Ferreira Fest 059

Published November 2014.
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And once again the 20th of the month rolls around, and here at Ferreira Fest we’ve got a nice warm blaze going in the fireplace as we celebrate the acting career and outreach work of Louis Ferreira (Justin Louis)! Grab a pineapple cocktail at the virtual bar and come on in to enjoy Food For Thought and a challenge from Louis, lots of new awards for Through The Pane, news articles, photos and our exclusive Reading Series. Come join us – it’s warm inside!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

This month Louis would like to share one of his favorite poems by Shane Koyczan – “Tomatoes”.

This is not your vanilla rhyming poem from grade school, this is “spoken word art” for adults, so why don’t you go ahead and listen to it right here? Listen to it all the way through, it’s incredible.

Here’s your challenge: Louis wants to know what your favorite poem is. Please post on the Forum, or the Guestbook, or send an email.

Looking forward to your responses!

CHARITY NEWS

THE CHILDREN’S AID FOUNDATION

The Buzz The November issue of the CAF newsletter The Buzz is now online – check out the many activities and projects our charity offers!

November is Adoption Awareness Month!

Hope for the Holidays: This holiday season, bring hope to children and young people across our communities. There are five ways you can give…

  1. Donate
  2. Fill the Sleigh
  3. Gingerbread by Design Auction
  4. Order Holiday Cards
  5. Purchase a JJ Bear

There is also a Radio PSA featuring Brian Gluckstein – watch and listen here.

And on December 14th there’s the 35th Annual Holiday Season Celebration.

Please consider The Children’s Aid Foundation in your holiday giving plans. Simply click on the banner below and make your donation. Your gift is tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law – please consult your tax professional.

THE GOOD NEIGHBOURS’ CLUB/ HAVEN TORONTO

News about the renovation from late October, from our friend Lauro Monteiro at GNC:

“What has been happening with our construction projects you ask?
Plenty!
We’ve had many interesting moments this summer but fortunate that the exterior water proofing is almost over. Today, we have this beast of a machine pumping concrete to our new accessibility ramp; at the front of the court yard.

In January, they will begin the replacement of our elevator. While welcome, it will be a hardship for some; since we will have no elevator until April.”

Ret. Cpl. Robert Williston and Ret. Cpl. William David-Lupul fought for Canada. They are among the 15 per cent of the homeless in Toronto who have served in the military, according to a 2013 city survey.

The City News Toronto has made a short and poignant video report about the two former members of the military and their struggles upon their return back home. The Good Neighbours’ Club is prominently featured in the story.

Watch the video here.

Winter is definitely here all over North America, and the current brutal cold snap creates a life-threatening situation for homeless people who may have nowhere to go.

Please consider a donation – however small – to save a life today. Click on the banner below and give what you can to help those who, unlike you, do not have a roof over their head tonight.

NEW MOVIE: LIFE ON THE LINE

Louis makes several appearances in the movie “Life on the Line“, directed by David Hackl, who proudly tweeted a welcome to Louis.

Louis has worked with David before – David designed “Saw IV” in which Louis starred as Art Blank. When I asked him about his involvement he mentioned that he was asked by several friends of his if he could be in the movie. Everyone was very accommodating of his schedule, since he was of course in the middle of shooting MOTIVE. David was thrilled to have him on board and happy to renew his acquaintance with him.

The story takes place in Texas, hence his urban cowboy attire, and he got to do the Texas accent and everything that goes along with it, which he thought was great fun. He was particularly excited to be working with John Travolta in his scene for the movie, and he was aware of the fact that there are hardly any movies out there starring linemen.

Working on electrical power lines is one of the most dangerous jobs out there, even when the weather is perfect. Life On The Line deals with the perils of the work when things out there go terribly wrong. If you really want to scare yourself with what linemen do every day to bring electricity to your home, watch World’s Toughest Fixes: High Voltage Power Lines.

Louis got to hang out with John Travolta who starred in the film.

David Hackl was right: Louis IS “all hat”.

Louis also got to work with another one of his friends in the movie – fellow Canadian actor Gil Bellows.

How about that cowboy hat and the bolo tie!

