FILM-MAKER CHARLES
Wilkinson’s feature film Max, star-
ring son Fabio in the title role, opens
at Vancouver Centre, Esplanade, and
Guildford this evening but the Deep
Cove resident won't be in attendance
at any of the premiéres.

By Layne Christensen
Arts Reporter

Wilkinson will be on the set of his
next film, Crash. An action-adventure
film — “We spent all last night (out-
side the Waldorf Hotel) blowing up a
car,” says Wilkinson during a break
between shooting — Cras/i couldn't
be further removed from Max, a
drama about a young family whose
lifestyle choices are put into perspec-
tive when their son is diagnosed with
a fatal illness.

“Max is a story about people who

Film-makers ride n

made their choices in the mid-’70s,
lived through the rampant. con-
sumerism of the '80s, and woke up in
the ‘90s only to realize that some-
thing was inherently wrong with their
choices and that the fife they had
envisioned for themselves had some-
how slipped through their fingers.”
Wilkinson didn't initially intend
to cast his own son in the title role. “I
resisted right up to the end,” he says.

But good child actors are hard to find,

so he brought his three-year-old son
in to read for the part — and found he
was a natural.

RH. Thomson (The Lotus Eaters,
Glory Enough for All) and Denise
Crosby (graddaughter of Bing
Crosby and best known as Tasha Yar
in Star Trek, The Next Generation)
play Max’s parents Andy and Jayne:
Vancouver native Colleen Rennison
tums ina brilliant performance as his
five-year-old sister, Sophie.

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“IT WAS a joy” working on the set of Max with son Fabio, says local film-riaker Charlos Wilkinson.
“We're really good friends.” Max premiéres for an open-ended run at Esplanade 6 this evening.

ext wave

Competition assists B.C. film production industry

BRITISH COLUMBIA Film and
the National Film Board, Pacific
Centre, recently announced the sec-
ond winner of the “Next Wave”
competition for emerging British
Columbia film-making teams.

With support from the provin-
cial and federal film funding agen-
cies, a production team headed by
producer Tara Cowell-Plain and
writer/director Brian Barnard will
undertake the realization of their
first feature film.

Brian Barnard’s winning script,
One Foot in Heaven, is a road-
movie about five seniors who jour-
ney to Vancouver so that one
woman may throw the ashes of her
late husband from the Lions Gate
Bridge.

The project was selected from
over 30 entries received by the
competition. -

Launched in 1993, Next Wave
was designed to assist the next gen-
eration of B.C. film-makers ready
to advance their professional devel-
opment through the production of
low-budget, long-form drama. The
approved production budget of
selected projects is provided by the
agencies in the form of cash, ser-
vices and facilities, thereby reduc-
ing the complexities of financing a

GIFT CERTIFICATES
® OFFICE PARTIES
Ml FAMILY GATHERINGS
(3 BIRTHDAYS
& ANNIVERSARIES
@ CHRISTMAS EVE

, @ NEW YEARS EVE

first feature film.

The first film produced through
Next Wavs, Cyberteens in Love,
was completed earlier this year and
premiered at the Montreal World

66 Next Wave helps to
launch the careers of
promising B.C.
production teams by
investing in their
collective energies
and talents. 99

- Svend-Erik Eriksen, NFB

Film Festival in August.
“The combined support of our

AND THANKS AGAIN,
FOR FAKING :
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BRANDY
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organizations provides increased
opportunities for B.C. film-makers
to realize that important first fea-
ture project,” says Wayne Sterloff,
chief executive of British Columbia
Film.

Svend-Erik Eriksen, head of the
National Film Board in Vancouver,
adds: “Next Wave helps to Jaunch
the careers of promising B.C. pro-
duction teams by investing in their
collective energies and talents.”

Successful producer applicant
Tara Cowell-Plain previously has
worked on educational videos and a
short film. Emerging writer-direc-
tor Brian Barnard is a graduate, of
the Western Media Institute in
Victoria with a background in cor-
norate videos. Both are members of
Video-In, Vancouver's video co-op
production house, and have been
partners on One Foot in Heaven for
over a year.

Principal photography for One
Foot in Heaven is scheduled to
begin this winter with delivery of
1 project slated for March 31,

5.

7:05pm & 9:25pm Mature
Only You
nightiy 7:15 p.m. Mature

Clear & Present Danger
nightly 7:00 & 9:30pm

Matinees Sat, & Sun.
Flintstones Little Giants
2:05 pm

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SUN! 639 Hornby Street, Vancouver
445 - 13th Street

West Van

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