Beyond first features: Continued success for next generation of Canadian filmmakers

After the incredible success of their first feature, Cast No Shadow, Christian Sparkes, Allison White and Chris Agoston, of Away Films, Sara Fost Pictures and The Screen Asylum, are continuing to pursue their passion for filmmaking.

The three are working together on their next feature, which they hope to shoot this summer.

Allison credits the assistance the filmmakers received from the Talent Fund-supported Micro-Budget Production Program for making the production of their first feature possible and with helping them to further develop their careers: “The Program helped us develop a lot of relationships and was good promotion us as filmmakers — It was also great practice for what to expect as we go on to make more films.”

The trio’s next project, Hammer, written by Christian Sparkes, explores the lives of friends who move out west and become involved with drug gangs in Vancouver and Seattle. Action-packed, it retains a strong emotional core, revealing the effects of the friends’ activities on their suburban middle-class families.

At the same time, Christian is prepping for a new travel series for TV5, Hors Circuits. Allison is also developing a fantasy survivalist feature set during the resettlement of Newfoundland in the early 1950s. Produced in partnership with Rhombus Media and directed by Stephen Dunn (Closet Monster), What Waits For Them in Darkness follows Skipper, an 11-year-old girl who, along with her ailing mother, finds herself adrift in their house, aimlessly floating on the North Atlantic.

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Welcome to F.L. (Bienvenue à F.L.), a documentary touching on the universal theme of adolescence, was written and directed by Geneviève Dulude-De Celles. Produced by Sarah Mannering and Fanny Drew (Colonelle films), the film premiered at TIFF then went on to the Montreal International Documentary Festival (Recontres Internationales du Documentaire de Montréal – RIDM), where it won the award for Best New Talent From Quebec/Canada.