NEW SHORT FILM: ARTHUR

Filmmaker Paola Botero has sent a few more images from her film Arthur which Louis did a short while ago.

Louis says he made the movie in order to support young film artists; short films like this one are always a labor of love. The filming for his scene was done in a mere five hours in one day, and he plays a pretty nasty character whom we meet in the first minute or so. As to how he got involved he mentioned he knew the producers and when they asked him if he was interested in the part he was happy to help out.

The poet Vera and her boyfriend Antonio
Louis Ferreira as Antonio in Arthur.

According to Paola, Antonio is “a Spanish guy from 1969. Wanting to have women all around, he doesn’t appreciate the love that this beautiful poet has for him.”

THROUGH THE PANE

On November 12, 2014 the Vancouver magazine Westender published a lovely article about Through The Pane which was screened at the Vancouver Short Film Festival last weekend.

The editor of the magazine Robert Mangelsdorf has kindly given us permission to repost the article by Sabrina Furminger here. Thank you, Robert and Sabrina! Please view the original article and a movie still here.

VSFF proves short films have a big impact
written by Sabrina Furminger — Westender

There’s an art to making a powerful short film, and it’s a difficult one to master.

A well-made short film – that is to say, a piece of stand-alone cinema with a run-time of under 40 minutes – calls for a far different sensibility in the director’s chair than what is required for a feature film.

You’re not cramming a feature film’s worth of ideas, themes, story, characters and images into five or ten minutes. Instead, an effective short film will strategically explore a single idea to a natural conclusion that echoes long after the film is over.

I’m absolutely wild for short films. Luckily for me (and those with similar appetites), Vancouver – with its high concentration of fearless film students and multi-tasking showbiz professionals – is a hotbed for boundary-pushing micro cinema.

Vancouver’s dynamic short film industry will be showcased in the fifth annual Vancouver Short Film Festival (VSFF), which runs this weekend and features 17 short films in six screenings – including Through the Pane, a primo example of an elegantly executed short film.

The short marks the writing and directorial debut of Pauline Egan, the Australian-born, Vancouver-based actress best known for her role as a Lycan scientist on Sanctuary.

In Through the Pane – which stars Egan and Motive and Stargate Universe actor Louis Ferreira – a man and woman build a relationship from opposite sides of a courtyard, communicating via the pieces of paper that they flash at each other from their respective windows.

It’s a riff on the loneliness that is often part and parcel of urban living, according to Egan.

“I used to sit by the window and play my piano, and there was an apartment across the way, and I’d play and think about all these parallel lives around me,” says Egan. “That idea fascinated me, that we’re living these lives above, below, and around each other, and we don’t know what is going on, and who could be there.”

Egan employs an array of silent-film tropes in Through the Pane, to maximum impact. The characters don’t exchange any spoken dialogue; their interactions are accompanied by an evocative musical score, composed by BAFTA-nominee Sam Hulick; the whole shebang is shot in brilliant black and white.

“I didn’t want to make it fancy or add any bells and whistles to take away from the pure human interaction,” says Egan, “So if I made it silent and made it black and white, the music became almost a third character.”

The busy actress was compelled to make this short film, in part, in order to see how well the writing, producing, and directing hats would fit on her head. This meant she was actively engaged in the project from concept to completion, and juggled three hats during filming.

“Creatively, as an actor, I can’t even begin to explain how much more it all makes sense to me now,” says Egan. “As a person, it proved to me that I could do it, which was a huge personal milestone, and it showed me how many beautiful, talented people there are out there that are willing to help somebody who has a vision.”

Through the Pane was shot in Vancouver over two days last December. Already it’s been an official selection at seven festivals and amassed a long list of awards and accolades, including seven Excellence awards at San Diego’s Best Shorts festival and the Audience Choice award at the Atlanta Shorts fest.

And now, it’ll screen for the hometown crowd as part of VSFF.

“I’ve been so badly wanting to have it screen at something here because this is where it began, and where it was created, and everyone who was involved was living here, and it’s from here,” says Egan, who will soon be seen in television’s Olympus. “This one matters the most to me.” 

