Holiday TINARS Moving Stories Event a Glam Success

With a big bevvy of star artists per square foot at the Gladstone Hotel Nov 26, the Pages Books “This is Not A Reading Series” presentation of Moving Stories Films counts as one of our glammiest events in the 6-city tour.  Of course it helps that the event did double-duty as the BookShorts annual holiday fete, this year Co-Hosted by our long-time colleague and favourite designer Karen Marren as well as the MFS series Host and Curator Paul Quarrington. 

We were thrilled to have these artists and spirited guests in the house…

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

  

  

 

Moving Stories Toronto launches holiday season with Hollywood Glam

Moving Stories Films event in Toronto, Nov 26, Gladstone Hotel, doors at 7:00pm, cover $5 with complimentary Hollywood bevvie. Event sponsored by Pages Books “This Is Not A Reading Series.”  Special Guests James McCreath (A Life’s Passion) and Brian D. Smith (Sprout This!) plus Gary Thomas (A Life’s Passion) Rachel Peters (Nagasaki Circus), Kate Hollett (Food, Sex and Salmonella), Nino Ricci (Moving Stories Film Advisor) and many more artists of the page and screen.  Followed by BookShorts Holiday Party hosted with KMD Karen Marren Design — this year’s theme is Hollywood Glamour, so put on your tuxes, satin gowns and boa’s - we’re providing the photo opportunity!

 

A moving (and funny) story … Ottawa Citizen

By James MacGowan … Paul Quarrington presents a short film version of The Ravine at Writers Festival….

Busy man, that Paul Quarrington. Right now, he’s multi-tasking: he’s got his ear to his cellphone and his eyes searching for a place to park and chat. He’s in Toronto, so this is harder than fitting a camel through the eye of a needle.

“I’m going to go up here and just pull over,” he says, finally. “That way I can give you the full weight of my concentration.” He’s being funny. He’s always being funny. He’s a damn funny guy and his latest book, The Ravine, is a damn funny book and a thumping good read. … he has done some movie work. Which is why he’s coming to Ottawa, as part of the BookShorts Moving Stories Film Festival. For the first time, Quarrington not only wrote a script for a film, he directed it as well. It’s called Pavane, and it’s based upon The Ravine. Now, it’s only five minutes and 28 seconds long, so he hasn’t completely ventured into the land of Spielberg and Kubrick, but it was a nice beginning. (You can see a trailer of the short at movingstoriesfilmfest.com/media/pavane).

“It wasn’t technically my debut,” he counters, when I ask how it felt to be behind the camera for the first time. “I’ve actually made three short films. Indeed, I attended the Canadian Film Centre as a director resident 16 years ago. And yes, I would like to direct the full-length version. While I don’t think I can really direct a film, I don’t think anyone else can either.” (I’m not sure what that means, but never mind. It’s Quarrington, after all.)

Odd thing about the writing of The Ravine. Halfway through, he stopped. Something was pulling at him and that something was a screenplay. So he wrote the screenplay for the novel that was not yet finished. When that was done, he finished the novel. He then also decided to do a short-film version, which is how Pavane was born.

“We are in the business of making short films inspired by books,” agrees Judith Keenan, executive director of the Moving Stories Film Festival. “The films are crafted from an artistic perspective just like any short film would be — each has a narrative arc, a beginning, middle and ending, and gives every viewer a satisfying experience. The original screenplay for each film is adapted from a book because that’s our niche, we love to introduce new readers to the work of both our authors and our filmmakers.

“There are those that agree that our little guys stand on their own — CBC is on board to broadcast Pavane, A Life’s Passion; Bravo continues to support the films (What Casanova Told Me, Pavane, Nagasaki Circus), as does the National Film Board (Nagasaki Circus, and others just now in development stage).”

Pavane, A Life’s Passion and Nagasaki Circus will be shown Wednesday, along with This Hour Has Seven Decades, JPOD, The Gargoyle and nine others, all based on written word sources (short stories, poems). Then, on Thursday, Quarrington will be conducting a workshop with Keenan on the difficulties of adapting a novel for the screen.

“The big problem,” he says, “is that movies are a lot smaller than people think they are. A relatively small book like Whale Music can’t fit comfortably into a movie — you have to pick and choose.”

Quarrington says adapting his own work, such as Whale Music, is easier, because he has no qualms about cutting things. When he’s adapting someone else’s work, he becomes “fiercely protective of their work because it’s theirs. Myself, because I’m closer to me, I can say, ‘Get over yourself, Paul’.”

When he was working with director Richard Lewis on Whale Music, for instance, there were quite a few times where Lewis wanted to add a scene from the book, but Quarrington wouldn’t allow it. “Well, it’s in the book,” Lewis would say. “Who cares?” Quarrington would respond.

