Moving Stories Program Lineup to be announced early August
July 18, 2008
A huge thanks to all filmmakers who submitted their films for consideration. We’re pleased to have received so many unique films from all over the world, including Australia, Japan, Italy, The Netherlands, Denmark, UK, Switzerland, USA and throughout Canada.
The festival programming team is currently in the process of reviewing all submissions. We look forward to announcing the program lineup at the beginning of August. Good luck to all filmmakers, and stay tuned!
Moving Stories Preview: First Films Screen at BEC08
June 15, 2008
June 15, 2008 (Toronto, ON)…BookShorts, the seminal producer/distributor of film, video and TV programs based on books, will officially kick-off Moving Stories – a festival of short films celebrating the written word – with a special preview screening Sunday, June 15th at 2:00 pm, in the BookShorts Lounge at BookExpo Canada (MTCC, 225 Front Street West, Toronto). The preview will be hosted by Festival Founder Judith Keenan and Programmer Paul Quarrington. Authors and Directors whose work is represented in the program, as well as presenters from host venues across the country will also be in attendance. The screening include two films announced specifically in time for BookExpo: an animated short by British filmmaker Kate Jessop When the Telescope Came based on a poem by Diana Syder, as well as A Life’s Passion, based on the novel Renaldo and the biography of its author James McCreath.
The final line-up of films, up to 12 in total to make a 90-minute screening event, will be selected by Festival Programmer Paul Quarrington in consultation with a prestigious panel of Film Advisors including film producer Robert Lantos; award-winning filmmaker Sarah Polley; author Nino Ricci; top literary publisher Anne Collins, and director / animator Gary Thomas. “As a writer, filmmaker, even as musician, I’ve experienced first-hand how artistic expression needs to adapt to its medium, yet retain the spirit of an artist’s original work. In screening the films submitted for Moving Stories, from places as distant as Milan, Lancaster, the Czech Republic, the USA, and all over Canada, I was amazed at the vast range of cinematic interpretation people bring to the written word. Whole film groups exist now that are expressly devoted to interpreting books on film, Kate Jessop being one of them.” Quarrington has been a champion of BookShorts’ initiatives since the company’s launch, and his just-released novel The Ravine provided the ideal opportunity to write and direct his own film treatment. The resulting short film, Pavane, will be included in the final festival line-up, lending this genre of short-film-making another mentor and a boost in visibility to authors, music artists and filmmakers.
Festival Advisor Robert Lantos, a long-time collaborator of Quarrington’s, has a marked commitment to the literary world in his films: “Many of the features I’ve produced – Joshua Then and Now, Whale Music, Being Julia, Fugitive Pieces, Black Robe and The Sweet Hereafter, to name just a few – are based on novels. Each adaptation brought its own individual challenges and rewards. I find the whole process endlessly fascinating.”
Festival Founder Judith Keenan explains why she feels the program is well-timed: “First and foremost, Moving Stories is about bringing more readers to more books. When we turn a reluctant reader into a bibliophile, bring an avid reader the delight of discovering new talent, we’ve accomplished our highest aspiration. Second, BookShorts’ objective in curating the screening program from international artists is to set a standard of excellence, for those interested in making shorts of this nature, and to set and audience expectations of what is possible. And third, reading is an entertainment; it needs to be positioned just as seductively as film, TV, and video games. We may be in danger of losing a generation of readers simply by omitting that form of outreach to the very place they spend most of their time — in front of screens. All together, Moving Stories intends to amplify the natural affinities between film and literature, creating a real and virtual forum that allows audiences to appreciate the art of story through more than one media.”
The program will tour nationally to prestigious literary and film festivals across North America from September to December 2008. Confirmed hosts include St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival; Ottawa International Writers Festival; Winnipeg International Writers Festival; WordFest: Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival; Vancouver International Writers Festival and Toronto First Canadian Place.
The final Moving Stories program line up will be announced July 30, 2008. The deadline for film entries is July 10. Authors, spoken word artists, music artists and filmmakers are encouraged to submit their films for consideration. Film submission guidelines, and information for producers interested in hosting Moving Stories, are available now at www.movingstoriesfilmfest.com.
P.S. A special thanks to Bruce Pirrie and Rachel Peters for creating DRIFT SCRIVENER, and to the fab posse of GHOST WRITERS MOTORCYCLE BOOK CLUB for bringing his gang to life for a day!
