Rockwood, Ont.: It’s the last weekend of the 25-day shoot for Red Green’s Duct Tape Forever, a feature film out of S&S Productions, Toronto, producer of cult hit TV series the New Red Green Show. Despite the drizzle, the weather has been smooth throughout production, with indoor shots fortuitously planned for this misty Friday.

Executive produced by David Smith, Duct Tape Forever follows the gang at Possum Lodge as they try to save their treasured meeting place by raising $10,000 to pay for repairs to a limousine damaged outside the lodge. To raise the money, the lodge brothers enter a duct-tape sculpting competition where the third prize is $10,000, and ‘go for the bronze’ with an oversized duct-tape goose.

Producer Sari Friedland (Degrassi, Riverdale), with typical Possum ingenuity, has been dealing, in turn, with a family of raccoons, swarms of black flies and the duct-tape goose flipping over and being dragged along the road. According to Friedland, on this set ‘the new urban myth is goose-flipping, not cow-tipping.’

The lodge set is a bustle of activity as director Eric Till, cinematographer Phil Earnshaw and actors Patrick McKenna, Graham Greene and Steve Smith work amidst a slew of extras and observers. Greene has the room in stitches with his inspired improvisations.

The rain outside the lodge is disguised by the sunshine-style lighting. Only the occasional drip of water, visible on the brightened window, betrays the cinematic illusion.

All around, people seem in awe of the goings on. But these aren’t your typical extras. The lodge members in this scene are mostly winners of a PBS contest. Max Smith, producer of The Making of Duct Tape Forever (and son of Steve Smith) explains: ‘Every year The Red Green Show offers a pledge program to PBS, and this year the program was built around the movie. The main premium was the opportunity to be an extra in the movie.’

Also on set and appearing in the film is the winner of a duct-tape sculpting contest sponsored by 3M Canada, makers of – your guessed it – duct tape. Victoria, B.C. artist/Red Green fan Tom Snell describes the experience as ‘excellent.’

Lunching on pork chops, creamed corn and pasta, Steve Smith, a.k.a. Red Green, discusses his first big-screen venture. ‘I was concerned that I would have to adapt to this huge machine. But in fact, the machine has adapted to the gang,’ he says.

Writer/star Smith, who wants the movie to appeal to both established fans of the TV show and new ones, was careful to pen a script that didn’t read like ‘a couple of episodes watched back to back.’

‘There was some skepticism as to whether or not I could write a movie script, because they think I’m a guy who just writes jokes: setup – punch line. But I think we got over that hurdle okay,’ he says.

When it came to a director, Smith had only one name in mind. ‘From very early on, if Eric [Till] wasn’t going to direct this movie, I wasn’t going to do it,’ he says. ‘I didn’t want a wacky comedy director, I wanted somebody who respected the material and the relationship we had with the audience. And I’m getting all that. What I didn’t expect is that Eric is a funny guy. So I’ve ended up with the whole package.’

For his part, Till (The Girl Next Door, Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace) is excited about ‘the challenge of doing a comedy. People don’t think of me as doing comedy. There’s nothing much better than hearing an audience laugh.’

DOP Earnshaw and his team are also enjoying the break from their usual series gig, The Associates.

Earnshaw says when it came to the film’s look, ‘all [Smith] asked for was that it look beautiful, warm and inviting. From a cinematography point of view, I’ve just been trying to keep away from the high-key lighting that you get in a lot of comedies and just go more dramatic with it.’

Late in the day, Michael Kennedy, executive VP, Famous Players and ‘head film buyer,’ arrives on set. Kennedy is appearing alongside Smith in a 60-second Duct Tape Forever trailer he dreamed up in the shower. ‘It will be a 60-second Famous Players-specific teaser with TVA, the distributor. I can’t ever remember this being done,’ he says.

Would Smith do another feature project? ‘I would make that decision based 100% on how receptive the audience is to this one,’ Smith says. ‘We did it as well as we can do it. Believe me, we have a great crew here. But if it’s not received well by the audience then I’m not hungry either.’

The film, produced with the financing participation of Telefilm Canada, The Harold Greenberg Fund and in association with the CBC, is presented by 3M and Raybestos Products.

While Smith wanted [a release at] Christmas, Canadian distributor TVA International felt there would be too much competition from ‘the big American stuff.’ A spring 2002 release is now planned. *