Courtesy of Julia Pelish

Wow.

The British Columbia Film Awards finished up this weekend. Also known as the LEO AWARDS, it was a red carpet event complete with champagne, beautiful women and all things glamorous. The little film that could, CENTIGRADE, was up for a total of 7 awards in the Short Drama category. And I’m so very proud to announce, we took home 5.

BEST SHORT DRAMA - Madison Graie, Derrick Garland

BEST ACTOR - Colin Cunningham

BEST DIRECTOR - Colin Cunningham

BEST MAKE UP - Jayne Dancose

BEST OVERALL SOUND - Réal Gauvreau

And it was incredible. Gary Jones, the ceremonies host, was fantastic. Gary is not only known for his work on SG-1 and other numerous television and film projects, but he’s also one of the funniest people I know. And so, on top of all the pomp and circumstance, there was a lot of silicone and sequins bouncing to Jonesy’s punch-lines.

In addition to being nominated, I was also honored to have been asked to ‘present’ in a few categories, and so was able to enjoy the best of both worlds. Back stage was a riot. Cathryn Barr from the Metro Newspaper was back there taking photographs and being her wonderful crazy self. The beautiful trophy models were making sure their nipples were properly duct taped to their dresses and everyone did their best not to face-plant themselves upon taking that final (and very dark) step onto the stage.

But it was all very much a friendly, warm and wonderful affair. This was the tenth anniversary of the LEO AWARDS and everyone was quite proud of both Sonny Wong and Walter Daroshin (producers) for having the courage and dedication to make and keep it all happening. This town owes those two gentlemen a lot.

My girlfriend Brianne looked radiant. My best friends (and fellow nominee) Madison Graie and her husband James Fantin looked like prince and princess. Jonathan Tyrrell was there with his main squeeze Elisa. John Penhall, our illustrious AD. Derrick Garland and his gal Kathy. Muse and Mentor, Ron Sauvé and his wife Beverly. Mike Rudd flew up from LA. And then of course there was my incredible agent Dylan Collingwood, beautiful casting director Melissa Perry and the lovely and talented, Sonja Bennet. All, some of the best people on the face of the earth.

5 out of 7. Wow.

Courtesy of Julia Pelish

That’s quite the number. Stack those puppies one on top of the other and I’d say you’d be standing pretty tall. Come to think of it, that’s how we felt walking out of there.

Tall indeed.

Hey Everyone.

Just a quick note to update and say ‘sorry’ for not keeping up on the blogs. Things are in full swing with a party every night, festival promo, planning for the screenings etc. And not to sound flippant with the ‘party’ mention, but… well, there are a lot of parties. And myself, Madison and Bri are doing everything we can to get the word out. I’ll be filling you in soon.

That said, just wanted to officially announce that CENTIGRADE will be screening a half hour LATER than originally scheduled. 9:30pm is now the official screening time. After that, we are having the Centigrade AFTER PARTY at Lickerish (903 Davie Street @ Hornby - right around the corner from the theatre). We figure the theatre will let out at around 11:00pm and we’ll all go around the corner for a martini and appys.

So, once more.

CENTIGRADE - Screens SUNDAY Oct. 7th (9:30pm) with AFTER PARTY @ LICKERISH - 903 Davie Street @ Hornby

and then again Monday the 8th (4:30pm).

Thanks everyone. C.

Last time I had a film at the ‘Dan Hoover’ International Film Festival was with Zacharia Farted. A film that Damon Vignale, myself and Madison produced. Directed by Michael Rohl, it was a hit at the festival and none of us had ever been treated better. Van-, I mean ‘Dan’ rolled out a red carpet for us and we’ll never forget it.

8 years later, I’m back with a short. My Directorial debut and I wonder if anyone will even notice. Shorts are kind of off the radar and it’s all the harder inviting people out to see your film. And not to be pessimistic, but few people really care. Appearances to such screenings are mostly obligatory. And it’s a gamble to boot. The screening could fall on a Monday afternoon or a Tuesday morning. You want important people to come out, but you’ve got to be careful. Politics should never be mixed with expectation, and yet, that’s exactly what you’re doing. It’s never something I feel comfortable with.

“Hey. Want to come and see my play?” You can almost hear the groans. Oh, shit. I don’t want to see this guys stupid play/movie/art show. I’d rather just sit home and watch Dancing With Midgets. It’s a short film for Christ’s sake. Which means I’ve got to sit through 70 minutes of other peoples crap before getting to the film I said I’d come to see. God, I really don’t want to go.

