Published December 2017.
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Just before the heavy-duty holiday festivities begin we have our own party here at Ferreira Fest, where we gather once a month on the 20th day and check in with Louis Ferreira, his friends and charities! We have an exclusive interview with Lease Bertram, director of The Great Lakusta, our second Reading Series, photos, screencaps, the 2018 Birthday Project and a very special holiday message from Louis at the very end. The fireplace is going and the cookies are fresh out of the oven, so grab a pineapple cocktail at our virtual bar and come on in!
Ability Online
“Don’t ‘Dis’ My Ability” by Michelle McClure
At Ability Online we help our members – young people of ALL abilities (all-inclusive community) discover their potential/abilities and help them enhance those abilities by building confidence and self-esteem; letting them know they are not alone and providing opportunities to develop skills that will enhance independence and open the door to inclusion. By connecting them to role models and mentors they begin to explore possibilities – for community involvement (sports and recreation; friendships), volunteer work or employment opportunities, or something even bigger!
On December 3rd, International Day for Persons with Disabilities, we launched our “Don’t ‘Dis’My Ability” social media campaign. Sharing on twitter (@Ability_Online) and Facebook (facebook.com/AbilityOnline) people will see inspiring stories from our members and they will be invited to share their own stories or head to Ability Online to engage with others. The goal is to keep the conversation going.
We will keep posting stories as we build up to February 28th, National Pink Shirt Day – to show the world how we stand up to bullying. We are proud of the fact that Ability Online has been bully-free for 27 years! Check out our I AM AWESOME pink shirts which will go on sale in January. All proceeds go to our Bully Bouncer program.
Visit our website for more information or send a message to .
We all have the ability to do something that others can’t do – what is your thing?
– For more about the Don’t ‘Dis’ My Ability Campaign check out the blog here or here.
Learn more about the new Anxiety Busters Program whose goal is to provide resources and strategies to help children and teens manage their anxiety in easy, healthy ways.
Still looking for a worthy cause to support for the holidays? Everything at Ability Online goes towards providing a safe online environment for special needs kids and their families. Just click on the logo below and you’re there!
Project Limelight
Keep an eye out for the next Tuesday Night Live Project Limelight fundraiser. Nothing is currently scheduled but the next event will be announced here. The fundraisers are public talks with people from the Vancouver film industry and proceeds go towards providing a fee high quality performing arts education to disadvantaged inner-city kids. Many of our friends have been guests/ storytellers at Tuesday Night Live!
If you don’t want to wait and would like to make a special holiday donation this month please click on the logo below – it’s fast and easy!
Haven Toronto
Winters in Toronto are brutal. It’s a tough time of year for homeless people. Haven Toronto provides safe daytime shelter for elder homeless men where they can eat a good meal, get warm clothes and enjoy the company of friends.
“Cold snowy morning, we are open early for our rough sleepers and men fleeing shelters.”
Click on the cover to read the December issue of the newsletter. You can sign up for email delivery here.
It’s Beginning To Look Like Christmas at Haven Toronto!
Donate a Holiday Dinner – click on the ad to give as many as you wish. It couldn’t be easier with Shop & Share! Try it today!
Haven Toronto has a unique way for you to give much-needed personal items or meals directly to homeless people: you purchase things online on the Shop & Share page, and they will be given to a person in need right away – there’s no middle man, no shipping, no delivery costs. It’s the easiest way to make an immediate tangible difference!
You can also give to the Haven Toronto General Fund by going to our very own donations page for Haven Toronto/ The Good Neighbours’ Club, and your money will go where it’s needed most! Click on the logo below and make the world a better place for someone.
The Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada
The Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada held its 31st annual fundraiser Teddy Bear Affair with an art auction and raffle:
Here are some of the bears being raffled off at this year’s Teddy Bear Affair.
A selection of artwork available for bidding to help kids in foster care.
Make your holiday giving last all year round!
Unlike material items, your cash donation will provide year-round funding that will help Canadian children and youth.
