Described by producer Raymond Massey as ‘an apology’ to Chinese immigrants, Iron Road is based on the true stories of Chinese laborers who made the brave journey to Canada in the 1880s. In the end, the film was a journey in itself – seven years in the making, it was the first Canada/China coproduction in 22 years. For Massey, it was a case of art imitating life.

With a strong script and secure financing, the project attracted A-list talent from the U.S., such as Sam Neill and Peter O’Toole, as well as stars from China (Betty Sun) and Hong Kong (Tony Leung Ka Fai). Then, of course, there was Canada’s Luke Macfarlane (Brothers & Sisters, Over There), who centered the film as a dynamic protagonist.

Beyond the on-screen assets, the miniseries also boasted stunning sets constructed at Hengdian World Studios (aka ‘Chinawood’) and a score composed by the Beijing Symphony Orchestra.

By any definition, Iron Road was a big film with lofty aspirations, and it found an audience – the series aired in August on CBC to over 800,000 viewers. So how, one might ask, did Canada’s first coproduction with China since Bethune, in 1977, come off so smoothly?

It didn’t, admits Massey. ‘It took a long time,’ he recalls, ‘because we were struggling with the different legal and cultural worlds… in so many respects, inventing the Canada-China coproduction process as we went.’

Massey spent more than six months in China, forging his own ‘iron road’ through what he describes as an often difficult frontier.

‘Lots of back and forth to B.C.,’ he recalls. ‘But I love a good challenge… Really, really love a big challenge.

‘I didn’t speak the language, I didn’t know the culture, but I had Chinese friends, and everything was brand new – so it often felt like diving in head first. It’s possible, at some levels, that I bit off more than I could chew, but we ended up making a film that works.’

No doubt, in part, due to some skillful financial juggling. Iron Road was made on a budget of about $10 million. One hundred and eighty pages of script were shot over 40 days, only 10 of which were shot in Canada.

‘We originally thought we would mostly be doing location photography in China, with the film being shot here. But it became pretty clear to me from the time we did our first pass at the budget, that to shoot the film in Canada was unaffordable. We weren’t ever going to be able to create the visual spectacle.’ Massey estimates that the film would have cost three times as much to make if shot entirely in Canada.

‘Are you going to be able to find $30 million in Canada? I don’t think so. It’s essentially a television deal, and it became pretty clear that it had to be coproduced with an Asian partner. And why not China? Because, essentially, it’s a Chinese story. The schedule, as it developed, and the way we designed the final script, was made so we could shoot as much as possible in China.’

When asked about culture shock, Massey recalls sleep becoming ‘a concept.’

‘I began to wonder why I even bothered paying for a hotel room,’ he explains. ‘All the sleep I was getting was in cabs between meetings and on the floors of boardrooms… At two or three in the morning, after meetings that had gone all day since 8 a.m., my partners would get on the phone, wake up a financier, and get them out to an all-night restaurant. The business culture nearly burnt me to a crisp.’

While Massey remembers his bureaucratic woes with a smile, he’s quick to give credit to the film’s director, David Wu, whose dedication he describes as a ‘force of nature.’

‘David was not only the perfect choice to direct the film, but the only one in Canada who could have pulled it off the way he did,’ Massey explains. ‘He was born in Hong Kong, speaks Cantonese and Mandarin, and has worked as an actor, editor, producer, and now a director, so he can contribute on so many levels. He edited the movie as well, cutting at night and on weekends. I have no idea where he gets the stamina to work 20-hour days.’

Now that he’s laid the tracks, Massey is scheduled to return to China this fall, with new coproductions underway.

‘It’s a financing model that really works, and there are many solid, accomplished companies and individuals to work with in China,’ he says.

Citing double-digit growth in theaters, box office, and television revenues, Massey sees potential that isn’t as apparent in western markets. ‘I’m reading every script I can get my hands on that could be coproduced. Stories need to be able to work commercially on both ends, and have English-speaking characters at the center of the story, as well as Chinese.’

The next logical leap?

With a keen eye for talent, such a sudden shift is nothing new in Massey’s career. Before there was Kenny vs. Spenny and there was Kenny Hotz in Massey’s documentary The Papal Chase (2004). Versatile in various producing roles, his producing credits range from line-producing in Hollywood (You Kill Me, 2007) to Canadian cult classics (Whale Music, 1994).

Perhaps it’s not surprising Massey is so adaptable. Filmmaking and hard work are in the family.

Massey’s late grandfather – the famous actor with the same name – was nominated for an Oscar in 1941, and was a Hollywood star for more than 40 years. His aunt, Anna Massey, is still a well-known actress performing in the U.K. In terms of diplomacy, his great uncle was Vincent Massey, who became the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada in 1952.

To top it all off, the family tree goes back to include the founding of the Massey-Ferguson Tractor Company, and Toronto’s Massey Hall attests to the family’s philanthropy. Perhaps this trait is present in some of Massey’s film choices. With producer credits on more than 23 feature films, a handful of them focus on minority struggles.

My Father’s Angel, released in 1999, depicts the cultural clashes of two Bosnian refugee families, as Serbs and Muslims come to terms with their cultural conflicts in Canada.

It’s the film he’s most proud of having produced: ‘I put that, in some ways, ahead of Iron Road, as Iron Road was essentially made for television. With feature films you can sit in the back with the audience, and watch people cry, gasp and laugh. That process really fascinates me. My Father’s Angel was one of those films that had a high emotional impact. It had something to say. And it’s applicable to so many ethnic conflicts around the world.’

Adding to the list of character-driven gems is a more lighthearted film, 2002’s Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity. Selected by the Sundance and Toronto film festivals, starring Sandra Oh, it illustrates a world through the eyes of a young Chinese girl. She wishes to improve her mother’s life by using Taoist magic, and ends up intertwining the destinies of those around her to create romance.

Massey recalls the film fondly, praises the director, Mina Shum, and changes the topic to something that isn’t listed on IMDb.

‘There’s actually one other. An educational TV series called Call My People Home. It was a visual adaptation of a poem by Dorothy Livesay… a dramatization of Japanese internment. That film was the first time I went out and opened my eyes to the reality of the immigrant influence on Canadian society. It was a shameful chapter that opened my mind to all other immigrant stories that we have here. Iron Road is just another one of those chapters.’

Returning to China this fall, Massey is set to pitch new ideas to new partners. When and where the next epic takes place, time will only tell, but one thing is clear: if a Great Wall ever surrounded China’s film industry, people like Massey would find a way in.

‘It’s a whole new landscape,’ he describes. ‘Watch out for developing China, is all I can say.’