And then YOU get all bent out of shape when they don’t show. “Huh, Steve ‘said’ he was going to come. But I don’t see him. Fine, screw that guy. Next time he asks me for something, he can kiss my ass.”

Ridiculous.

Now, I’ve been down this road a thousand times and I honestly DON’T hold it against it anyone should they not make it. But still, I ‘do’ remember those that did. And that is enough for me to be aware of how sensitive it can all be.

You spend an entire year of your life on something and now you want to unleash it on the world. We’re all human and so you do, consciously or unconsciously, seek validation from peers and professionals alike. You want to prove yourself.

And yet, you can’t get caught up in any of it, regardless of the out come.

If it flops, doesn’t mean it’s a bad film. And if it’s a massive success, doesn’t mean it’s a good one. So, at the end of the day, you’ll never really know. All you can do is judge things on whether or not the film holds any merit to you.

And it does.

Therefore… and why the hell not… Let it make a fortune. In fact, even if it sucks, I hope it makes a fortune. I’m sick of taking the philosophical high road. I’ve never had a ‘hit’ that carried any kind of significant financial reward. They’ve all put me in the poor house. It’s been hell trying to pay people back. Investors in various projects, etc.

Would I trade it all away for material goods? Hell no. But it really would be nice to make some headway as a filmmaker. To be able to reward people for their generosity. To pay my crews what they’re worth. Buy myself a friggin’ shack somewhere. A new car for the folks. You know the drill. Instead, every dime I make goes back into this damned business.

The other day myself, Madison and her hubby James all went to the fair and they had this massive house there that they were raffling off. A mammoth thing that everyone was lined up to take a tour of. Anyway, we decided to wait in the line and take the tour. Well, the home was gorgeous and I thought to myself, “I want this.” Granted, who wouldn’t. But I’m so sick of the basement suites I find myself in for the sake of my dream. It would be so nice to make a couple of bucks and to actually live in a ‘home’ of my own.

I don’t know if any of you are familiar with Vancouver, but a condo is now around 800,000 for a thousand square feet. That’s a million bucks with taxes and the like. Who the hell can afford that? Not me.

Like I said, I make a good living for a single guy, no kids etc. But I also live with the girlfriend, drive a second hand car and other than a student model saxophone, I don’t own much.

But, I ‘can’ make the odd movie, and finance it on a working actors wage. I am living my dream and when I finally come to my senses… God, am I lucky. I still have a family. And it’s a family that laughs its ass off when we’re together. And we get together often. I can have Kelsey Grammer call my mom from set to say hello. Shoot guns with Arnold Shwarzenegger and spend some quality time chatting up The Fonz (Hope you’re well Henry). I’ve got my friends, girlfriend and people important to me.

So, who the hell am I to complain? In fact, you know what? To hell with the house. It can wait. I’ve been blessed with the greatest people in the world, love them like mad, and to have any one of them over to my basement suite, is to turn it into the Taj Mahal.

MONTREAL -

Hot. Muggy. Raining. Canadian summers never cease to amaze me.

If you like cities, and you’ve never been to Montreal… it’s a must. It simply can’t be touched above the 49th parallel. The people are alive, passionate and (with the exception of the cancerous taxi drivers) very friendly.

The festival, wonderful. No pretense or Hollywood bullshit, just great people with a great love for film. As for myself, Madison and Bri, there was a great love for our beds because the travel and jet lag was absolutely paralyzing. Unreal. The red eye, the time difference. At times I would hit a wall that was un-movable.

But to give a bit of a picture as to the ‘spirit’ of the festival… They have this massive outdoor screen in one of the town squares. At night the screenings are packed with people splayed out all over the square. Numerous ‘park benches’ brought out for the occasion are now lined up like church pews. Though many people were quite happy to stand or sit within the large rise of steps leading up to yet more plastic tables and chairs.

Anyway, what I wanted to mention was that one night it began raining. Only instead of everyone scattering like ants (hell bent on saving their hairdos), instead, umbrella’s just began ‘popping up’ everywhere. Nobody moved. No one made a sound. They just popped open their umbrellas and continued intently focused on the illusion being projected onto the screen.

That’s my kind of festival. My kind of people.

As for ‘our first’ screening?

Fantastic. Full house. We handed out CENTIGRADE thermometers. Basically, a plastic key chain with a real thermometer in it. We brought 500 of these puppies and handed them out to everybody. (The other 500 went to Palm Springs where my Dad, Sister, Mom and Brother in Law are battling 120 degree heat to get the word out.)

Attendance in Montreal? Awesome. Granted, the press and audience percentage that was in the house was primarily there for the feature we were partnered up with, Kuru Obi (Black Belt), but unfortunately I don’t think the the press stayed very long. But it was OUR short that came up FIRST. And it worked.

