Like so many people, Warren Sonoda found himself self-isolating last weekend. And like so many writers and filmmakers, he was procrastinating when it came to working on the script for his next feature project.

The script he was writing is a follow up to his new feature, Things I Do For Money (Federgreen Entertainment, Filmcoop), the release of which has been postponed due to cinema closures across the country.

In search of inspiration and interaction with the outside world, Sonoda reached out to filmmaker friends to ask if they’d like to chat – and, if so, if they’d be happy to do so over Instagram Live.

Among the first to agree to the chat was Molly McGlynn, whose debut feature Mary Goes Round premiered with a lot of buzz at TIFF ’17. Since then, McGlynn has directed TV episodes of Bad Blood (Citytv), Little Dog (CBC), Grown-ish (ABC) and Bless This Mess (ABC). 

“What started with just me and Molly chewing the fat for an hour and a half has turned into a series of curated, 90-minute chats,” Sonoda told Playback Daily of the series dubbed “Cooped-up Creatives Live Chat.”

The live chat with McGlynn took place on Sunday (March 15), and since then more high-profile Canadian creatives have entered the mix. Randall Thorne, whose TV project Utopia Falls recently premiered on CBC Gem, and Gloria Kim, whose debut feature Queen of the Morning Calm had been slated to premiere at the 2020 Canadian Film Festival before the event was cancelled due to growing concerns about the spread of COVID-19, took part in live chats earlier this week.

Topics covered include: coping with COVID-19 isolation and creativity; the business of film and TV and the impact of the production shutdown; and postponed, suspended and in-development projects.

Next up is the filmmaking team of Jessica Petelle and Brad Turner (V-Wars, Shannara Chronicles and Hawaii Five-0), who go live on March 21, followed by Canadian comedy legend Mary Walsh the next day.

Once the first block of five live chats have been completed, Sonoda says he will turn his attention to filmmakers that were nominated for this year’s Canadian Screen Awards, which was cancelled last week.

Canadian Screen Week was due to start Monday (March 23), with the best film category being contested by Kazik Radwanski’s Anne at 13,000 ft, Sophie Deraspe’s Antigone, Matthew Rankin’s The Twentieth Century, Yonah Lewis and Calvin Thomas’ White Lie and Kathleen Hepburn and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers’ The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open.