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George's Island: Canadian movie gone in three weeks
Filmmaker Paul Donovan once compared the difficulty of making a movie in Canada to climbing Mount Everest without oxygen. Faced with an indifferent public, harsh critics, limited funds, and foreign-owned movie houses, filmmaking in Canada is, by necessity, a labour of love. Canadian gems like The Barbarian Invasions and Nobody Waved Goodbye have succeeded because of steadfast determination. CBC Archives explores the birth and growth of Canada's film industry.
• George's Island was judged the best live-action film at the 1990 Chicago International Festival of Children's Films.
• In 1987, Patricia Rozema produced one of Canada's most successful feature films, the quirky comedy I've Heard the Mermaids Singing. In 1990, Rozema told Maclean's that the Canadian film industry needs to learn the art of self-promotion. "Mermaids taught me that you don't need stars or a track record to get a film out there. What you do need is money to let people know it exists. When an American film is lousy, it still gets seen. What I adore about this country is its humility, but we still need a bit of hubris — advertising is hubris."
• Canadian films are an anomaly in how they are sold and marketed. Unlike Hollywood's star system, it's the director who is the major player in Canadian films. Producer Michael Burns explained to Maclean's in 1987, "In Canada, we can't depend on established stars. Our cinema has to be totally a director's medium. Robbie Coltrane is in my movie, and I hope he becomes a star. But this movie will be sold as an Yves Simoneau movie, not a Robbie Coltrane movie."
• As of 2004, promotional problems continued to plague the Canadian film industry. Trish Dolman, president of Siren Screen pictures, told CBC.ca that existing in the shadow of Hollywood is more than challenging. "Someone's going to be on the cover of Vanity Fair promoting their film. There's such huge crossover. We don't even have the money to go into billboards."
Program: Sunday Morning
Broadcast Date: April 7, 1991
Guest(s): Paul Donovan, Andy Emilio, Manju Pendakur, C. R. Salmon
Reporter: Mary O'Connell
Duration: 14:36
Film credits George's Island: Delta, First Choice, Salter Street Films International, NFB, Téléfilm Canada
Shipwrecked: Filmkameratene A/S, Svensk Filmindustri (SF) AB, Walt Disney Pictures
Last updated: February 16, 2012
Page consulted on May 27, 2013
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