Very proud.

The house lights dimmed, our opening credits began to roll and Madison, Bri and I all held hands… then held our breath for the next 17 minutes and 40 seconds.

And it was awesome. Remember, this was the first time anyone had ever seen the film. (And our first time in ‘seeing’ people see it.) Add it was great. Everyone responded in all the right places and it looked GREAT. The transfer looked better than ever.

Colin Cunningham and Madison Graie, Montreal 2007. © Turn Up the Heat Productions 2007

Madison and I were especially proud. This began with her. She was the person who said we should try for KICK START in the first place. She’s the one who put together all the paper work. The entire development of the project. If anyone has ever earned the credit of Producer, it is her. That’s why I insisted that her credit be FIRST up. Not mine. One cannot direct thin air. So, it was a great thing. But we also reminded ourselves that this was just the warm up. Our first screening was more of a ‘press screening’. There was the big massive theater to be screened in later that night. Theatre Maisonneuve.

Jonathan Tyrrell was there as well, having flown in from Vancouver the Friday before and we all began the task of getting the word out, finding strategic places for posters, post cards, etc.

Bri had set up a radio interview for me at one of the most listened to radio programs in Montreal. Time? 7am. Ehhh. So, the next morning we were up at 5:30 and making our way to the studio.

The shows producer, Andrea, was fantastic, but apparently had a bit of trouble getting me on as a guest. The head jock Andrew, simply felt that there was too little time to do anything. So, she rattled off a few of my credits.

Elektra?

“Nope.”

DaVincis’?

“No time.”

6th Day, X Files, Stargate?

“STARGATE!!!!”

Well, turns out the guy is huge fan of Stargate. Been trying to get ‘Andrea’ to watch the show for months. I had to laugh ‘cause the guy said that anytime he sits down at home to watch tv and that first shot of the ‘gate’ comes on, his wife shouts out, “NO SPACE!”

Anyway. I’ve worked on many shows, a thousand credits. But it was good ol’ Paul Davis that came through for me.

So…

Note that the French are very proud of their culture. (As so they should be.) But what that means to an outsider is that it’s in your best interest to at least make an attempt to speak French. The odd ‘bonjour’ and ‘merci’ never hurt anybody. But the one thing I DID need to pronounce was the name of the place our film was playing at.

The artistic hub of the festival is the Place d’ Arts. (Pronunciation, “Plas d’ Ars”.) So, Bri wrote up the phonetic pronunciation for me and away I went.

Well, apparently in my bid to sound cool, I declared to 150 thousand listeners in Montreal that CENTIGRADE was now playing at the ‘Plastic Arse’. Perhaps not the strongest start to my radio career.

But it’s been work. And that’s why I haven’t written a thing. At times we had to ‘remind’ ourselves to have a little fun. We were in Montreal after all. Speaking of which, our screening at the ‘Arse’ wasn’t technically our ‘first’ screening in Montreal.

Two nights before, Madison, Bri and I went out for a celebratory drink. The place, Bocconcino’s. There, we were befriended by Georgio (bartender extrordinaire) and Jimmy, the restaurants owner. Two of the greatest guys you’ll ever meet. Hospitality off the chart. Anyway, we had a few drinks and promised to come back with a DVD of the film as thanks for such a great night.

So, the next night (late Friday night) we went back and before you know it Jimmy had locked the doors, cranked up the sound and played the film to about a dozen or so people on the 5 jumbo-tron televisions above the bar. Our own private screening at Boconccinos. Unreal.

Jimmy opened some very fine bottles of wine, a few whiskeys were poured and I cannot remember what time we got home.

What I ‘do’ remember was that I was a tad hung over for our World Premiere. Not the most noble beginning I admit, but if it’s not all about the people, then what the hell? The beauty of making something like a film is the experiences that come about because of it. The people. The places. The other filmmakers. The camaraderie. Sure we were there to work, but we were also there to laugh. And we did. Then I took a Tylenol.

Thank you Georgio and Jimmy. Much appreciated.

Palm Springs, here we come.

C.

Palm Springs ranks as my number one favorite place in the world. From the forgotten 70’s when it was an abandoned bomb shelter, to the spring break riots of the 1980’s. I’ve spent 30 years returning to the Aqua Caliente for its tranquility and Peabody’s for their mango salsa.

Something about this little desert town speaks to me and it’s a bias I can’t really describe. I used to hike Tahquitz Canyon with an empty garbage bag, work my way up to the falls, have a swim, then return with a bag full of garbage. Do that today and they’ll arrest you.

