SHOW BIZ THE SUN MAY 29-JUNE 4, 2008 D23 Insight named Canada’s top film studio

Also, aweek of Leo Awards recipients, major new projects and alittle bit of horsing around

BY YVONNE ZACHARIAS VANCOUVER SUN

PHOTOS BY STUART DAVIS VANCOUVER SUN

reat news forVancouver- based Insight Film Stu- dios.Ithas just been Gnamed Canada’slargest independent production company, with a$110-milliondifference between itself and the No.2compa- ny. In fact, Insight is aheadbyalong shot.Ithad $178 million worth of Elijah wontop honoursatthe Leo production lastyear,compared to Awards Saturdayevening. Prior to the No.2company, Shaftesbury that, its film Fido wonaslewof Films, which had$68 million. Not awards.Now Anagram, in partner- badfor acompanythat KirkShaw ship with the Vancouverfilm pro- started outofhis West End apart- duction companyBrightlight Pic- ment in 1990.Itactuallystarted by tures,isventuring into brand new Colin Cunningham and Bri Mcquair. Sebastian Spence and Crystal Buble. Gabrielle Miller and John Cassni. doingaudiotoursfor museums. territory with its new“ecothriller” Then the VancouverMuseum asked called The Thaw. It is slatedtobegin saisays, “Cole is afilm thatexam- face death. Thefilm willbeslated foravideo tour.Thatmodest begin- principal photographyonJune 16 in ines contrastsbetween racial and forrelease laterthis year. ning sent Insight down the film- both WilliamsLakeand Vancouver, socialdividesand this kind of social- ■ making road. with filmingtolast forfiveweeks. ly relevant cinema provides a Rekha Sharma is one of the more And to what does Shawattribute MarkA.Lewis (Ill Fated), whoco- uniqueopportunity to adirector.” interesting actresses aroundtown. his phenomenal success?“We were wrotethe film with his brother ■ She currentlystars in the sci-fitele- pretty naive.Wejust kept grinding Michael Lewis, will direct. Thefilm Actors Daphne Zuniga, Greg visionseries Battlestar Galactica it outand taking risks.” starsMarthaMacIsaac(Superbad) Evigan and Cameron Bancroft which is intoits fourth and final sea- Of everything he has made to date in the leadrole as EvelynKruipen, will be in Vancouvertoshootthe son. She has also just finishedfilm- —and thatisanawful lot —Shaw with ValKilmer (Déjà vu, Kiss Kiss movie Mail Order Bride.Weare told ing Traveling with Jennifer Aniston, says he is most proud of Battle in Bang Bang)inasupporting role as thatproducer RandyCheveldave Aaron Eckhartand Martin Sheen. Seattle starring CharlizeTheron, MacIsaac’sfather,Dr. David and director AnneWheeler have She is proud of her Indianher- and the TV series Blood Ties. Kruipen. been scouting locations to shootthe itageand strivestobreak stereotyp- ■ The Thaw tells the timelystory of 1880 western, travelling from North ical roles forwomenofethnic Guess what CindyBusby has ayoungwoman(MacIsaac)who Vancouvertopast Mission.The minoritiesinfilm and television. Cameron Bright. been up to lately? Thelovely and tal- travels with agroup of students on a scriptisaboutacon woman trying She supports numerous charities, ented actresshas takenupEnglish- research mission to the Arctic head- to escape her past in Boston. She including Hurricane Katrina victims stylehorseback riding, the betterto ed by Dr.Kruipen(Kilmer). When windsupasabride in Wyoming, in the southern U.S., tsunami vic- Destiny has apolitical and social play her character Ashley Stanton in the students discoverthatamelting whereshe is not toowell received. tims in southeast Asia and housing message.Made by former Radio the CBC series Heartland, thatis polar icecap has releasedadeadly Expect lots of horses,stagecoaches, foroutcast women in India.InVan- Canada producer andannouncer returning forasecond season. Bus- prehistoric parasiteonthe world, gunfights and the like. couver,she support women’s shel- JocelynDemers, it starts withthe by has been flying back and forth theymustcome to terms with their ■ ters,has taught actingtostreet premise thatclimatechange is a between her hometown of Vancou- part in this potentiallyglobal epi- Filmingisscheduledtowrap