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A good start in a new direction – #film pre-production

I didn’t expect to be accepted to this residency in Vallauris, AT ALL. It’s primarily for ceramicists, because that’s what the town has been known for, for centuries. But, it sounded interesting, and I’d never been to France, and well…I had ideas for movies, after having written plays since high school, and this seemed like a good way to kick my own butt into doing some work on “PRE-pre-production.” So I applied. And got it.

So I had to come up with a script for my idea, Am I Beautiful, Yes or No?, and having written that, I figured out how to break it down into shots. And, not having DRAWN in YEARS, I now had to create 38 pictures for those shots. Friends who’ve worked in film wisely advised that often, storyboards consist of stick people. This was my first one, and — if like my plays, I was doing it myself — I wanted them to be pretty clear. So, PANIC. I had 28 days to hand draw 38 images.

A fellow writer recently told me that the magic of residencies is that they turn on the taps. My first day of drawing, I did NINE pictures. I was DONE with that initial project in the first 2 weeks! So…I did the script and storyboard for another, which I’ve called Monster Cat! 

I leave for Paris tomorrow. I’m going home the next day, for the first time in a year. Yet I’ll be very sorry to leave here. Exposition photos here.

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Photos from FRANCE: Vallauris

For the last 5 WEEKS, I’ve been at an artists’ residency in the town of Vallauris, in the south of France, the French Riviera…aka Paradise. In between French wine, French food, and good-looking guys speaking French to me, I’ve been working on storyboards for TWO short films for when I get back to Canada.

Here’s some of what I’ve seen!

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Limbo

I didn’t get in.

I didn’t get home in time to catch the start of the Edmonton Fringe livestream of the 2014 lottery draw, and things were happening too fast for Twitter to handle, so I completely missed the TYA draw. However, a friend who was there immediately texted me: “Hey, 3 on the waiting list has potenital 🙂 ” That’s for The Ugly Princess. Then came the final draw…and The Book of Anne didn’t even make the waiting list.

I’m so sorry everybody…I feel a bit stuck. I don’t know if the show everyone went to bat for during the Writeathon this past weekend will happen or not. I certainly can’t pull off the TYA waiting list – 3 is too close not to hang on. But it means hoping that three shows ahead of me pull out instead. How likely is that? And how do I promote and fundraise for a show that MAY be in the Fringe? Probably? The question of a Bring-Your-Own-Venue will, I know, come up. I genuinely believe you should try (almost) everything once; I tried a BYOV once. It wasn’t for me.

So…limbo. Well, there’s a long time between now and next August, isn’t there?

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Now THAT was a party!

So the Toga & Burlesque fundraiser raised the roof last night.  Thanks again to all our donors – Sobeys, the Black Sheep Pub, Sharon Skwarchuk, Kimberly Budd, Jessie McKitrick, and the Colonescu family, our own beautiful Nicole, Gino Akbari and photographer Steve Barr – for their donations allowing us to thank our partygoers.  And thank you to our audience for coming to support the show and having such a great time!  Thanks also to the Irish Sports & Social Society for hosting us (and provided beer!), and the wonderful Lucky L’amour and Delilah Manhandler of Capital City Burlesque for their performances.  Thanks especially to our own sound designer Darrell Portz, who won the 50/50 draw (no joke!), and then donated his winnings back to the show.  We adore Darrell.

So feast your eyes on the photos and remember, this is but a preview for the SHOW.  Details of the venue and times for Stories of Love & Hate at the Edmonton Fringe will be coming very shortly.

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Toga & Burlesque Party Details here. Prizes! Auction! Dancers! FUN!

So, fans of stories of love and hate, it’s only a week until the fabulous party to end them all, and here are some details of what you can expect.

With every ticket will come a chance for amazing Door Prizes — gift cards for free groceries and a fantastic Edmonton pub, lovely bath and beauty products — “smelly stuff” as our Cupid would say! — and a few fascinating handmade fascinators are all up for grabs.

For the Silent Auction we have pole dance lessons from Venus herself, the beautiful Nicole Grainger, plus a dance lesson from our ultra-cool colleague Gino Akbari, and a professional photo shoot.  Each will be available to the highest bidder.

And don’t forget the best 50 / 50 draw, ever.  What makes it so great?  Buy enough tickets, and you get a HUG.

And then, of course, there’s our LIVE SHOW.  Members of the magnificent Capital City Burlesque Troupe, songs by our own Nicole and Maria, and enticing previews of both Stories.  Tickets available at the door, $10.  Ten bucks!  And Doug can vouch for HOW GOOD the Guinness is.  So join the party at the Irish Club, June 15.  Doors will open at      7 pm, show begins at 8!