A dirty ex-cop has been released from prison and is running around southern Alberta, hungry for revenge against his former partner.
A dirty ex-cop has been released from prison and is running around southern Alberta, hungry for revenge against his former partner.
This scintillating storyline playing out on area streets is thankfully just a juicy figment of the imagination - made real only by a group of passionate filmmakers.
“It's a revenge crime thriller set in rural Alberta, ” producer Scott Westby said of the independent movie In Plainview.
Now nearing the end of their 15-day shoot, Westby and his Full Swing Productions crew have filmed scenes at the historic Perrenoud Homestead and Bow River Ranch near Cochrane, as well as the 111-year-old McDougall Church outside of Morley.
Well-known actors Shaun Johnston (Heartland, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee) and Aaron Douglas (Battlestar Galactica, The Bridge) star in the film - which has generated a ton of buzz since Alberta screenwriter Kevin Doree penned the script.
“We snapped it up because everyone was talking about how amazing it was, ” said Westby, adding the $250,000 production secured more than half its funding from Telefilm's competitive Micro-Budget Production Program.
In Plainview is one of about a dozen films and TV series currently filming in Alberta, including the third season of Fargo and the USA Network pilot Damnation. Westby said the province's film community is “small but mighty, ” and pointed to last spring's opening of the new $28-million Calgary Film Centre studio as a good sign the industry is moving in the right direction.
“It's healthier than it's been in a long time, ” he said. “People are staying here like they didn't before. We had a lot of brain drain stuff … but I'm seeing that slow down a lot. ”
Westby said he wants to take In Plainview on the festival circuit when post-production is completed in about eight months. Until then, he hopes to make it through the rest of the shoot with as few hiccups as possible.
“The snowfall last week - we had to re-shoot a couple of scenes after the snow melted, ” said Westby, adding the McDougall Church location also gave the crew grief, since they filmed until 2 a.m. with no power and no heat.
“It was a tough one, ” he said. “But that's the life, right? That's filmmaking. ”
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