Director/cowriter/coproducer: Rodrigue Jean

* Coproducer: Ian Boyd * Cowriter: Nathalie Loubeyre * Cameraman: Stephan Ivanov * Diary by: Samantha Yaffe

The Acadian equivalent of Trainspotting, Full Blast uses sex, violence and a small-town landscape to tell the hopeless tale of youth culture in the ’90s.

‘It deals head-on with popular culture,’ says first-time feature film director, cowriter and coproducer Rodrigue Jean.

Based on Martin Pitre’s award-winning novel L’Ennemi que je connais, and coproduced by Ian Boyd of Les Films de l’Isle in Montreal, the film follows a bunch of disenfranchised teenagers who find themselves broke and out of work when the local sawmill closes down because of a labor dispute.

‘There’s hardly any dialogue,’ says Jean. ‘They f— and they fight instead of talking – they can’t really express themselves very well, so they find different ways to deal with each other. It’s a harsh drama.’

Full Blast, which will be making its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, was the first French-language film funded by Film New Brunswick. Starting off with a budget of $1.65 million and ending up with a budget of $1.95 million, Jean and Boyd overcame a mass of financial and bureaucratic hurdles to finally complete the film. It was shot in the Bathurst region of northern New Brunswick, where prop shops and other basic production resources were out of reach and weather conditions were harsh.

‘A lot of the shooting was done at night when the winds were really high. Then came the Air Canada strike, which really threw a monkey wrench into all sorts of financial considerations – at one point the only generator unit we could get was from Toronto. We also had to bring in an electrical crew from Toronto and a camera assistant from Bulgaria; and the reason all these things were getting done at the last minute was because the financing came together so late,’ says Boyd.

Christmas 1995: Rodrigue Jean reads Ian Boyd’s L’Ennemi que je connais. At once, he realizes this is exactly the kind of story he’d been looking for to kick start his feature film directing career.

September 1996: Jean options the book and approaches his Parisian friend, writer Nathalie Loubeyre, to cowrite the screenplay. She, equally impressed with the story, agrees and together they write the first draft.

February 1997: Equipped with an outline and first draft funded by Telefilm Canada and Film nb, Jean approaches Boyd to coproduce the project. Boyd jumps on board and suggests Jacques Marcotte as script consultant. The newly formed team applies for funding from Quebec funding agency sodec and funding for screenwriting and development from Telefilm Canada, Film nb and Bureau du Quebec au Nouveau Brunswick.

January 1998: Peter Hayes comes on as second script consultant for the final draft. The second draft is completed and work continues on the final.

The plan is to use local actors, do casting in early spring and workshop them in the summer through to the shoot. It is also decided that the film will be shot in and around Moncton because it is the centre of French film production in New Brunswick.

February 1998: Film nb proposes shooting in the Acadian Peninsula in northern New Brunswick in order to diversify film investments regionally. Because the story originated in that part of the province, the producers agree. Tele-Quebec and Radio-Canada are solicited for broadcast licences.

March 1998: The script is circulated in Quebec and receives an enthusiastic response from some prominent actors; the profile of the project evolves. Funding applications are submitted to Film nb, Telefilm (Atlantic region) and sodec.

April 1998: Funding crisis at Film nb: the annual allocation has already been assigned – there is no money left. The financial viability of the film depends on Film nb’s participation. Panic sets in, but the producers decide to take a risk and go forward regardless. Montreal-based Aska Films signs on as the distributor and casting begins in New Brunswick and Montreal.

May 1998: The final draft is completed. Word comes from Telefilm that ennemi (the working title of the film) has been selected for funding from the French-language envelope.

One of the lead actors backs out.

June 30, 1998: src commits with a $75,000 broadcast licence, making the film eligible for PPC top-up funding (ctf’s licence fee program that goes towards funding feature films.

July 7, 1998: sodec confirms.

July 15, 1998: Telefilm confirms, with the condition that Film nb is on board.

July 27, 1998: The producers decide to move ahead, despite the uncertainty of Film nb’s participation.

Aug. 15, 1998: Hallelujah! Film nb confirms funding (already into the third week of preprod) and financing is completed.

Sept. 10, 1998: Production begins on Full Blast, for an Oct. 30 wrap.

November 1998: The producers begin to refinance the film, after realizing they have over-run the budget by $300,000.

June 30, 1999: Delivery.

July 1999: Full Blast is selected to screen at the Toronto, Vancouver and Atlantic film festivals.

September 1999: Full Blast makes its world premiere at tiff.