亚洲天堂

A casting call is being amplified throughout Prince Rupert for local talent to be part of the first major feature movie to be filmed in the city.

Prince Rupert will be playing a version of itself in this family-orientated, magical world of dark, gothic fantasy, Andrew Holmes, producer, told The Northern View, on Nov. 17.

The film adaption is based on a forgotten play, Mary Rose, written by Peter Pan author J.M. Barry, the film鈥檚 producer said.

Surrounding areas have been scoped out as the backdrop for the film, with crews arriving mid-December to finalize filming locations.

At the same time, if there is enough interest, the team will be holding auditions for six to eight specific roles for locals of all ages, Holmes said.

鈥淲e have a handful of roles that we鈥檙e trying to cast out of Prince Rupert, but we also have dozens of background extra roles that we鈥檙e going to be casting 鈥�. So, basically, both in front and behind the camera, we鈥檙e looking for people from Prince Rupert who want to get involved in the film.鈥�

Some lead roles will be cast from Hollywood, while a BC-wide search for the main character, Lily, a woman in her early 20s, is being conducted, Holmes said. Wide ranges of speaking and non-speaking roles need to be cast, including a newborn baby, young children ages six to nine, teenagers, adults and seniors, with every age open to all ethnicities. Well-trained pets are also on the casting requirement for possible stardom.

鈥淥ur movie is called The Island Between Tides. It takes place beginning in the early 1980s. Then the contemporary story jumps forward to modern times,鈥� the producer said of the ghost-story genre flic.

鈥淲e felt like this is a Canadian story. Canadian financing. So, it鈥檇 be cool to have the actual story be set in Prince Rupert,鈥� Holmes said.

Three Canadian film production companies are partnering to produce the film. Famous Red Car Pictures is owned by Holmes who hails from Rutland B.C. and is based in Vancouver. Flicker Theory is owned by Emmy award-winning film editor Austin Andrews from Calgary. The trio of partners is rounded out with Mad Samurai Productions owned by Matthew Cervi. Darren Benning of Eldon Road Productions is the executive producer.

鈥淲e received support from the Government of Canada to make this movie with regional financing 鈥� which is a really big accomplishment. They only finance a handful of projects in Western Canada, and we were selected as one for that 鈥� It鈥檚 a completely independently financed project,鈥� Holmes said.

Films crews will arrive in the region in January 2022 to start preparations for cameras to roll in March.

鈥淲hat is really cool about this story 鈥� in 1920 when J.M. Barry first [staged] Mary Rose in Scotland, in the audience was a young man named Alfred Hithcock,鈥� Holmes said.

Hitchcock became obsessed with the play, and it was his life鈥檚 goal to turn Mary Rose into a feature film, Holmes explained. As the filmmaker gained momentum, a script was written with the intent to produce a movie. However, the studio disagreed with him on the premise that no one would want to watch a ghost story.

鈥淚f you can believe how popular ghost stories are now, that they wouldn鈥檛 let one of the most prolific filmmakers in the world make a film that was a ghost story,鈥� the Canadian producer said. 鈥淪o, on his deathbed, Alfred Hitchcock said his life鈥檚 greatest regret was not making this play into a film. So we have our opportunity to pay homage to Hitchcock as well.鈥�

鈥淲hat we鈥檇 love people to do is, if they could send an email to casting@famousredcar.com, with a little bit about themselves, their experience acting. If they are comfortable, they can send a photo. But what鈥檚 the most preferable is just a quick video of them talking,鈥� Holmes said.

The video should be a short introduction outlining any acting experience and a quick note about what would interest them about the film.

鈥淲e are also looking for people who are keen on getting involved behind the camera. We have several positions we would like to fill, including a handful of entry-level positions,鈥� Holmes said. Resumes and emails can be sent to crew@famousredcar.com.