Canadian filmmakers continue to evolve and challenge the status quo of genre filmmaking, expanding the conversation by cleverly blending different visual styles, aesthetics and tropes while paying homage to traditional genre elements - altogether, crafting a uniquely eerie-horrific-humorous-shocking mode of expression that leave audiences wanting more. This panel explores why and how such an approach to filmmaking works and what implications daring expectations have on the creative process.
NICK DENBOER is a video artist, animator, editor, director, music composer, and remixer from
Toronto. His work is a special brand of comedy filled with visual effects and editing trickery. This past year,
Nick co-directed and created The Chickening -- A short film / poultry infused remix of
The Shining, which premiered at
TIFF in September. Nick has spent the past few years writing, directing and producing comedy bits for
CONAN on
TBS where he helped shape the show with his cutting edge technical comedy style.
Nick's unique work has found its way onto many
TV shows and garnered much viral success on the web.
STEVEN MCCARTHY is an acclaimed actor, director, and musician. A graduate of
The National theatre school of
Canada’s prestigious acting programme, he returned to the school in
2010 as the sole candidate selected for a unique, one-year directing intensive. Since then productions such as
Bliss,
Malaria Lullaby, and
Boblo, which combined elements of circus, dance, trapeze, and rock and roll, have earned him acclaim across the country. In film and television he has played a wide variety of leading roles for such directors as
Guillermo del Toro, Ken Finkelman,
Kate Melville and
Robert Harmon in productions as diverse as
The Strain,
HBO Canada’s
Good God, the indie hit
Picture Day, and
A&E;’s
The Crossing. The ElastoCitizens, McCarthy's epic ten-piece funk band, are cult favourites on the Toronto indie music scene. As one of the stars of
The Steps, an ensemble comedy that premiered at the
Toronto Film Festival 2015, McCarthy shares the screen with
Christine Lahti,
James Brolin,
Emmanuelle Chriqui and
Jason Ritter. O NEGATIVE, which he wrote, directed, performs in and produced, is his first film.
LAURA PERLMUTTER is an award winning film, television and digital media producer committed to creating innovative, original content. After attending the
Canadian Film Centre’s
Producers Lab program in
2011 Perlmutter co-founded
First Love Films with
Andrew Nicholas McCann
Smith. Her work has shown internationally with distinction and awards. Perlmutter is alumnus of TIFF
Studio,
Berlinale Talents, and
Trans Atlantic Partners. She has produced two feature films —
Don't Get Killed in
Alaska (2014) and
A Trip to the
Island (2014) — and recently launched the fantasy multiplatform series Riftworld
Chronicles on
CBC in
Canada and ConTV in the US.
THE SOSKA
SISTERS arare Canadian
Twin Sister directors, writers, producers, and game show hosts of
Hellevator, the
Soska Sisters broke into the scene with their
DIY indie sensation
Dead Hooker In A
Trunk.
The Twins went on to follow up their break through indie gem with the accomplished and genre defining
American Mary that placed horror icon
Katharine Isabelle in the title role of
Mary Mason, a medical student who gets drawn into the world of body modification and underground surgeries. Other films include
See No Evil 2,
Vendetta, and
ABCs of Death 2.
Always ones to push boundaries, the
Twins are known for reversing gender roles in their films and are loudly outspoken about
LGBTQ rights.
COLIN GEDDES is a programmer with the
Toronto International Film Festival since
1998,
Geddes’ additional programming efforts have included the
Asian rep theatre
Golden Classics Cinema,
TIFF Cinematheque, FantAsia Toronto, ActionFest in
Asheville, North Carolina, and he is currently the head curator at
Shudder, a new horror cinema
SVOD from
AMC Networks. In 2004 he founded
Ultra 8
Pictures, using his strong understanding of international festivals and genre cinema to help filmmakers and bring offbeat international films to Canada and the world.
Together with his wife Katarina Gligorijević, Geddes programs
The Royal, a restored art deco cinema in downtown Toronto.
- published: 14 Jan 2016
- views: 388