Through The Pane played at the Vancouver Short Film Festival on Sunday November 16th at 6pm. Were you there? Please write in and tell us all about it!

The movie won four awards: Best Female Director, Audience Choice, Best Short Film and Best Screenplay.

Congratulations Pauline, Louis and the entire production team!

Through The Pane was also screened at the Toronto International Short Film Festival on November 12.

Pauline Egan and Justin Breault in front of the cafe of the movie’s last scene.

The production company Red Castle Films celebrated the official selection into the TISFF:

As in the past few newsletters, official show photographer Peter Holst has graciously given us permission to post some of his photos from the filming process. Thank you, Peter! Please visit Peter’s website for more info and photos.

MOTIVE

The filming of Season 3 is in full swing! News about possible plot lines has been extremely rare; obviously we are in for a lot of surprises!

I spoke with Louis about MOTIVE last week; unfortunately the line was too bad for any sound clips so I’m recalling from memory.

They are currently filming episode 7 of Season 3 which Louis believes is the best season yet. The show has really hit its stride and the frustrations and growing pains of starting up a new show have been ironed out and the company runs like a well-oiled machine now. He’s enjoying working with his co-workers and the production team, and he’s having a lot of fun with his character Oscar Vega.

Like most shows MOTIVE has photo days where they take pictures of the actors for advertising and promotion services.

CTV shared this wonderfully funny snapshot of Kristin Lehman and Louis hamming it up in a cheeky butt-to-butt moment. Thanks, CTV!

Louis grabs a snack at craft services (the food supplies in on-location filming) during the filming of an episode of MOTIVE.

As of press day, MOTIVE has not yet been renewed by ABC. If you haven’t done so yet please take a moment now to drop the good folks at ABC a line indicating that you want to see Season 3 in the US. Go to ABC’s feedback page, select “ABC Programming Feedback” and then fill out the form that pops up. Every word helps, and it might just be your comment that will push the Powers That Be over the edge and that gets the show renewed! You will receive a standard response – do not let that deter you and send another feedback message next week!

SCREENCAPS

In honor of Life On The Line director David Hackl’s past work with Louis on the SAW franchise we have  752 screencaps of Louis as Art Blank in Saw IV. Please be advised that these caps contain MAJOR spoilers and are not for the faint of heart – it is a blood-and-gore movie after all – so if that sort of thing squicks you, please sit this one out. Or tell yourself that it’s just a movie and nobody really got hurt!

Here is a direct link to the album: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AYjZy8WFv0uh076PzRaWuQO3ddha96_T?usp=sharing

PHOTOS

Louis spent a weekend in Whistler with several good friends. Justin Breault shared a photo of fun times. Thanks, Justin!

IT CAME FROM THE TWITTERVERSE

Louis’ Stargate Universe colleague Haig Sutherland (Sgt Hunter Riley in SGU) is now on Twitter, and the following conversation ensued upon his arrival:

Follow Haig Sutherland on Twitter!

Happy Halloween from Louis and a young friend!

THE READING SERIES: ARE YOU AS HAPPY AS YOUR DOG?

Every month Louis reads a chapter from one of his favorite books, Are You as Happy as Your Dog? by Alan Cohen. Mr. Cohen has kindly granted his permission for us to post Louis’ book reading clips here. Please join me in thanking him and be sure to visit his website at alancohen.com.

Click on the thumbnail of the book cover to purchase a copy of the book.

Here is this month’s chapter.

Listen to the sound clip here:


Chapter 21: Dare to be yourself

Munchie doesn’t need to impress anyone or prove himself. He is what he is, and that is enough.

He is not concerned about his social image. He is concerned with being happy.

He attracts mud, burrs and dingleberries.

I can usually tell what he had for breakfast, since it hangs out on his chin for a while.

When I take him to the beach he comes out of the ocean looking like the rat from the vat.

I think he is cute all the time, and he seems to agree.

FRIENDS NEWS

JEN SPENCE and PETER KELAMIS

Jen and Peter both attended Tyler Rose City Comic Con last month, and they had a blast together! Click on the thumbnails for the original posts and large pictures. Thanks for posting, everybody!

JENNIFER SPENCE

Jen posted a very special memory of TRCC – posing with Tugg the Bull Terrier.

