ANY A business deal has been cut thanks to the rally- ing cry, “Let's do lunch.” Greg Potter Spotlight Now Forgiving the cliche, that’s pretty much the way it happened for West Vancouver film-maker Gillian Lindsay and the women who head Forefront Prodiictions. “We went for an 17 o'clock . brunch at Isadora’s (Restaurant) and ended up staying alf day,’’ says Lindsay. “All four of us hit it off immediately.” The quartet — producers Lind- say, Helena Cynamon, Teri Woods McArter and Mickey Rogers — are behind the CanWest-Globa! Net- work series Madison, slated to debut mid-September on UTV and YTV A gritty, realistic, teen drama that has about as much in com- mon with Beverly Hills 90210 as Shannen Doherty has with Hayley Mills, the show is the manifesta- tion of the Forefront charter. “We tound we had the same aspirations for the type of films we wanted to. make,” says Lindsay. “Socially conscious films. Films that make a difference.’ The group was brought together by mutual friends in 1988, Lindsay, meanwhile, had been biding her time as an accountant lookirg for a way. out. . _ “lt worked at it on and off for 10 years and j also freelanced at it,” she says. ‘‘It got to the point where | couldn’t stand it. | didn’t want to do the robotic thing anymore. | went into the office everyday and hated every minute of it.” a . Exasperated, she put her house on the market, intending to use the’ money to go back to schcol, The problem was, she didn’t know what to take. . “After all,” she laughs, “A 35, it's getting kind of late in the game to make a career change.”’ She signed up for a career- testing program. Three months later, she was “sitting in my of- -fice and across the street they "were shooting MacGyver or 21 jump Street or something. Everyone in the office was saying how boring it must be, doing the same thing over and over again all day. But | was just fascinated. Mesmerized.”’ The following day she got her test results. “sat down and they said, “What do you think of the film in- dustry?’ And I said, ‘Well, only lucky people get to do that.’ And they said, ‘Weill, that's what you should be daing.'”* “They spent the next three hours telling me why | never should have been an accountant in the first place, and that | should be working in film because every day is different. And itis.” She enrolled inthe Vancouver Film School and, a scant few months after graduating, attended the fateful all-day brunch that laid Forefront’s foundations. Her days spent cranking calculators, however, were nat a total loss. Nicknamed “the Whiperacker" by her associates, Lindsay not only participates in Madison’s creative process (working on set as a line pro- ducer), she alsa employs her fi- nancial smarts to pul together production deals and makes sure shoots come in on budget. “TL work with the numbers because my background is in that area. But that’s something Cin trying to let go of and find accoun- NEWS photo Tery Peters LOCAL PRODUCER Gillian Lindsay's TV teen drama Madison makes its debut this fall on UTV and YTV. tants that can do it. I'll always oversee the financing but | want to be more creative. “When | got out of film school, | knew the kinds of films | didn’t want to make,” she continues. “I didn’t want to make horror films or thriller films. I'd worked on rock videos and done a whole ar- ray of jobs on other films that didn’t feel passionate about. “As a film-maker, you always think you're going to make feature films, but it hasn't worked out that way for us, Documentaries, series, maybe movies of the week are the way we're going. Features may be down the road, if at al), lseea Driving Miss Daisy or My Left Foot — films that are going to make people aware.” Certainly that was the intention behind the Madison series. The producers initially approached it as a one-shot training film on con- flict-resolution for teens, but then decided to develop a dramatic script. “We are able to put in all the messages without the preachiness that turns kids off,’” says Lindsay. The pilot picked up six awards at various international film festivals, another six episodes garnered another six awards, and to date a total of 13 episodes have been produced with 13 more in devel- opment. in short, four women from the West have managed to NORTH VAN CURLING CLUB recCentre Lonsdale New Curlers Wanted No Experience Required Bring a Friend Hot Line 986-5719 L_. . econ launch a prime-time series without help from the big boys back East. “There is a need for this type of thing to be out there,” says Lind- say. “We did a lot of guerrilla film-making as we went along but that’s what it's all about — learn- ing as we go.” are you ¢ between 18 & 70 yrs. old ® non-smoker © use Ventolin 2-8 puffs daily © good general health Willing to participate in IMPROVE YOUR SWING . Come cnd enjoy our 15 acre driving range. 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