This season, help fulfill the year-round wish list of kids who need someone to believe in them. Instead of giving material goods, make a cash donation to provide support for needs like:
- Counseling – to address devastating effects of past trauma
- Education – to improve educational outcomes and help increase earning potential
- Housing – to provide housing needs for youth “aging out” of care at 18
- Enrichment Activities – to build self-identity, social well-being and healthy development
Your donation can change a future.
For current updates on programs, events and activities check out the monthly online newsletter The Buzz.
You can also make year-round donations on our very own donation page to support kids in the foster care system. Just click on the logo below and give what you can.
SHOWS NEWS
Louis will be in Los Angeles for Pilot Season early next year. Look for upcoming roles in Arrow, The X-Files, and a third episode in the S.W.A.T. reboot where he will reprise his role as William ‘Buck’ Spivey. Follow Ferreira Fest on Twitter for TV reminders!
THE 2018 BIRTHDAY PROJECT
Like every year we’re doing a special project for Louis’ birthday which is coming up on February 20th. Please visit the Birthday Project Page to learn more and participate! Everyone is invited!
PHOTOS
Louis is sharing several photos this month!
Louis was hanging out with Eric McCormack and Will Waring while shooting two episodes of Travelers.
Here’s Louis with his old friend Elliot Mandelcorn who is a real estate agent in Vancouver.
Louis and Sawyer are getting ready to shift into holiday mode…
… and – success! How about that super-awesome holiday sweater!!
Even Giancarlo sports a green collar!
Billie sez: “Bah, humbug! I’m chillin’!”
AN INTERVIEW WITH LEASE BERTRAM
Lease Bertram is the director of Louis’ latest short film The Great Lakusta with our friend Eugene Lipinski in the title role.
Here’s Louis introducing him:
LF – So, friends of Lease, I got to know Lease through my friend Eugene Lipinski, who Lease had asked to be the star of his film. And when Eugene asked me to consider playing a role in it I, of course, jumped at the chance for a couple of reasons. One, to always work with friends, and him being that friend. And I also feel it should be our obligation as part of our evolution to give back to others in the sense of just being, remembering what, where you came from and what inspired you.
So, I always find when I work with young filmmakers who are just kind of starting out, that passion and that commitment always reminds me of the thing that got me into it. And that’s always a great reminder. But also, more than that, it’s a way to support people who are being creative in a very difficult business, and who have that dream. So, when I met him I was beyond impressed, to be honest, with his professionalism, I loved his script, I loved the way he operated as a director.
He actually played music, it was kind of a side of the film, so while you were doing the scenes, he had the music that he heard in his mind, I had that happen before with a different director. And it was fun to play.
I have a little cameo in this particular short, but it was one of, to be completely honest, one of my favorite days of 2017. So, there’s always a gift in doing these little things. You end up going, oh, wow, what a magical day that was for me.
So, I’m just grateful, and I wish him the best of luck with his short and moving forward with his career.
So without much further ado, here’s the interview with Lease. Listen to the sound clip here:
FF – Hi Lease! Thank you so much for spending a little time with us here at Ferreira Fest today.
LB – Thank you so much for having me and interviewing me. I’m really excited.
FF – Okay, so, you directed the short film The Great Lakusta. Could you tell us about the development of the movie and what prompted you to make it?
LB – The Great Lakusta… Originally I began writing about a kind of a character that I’ve seen throughout the many worksites I’ve worked on throughout the years. There’s some of myself in it as well. Lakusta is an abstract individual struggling to survive in a linear world. He inhabits his own space and it’s a beautiful space but it’s not always the easiest for him to survive in a world that’s not the same. So his coping mechanisms are not necessarily the best.
I began writing this film, and in the first draft the character was just sort of silent in a movie that wasn’t silent.