Still, we’ve been accepted to the Palm Springs International Short Fest, the largest short film festival in North America and we’re ecstatic. Madison and I had an ‘audience favorite’ there at the Nortel Festival about 8 years ago with our feature Zacharia Farted, and there is nothing better than to mix ones love of film with sunshine and sage.

I mention this only because the last few entries on this blog have carried a more ‘poutine’ kind of slant and it was about time I made an effort to balance things out.

We are having TWO PREMIERES on the same weekend. And we’ve been absolutely scrambling in our attempts to attend both. It’s incredibly expensive, but at the moment it looks possible.

Our first screening is in Montreal, Saturday night at 9:30pm. Later that evening, at around 3am, Bri and I will leave Madison and Jonathan behind and head for the airport to hop a plane to Palm Springs. We’ll make stops in both Chicago and Denver, arriving in Palm Springs at around 2pm. From there we’ll check into our hotel, drop our bags and cab it over for our 2nd premiere at 3:30pm.

Unfortunately, Madison can’t make it to Palm Springs. Just as unfortunate, Derrick Garland (Producer) can’t make either. (In spirit Derrick).

But as for me and Palm Springs…There, I will get to see my family and friends, Mark and Claudia Rickerby (who both worked on the film), Rob Stilson (dear friend) and his son Brandon (fag)… not to mention my Mom, Dad, Sister Lorraine and niece Scotland. Most will have been there days before, handing out fliers, enjoying the festivities and getting the word out.

Best of the best.

It’s the coolest thing in the world to share something like this. Granted, these are the kind of people who would support me regardless (all gold), but it is also kind of cool to give them something unique to take part in. Something aside from their own personal obligatory. That, and what better reason to go to Palm Springs than to see your kids movie, or your buddies, etc.?

Part of the sacrifice in doing this kind of crap is that you don’t get to see the people you love. Friends take a back seat. Girlfriends do their best to understand. ‘Family’ becomes a thing to be scheduled. And at the end of the day, you may actually end up with a movie that blows.

That’s one hell of a gamble.

BUT, if you succeed…

IF you’re able to pull it off…

IF the film is good…

Then their existence. Their memory. Their influence, becomes tribute. A mirror. An explanation. A thank you card. And ALL are able to celebrate together. One and the same.

Vicarious, perhaps. But all guilty… and proud.

As my father has always said,

“You’re dead a long time.”

See you in the desert gang.

CAMELOT Theatres. SUNDAY 26th. 3:30pm 2300 E. Barista Between Tahquitz and Ramon

760-325-6565

C.

Madison just told me to check into rehab.

No, I don’t have a drug or alcohol problem. She just thinks it would make good publicity. Remember the days when there was a measure of ‘shame’ attached to that kind of crap? Nowadays, Betty Ford is something you put on your resume’.

Anyway. ‘Publicity’ is the days buzzword.

Plan ‘A’. Hire a publicist.

Don’t have any money.

Plan ‘B’. Find out what feature film our short is ‘attached to’ in Montreal, get in touch with their publicist and see if she drinks beer.

If that doesn’t work. Figure I’ll just have to flash my johnson getting out of a limosine.

Brianne McQuair is our Vancouver publicist. She was also the films props person and set decorator. And when she’s not busting her ass on the show, she’s warming the other side of my bed. She’s a great girl and every now and then I cook her breakfast.

But here we are. Montreal. 5 out of 15. That’s 5 Canadian films out of 15 films chosen to compete from around the globe. The World ‘Competition’. Out of 3,500 submissions to Montreal only a couple hundred films were chosen to be screened. Out of that couple hundred, 15 were chosen to compete. Not bad. Especially when you consider the fact that we sent them our rough cut. No sound mix. Temp tracks. Rough.

Bragging? Damn right. And why the hell not. You know how many people have busted their ass’s on this thing? About a hundred. And they all deserve the bragging rights.

And we’ve got the Palm Springs short fest opening the same weekend. Two World Premieres, at the same time!

So, we’re looking for an angle. God knows merit ain’t worth a damn anymore. Gay filmmaker? Nope. Indigenous? Not unless ‘Nanuck’ paddled a canoe to Ireland and snuck into the Cunningham yurt. Black? After a day of listening to Stevie Wonder, baby there ain’t nothin’ blacker. But, no. Child abuse? I’m Irish, I could sue the whole island.

Rehab. That’s gotta be it. We’re all human, right?

So I told a buddy of mine that I was going to issue a press release saying that I’m going into rehab. My problem? The ever popular, “addiction to prescription medication.”

He said nobody would buy it. I asked him why, he said “Laxatives don’t count.”