Publishers try new promotional tricks at BEC
June 13, 2008
Quill & Quire OMNI
Trying to stand out on BookExpo Canada’s crowded convention floor is a challenge many of the annual trade show’s exhibitors face, but it’s one that can lead to some unconventional marketing strategies. This year’s event, running Sunday and Monday, features a number of ambitious promotional campaigns – including a film-festival teaser, a unique prize giveaway, and a racy flesh-and-blood mascot – all vying for attention.
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Another BEC event that’s hardly by-the-book is a preview of the Moving Stories Film Festival, a program of book-inspired short films that will tour Canadian literary festivals this fall. Run by BookShorts founder Judith Keenan and curated by Canada Reads-winning author Paul Quarrington, the screening on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the BookShorts Lounge will feature an animated short by English filmmaker Kate Jessop (based on a poem by Diana Syder) as well as
a more conventional BookShorts-produced film commissioned by self-published author James McCreath, who will be promoting his soccer-themed “novel of hope,” Renaldo, at BEC.
Quarrington – who wrote and directed a short film based on his novel The Ravine, which he says may be included in the final festival lineup – views the promotion as an expression of the commonality between literature and film. “I think the novel’s much more flexible and agile as a storytelling mechanism, but movies are so popular, and especially with some of the new media, access to them is going to be so pervasive that it’s good for the two to co-operate.”
Keenan hopes the promotion will spur a “flurry” of new entries before the festival’s July 10 submissions deadline (the final 90-minute lineup will be announced on July 30) and attract potential screening partners from across North America. So far, the fest is slated to play at six literary festivals in Canada (including fests in Vancouver, Winnipeg, and Ottawa); one U.S. retailer, Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, has also signed on to host the program. “Ultimately, we’d like to get the booksellers on board and create community screening programs associated with their own outreach,” Keenan says, adding that she hopes to grab the attention of event planners at Indigo Books & Music at BEC.
For more information about Moving Stories Film Fest at BEC — watch this column on Sunday June 15!
Preview at BookExpo June 15
May 22, 2008
Curator Paul Quarrington & Founder Judith Keenan
Present Moving Stories Preview June 15 @ 2:00pm
BookShorts, the seminal producer / distributor of media inspired by books, is excited to announce Moving Stories Film Festival, a 90-minute curated program of short films celebrating the written word. The films are being selected by Festival Programmer Paul Quarrington in consultation with prestigious Film Advisors, and have been submitted by artists around the world. From September to December 2008, Moving Stories will screen at public events hosted by film and literature festivals across North America. Confirmed hosts include St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, Ottawa International Writers Festival; Winnipeg International Writers Festival; WordFest: Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival; Vancouver International Writers Festival and Toronto First Canadian Place. More host venues will be announced in July, along with details of special presentations organized by each venue in conjunction with their local screening. A preview of Moving Stories films will take place in the BookShorts Lounge at BookExpo Canada on Sunday, June 15 at 2:00pm. The event will be presented by Quarrington with Festival Founder Judith Keenan, and include authors and directors whose work is represented in the program. Programmers from host venues will be in attendance. Moving Stories will announce the final selection of films in July 2008.
Moving Stories Film Advisors include: the highly successful Canadian film producer Robert Lantos; award-winning filmmaker Sarah Polley; author Nino Ricci whose award-winning books have been adapted for the screen; top literary publisher and media champion Anne Collins, and director / animator Gary Thomas, who is now winning major industry and public acclaim for his work in adapting books to screen. Film submission guidelines, and information for producers interested in hosting Moving Stories, are available now at www.movingstoriesfilmfest.com.
In an era of media convergence, the Moving Stories program amplifies the natural affinities between film and literature, creating a forum, live and virtual, that allows audiences to appreciate the art of story through its presentation in more than one media. BookShorts’ objective in creating the screening program is to set a standard of excellence, for artists and for audiences. It looks to provide artists with meaningful opportunities to create and deliver exciting, original work, and have it seen by a public whose desire for entertainment is not constrained by platform.
Sherry Naylor
Publicity Director
Meisner, de Groot & Associates
Tel: 416-368-8253
E-mail: sherry@mdgassociates.com
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