This Thursday, you’ll learn how to be just as self-flagellating. From the master, no less.

Paul Quarrington will appear at the Ottawa International Writers Festival on Wednesday at 7 p.m and Thursday at 4 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

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James Macgowan’s blog, Cover to Cover, is a perfect destination to read what’s happening in the world of books

Read it all here at the Ottawa Citizen

James MacGowan, The Ottawa Citizen
Published: Sunday, October 19, 2008

Thin Air audiences appreciate Moving Stories Films and afternoon popcorn

Emma Hill Kepron, one of several bloggers at Thin Air 2008, Winnipeg’s International Writers Festival has this to report about the very first public screening of MOVING STORIES FILMS.

… I had just visited 13 different worlds in one afternoon.  …They were more like a variety of different dishes, all with different ingredients, methods of preparation and presentation. …These little short films were just perfect wee morsels of delicious story. Watching the films sort of felt like being at a buffet where you nibble away at this and that and then realize later that you’ve actually had quite a lot to eat. … the components of this buffet complemented each other very nicely. “No Bikini,” “The Perfection of the Moment,” and “Nagasaki Circus” were particularly memorable and tasty.  And this was the perfect end to a perfect festival.

 

Randall Maggs was our special guest at the intermission. He told the tale of how the film’s central story, Night Work: A Sawchuk Poem, took its heart and soul from his own personal experience with the only man to score on hockey legend Terry Sawchuk in a round of exhibition games in Newfoundland, way back in the golden era of the game. 

Other authors at Thin Air and represented in the Moving Stories Films screening included Andrew Davidson (The Gargoyle: Sei’s Story, directed by Bert Kish); David Waltner-Toews (Food, Sex, and Salmonella, directed by Kate Hollett) and Paul Quarrington (Pavane, based on the novel The Ravine, directed by Paul himself).

Our thanks to the enthusiastic audience, who really let us know their favs with abundant applause and visits to the book sale table after the show. 

 

 

Moving Stories Films Hits The Road!

First Stop, Winnipeg!  Moving Stories Films makes its premiere on Sunday September 28th at THIN AIR Winnipeg International Writer’s Festival. Journalists, check out the Moving Stories Press Kit for photos, trailers, info about the films, filmmakers, books, authors and more! Check our tour schedule for the latest information on screenings and workshops dates as we tour the program across the country.

We’re thrilled to have special guests join us in Winnipeg!  Randall Maggs, author of Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems (Brick Books) will be in attendance and a short film adaptation of his work will be featured in the program.

“This film does what you hope a dramatization will do,” says Moving Stories Films advisor and publisher Anne Collins, “expand into the unsaid bits of the poem to bring an even bigger experience to the viewer.”

Also in attendance at the Festival is author David Waltner-Toews, shose BookShorts film “Food, Sex, and Salmonella” is also in the film program line up.

Paul Quarrington, Susin Nielsen and Judith Keenan explore the process of adaptation in a Moving Stories Master Class on Saturday Sept 27.

The tour continues in St. John’s, Ottawa and Vancouver in October, and Toronto in November. Stay tuned for more news as the tour unfolds and keep visiting our website for details!

Moving Stories Films 2008 Program Announced

Moving Stories Films is delighted to announce its inaugural program lineup for 2008. The premiere program, curated by Paul Quarrington, produced by Judith Keenan, with illustrious film advisors Robert Lantos, Sarah Polley, Nino Ricci, Gary Thomas and Anne Collins, will be screened at a number of literary and film events across Canada. The tour starts with THIN AIR: Winnipeg International Writers Festival on September 28th, followed by screenings in the St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival and Banff-Calgary, Ottawa, and Vancouver International Writers Festivals in October, as well as TINARS Toronto in November.

Moving Stories Films 2008 Program Line-up

THIS HOUR HAS SEVEN DECADES
Dir. Irene Duma / Canada / 5:30 / Mockumentary / This Hour Has Seven Decades / Patrick Watson
A delightful tongue-in-cheek look at a broadcast journalist suffering through some serious storytelling sins.

THE CAVE
Dir. Michael Ramsey / USA / 3:00 / Fiction / The Republic / Plato
An evocative claymation adaptation of the allegory of the cave, a classic commentary on the human condition.

WHEN THE TELESCOPE CAME
Dir. Kate Jessop / UK / 5:00 / Fiction / When the Telescope Came / The Planet-Box / Diana Syder
Ideas and words from cosmology and physics inspire this story about a woman who tries to stop the stars from falling into her house.

A LIFE’S PASSION
Dir. Gary Thomas / Canada / 6:30 / Docu-Drama / Renaldo / James McCreath
A cinematic biography of James McCreath, a man who turned the intensity of his real-life story into an epic novel of faith, hope and love.

