Deep inside Toronto’s Casa Loma in the damp and musty maze of underground tunnels connecting the barren stables to the castle, a chase is underway, marking the opening scene of Le Monde Entertainment’s (the l.a.-based division of Alliance Communications) post-Cold War Berlin-based political spy thriller Hidden Agenda.
While writer/director Iain Paterson and producer Adam J. Shully have worked together on various series in the past, Hidden Agenda is a feature film first for both men.
Fascinated by the spy stories of Len Deighton and intrigued by what happens when regimes shift radically, Paterson, a modern European history buff, was inspired to pen the script set against the aftermath of the 1989 collapse of the Berlin Wall.
Featuring Kevin Dillon, Christopher Plummer, Andrea Roth, J.T. Walsh and Michael Wincott, the story centers on American medical student David McLean (played by Dillon), who travels to Germany to meet his brother Mike (Rod Wilson),only to discovers he has died in a car accident.
After further investigation into the ‘accident,’ he uncovers suspicious circumstances surrounding his brother’s death, and in his search for answers, he is dragged through a maze of lies and intrique.
On day 23 of the 24-day shoot, the production, budgeted in the $5 million range, is on budget and on schedule.
‘We are trying to do something a little unique, a little different,’ says Shully. ‘It’s not about throwing money at it, it’s about being creatively smart and using the resources you have to make something special. Anyone can throw money at it and make it remarkable.’
As the crew prepares to wrap the Toronto portion of the shoot, Paterson, Shully, dop Thom Best, the production director, makeup, one person from the art department, Dillon and Roth (who plays a German woman named Monica) are packing their bags for a four-day stint in Berlin where they will be joined by a small German crew to shoot some establishing exteriors.
Casa Loma has been an ideal stand-in for German interiors like hotel rooms, offices and ballrooms, says Paterson, but when it comes to exteriors, covering up hints of the Toronto locale – stop signs, street cars, etc. – posed a problem.
Stylistically, Paterson is going for a dark, claustrophobic look similar to that of the movie Seven, and he says filming in the middle of a gloomy Canadian winter is helping him to achieve the effect.
For the most part, Shully says the lack of sunshine and shortage of snow has been a blessing for the crew. ‘The weather gods have been smiling on us.’ All but for one day.
A scene involving an exploding car had to be shot over two days. On day one the ground was bare, the following day the city was buried in snow. ‘We had six people working constantly to get rid of the snow, and when they were done you would never know it was winter,’ says Shully.,
As for his first experience directing a feature film, Paterson says it’s like going to war; you are marshaling resources to accomplish a very specific event in a compressed time while maximizing every moment of what he refers to as a ‘grueling process.’
‘It’s very slow and very difficult. You are constantly making compromises. You have a vision of how you want it to be and the process is not about the vision, it’s all about all of these people who have been marshaled to aid in this field, all having their own fabulous and interesting ideas and trying to hold true to the idea. But you never end up with what you thought you saw in your head.