* Director: Mina Shum * Writers: Mina Shum, Dennis Foon * Producers: Scott Garvie, Christina Jennings, Raymond Massey * Cinematographer: Peter Wunstorf

Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity is the third feature from Vancouver director Mina Shum, and she says it was the most difficult to date. Shum’s first feature, Double Happiness, premiered at TIFF 1994, followed by Drive, She Said, which was released by Montreal-based Malo Films in 1997.

Through the story of a young girl who uses Taoist magic to try to help her mother stop working so hard, the film explores the concepts of long life, happiness and prosperity and their role in Chinese culture. It is the second all-Asian cast Shum has worked with, after her debut film.

Weaving three separate stories into the film created unique difficulties in production, like having to orchestrate nine lead actors. The youngest cast member was seven; the oldest 70, and he would only speak to Shum in Cantonese.

Long Life also marks the third film Shum has worked on with production designer Michael Bjorinson and DOP Peter Wunstorf. The film, coproduced by Toronto’s Shaftesbury Films and Vancouver’s Massey Productions, stars Sandra Oh, Valerie Tian and Tsai Chin. It is distributed in Canada by Odeon Films and worldwide by Oasis International, both out of Toronto.

Shum and Garvie discuss the process of creating Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity.

August 1994: While planning the launch of Double Happiness, to debut at the Toronto International Film Festival at the end of the summer, director Shum is already dreaming up new projects. She applies to the Canada Council for the Arts and receives development funding for three short films she plans to write that will examine the aforementioned themes.

Double Happiness is a big hit at TIFF and the three shorts go on the back burner.

September 1999: Shum meets with Dennis Foon, story editor on Double Happiness, and tells him about the idea for the three short films she started working on five years earlier. Foon loves the concept and suggests merging the stories into one feature. The pair decides to work together, with Foon as cowriter.

November 1999: Foon discusses the project with producer Scott Garvie from Toronto prodco Shaftesbury Films. After talking with his partner Christina Jennings, Garvie goes back to Foon and Shum and offers to produce the film. Jennings goes out to Vancouver to have her first meeting with Shum.

January 2000: Shaftesbury enters a writing agreement with Shum and Foon and active development of the script begins, with development funding from Telefilm Canada and Shaftesbury.

Speaking to actor Oh, who worked with Shum on Double Happiness, from a pay phone at Vancouver’s ferry docks on New Year’s Day, Shum learns that Oh has read the script, loves it and wants on board.

April 2000: The first draft is completed.

September 2000: Shum and Shaftesbury have their second meeting with Telefilm for production funds.

October 2000: The international appeal of the film is enhanced when Hong Kong actor Chang Tseng and American actor Tsai Chin sign on.

November 2000: CBC comes on board with development funds.

Summer 2001: Citytv comes on board with a broadcast licence, allowing Shaftesbury to go to the Canadian Television Fund. CBC and City share the broadcast rights. The broadcasters were able to come up with the funding as a result of agreeing to partner up for the film, with City getting first window for one year and CBC taking second window the next year.

Because the film will be shot and edited in B.C., Shaftesbury enlists Raymond Massey in Vancouver as coproducer, opening the production up to funding from British Columbia Film. Massey Productions comes on board as coproducer and funding from B.C. Film comes through in July.

October 2001: Jennings and Garvie are at MIPCOM in Cannes when they hear that equity financing from The Movie Network and The Harold Greenberg Fund are confirmed.

Toronto-based distributor Oasis International comes on board as international sales agent and Odeon as Canadian distributor.

November 2001: Principal photography begins in Vancouver on Nov. 11.

Licence Fee Program funding comes through on the 27th.

December 2001: On one of the last shoot days the script calls for Tian, who plays 12-year-old Mindi, to summon a storm using Taoist magic. Shum coaches Valerie to believe in the spell she’s supposed to be casting and that night Vancouver has its biggest storm since 1937.

Shooting warps on Dec. 21.

January 2002: Editing begins Jan. 4. Meanwhile, Shum chases actors from Vancouver, to L.A., to Toronto for ADR.

March 2002: The film is picture locked.

September 2002: Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity premiers in TIFF’s Perpective Canada program.