arts & entertainment November 2, 2011 - Over the Edge FORUM WRAP-UP How the Days Brought Interesting Insights ANDREW SOLTIS CONTRIBUTOR It is hard to describe just how grateful I am for my dreamlike ex- perience covering the VIFF forum as a representative of Over the Edge and the North. Days prior to the forum even beginning I had the wonderful opportunity of interviewing Canadian Oscar award- nominated (and at one point scheduled to be moderator of one the Forum talks which took place on Factual Day), David Paperny, whose interview will be included in this issue of Over the Edge. The first day of the Forum started off with networking day, which took place on September 27th and in- cluded a talk by Canadian Network execs discussing the corporations and channels in which they represented. One of the execs, Robin Johnston, a Production Executive at Bell media, started her talk by discussing how one of Bell’s many Canadian chan- nel’s, Bravo, will host a show that is to be about a Canadian woman who creates critically acclaimed musical shows which consist of amateur non- trained actors whose day jobs vary from policemen to doctors. She stated that the show was to be named Broad- way Bootcamp, but that that specific title did not properly encompass the show. She told forum attendees that if they could think of a better title she would like to hear it and prizes would be given away. At this point my mind turned away from the speakers and began to focus on prizes, and how I could win these prizes. I began to feverishly try to think of a name for this upcom- ing show. When finally with about 5 minutes left in the talk, it came to me: Make-Shift Musical! After the talks were over I waited for all the vul- tures that were waiting to pitch show title ideas to Robin to clear out and I meekly told her my idea for the show title. To my surprise she liked the title I came up with and she gave me her email address so I could forward her my name and email address in case the name is to be used, and of course, so I could be rewarded properly for coming up with the name! After I left the theater I promptly emailed her, at which point I went into Journalist mode and decided that instead of tak- ing the prizes I would go fishing for an interview. In my email I stated that a prize was not needed as compensation for my creative genius and that I would pre- fer an interview. Robin replied later in the day and stated that her schedule was full but that my title being used was a definite possibility and that I am in the running to win a chocolate lobster from bell media. So the moral of this story is that sometimes when you go fishing for interviews you end up reeling in chocolate lobsters. Not a bad conclusion to networking day as far as I am concerned. Factual Day is when things really started heating up in regards to my attention. Tommy Pallotta, the creator of one of my all time favourite mov- ies, Waking Life, gave a talk. He dove into the digital renaissance and how this was affecting the television and film industry. He also talked passion- ately about his new docu-fiction film that combined digital and traditional media, Collapsus, which is about oil and how the world is running out of it. This movie looks great. Prior to Tommy’s talk, J Jolly and Tessa Spraule gave engaging talks regarding how much of today’s tele- vision profit was coming from the Internet, and most of the advertis- ing for TV was specifically targeting people on the Internet. This talk was eye opening for me and I got the feel- ing that it was devastating for some people in the crowd who have become absolutely reliant on traditional forms of media. “,.. proceeding to Shake their hands (includ- ing mine)...” On Film Day I caught a talk by Anne- Walker Mcbay who was also in- volved in the creation of Waking Life (exciting for me), and Mike Ryan a highly critically acclaimed indie film genius. These talks were inspiring to me as Mike talked about how he did not come from a wealthy family and accumulated massive credit card debt prior to finally breaking into the in- dustry and becoming a highly sought after indie film guru. He humorously referred to the days of Juno as being the “dark days of Indie Film” as that movie crossed a line between the cor- porate and Indie world with true Indie recognition being lost for that time period. Both Mike and Anne seemed hopeful in regards to reemergence of critical appreciation for true Indie Films. TV day was great as I got to hear a hilarious talk by Graham Yost and Alexandra Cunningham. Graham is the writer of the script for Speed and creator of the critically acclaimed FX network’s Justified and Alexandra is the creator of the American adapta- tion of Prime Suspect. Alexandra was also a major contributing writer for Desperate Housewives. Both speak- ers were engaging and had really funny insightful stories pertaining to the television industry. A talk by dir- ector Allen Coulter followed. Allen is the director of Boardwalk Empire and LO VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL had credits relating to the Sopranos. Allen’s talk was great because it gave the audience insight into his creative process and how an idea goes from his head onto screen. He also gave out free DVDs at the end of the talk — bonus! My experience at the Forum peaked on New Filmmaker’s Day when I got to hear a talk by one of the most com- mercially