24am The "deluxe continental breakfast" at The Matrix is, surprisingly, deluxe. Eggs Benny, roasted potatoes, granola and a host of other breakfast appropriate carbs. Nice.

1:01am Just got in. Now… what the hell happened today. This morning I went for a great long walk to seek out a comic book store I'd heard about. I didn't buy anything, but it was a pretty awesome store called Happy Harbour Comics.
Then I went for a really lovely walk along the ravine on 100 Avenue on the way back to the hotel. Got to the theatre in time to screen a film Two Indians Talking, and then it was time to screen ours. Just before the doors opened we were about to do a test of the film on the screen, but one of the volunteers opened the theatre to let people in - so they had to hope that it would be fine, and it kind of wasn't. The aspect ratio was off, it was a little too bright, and the sound effects channel was off. However the audience, which was pretty damn plentiful, didn't seem to give a damn and the only way to fix it was to stop the screening. I think just like you don't wake a sleeping baby, you don't disrupt an audience that is enjoying your film. So I let it go. Most people stayed for the Q&A and it was great. It was moderated by Christian Zyp who interviewed me for the radio station a little while back, and the questions were intelligent. I didn't feel tripped up like I would doing these Q&As, which was nice. Lots of great feedback from the audience who seemed like the flick. The screening was full of laughs and reactions, and that's the best that I can hope for.
Afterwards Christine and I went to grab dinner at a place her lovely, very pregnant, friend Patricia recommended. I wish I could remember the place - it was amazing. I'll try to walk past it today.
After that I checked out the Fathers & Sons screening 'cause I'd hung out with Jay Brazeau the night before and I like Carl Bessai as a filmmaker and from what I've seen of him in interviews. I'll save my praise for that film for my little mini-review, but it was a delight. Really loved it. My original plan was to go and see Let Me In, but then the opportunity came up to go out with the Fathers & Sons crowd and I couldn't pass that up. I'm a big fan of more intimate sit-downs in bars with people as opposed to things like the party last night, so it was right up my alley and I got to hang more with Jay, who is one of my new favourite people - he's the kind of guy that makes you want to write something for him. And I got to hang out with Carl Bessai, who is a super nice guy. I consider myself pretty damn fortunate that I'm hanging out with some of our countries established directors.
So today was a good day - really great audience at the screening - got to hang out with some fantastic and talented people. Tomorrow I have to say goodbye to Christine, which sucks. It's been amazing having her along. But I'll be joined later on in the week by the one and only Kris Holden-Ried.
Tomorrow I hope to explore a little more of Edmonton before I head to Calgary on Monday.

I just noticed that we got a little shout-out in a Calgary publication. Click here to read about it.

Film Fest Tour: Day 4

6:51am It's official, I don't think my body will tolerate more than six hours of sleep at a time. I forgot to say yesterday that before our screening Mireille was lovely enough to drive us to the Big Nickel and let Christine and I act like tourists. I've been taking a few photos here and there, but I think I'll just post them all at the end. We have to leave the hotel in about an hour to catch our flight to Toronto, then a lay-over, then we'll hit Edmonton. Hoping I can grab a nap today at some point, otherwise I think by the evening the 2 hour time difference is going to kick my ass.

4:25pm Just landed in Edmonton so it's actually closer to 6:30. The layover was pretty painless. I had a phone interview with one of the students at the University of Calgary - I'm screening the film there and talking with them, so he just wanted to get some info beforehand. The flight was pretty great. Gotta say, it's been a long time since I've flown Air Canada and I was damn impressed. It's the first time I've seen the little TV things that make it so you can customize your viewing, and I finally got to see The Trotsky. Got to our hotel, which is pretty freaking nice. I have this gigantic bed. I'm going to try to take a nap before we hit the functions. It's opening night of the festival here so it should be pretty exciting!

12:45am (technically 2:45am). You know how you get to the point where you're just so tired that you're not tired anymore. That's where I'm at. At any rate I'm hoping it'll help with the time difference. Today was a weird day as we were a little burnt out so I don't think we got a great first impression of the city - but through no fault of it's own. I'm open minded and optimistic!
After checking in, relaxing, I headed down to a little wine/cheese thing where it was a little empty, but I ended up getting to chat with Michael McGowan, the director of One Week as well as tonight's opening night film Score: A Hockey Musical. Afterwards there was a reception, but we got lost walking back to the Hotel first, and then I got lost walking back to the reception. I will master the streets of Edmonton - I swear!!! I got back to the party and got to hang out with Jay Brazeau who is one of those amazing character actors who have been around forever. Seriously, look the guy up on imdb.com - he's got almost 200 acting credits to his name. Incredible. We're both screening tomorrow so we'll check out each other's films.
And now. Time for bed. Please please please let me sleep in… please!!!