But it didn’t grab everybody, my main actor Eugene Lipinski, he loved the first draft but we decided to keep developing it and keep writing it and I’m a big fan of the old style of movies, as well as I like some of the Italian neo-realism of taking struggling working class characters and using people that are not necessarily professional actors, involving them in the film and it just seemed like a fun project to do and it evolved into that. It also began [at] a little café that I actually used to run, and that’s how I met Eugene Lipinski and I just knew when I started writing this that he was right for the lead.
FF – What’s your background, Lease? How did you get involved in all this?
LB – I was an athlete from the time I was seven years old until the time I was twenty two and there just came a point when I wanted to… creative writing was always an aspect, something that I seem to have an aptitude for but my main thing was being a competitive wrestler. So that kind of got put on the back burner for a lot of years.
FF – Oh, okay.
LB – When I turned a certain age I realized I would have to stick around for another eight years in wrestling in order to do the Olympic thing, I think, and so I had to make a decision, what I wanted to go after. So I’ve been writing away for a long time and just honing my skills as a writer, and then through the little café where I met Eugene Lipinski I also met my wife, my partner, and she happens to be an actress, and she was doing little videos for a fundraiser for a project that she was involved in, so I became the camera man and I really liked being behind the camera.
FF – Right, okay.
Cardero Bodega. The little coffee shop where it all began. I used to run it and met lead actor Eugene Lipinski here as well as co-producer/co-star Mark Humphrey.
It’s now owned by John Manestar who plays the Panhandler in our film and let us dress it up as ‘Lucky’s Liquor’ for the film.
LB – And amazingly, when we were shooting this little video for her, we were shooting at Stanley Park and we needed somebody as an extra just doing something and who happened to be coming along but Louis Ferreira. And he just happened to show up and he was very gracious and he was very humble and he did say, “I’m an actor and I’m in a little show called Motive.” And after he left my partner said, “You know what? I think that guy’s the lead.”
So, yeah, that’s my background. I’m just really getting into it. We shot a little one before and this is the second film now.
FF – Right, wonderful.
FF – So, without spoiling anything specific about the story, you’ve already mentioned a little bit, but why is this a story that needs to be told? What is supposed to be your audience’s take away?
LB – I would hope that the audience would take away that when things are going bad, if you can just stick to the right path and just hold out for one day, sometimes you’ll get a little bit of luck that comes your way, and you never know what’s going to come your way, so just hang on.
FF – You mentioned how you ended up casting Eugene and Louis in the film. You had known Eugene before, and Louis just sort of happened to walk in?
LB – I knew Eugene from when I ran the café. When I got involved in the café, the previous owner hung all these pictures of the stars that lived in the neighborhood and visited the deli and Eugene was one of the stars that hung up above the wall. And Eugene would come in and they would say, man, that guy’s a great actor. He’s been in everything. So yeah, that’s how I knew Eugene. And, Louis, this project that I did with Andrea where we met Louis, that was four years ago, but then as I got to know Eugene, Eugene started talking about this Louis and what a good friend he was and how close they were.
And there was just something about Louis that I knew he would be perfect for this character and he really was.
FF – Right. What’s it like to work with a pair of veteran actors that also happen to be BFFs in real life?
LB – You know what? It’s fantastic. I think out of the movie, the most excitement, the biggest adrenalin rush was, for me as a director, when Louis and Eugene were together. There were a lot of elements that just came together, like, number one, it was the end of the movie, everybody was tired. We were really on the edge about getting that location, we basically stole the location, being a low budget production. It was this incredible view. We didn’t know if we were going to get it. But everything worked out. The weather was beautiful, the site, the view of the city was amazing.
And when you have veterans like Louis and Eugene, and particularly Eugene was tired, it had been a long shoot, we were pushing him hard. But bringing Louis in, Louis just came in like this ball of energy. It’s exciting to be around. And it energizes everybody around you, when you have a veteran coming in like that and they’re just fearless, to go and to give and not be afraid to take it over the edge. Just go for it. And that’s really what Louis did. And because of their friendship they had so much fun doing it together.
It’s just contagious when you have two people doing what they should be doing, together. And having fun doing it. And being free to do it.
