Despite the setback the local movie industry has faced with the added costs of the HST and the decline of the US Dollar, ‘movie mogul’ Laurie Granberg of Set Monkey Productions is optimistic. “There is lots of excellent talent in the Victoria area that is finding its niche in local productions instead,” said Granberg. 

     A case in point is that of the efforts of one man, 28 year old Mark Atkins. Mark has recently been able to find financing for an extremely frugal budget of a full length production. His own script, “Mind’s Eye”, relies on the volunteerism and reduced compensation of a very talented cast and crew, some of whom have been friends of his from his days in learning the trade in Vancouver. His contacts have also given him the choice of several location shoots – which would normally cost upwards of $300.00/day – at no cost. The entire movie was shot over a fifteen day period to minimize costs to actors and crew, sometimes creeping into the wee hours of the morning on cold, windy days.

     “I was surprised by the number of professional people on the island willing to work on a low budget film. There is just not a lot of work here that makes that talent pool grow. So when I put out the call I was pleased at the calibre of people who answered.”

     Alastair Gamble, who plays the lead part, at 31 already has nine movies to his credit, including the lead in a 2008 Ryan Nicholson film, “Gutterballs”. His charming smile and dry wit entertained everyone on the set especially during lengthy set-ups.

     The leading lady, Maddy Cristall, hails from Winnipeg where she learned her trade on the stage. Later forays into stage and film took her to London England, but now attending school in Victoria, she finds time to write music, sing, and play the bass guitar and ukulele.

     Mark was also fortunate in obtaining the services of a well known sound engineer, Eric Lamontagne. While Eric wants to support local filmmakers as a means of contributing to the success of the nascent industry in BC, but he says, “Mostly, I believed in Mark and Mark’s project.” To his credit, Eric was an Emmy nominee and a Leo award winner in 2007 for his work on “Tin Man” a sci-fi three part TV miniseries filmed in Greater Vancouver. His career in sound recording and mixing spans over two decades and 60 productions including TV episodes of Canada’s Next Top Model.

     The makeup artist, Kate Blythe, like Maddy, answered an ad in Craigslist for actors. Her talent in makeup for which she has trained locally and in England quickly moved her into that position for this film. Her website, KateBlythe.com is replete with many examples of her finest work.

     As a bonus, local blues guitarist Bill Johnson makes a cameo appearance during a bar scene filmed at the Glen Lake Inn in Langford. “When my friend Glenn Davidson mentioned he was helping a young film director out, he immediately caught my attention. I love film too and I just happened to have this recently released CD. It was a perfect opportunity for both of us. What I didn’t expect was to be asked to appear in the film. I was totally thrilled – as who wouldn’t want to be in the movies!”

     In his on-line interview with this reporter, Mark calls his work a film noir, “a surrealistic mystery thriller.” The finished result is expected to be ready for the upcoming movie festival season in late summer where he hopes to achieve some recognition and perhaps distribution further afield. The complete list of cast and crew, the interview, and segments of the movie shoot, as well as Bill Johnson’s performance are presented below.

Bill Johnson’s Performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HouyAEo0iwU

Mark Atkins Interview & film takes: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1rh-UcVGVY

3D: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P_v7i_xJf8

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