youthinthe downtowneast side realityand thatthe priceoffossil verand Calgary wherethe heart- demic and somehowdestroythe todayonthe film Deep Cove which and supports numerous local energy is going to increase.This will warmingfamilyseriesisbeing shot. parasitebeforeitreaches the rest of has seen film crewsdescend, yes, on venues forthe performingarts. have the effect of increasing prices Busbywas oneofthe manybeauties civilization. the Deep Cove itself,onIndianArm ■ generallyand in particular the price whowalked thered carpet at the Interestingplotline. and otherchoicelocations around Theelusive search forlove, mur- of food. This, in turn, will provoke a Leo Awards Saturdayevening. ■ here. der,afusion of moodyromanticism food crisis in North America. ■ Notedfilm director Carl Bessai is It stars Haylie Duff (Material withharsh realitywill all be themes Thefilm focusesonDan Jason, Thejudges have spoken! Actress abouttomake Cole, hisseventhfea- Girl, Seventh Heaven), Aaron Ash- explored in films at the inaugural the founder and owner of Salt GabrielleMiller has been named turefilm. Actors and crewswill more (,Palo Alto), Lucy VancouverSingapore Film Night Spring Seeds, amail order seed the best-dressed female celebrityat descend on Lytton, population 350, Hale (TheSisterhood of the Travel- to be held June 7atthe Shadbolt company, and one of the founders of the glitzyLeo Awards redcarpet the heartofgold-rush country ing Pants 2, Bionic Woman), Kyle Centrefor the ArtsinBurnaby. Fea- SeedsofDiversity Canada andthe Saturdayevening.Best-dressed hon- wherethe Thompson and Fraser Schmid (Blood Ties, The Covenant), turefilms like JustFollow Law and Seed and Plant of Cana- our goes to Colin Cunningham, rivers converge.Here, 21-year-old JacobBlair (Aliens in America)and SingaporeDreaming will be shown da. whoexplainedtoHollywoodNorth Cole (playedbyRicharddeKlerk) Jessica Harmon (BlackChristmas, as well as shortslike Cafe,G23 and Both areseed banks whose mis- thatheisn’t muchofasuit-and-tie has spenthis entirelifepicking up Chasing the Devil). Blood Ties. sion is to preservevarieties of veg- guysoheworesomething incredi- the pieces of his shatteredfamily. He In this sexy teen thriller,fivestu- TheVancouverorganizing group etablesand crops. In thefilm, we blynauticaland jaunty. Erin Cebu- cares forhis big sister Maybelline’s dentsontheir last summer break gotalot of help from post-graduate also meet up with sevenspecialists la scored an honourable mention. (Sonja Bennett) six-year-old biracial beforecollegemeet at asecluded student Chia Ye ow Tong whohas in agricultureinB.C. Best-dressed persons were deter- son Rocket (Jack Forrester), pro- islandcabinfor theirlegendary organized twoSingapore film festi- Thefilm has screened in 30 cities minedbyapaneloffashion-savvy tecting him from Maybelline’s trou- summer party. Afterafirst nightof vals in Toronto. in B.C. and Ontario and is available judges including VancouverSun arts bled boyfriend Bobby(ChadWil- musicand drinking, the five friends It’s asteal of adeal. For$25,you online for$20 at www.Salt- editor Maggie Langrick; Rebecca lett).Hehelpsmanagethe family areshocked to find the cabin’s care- can see twofeaturefilms,three SpringSeeds.com. Tay, westerneditorwithFASHION gasstation withhis sister and also takermurdered and the onlyboatoff short films and have abuffetdinner Magazine; and Dawn Chubai, host must carefor his mother (Rebecca the islandgone.Stranded on the featuring Singaporean/Malaysian If youhaveseenany starsaround of CityTV’s Breakfast Television. Jenkins). island, theybecome the prey of a cuisine. town or want to sharestories from ■ Notedfor making thought-pro- mysterious killer whoseemsbent on ■ insidethe film industry, youcan con- AnagramPicturesistruly afilm- voking films aboutthe complex revenge. They must defend them- Likesomanyhomegrown films tact Hollywood North at making companytowatch. Itsfilm natureofhuman relationships, Bes- selvesand find their tormentoror being made these days, Gardensof [email protected].