successful female directors in the history of mankind; Catherine Hardwicke whose filmmaking credits include: Thirteen, Little Red Riding Hood, and of course the massively popular Twilight. To my surprise this film deity was really down to earth. So down to earth that she personally greeted every member in the Forum’s audience proceeding to shake their hand (including mine) and personally asked for there names and interests. This was out of the ordinary to say the least. Later in the day I managed to get her to sign a book for my sister and I mentioned to her that I forced my sister to watch Thirteen prior to her entering high school as a means of scaring her away from drug use. Catherine asked me if this worked. I replied with something similar to, “T think so, she’s an outstanding cit- izen.” The day was concluded with a talk by Two and a half Men creator Lee Arohnson, which was funny, insight- ful and if you are a fan of the series Two and a Half men you couldn’t have asked for better insider infor- mation relating to the Charlie Sheen situation and how he thinks the show will continue with Ashton Kutcher. After the talk, prior to Arohnson be- ing rushed away, I was lucky enough to have PA Shevon get an autograph from Arohnson for Conan (who most people at UNBC know is perhaps the biggest Two and a Half Men fan in the world) thus fulfilling one of my major goals while covering the Forum and the Festival as a whole. To conclude this article I need to give out a special thanks to VIFF publicist Shelley Grainger who ac- credited me for this event and gave me a media pass that got me into all the forums. If it weren’t for her this experience would not have been possible as such a pass would have cost me hundreds of dollars to buy. Throughout the Forum she was in- credibly, kind, generous and patient despite my journalistic cluelessness and constant inquiries. Shelley is a prime example of how big city show biz people can have big hearts and are welcoming and accepting to even small town people who aspire to one day be apart of big city media. Her generosity gave me wonderful and memorable life experiences and an invaluable crash course into big city journalism. YOU'VE BEEN TRUMPED Hilarious, Eye-opening, Controversial ANDREW SOLTIS CONTRIBUTOR Whether one likes or dislikes the antics of Donald Trump, I can guarantee that they will enjoy this movie. You’ve been Trumped is a hilarious documen- tary about a very serious subject matter. The film’s creator, Anthony Baxter, chronicles Trump in his attempts to build “The World’s Greatest Golf Course” in Scotland. While having his eyes set on creating the Golf Course (which is still the process of being built), Donald Trump has ruthlessly made attempts to scare locals off of their land in order to build his course. The film depicts how Trump has torn up the land, including several beautiful environmental sites, and the making of his course has led to nothing but stress for the locals who refuse to sell their land. There are several hilarious moments in the film, such as when Trump goes to accept his honorary degree in business, which was given to him by a Scot- tish University as a reward for putting hundreds of millions of pounds into the Scottish Economy as a means of building his course. There are also several instances in which Mr. Trump asks people around him about his hair. During the first part of the film, the creator of You’ve Been Trumped, Anthony Baxter, plays a background role interviewing the locals residents. However, after he was thrown in jail and had a camera taken away by the Scottish police due to his chronicling of a the various problems, which one of the locals was having, Anthony took a greater role in the movie. Anthony then begins to personally ask Mr. Trump questions regarding his aggressive antics relating to the building of his course. Trump, while noticeably annoyed, continued to stress the positive aspects of the course relating to the way that it would stimulate the Scottish economy and that it was welcomed by all people in Scotland except a stubborn few. Later in the film Anthony asked a Scottish scholar if the course would really impact the Scottish economy in a positive way and the scholar stated that it probably wouldn’t as most of the jobs on the course would be given to Americans and most of the money made from the course would go back to America. During the question period after the film Anthony also noted that Scotland has less than a 1 percent unemployment rate so in relation to aiding the Scottish economy the ‘world’s greatest golf course; is not needed. Personally I found the film very entertaining, but I must admit that I am a fan of Trump to begin with despite the fact that I am not in agreement with many of his aggressive business antics. I loved the film and how it pointed out many of Trump’s faults, but most of what I loved about it was how hilarious the character of Trump is. I feel empathy for the locals who are being forced off of their land and I do not think it is right for Mr. Trump to push them off of the land they and their families have shared for decades, but I do not think that this wonderfully entertaining film would have been as entertaining if it featured a different billionaire as a documented antagonist. = —s =" WAN ee T wie 4 INTERNE ORIN: SR BRR f PRN > s iin aos =) == you've been trumped oe a! %@ te ‘os “ EVO ( hetoocs J