ARLINGTON PLACE PICTURES Press Kit Media contacts Produced By Scott Andrew Kurchak & Julie McLeod Screenplay/ Directed By Scott Andrew Kurchak 716-536-3360 716- 939-2972 [email protected] !Visit ArlingtonPlacePictures.com ARLINGTON PLACE PICTURES ! Logline The legendary War of 1812 story of Laura Secord and her journey to warn the British Army of the impending attack by American soldiers... As Seen Through The Eyes Of Her Cow ! ! Synopsis !It is June of 1813 and England and the United States are at war. On a warm afternoon in Queenston Upper Canada, Laura Secord is peacefully milking her cow Elsie. Suddenly Laura's niece Elizabeth screams for help as American soldiers have taken Laura's husband James prisoner. Laura, Elizabeth and Elsie run to his rescue. US Col, Charles Boerstler !orders Laura and her family to house and feed the Americans during their occupation . Over the next couple of days Elsie is witness to a few events of a soldier behaving badly, including Elsie being 'cow !tipped' and Elizabeth being manhandled. Late one afternoon as the Secord family are inside the house listening to James sing the traditional British drinking song 'To Anacrion In Heaven', outside ,the soldier are recovering after a large wine fueled meal. Elsie causes a big commotion to draw Laura outside just in time to hear the American's planning their attack on British commander !Fitzgibbon and his forces. !Laura, Elizabeth and Elsie race to the back of the house to inform James of the plans. Later in the darkness of night, James begins to set out to warn Fitzgibbon. Laura stops him and points out that he is too injured to walk such a distance. With no other choice, Laura says she will go. James reluctantly agrees and !gives Laura a paper scroll with very specific details to be given to Col. Fizgibbon, At first light Laura and Elizabeth set out on their journey. Elsie disobeys Laura and continues to follow the women as they leave the Secord homestead. Suddenly they are stopped by the American soldier and questioned about where they are going. Laura and Elizabeth invent a story about taking the cow to Laura's brother's farm for !breeding. The soldier allows them to leave. ARLINGTON PLACE PICTURES Laura Elizabeth and Elsie set out on the journey and change their appearance to look as if they are 'just going into town'. Not long into the journey they hear a gun shot...and become aware of other US soldiers in the area. They must take a detour. As they continue on their new route, Laura tires of holding Elsie's rope and orders Elsie to stay put so she and !Elizabeth can continue without her. Elsie refuses and continues to march alongside them. Later in the day, as they grow more tired walking through the swamps and trails, Elizabeth injures her ankle and becomes to weak to continue. Laura arranges for Elizabeth to stay at a home in Shipman's Corners. Laura and !Elsie continue on together. As Laura and Elsie make their way through the woods and trails, they must make it up 'the mountain' - the Niagara Escarpment. Elsie must pull and drag Laura up the the hill and then they must cross the waters of the 12 Mile Creek. Laura grows even more exhausted and cannot even carry the satchel containing the important scroll. Laura places the bag strap over Elsie's head for her to carry it. Finally Laura collapses and Elsie must continue on !to Fitzgibbon. Elsie arrives at DeCew House the home being used by the British forces. She surprises a red coated soldier and he calls for Fitzgibbon's help. Col Fizgibbon notices the satchel and retrieves the scroll, He quickly reads the !information and orders Elsie to take him to Laura. Fizgibbon finds the collapsed Laura along the trail and he helps her to her feet. She is too weak and he mus carry her. Fizgibbon cannot carry Laura too much farther and drapes Laura over Elsie's back so now the cow can !transport Laura back to DeCew House. Laura, Fitzgibbon and Elsie finally arrive at DeCew House and Laura is helped to safety. At DeCew House a few days later, Col Fitzgibbon dictates the heroic efforts of Laura and the British victory to his !colleague Cuthbert, and now Laura and Elsie can return to their normal lives. ! ! Programming Descriptors Type: Movie (Theatrical) Categories: Short Genres: Adventure, Biography, History, !Niches: Children, Women, Canadian History, War of 1812 ARLINGTON PLACE PICTURES ! ! ! ! ! ! CAST Julie McLeod......... Laura Secord ! Kaila Proulx........ Elizabeth Ingersol ! Lawrence Gregory Smith....... James Secord ! Tom MacVittie....... Colonel Charles Boerstler ! Ray Boucher..... Major Cyrenius Chapin ! Kirk McKenna ........ American Soldie ! John Kreuzer...... Colonel James Fitzgibbon ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! PRODUCTION Executive Producers Scott Andrew Kurchak Howie Murray Julie McLeod! Co-Executive Producer Sandra Guerard! Associate Producers Greg Bennett John Gayder Ralph Proulx Shael Risman Nancy Scissions Rick Smith! Costume Designer Pam Mundy! Edited By Roger! Scott Director of Photography Howie Murray! Music Jeffrey winston mikulski Sophia Morreale piano Joe Rozler guitar & voice Josh Wagner! Sound Design Bill Hawley & Jeffrey! Mikulski ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! DIRECTOR -- Scott Andrew Kurchak is a Canadian born actor, director and writer who has worked extensively in !Theatre / Television / Film in both the US and Canada. As a filmmaker, Scott' first Feature "Give&Take" won Best Comedy at the New Hope Film Festival and Best Western New York Film at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival, as well as receiving an Audience Choice Award !at SoCal."Give&Take" received nominations for Best Feature and Indie Spirit at New Hope Film Festival. Scott has recently produced and directed special online videos for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra including !their successful BPO at Carnegie Hall campaign and as upcoming promotion for Naxos Recordings. A native of St. Catharines / Thorold Ontario Scott began his professional career in Toronto. He landed his first Equity acting job at the age of 16 in Rene Aloma's play "A Little Something To Ease The Pain" for the company that is now Canadian Stage at the St. Lawrence Centre . Other highlights of Scott's career in Canada include "The Shadow Box", " A Christmas Carol" a very successful run of his one man play "Byrdbrain" in Toronto, and in !London Ontario's Grand Theatre production of "Biloxi Blues" directed by Martha Henry. After obtaining his Green Card for the USA, Scott lived in NYC for many years driving a taxicab between gigs. Highlights include his time with the improvised theatre company IMPRO! where he served as Performer and !Executive Producer, work with the 42nd Street Workshop, and Lightning Strikes Theatre Company. Scott now makes his home in Buffalo NY with his wife Jana , and is President and Executive Producer of his !production company Arlington Place Pictures LLC Contact Information 716-939-2972 [email protected] ! Director' Statement ! With A Cow’s Tale : The Laura Secord Story , my goals were simple. To take a story that I had grown up with and to tell it in a fun and very different way. I wanted to be able to work with actors that I have worked with in the past, ones that I trusted and knew would bring the story’s historical characters to life. My hopes were to make a unique and quirky short film. The first big choice was to tell the entire story of Laura Secord’s eventful journey as witnessed through the eyes of her cow. Working with our editor and Digital Art Director Roger Scott, we came up with a unique painterly look giving the film a distinctive “Cow Vision”. As for music, My earliest discussions with our sound designer and music producer Jeffrey Winston Mikulski we wanted to use tunes and instrumentation that would have been around at the time of the story.These songs include versions of “Come on Ye Bold Canadian ” a traditional tune about General Brock at the Battle of Queenston Heights, “The Grenadier March” a tune associated British and Canadian regiments and “To Anacreon In Heaven “ a famous drinking song of the day that Francis Scott Key would soon use as the tune for his poem “The Star Spangled Banner” Jeffrey created some remarkably wonderful atmospheric pieces for us. I am so sad that he was not able to be with us and witness the results of his lovely work. Jeffrey passed away on March 20 2014. I am so grateful to him for his friendship and his enthusiasm for this film that to this day keeps me and all of us on the team going forward. It is to Jeffrey that we dedicate this film. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ARLINGTON PLACE PICTURES History & Context The Legend of Laura Secord Laura Secord (née Ingersoll; 13 September 1775 – 17 October 1868) was a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. She is known for having walked 20 miles (32 km) out of American-occupied territory in 1813 to warn British forces of an impending American attack. Her contribution to the war was little known during her lifetime, but since her death she has been frequently honoured in Canada. Though Secord had no relation to it, most Canadians associate her with the Laura Secord Chocolates company, named after her on the centennial of her walk. Secord's father, Thomas Ingersoll, lived in Massachusetts and fought on the side of the Patriots during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783). In 1795 he moved his family to the Niagara region of Upper Canada after he had applied for and received a land grant. Shortly after, Laura married Loyalist James Secord, who was later seriously wounded at the Battle of Queenston Heights early in the War of 1812.