FilmPEI has selected the four productions that will be participating in Film4Ward, Prince Edward Island’s incubator program for film and media production. Selected by a jury of nationally acclaimed producers and directors from off-Island, each of the participating film productions will receive up to $20,000 and in-kind facilities and services. Now we have a sneak peak at each of the four upcoming films.
Funded by the Prince Edward Island’s Department of Economic Growth, Tourism and Culture, through Innovation PEI and the Culture Action Plan, with additional funding provided by Telefilm Canada and CBC, the program was created to support PEI’s film industry through both production funding and training opportunities. Aside from the financial benefits, each production will also have a series of workshops and job shadowing opportunities available to them.
This year the successful applications successful entries includes Emerging Production – Wraith of Malpeque (horror/comedy) with Nathan Carter (Producer) and Justin O’Hanley (Director); Established Productions – Sorry, Mommy (psychological thriller) with Louise Lalonde (Producer) and Donna Davies (Director), The Rolling Pin (drama) with Emma Fugate (Producer) and Trilby Jeeves (Director), and Chase the Ace (comedy) Jason Arsenault (Producer) and Jeremy Larter (Director).
Chase The Ace
Jason Arsenault
Chase the Ace is a comedic mockumentary about Clifton MacLeod, a down-on-his-luck community administrator who puts on a ‘Chase the Ace’ lottery in a desperate attempt to raise $150,000 to build an outdoor hockey rink. Clifton hopes the lottery(and the rink) will be
a way to save his job, save his village and get some long overdue recognition for all of his hard work over the years. As the lottery goes on week after week, with the jackpot steadily building, Clifton becomes a local celebrity as the province gets gambling fever. The film also focuses on the emotional ride of Brenda Stewart, a lonely potato warehouse worker who flips over the right card at the right time and becomes the lucky millionaire. But is this mega-lottery happening by chance? Or does Clifton have an ace up his sleeve?
The Rolling Pin
Emma Fugate
Life is pretty good with Noanie, her husband Richard, and their daughter, Rose. Cette une belle vie. Lively, homey, and full of baked goods. But, life changes, evolves. Rose grows up, becomes a single mom. Richard becomes ill. Rose’s son David experiences the malicious world of bullying teens. Concurrently, an aging Noanie loses her willpower when Richard dies. When grief takes hold, a new phase is born. A phase that is uncomfortable, challenging, but has opportunity for beautiful growth. Sandwiched between her two troubled loved ones, and dealing with her own grief at the loss of her Dad, Rose searches for an idea that might restore morale in both her Mum and her son. A memory flares up, Noanie and David’s shared love of cooking. Will it work?
Sorry, Mommy
Louise Lalonde
Maria is a twelve-year old girl who still plays with dolls, and her single mom barely tolerates her daughter’s disturbing attraction to dolls and for one in particular, Alicia. The two share a home and mom’s issue with Maria’s insistence on taking Alicia to school with her comes to a head with dire consequences.
The Wraith of Malpeque Bay
Nathan Carter
“The Wraith of Malpeque Bay” is presented largely as a series of flashbacks narrated by a mysterious older man. He tells us about Adelaine, a young woman with an interest in the paranormal, who met a terrible fate in the course of investigating a deserted community said to have haunted by a wraith. After some strange and harrowing encounters, Adelaine found herself in an abandoned amusement park, stalked by the unseen, shrieking wraith, and hid from it in an old funhouse. Her pursuer followed her inside, then emerged from the darkness and appeared to murder her.
Adelaine’s killer is revealed to be the story’s narrator. His plan was to spread rumours of the wraith in order to lure a gullible ghost story enthusiast who he figures wouldn’t be missed, and then kill her just to see what it would feel like. But as he goes to leave the funhouse, Adelaine’s body stirs and she climbs to her feet. She is a wraith herself, she’d been investigating the rumours in Malpeque Bay in the hopes of finding someone like herself, and is royally pissed off to have been duped and attacked. With that, she takes her well deserved revenge on the Narrator.
“Competition for the second year of Film 4Ward was stiff,” says FilmPEI’s Executive Director, Renee Laprise. “There were a lot of really amazing projects put forth and we were excited to see so many new names and producer/director pairings.”
“We’re always happy to support the Film 4ward Program to help develop, grow and sustain homegrown, independent film on Prince Edward Island,” says Minister of Economic Growth, Tourism and Culture, Matthew MacKay. “A successful film industry benefits all Islanders, as it directly impacts our provincial economy and cultural identity.”
The participants of last year’s pilot program fared well, and are now being featured on the festival circuit, and will be airing on CBC and CBC Gem. Several participants went on to produce the feature film A Small Fortune.
Last year’s program included Hot or Not – Matt Sherman (producer), Ryan McCarvill (director), Katie Mac, John-Ross Fitzpatrick (writers), Solastalgia – Emma Fugate (producer), Millefiore Clarkes (director), Millefiore Clarkes, Tanya Davis (writers), Furball – Harmony Wagner (producer), Jason Rogerson (director,writer), and SunnySide – Jason Arsenault (producer), Jenna MacMillan (director), Blaine Watters (writer).
The workshops for the Film 4Ward program will begin in January, films are expected to begin production in spring and be available for screening by June, 2020.