Last Stop for Miles

I have a painting teacher who shared about the “final inch” of a painting. That is when you are almost done and yet the “almost” seems to involve the most amount of work you’ve done so far. “So near and yet so far” is how I understood it.

We are still working on finishing the film. After spending a year (on and off) with Jessica Hall to create a rough cut, I then spent almost five months (on and off) with Riki Richter creating a fine cut. Next came a marathon 15-hour session with Michael Vernon to lock the picture. My deepest thanks to these three extraordinary Yukon editors for their patience, skill and generosity.

Currently, Riki is at work on the sound design/edit and composer extraordinaire Daniel Janke has created a compelling score. We are aiming to meet the late deadline for the Toronto International Film Festival, which is at the end of May. If all goes well, we will have a private screening for Yukon friends sometime during the month of June.

So far we have managed to stick to our $10K budget because of an amazing cast and crew either donating their time and energy and/or working for peanuts (or bagels and coffee, pistachios and Chinese food) and yet there are new expenses looming. If you would like to donate to the project or if you have already given to the project and would like to give a little more, we would gratefully receive your offering, no matter how small.

My thanks to all of you for your continued support. Your encouragement is what keeps this vision moving forward. Here’s to the final inch!

Well, it only took us 13 months but Jessica Hall (Picture Editor) and I finally finished a rough cut of the movie. When we were done, Jessica said, “It’s awesome,” and even though I thought so, too, I also wondered if we’d fallen in love with our own work. It happens when you immerse yourself in your own creativity for long spells. Best to get some fresh eyes on the project when that happens. So after a couple of test screenings with filmmakers and film lovers we are very satisfied to report that the movie is, at this stage, indeed, pretty good. There is a lot more work to do so stay tuned!

It’s hard to believe it’s been three months since we wrapped shooting of the film in Whitehorse. What an incredible learning experience. I continue to post updates on the Facebook page. And we now have a Credits Page on this site thanking all of the wonderful people who helped us move forward with the vision. Onwards and upwards!

Heading to the Banff Centre for Women in the Director’s Chair. It’s a huge honour to be a part of this incredible workshop with so many other talented women. I’m ready to be a sponge.

Lots happening, folks!

I recently spent a week in Vancouver meeting with production designers, sound recordists, editors and actors. We are slowly beginning to assemble our team.

We have a meeting with Telefilm Canada at the end of this month to discuss our Low Budget Independent Film Funding Application. So exciting!

I’m heading to the Banff Centre next week for the first part of the Women in the Director’s Chair Workshop. I couldn’t be more thrilled and the timing couldn’t be more perfect.

Every day brings us closer to making the dream a reality. Wait a minute, it’s a reality now!