When Calgary Flames star Sheldon Kennedy shocked the nation by admitting that he endured years of sexual abuse from his junior hockey coach, ctv president and ceo Ivan Fecan found himself moved by Kennedy’s courage. Believing that the hockey player’s story was perfect for ctv’s Signature Presentation Series, Fecan called Sarrazin-Couture Productions and set in motion the made-for-tv movie and now Rockie nominee, The Sheldon Kennedy Story.

Producer Pierre Sarrazin (The Canadians, La Florida) and writer Suzette Couture (Million Dollar Babies, Conspiracy of Silence, Love and Hate) were already familiar with the story when Fecan asked if they were interested in doing the tv movie. After meeting with Kennedy, Sarrazin says they became ‘totally caught up in the story and we committed to it.’

‘To do these stories well you have to really trust who’s doing it,’ says Sarrazin. ‘We spent days talking with Sheldon and he was tremendously forthcoming with all sorts of details from his life, his relationship with his wife and what had happened to him with Graham James [the sexually abusive coach].’ At this point, Sarrazin says, Couture realized that it was a love story of a woman saving a man from his painful past.

The creative team wanted to avoid scenes of graphic sexual abuse and put Kennedy’s relationship with his wife at the forefront. ‘We discussed with Norma Bailey, the director (Bordertown Cafe, My Life as a Dog), that people would watch this love story that slowly grows darker and darker as Sheldon reveals what happened to him. I don’t want to sound like a cliché, but it is an inspiring story and I think we succeeded in making it fresh. It wasn’t just another horrible scene of sexual abuse and a young boy suffering – people can show it to their children.’

A deal was struck with co-producer Doug MacLeod (North of 60, Bad Faith) of Bradshaw MacLeod and the decision was made to shoot the film in Calgary – Sheldon’s hometown. Sarrazin confesses he was concerned about whether they could pull off the National Hockey League look, but the people of Calgary came out as extras and supported the whole production. ‘It was also great for local crews to work on a Canadian story, not just American movies being shot in Calgary. It meant something special to them to be involved in the project and they treated us very well.’

Average Canadian dad

Sarrazin says that the casting was straightforward from the first auditions, with the two producers and director unanimously settling on Jonathan Scarfe (er, White Lies) as Kennedy, but the big surprise was Robert Wisden (Legends of the Fall, Da Vinci’s Inquest). ‘I never thought in a million years that he would have been good as Graham James, but he was stunning in the audition, and Norma, Doug and I think he did a magnificent job. He approached it by not being dangerous – [being] the average Canadian dad – which is what would make a boy susceptible to this kind of attack.’

Sarrazin is especially impressed with Noel Fisher who plays Kennedy as a child. ‘He was amazing. It was very difficult material for a young actor to handle. I think Norma Bailey did a terrific job with the actors. They are very well-cast, but she got wonderful performances out of them.’

There were some financing glitches with the production – such as when Telefilm ran out of money. Sarrazin explains: ‘It was one of those classic Canadian situations where there wasn’t enough money. They had helped us to develop the story in terms of script development, but they had no production funding for us. So ctv was forced to come up with a large amount of money to fund it. ctv put themselves out, but this was a story that Ivan really, really wanted and they were willing to pay for it.’

Couture’s recent miniseries, Jesus, was a huge ratings success in the u.s. and also received critical recognition. She is currently ‘basking’ in the fact that it is the only show so far to beat Regis [Who Wants To Be a Millionaire] while the company prepares to do another movie, Wild Geese, also in Alberta, and with Doug MacLeod. ‘Doug and I had a great experience working together on The Sheldon Kennedy Story. Our companies are about the same size, so the idea is that when we have Western projects we will be able to shoot them where they belong, which is a tremendous advantage.’

When The Sheldon Kennedy Story aired last October, it drew 1.3 million viewers. More than 300 Canadians contacted the Red Cross and Kids Help Phone support lines promoted on-air by Kennedy after the broadcast. Reflecting on the experience, Sarrazin says, ‘It is an amazing story. Hockey players are our gladiators, the most manly of men that we have in our society. I remember watching the story before we did the movie and some classic no-teeth, broken-nose hockey player saying, ‘I’ll play with you any day Shelley.’ That was the greatest acceptance. He brought the issue of sexual abuse in sports to the forefront of the Canadian psyche…he’s the ultimate hero in our books.’