The team behind a highly-anticipated film project is on the lookout for extras to help out in a range of scenes.
Matt Grue, in association with Ozmosis Entertainment and The Matchbox Theatre Foundation, announced the film adaptation of Year After Year last fall. Shooting begins next month with a release date planned for March of 2013.
Ignition Theatre staged Year After Year in 2010 to much acclaim, and since then a film has been in the works.
Community support has been extremely solid from the get-go, said Grue, who was artistic director for Ignition Theatre. He wrote Year After Year, while Curtis Labelle penned the music. The lyrics were written by Spencer Pasman and Stephanie Ridge.
Casting calls for the film were held in Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton and Grue said his first choices for all the parts committed to the project. Shooting locations have been nailed down, technical crews have been assembled and the funds have been committed as well.
On July 11, a call for extras will be held at the Memorial Centre. Anyone is welcome to attend, as there are all kinds of parts for a range of roles. Things get underway at 7 p.m.
“We need hundreds of background performers. They don’t have to commit to a day or anything right now — we can work that out after. We want to create a roster of people who are interested in spending a few hours on a set throughout August.”
Year After Year chronicles the dissolving years of friends in their late 20s as they navigate the waters of hollow careers, lost ambition, forgotten dreams and the relationships that matter most.
Bill is celebrating his 28th birthday with his closest friends. Hunter is a successful photographer, Todd and Rachel are a couple on the edge of divorce, Peter and Laura have been dating since college and are looking towards the next step and Kate, who has known Bill for years, is negotiating her love for him and her need to let go.
The film will be directed by Dustin Clark. Joel Crichton, who played Bill in the stage version, will resume the role for the film.
As for Clark taking the reigns of director, Grue is confident the project is in the right hands. “He knows how to get the right performance, and he knows how a subtle moment in the first hour will have a humungous pay-off in the last 10 minutes. His techniques are so advanced.”
Meanwhile, Grue is thankful for the support the project has received.
Red Deer College has also been helpful – film instructor Don Armstrong has signed on to be director of photography as well.
“What we’ve told everyone is we wanted to make a Hollywood-caliber movie with an extremely limited budget, but we wanted to prove that we could shoot it in Central Alberta,” he said. Although some of the film locations are in Calgary and Edmonton, the majority of it will be shot in Red Deer.
Anyone interested in being an extra can email Grue at movie@yearafteryearmusical.com.
For more information, visit www.yearafteryearmusical.com. There are links to all kinds of information, including a teaser and an excellent documentary about production of the film.
editor@reddeerexpress.com
