Writer/director: John Doyle – Producers: Jennice Ripley, Paul Pope – Cameraman: Brian Hebb – Diary by: Pamela Swedko

As a young boy growing up in Newfoundland, John Doyle passed by a large statue of St. John the Baptist every day on his way to and from school. Intrigued by this larger-than-life stone prophet, Doyle wondered what the saint would have to say if he could visit the city bearing his name.

Years later, Doyle, who had spent five years studying for the priesthood, put pen to paper to construct a mythology about John the Baptist’s return to Earth.

The extraordinary visitor is on a mission to save humanity because God is fed up with its greedy ways. John, posing as a tourist in St. John’s, has seven days to find signs of hope and save the human race, otherwise it will be destroyed. Although he is on Earth strictly to observe, John soon finds himself wrapped up in the lives of the townsfolk.

Fall 1994: During a friendly game of pool, Doyle tells Film East partner/producer Paul Pope about a 20-minute, low-budget film he made in 1982 called Extraordinary Visitor. Doyle suggests it might be an interesting project for the St. John’s company to make into a longer-format film.

The short starred Mary Walsh as Marietta, an up-and-coming talk-show host, and Andy Jones as her husband Rick, a junk dealer having a mid-life crisis.

Browsing in a bookstore, Doyle runs into Walsh and tells her of the plan to remake the film. She laughs.

Fall 1995: Doyle, Pope and Jennice Ripley, also a partner in Film East, begin work on the first draft of Extraordinary Visitor, keeping the core characters and premise of the original short and applying it to a larger story.

The team pitches the concept to cbc St. John’s and receives $5,000 seed money.

They receive another $57,000 in development funding from the Enterprise Newfoundland and Labrador Equity Fund and Telefilm Canada.

Fall 1996: With Walsh and Jones on board, Pope, Doyle and Ripley go to Halifax where Walsh is shooting This Hour Has 22 Minutes to workshop the script.

August 1997: Preproduction begins.

The production team scours the city for a room that could pass as the Pope’s Vatican chamber but find nothing. They decide to build an elaborate set in a warehouse on the outskirts of St. John’s.

September 1997: cbc prelicenses Extraordinary Visitor for $100,000 for broadcast following its theatrical release. They also pick up funding from the Enterprise Newfoundland and Labrador equity fund, Telefilm equity investment and the ctcpf Licence Fee Program. Budget for the completed film is just under $2 million.

October 1997: After screening reels and viewing films the threesome decide on Toronto cinematographer Brian Hebb to shoot Extraordinary Visitor. He has experience on features and ‘brings a level of calm to the set,’ says Doyle.

November 1997: Shooting begins in St. John’s and continues into the first two weeks of the new year.

While shooting on a hill under a noisy airport flight path, the producers send a pa up the flight tower to find out when the planes come in. As it turns out, one of the controllers is an old friend of Jones and is happy to redirect a few flights so as to not interfere with shooting.

‘Just the kind of cooperation you get when shooting in St. John’s.’ according to Ripley.

December 1997: Because of the inconsistent Newfoundland winter, Doyle ends up rewriting many outdoor scenes, making them interiors just to be safe. When good weather surprises him, Doyle rewrites again.

‘One day we were supposed to be shooting in the kitchen of Marietta’s apartment, but when I got to the set it was such a nice day I quickly came up with some rationale as to why they would be outside and decided Mary and her daughter were refinishing furniture,’ says Doyle. ‘So someone had to rush out and get some furniture in need of refinishing, gloves and some finishing stuff.’

Near the end of the shoot they move to a crowded shopping mall for eight days, where they turn off the fountain and transform it into the stage for Marietta’s talk show, cover the skylights, and bring in a live sheep, which they dress up in archbishop’s robes.

January 1998 to May 1998: Lara Mazur edits at the Newfoundland Independent Filmakers Co-op.

Fall 1998: Extraordinary Visitor makes its Canadian premiere at the Montreal World Film Festival. It then screens at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Perspective Canada lineup, followed by the Atlantic Film Festival, where it is the opening movie, and the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Public screenings:

Tuesday, Sept. 15, 6:45 p.m.

Varsity 2

Wednesday, Sept. 16, 10 a.m.

Cumberland/Alliance 4

Press & industry screenings:

See Website for daily updates: www.bell.ca/filmfest