Director: John Fawcett * Writer: Karen Walton

* Producers: Steve Hoban, Karen Lee Hall

* Diary by: Dave Lazar

In the middle ages, werewolves, or ‘servants of the devil overtaken by bloodlust and uncontrollable desire,’ were believed to be true beasts. In fact, many a suspicious and hairy character was executed in those superstitious days. Even now, the legend of the werewolf remains strong in our modern culture, creating fear and distrust of the near-harmless-to-humans wolf.

John Fawcett, the director of Ginger Snaps and creative force behind the project, has taken the traditional werewolf tale and translated it into a ‘dark tale of modern adolescence, reinterpreting the curse of the werewolf as a lethal, biological infection that attacks the blood and can be sexually transmitted.’ The result is a snappily dialogued teen horror movie with something to say.

January 1995: Fawcett approaches Karen Walton about penning his idea for Ginger Snaps. Fawcett knows he ‘wants to make a metamorphosis movie and a horror film.’ Also, he ‘knows [he] wants to work with girls.’ Walton, however, is hesitant, ‘not wanting to get involved in a horror movie,’ which she ‘generally finds very disappointing.’

Fawcett leads Walton to realize it is a ‘genre open for reinterpretation,’ and they begin working on the story.

February 1996: Fawcett and Walton bring their Ginger Snaps treatment to producer Steve Hoban. Hoban, who has worked with both Fawcett and Walton previously, likes the project and feels it can be made ‘into an internationally appealing film on an indie budget.’

July 1996: Walton produces the first draft of the Ginger Snaps script. The draft is presented to Telefilm Canada, which commits to approximately $12,000 or half the first round of development financing. The remaining cost is made up through writer, director and producer deferrals.

January 1997: Ken Chubb is recruited as story editor. Hoban figures Chubb will ’round out what each of Karen, John and [Hoban] brought to the story development process.’

At the same time, Hoban begins informal discussions with distributors.

February 1997: A second development financing application is submitted to Telefilm. Again, Telefilm provides 50% of the necessary funds (approximately $30,000).

June 1997: The new screenplay is submitted to Canadian and u.s. distributors and studios. The writing quality garners the project significant interest. Although the major u.s. studios pass on the project, saying it is too small, the production does find interest at Trimark in worldwide distribution rights (excluding Canada) and Motion International (now TVA International) in Canadian rights.

Early April 1998: Karen Lee Hall is invited to produce in partnership with Hoban. Hall’s expertise in the Canadian market is valuable in securing the Canadian component of their financing scenario.

Meanwhile, in anticipation of production in the fall with Trimark, Motion and Telefilm on board, the script undergoes a final polish.

Late June 1998: After lengthy negotiations with Trimark, Hoban and Hall are finally successful in convincing Trimark to agree to the Canadian content conditions imposed by Telefilm and cavco. However, at this late date, Telefilm’s production envelope has been almost entirely completed, making it impossible for the agency to participate at that time.

The team decides not to proceed on the smaller budget and gambles they will be able to raise full financing by the time Telefilm’s next fiscal year comes around.

Fall 1998: Hoban and Hall discover that Unapix has a keen interest in u.s. rights for the project. The producers, still believing they will be in business with Trimark, keep Unapix waiting in the wings.

December 1998: Trimark undergoes a major overhaul of its executive ranks and withdraws its offer for world rights to the project.

January 1999: The producers re-contact Unapix and strike a deal for the u.s. rights. Also, ‘friend of the project’ Noah Segal lands at Lions Gate Films’ Toronto office. The producers approach Segal, and within three weeks he arranges for Lions Gate to acquire foreign rights.

Meanwhile, Hall, with the help of Segal, has secured three separate [unnamed] broadcast sales in Canada, allowing the film to qualify for ctf funding.

February 1999: Provisional deals are closed and the paperwork is faxed to meet the deadlines for the ctf and the Telefilm-administered Equity Investment Program. The project asks for the maximum allowable contribution from the ctf (15%) and approximately 25% of the total budget (just under $5 million) from Telefilm.

April 1999: Both ctf and Telefilm funding applications are successful and preproduction begins.

Spring/summer 1999: Director Fawcett is out of town shooting two Xena: Warrior Princess episodes and is unable to engage in preproduction.

At this time, Hall sends out scripts to casting agents. According to the producers, many of the agents react to the script in a ‘strong, unprofessional and sensational’ manner.

The media is contacted and a furor arises, fueled by the recent shootings at high schools in Canada and the u.s. As a result, the Toronto Star ‘erroneously identifies Ginger Snaps as a teen slasher film.’ Soon after, the national press picks up the story, making for ‘an interesting few days for the filmmakers.’

Late summer/fall 1999: Casting begins in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, l.a. and New York. Cast are Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle, Kris Lemche, Jesse Moss, Danielle Hampton, John Bourgeois, Peter Keleghan, Christopher Redman, Jimmy MacInnis, Lindsey Leese and Nick Nolan.

The production is still without a star-power actor to play the eccentric mom, Pamela. Lions Gate won’t close the deal without an internationally salable name in this role.

At this time, Paul Jones begins creating the creature.

October 1999: Mimi Rogers signs on to play Pamela only two days before the scheduled start of filming. Telefilm steps up with an advance to cover one week’s payroll, while Hoban ‘fights to close the financing.’

The shoot, with dop Thom Best behind the lens, takes 33 days of main-unit filming, with 14 concurrent second-unit days.

December 1999: With production complete, post-production gets underway. Brett Sullivan edits the film, with David McCallum handling sound design. Rerecording mixers Lou Solakofski and Orest Sushko also lend their talents to the project.

June 2000: After almost five years, the completed film is delivered to the distributors.

September 2000: Ginger Snaps makes its world premiere at tiff. *