The Playback Film Summit takes a deep dive into Canada’s latest indie features with two days of case studies. The filmmaking teams behind Rosie, Concrete Valley and Riceboy Sleeps spoke on Tuesday (Nov. 15), providing an inside look into their respective journeys to finance, shoot and world premiere each project, with a selection of highlights below. A second round of case studies featuring the teams behind This Place, Viking and Ashgrove will take place Wednesday (Nov. 16) at 6 p.m. ET to close the summit.

Rosie

Licensing deals from broadcasters APTN and Super Channel “kept the momentum going” for Cree and Métis filmmaker Gail Maurice’s directorial feature debut Rosie (Assini Productions, Night Market).

The deals, which were made before the film went into production, sweetened the pot for Toronto’s Photon Films to come on board as the film’s Canadian distributor, according to Jamie Manning, who produced the film alongside writer and director Maurice and Melanie Bray, who also stars in the feature.

“It’s a challenging market out there for films and they saw there’s a lot of interest in this film; there’s a lot of interest in the filmmaker, Gail and the cast, including Melanie, and everyone else attached to it,” says Manning. “So, it’s been great to have them on for a lot of production because most films don’t find their distributors until after they’ve had their festival launch or some other launch.”

The broadcaster and distributor support rounded out their financing after securing initial funding from Telefilm Canada, the Indigenous Screen Office, Canada Council for the Arts, and Ontario Creates. “They were endlessly supportive of the film,” says Manning. Rosie‘s budget came just under $2 million.

After its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, the film will have its theatrical release in Canada on Nov. 18. The producing team is fielding different requests from streamers or distributors for additional releases. “We’re still in conversations and hoping to have that completed next year,” says Manning. “The road for Rosie is just starting.”

Concrete Valley

Pandemic production delays became an asset for Concrete Valley (General Use, Markhor Pictures), allowing director and co-writer Antoine Bourges more time to pull together one of the most essential parts of the project: the casting of non-professional actors.

The sophomore feature from Bourges, who co-wrote the screenplay with Teyama Alkamli, largely comprises performances from immigrants to Canada who’d never acted before in order to bring authenticity to the story of an immigrant Syrian family in Toronto’s Thorncliffe Park.

Such casting was “basically out of necessity, because we were trying to cast from a general normal acting pool but we could not find the people that had the right accents, the right energy, that really felt like there would be people that live in this neighbourhood, or that would be friends with our main characters,” says Bourges.

Shehrezade Mian and Meelad Moaphi produced the domestic drama, which was shot over about 45 days in late summer of 2021 on a budget of about $280,000. MDFF is the Canadian distributor.

Concrete Valley received financing from the Toronto Arts Council, the Canada Council for the Arts and Telefilm’s Talent to Watch program, as well as government COVID top-ups such as the Short-Term Compensation Fund.

Mian, founder of Markhor Pictures, says longtime collaborators who were passionate about the material were key to helping with the budget by working on a flat rate while some vendors provided deals. “There was a big sense of community when working on this project,” she says.

Riceboy Sleeps

For filmmakers in the face of limited time, money and resources to make a passion project, Riceboy Sleeps (Lonesome Heroes Productions) writer, director, producer and editor Anthony Shim has one piece of advice: “Go for it.” 

Shim and producers Rebecca Steele and Bryan Demore discussed the process of creating the award-winning drama, including the four-day window to film its conclusion in Korea. The producers used a “bare bones” crew during the shoot, according to Steele, who said she doubled as wardrobe, while Demore served as assistant director. 

An added challenge was the use of 16mm film rather than digital, according to Demore. The team had limited access to film processing labs in Korea and had to complete a reg test on the camera in L.A. before the shoot. However, Shim says the constraints that come with 16mm shouldn’t limit or scare off a director, adding that if more directors attempt to use it, it could become more accessible down the road.

“Anyone who’s listening to this who is at all interested or has a fascination with film cameras and shooting on film: I say go for it,” says Shim. “Give up those extra few days of shooting and go for it, because it’s going to be hard. It’s going to cost more money, but you’re going to have a better movie and you’ll feel better about your life and your career 20 years from now.”

Riceboy Sleeps had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the $20,000 Platform Prize. Game Theory Films is the Canadian distributor, with Sphere Films International holding international sales rights. The team says they are still seeking a U.S. distributor.

Written by Angelica Babiera, Victoria Ahearn and Kelly Townsend