There’s nothing more traumatizing for a young writer than to labor lovingly for months on that first screenplay, carefully crafting it to perceived perfection, and then have some producer alter it dramatically.

Some writers battle their disappointment by returning to the safe haven of the printed word, some give up the profession altogether, others vow to fight and become producers themselves. Filmmaker Francis Damberger opted for the latter, and that decision, he says, has made all the difference.

Began writing

After receiving his bfa in acting from the University of Alberta, Damberger worked for a number of years as an actor on the stage, in film and tv. In 1985 he began writing. His first project was a low-budget feature entitled Rat Tales starring veteran Canadian actor John Vernon with Peter Campbell producing/directing.

Damberger says while he was essentially happy with the way Rat Tales turned out, as a neophyte writer he was disappointed when the director changed the ending of his film. ‘I was left with a bad taste in my mouth because I wanted my stories to get to the screen in the way that I saw them. I thought if I could get more involved in directing and producing, I could ensure what would happen.’

Since then, however, Damberger confesses he’s grown as a writer and now understands the myriad problems and choices a director deals with in just getting a picture done.

His first attempt at producing and directing was On The Edge, a half-hour drama about teenage suicide. That film garnered considerable attention for the young director, winning half a dozen international awards.

In 1986, buoyed by his initial success as a writer/producer/ director, Damberger tried his hand at another half-hour film, only this time it was a comedy about two filmmakers who attend the Yorkton Film Festival entitled Road to Yorkton. Again, Damberger’s film won critical acclaim.

‘The fun and exciting part for me as a writer,’ says Damberger, ‘is that you’re sitting there getting these visions of scenes, and when you finally get them to the big screen and you’ve actually created them the way you visualized them, it’s like letting others see your dreams.’

In 1991, Damberger began his first feature-length project, Solitaire, a dark comedy about a Christmas Eve reunion of three high school buddies who haven’t seen each other for 25 years. He directed and associate produced the film with Edmonton producer/distributor Lars Lehmann. To his surprise, Solitaire swept the province’s Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association awards in 1992, picking up seven firsts including best director and screenplay before snaring four Genie nominations and being invited into competition at fipa, the television festival in Cannes, France.

He then went on to write and direct Road To Saddle River, a satirical comedy about a European butcher who wants to be a cowboy and who still believes that there’s a place where the grass is always green, the water is clear and the sky is blue for as far as the eye can see. Although the film has been completed for over a year, its Canadian distributor Malofilm Distribution, has yet to decide how and when to release it theatrically.

His voice etched with frustration and irritation, Damberger says the picture was not accepted for any of Canada’s film festivals last year. ‘It seems like most Canadian festivals are more tuned into serious political subjects,’ he says. ‘While my film is definitely a comedy, it does have a more serious subtext. It didn’t do as well on the festival circuit as I hoped or other people thought it would.’

Damberger is currently developing another feature, Pictures From Valhalla, with Edmonton producer Dale Phillips who coproduced Road To Saddle River. Written as a dark comedy, Damberger is vague about the content of Valhalla other than to say it’s about a vacuum cleaner salesman and a Danish clown.

More challenging

As a filmmaker, Damberger says he prefers to work in comedy because it’s more challenging. ‘Anyone who has done both drama and comedy in my opinion would acknowledge it’s a lot more difficult. Drama is more obvious, comedy is more elusive.’

He adds: ‘I think right now we live in some very bleak and difficult times. Most of our arts are already depicting that. So many of the films at these festivals are so heavy and angst ridden. All I really want to do is tell good stories, stories with some hope and laughter.

‘It’s easy to show shit and how horrible the world is, but that’s just a cop-out. If writers are capable of tapping in under the surface to how people are thinking and feeling, then we as writers need to present some direction and vision for people.’

Damberger says that’s why he has found it so frustrating trying to get Saddle River onto the screens. ‘It (the film) really offers such a hopeful message that many people are holding in their hearts. People are worried about where the world is headed and it’s important to offer people some hope.’

Working as a filmmaker in Alberta, removed from the major centers of production, has never presented a serious problem for Damberger. Getting recognition is another story. ‘It’s a real challenge trying to get some recognition out here and have people look at your work seriously. I think that ultimately the work should speak for itself, but unfortunately in Canada I think there is still a bias against productions that don’t come out of Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver. And if you do speak out then people dump on you as being too bitter and sour grapes.’

Damberger says he would like to see a Canadian production industry that is more accessible. ‘I’m fascinated by what other filmmakers are doing across Canada. But it’s just a fact that the country is so big and sometimes it’s hard for us to connect.’

Inspired by the work of American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, who Damberger believes has ‘a lot of guts because he’s always trying new things and exploring big ideas,’ the 36-year-old Damberger says he feels most proud that he has managed to do so many of his own films. ‘I’ve been able to write things and see it right through to the end without compromising my ideas. My ideas are not so weird that people can’t get into them because that’s not of much use to others, but my ideas are definitely different and off the mainstream.

‘My real challenge for myself is to do films which have a quirky edge but still get a mainstream audience to appreciate it.’