Interview with ‘Donkey’ writer and director, Adrian Langley
This lucky Bean had the chance to sit down with the writer and director of the recently screened, locally produced film “Donkey” for a chat. *
MB: “Donkey” was screened at the Empire Theatres at the Rideau Centre Wednesday, January 27th and Thursday, January 28th for a total of four showings. Were you impressed with the turnout?
AL: It was great! I wanted to give as many opportunities for people to see it as possible. That’s why we had two shows a night, so people who were working would be able to come to the later show. I was also really happy that we were able to get the big theatre in the Rideau Empire Theatres. It meant that even if we sold out a show, people had the big hub of the Rideau Centre to hang out in so they could come to a later showing. We only had 25 less ticket sales the Thursday than the Wednesday, which is amazing. The theatre people were impressed and I think they wished they had more staff on for all the concession sales they made!
MB: What kind of budget did you have for “Donkey”?
AL: Myself and a few others like to say that we are a million in the hole based on what people brought to this production, but in actual fact we had a budget of five thousand dollars. We didn’t always provide the best craft and after a while people were asking for lettuce in their summer sausage sandwiches…we switched to peanut butter and jelly. *laughs*
MB: You had Adam Beach in the film, how did you manage that on a budget of $5000?
AL: Adam is a friend of mine who actually lives in the area when he isn’t filming. He told me to give him two weeks notice and he’d be there. Because it was an ACTRA (the Canadian Actor’s Union) film made under the Member Initiated Program, we were able to have him.
MB: What made you want to make “Donkey”?
AL: I think that in this industry, you can’t just wait around for people to discover how talented you are. If you are passionate, you have to put yourself out there for people to see. I also wanted to make a solid film. I remember working in a video store, a man came in and asked for his money back because he didn’t like the film he had rented! It can be rare that people get to the end of the movie and say “Wow, that was a solid movie!”. It shouldn’t be that way.
MB: What’s next for “Donkey”?
AL: Well, I recently negotiated a deal for a comic book based on the characters, which I will have some input in. Within a year we hope to have DVD distribution of the film. That may include some international distribution as well. Also, we are finally on IMDB!
MB: I know I was blown away by the quality of you film. It is one of the best pieces I’ve seen come out of Ottawa. Many people say “why Ottawa?” when it comes to film. So I ask you, why Ottawa?
AL: So many reasons. I am from here and the locations are always in my head when I think of a script. Ottawa can be anywhere. Tilt your camera one way, it’s Paris, another, it’s New York. It’s very versatile. Another reason is the people, the talent that is here in this city. People don’t realize it because historically Ottawa has not been the place to make movies. All the equipment and studios are in Toronto, but now in the digital age of film, that is changing. In the Canadian film industry, Ottawa is known mostly for movies of the week. There is so much untapped talent here! With digital, Ottawa is becoming much more film friendly but we jumped from a film industry child to adulthood and we are still searching for our identity. We need the belief of the people of Ottawa and more indigenous product to be taken seriously by the world of film.
I could not agree more with Adrian. That is why this Movie Bean is committed to giving you as much insight into locally produced film as possible. So if you know about anything going on film wise that I have not written about, please, let me know! Congratulations to the entire cast and crew of “Donkey” and I look forward to Mr. Langley’s next project.
* Responses from Mr. Langley are not word for word, but paraphrased.
Jennybean Barnes
The Movie Bean
For more information on "Donkey" and Adrian Langley, click here to visit his site!
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