WAITING
Dir. Fiona Collins / UK / 1:00 / Comedy / Waiting / Julian Daniel
Sometimes there’s nothing else to do but simply wait.

NO BIKINI
Dir. Claudia Morgado Escanilla / Canada / 9:00 / Fiction / Close to Spider Man / Ivan Coyote
A young girl pretending to be a boy discovers the freedom that comes with no bikini.

NIGHT WORK: A SAWCHUK POEM
Dir. Justin Simms / Canada / 5:00 / Fiction / Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems / Randall Maggs
A poignant reflection of hockey legend Terry Sawchuk, this dramatic short underscores his lasting impression on a young man in a small Newfoundland town, to whom he is both hero and human.

THE GARGOYLE
Dir. Bert Kish / USA / 5:30 / Docu-Drama / The Gargoyle / Andrew Davidson
Author Andrew Davidson recounts the story of Sei, a beautiful Japanese glassblower caught in a dilemma of love and loyalty.

A LETTER TO COLLEEN
Dir. Andy London / USA / 8:30 / Fiction / A Letter to Christine / Andy London
Haunted by the events of his 18th birthday, Andy London writes a letter to Colleen in an attempt to put his demons to rest.

FOOD, SEX, AND SALMONELLA
Dir. Kate Hollett / Canada / 4:00 / Documentary / Food, Sex, and Salmonella / David Waltner-Toews
An epidemiologist presents a graphic display of cause and effect tales in a light-hearted tale of bacteria, viruses, and parasites that have made their way into our food supply.

JPOD
W. Bruce Pirrie / Canada / 4:00 / Comedy / JPod / Douglas Coupland
A geek’s stunted but sincere efforts to win the amorous attentions of “the new girl” in the pod cult of video game programmers.

THE PERFECTION OF THE MOMENT
Dir. Corey Lee / Canada / 5:00 / Comedy / Kilter: 55 Fictions / John Gould
A man faced with a series of choices stops questioning and ultimately abandons himself to the perfection of the moment.

NAGASAKI CIRCUS
Dir. Rachel Peters / Canada / 6:00 / Fiction / Nagasaki Circus / Martin Ewen
A masterful puppet show evocative of Lost in Translation takes viewers behind the curtain of a surreal circus, complete with chimp, elephant, poodles and stilt-walking pantomime.

IMPASSE
Dir. Bram Schouw / Netherlands / 5:00 / Fiction / Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Without words, we’re left to consider whether love and attraction can break through the impasse of human intolerance.

Read Press Release here.

Extended Deadline for Film Submissions July 10

The interest in Moving Stories has rachetted up with the pending preview event in Toronto this coming weekend — so we want to remind filmmakers, authors and music artists that the Extended Deadline for Film Entries is JULY 10. Submit via MovingStoriesFilmFest.com or by WithoutaBox.com – keep ‘em coming!

Emily Carr Call for Submissions now closed - Thank you!

Thank you to all the wonderfully talented and pro-active students and alum of Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design who were respondants our “Make a Film On Our Dime” competition.  Our organizing team at BookShorts and Vancouver International Writers Festival have now closed the call for submissions, and will soon post more information here on the site.  In the meantime, stay tuned for the Moving Stories Film Preview announcements to be made at BookExpo Canada, 2pm Sunday June 15.

Invitation For Emily Carr Students/Alumni To Make A Film On Our Dime

Are you a current student or recent graduate of the University formerly-known-as the Emily Carr Institute? Here’s your chance to apply what you’ve learned about art and design and make it shine on screen. All on our dime!

BookShorts Moving Stories invites you to submit a creative treatment for an up to 2-minute short film. Your entry must be inspired by one of three specially selected literary works in a range of genres: Fiction, Non-Fiction and Poetry.

Our jury will review all submissions and award the winner with $1,500 and professional mentorship to help bring their treatment up to 2-minute life! The film will be screened at the Moving Stories Film Festival and at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design Theatre as part of the Vancouver International Writers Festival (VIWF).

Hal Wake, Artistic Director of the VIWF is delighted about this new initiative. “Presenting short films about books is an exciting new departure for the Vancouver International Writers Festival”, says Wake. “The opportunity to engage young, talented students and alumni from Emily Carr to produce BookShorts is an added bonus. We can’t wait to see what they come up with.”

The deadline to submit a treatment is 30 May 2008. Get reading and writing today so you can start shooting your short! For eligibility requirements and entry guidelines click here.

For more information, contact Judith Keenan at (416) 855-2425 or judith@bookshorts.com.

Make A Film On Our Dime 2008 is a collaboration of the Vancouver International Writers Festival, Emily Carr University and the BookShorts Literacy Program.