Jen also participated in the Paper Airplane War for Tugg’s charities.

Jen recently guest-starred on Louis’ series MOTIVE, where she played the character of Melissa Dixon in the episode The Glass House. Can’t wait to see those two together on screen again!

PETER KELAMIS

Peter has been doing a lot of stand-up comedy lately.

He also shared this hilarious old poster of himself at Wave Words from a few years ago.

Hold on to your hats – there be comedic muscle and funny bones ahead!

BRADLEY STRYKER

Bradley has been incredibly busy, landing a bunch of major roles! He reports:

“Things are great!  I’ve just finished a guest star on Supernatural in Vancouver.  And I am now filming a mini-series in Halifax — “Lizzie Borden: The Fall River Chronicles“.  I’m doing 6 episodes on this — it will take me through the end of the year.”

Here is Bradley as a decidedly classy character on Supernatural.

His home, his castle… on Supernatural.

Bradley hung out with Jonathan Banks during the filming of Lizzie Borden. Jonathan played Mike Ehrmantraut on Breaking Bad and shared two episodes with Louis. It’s a small world indeed!

Having fun with co-stars on Supernatural
Bradley’s Skipjack chair on set

Bradley is currently starring as Skipjack on Lizzie Borden. The mini-series stars Christina Ricci and many other well-known actors. Here is an article about the show at the Hollywoodreporter.

Bradley’s screenplay Silent Hero made it to the Big Break Screenwriting Contest Final Ten!!

Congratulations, Bradley! Way to go!!

ROB MUNIC

Rob has landed more big gigs! He sent the link to an article from the Hollywoodreporter, and the author of the article Lesley Goldstein has kindly give Ferreira Fest special permission to repost the bulk of the write-up here. Thanks, Lesley!

From Lesley Goldberg’s article:

Robert Munic will reteam with Chris Morgan for the brothers drama

Fox is putting a martial arts spin on the legal procedural.

The network is teaming with Gang Related‘s Robert Munic and Chris Morgan for an untitled martial arts drama, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The drama is described as a fun, action-packed procedural and centers on two estranged brothers — one a former Marine-turned-Shaolin master, and the other a showboating, all-swagger Chicago cop — who come together in their hometown to form an unlikely law enforcement partnership.

Munic, who created A&E’s The Cleaner and currently serves as a co-EP on TNT’s Murder in the First, will pen the script and exec produce alongside Gang Related creator Morgan. The drama hails from 20th Century Fox Television, where Morgan and his Chris Morgan Productions banner is under an overall deal. Morgan and Munic previously teamed on Fox’s one-and-done summer drama Gang Related, where Munic was a consulting producer.

The project comes two months after Fox canceled Gang Related, which came close to a second-season pickup as the studio mulled moving the show’s filming location from Los Angeles to either North Carolina, Austin or Chicago in a bid to trim costs.

Munic is currently writing a biopic about Baltimore Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom for Wonderland Sound and Vison and Crystal City, as well as the feature Double Take for Michael London with Katie Jacobs set to direct.

Read the full text of the news article here.

As mentioned above Rob is currently co-executive producer and writer on TNT’s Murder In The First.  Logline – A single murder case is dissected from the committing of the crime through to the investigation, arrest and trial.


Many thanks to Alma for tracking down all our Friends’ updates!

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

NEWS FROM HUNGARY

Ildi reports: There will be a movie with Louis on Hungarian TV: the delightfully bloody and disturbing Saw IV (see above!), which I still haven’t managed to watch from beginning to end. 🙂 It will be on FILM MÁNIA on the 23rd November at 22:50.

Hungarian Louis fans can find a treasure trove of links to online movies and shows here.

Stargate Universe is still available in reruns on AXN and AXN Black. Click on the thumbnails to see the programming schedule. Thanks, Ildi!

ODDS AND ENDS

FLAG COUNTER

Our flag collection keeps growing! To date we have had visitors from 83 countries and 406 different regions. Welcome to all new friends – we’re so glad you’re here and hope to see you again every month! Write in and tell us about your favorite Louis movies and shows!

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We hope to see you all next month!