FF – Yes.
LB – And that was what made that so special.
FF – Wonderful. When do you think the movie will start being available publicly? Are you going to hit the festival circuit with it?
LB – It’s a short film, so you know as far as, obviously, theatrical, major theater, it’s not really a viable market option.
FF – Right, right.
LB – So it’ll hit the festival circuit. We’re still putting the finishing touches on the edits. My goal is going to be early Spring, I think we’ll have a product ready to start entering festivals.
FF – Okay, wonderful. So, how can we help support this movie and your work as a filmmaker?
LB – We will have a website up and running. We’re putting finishing touches on those, just making sure that they’re right. And we’ll certainly let Ferreira Fest know when they’re available.
FF – Wonderful.
LB – In order to keep up with everything, and any help that people that [are] fans of Louis, any help that they can [give], spread the word as far as website names and upcoming showings, anything [like] that, that’s what would really help.
FF – Wonderful. So you’re planning to do some social media like Twitter or Instagram or any of that kind of stuff where we can follow you, and the movie?
LB – Absolutely, you know, there will be Facebook and all the mainstream social media we’ll have up and running close to its launch.
FF – Gotcha. Well, we’ll certainly help you spread the word! Thank you so much for your time, Lease. This was wonderful, and a really great insight into the work process and what a movie could mean to somebody. Thank you so much.
LB – Thank you so much for having me.
FF – All right, you have a great rest of your day.
LB – You as well.
Please bookmark the following social media links so you can keep up with The Great Lakusta!
Check out more about the movie graphics and designs by Tanya V at dollymommadesign.com.
All photos by Yui Kimura
Thanks to Casey for all the transcripts!
SCREENCAPS
Louis guest starred in two consecutive episodes of Travelers, reprising his role as Rick Hall. Both episodes aired on ShowCase Canada on Monday December 11. The final two episodes also aired back-to-back. You can binge Season 2 on Netflix starting December 26.
We have 116 screencaps from episode 209 Update. Please don’t look if you don’t want to be spoiled! Here is also a sneak preview at TV-eh? (please note, the writer completely misinterprets Hall’s actions, as is revealed at the end of the episode).
Here is a direct link to the album: https://ferreirafestscreencaps.shutterfly.com/pictures/19355
THE SECOND READING SERIES: MR. MUGS – MEET MY PALS
The second monthly reading series is Mr. Mugs – Meet My Pals by Martha Kambeitz, Denise Burns and Josephine Proctor.
Louis credits the Mr. Mugs books series with helping him to learn English at a very young age. The Mr. Mugs books have been out of print for many years but occasionally you can find them on eBay, Amazon Marketplace or various other antique book dealers.
You can listen to the book readings on the Reading Series Page.
This month’s chapter 19 is the final one for this series. Look for a new reading series in January!
FRIENDS NEWS
Karyn Mott
Here’s Karyn in two of this year’s gigs:
The Affolter Brothers
The four brothers are always busy with several projects at the same time with their company Foreshadow Films and elsewhere. Jon is currently working as key animator on the movie The Gliksmans! (Logline: An elderly couple will stop at nothing to make it to the bank…).
The crew of The Undertaker’s Son reunites
at the film’s screening at the Whistler Film Festival.
It’s beginning to look a lot like a “low-budget” Christmas special… The brothers are working behind the scenes on a cutaway gag for a top secret Cartoon Network show.
Setting up a shot for Soggy Flakes… Two Affolters included for scale!
Soggy Flakes will play at the 2018 Vancouver Shorts Film Festival on January 26.
Amanda Alexander
Amanda shared a link to an article with a first look at Altered Carbon. She was the script supervisor for the first season of the show which premiers February 2 on Netflix.
Mika McKinnon
Mika presented a talk at Skepticon 10:
“I finally gave my long-promised talk on party planning as a form of disaster preparedness.”
Watch it here!
Did you know that clast needs storms to form? Mika tells us more:
“What does a grain see when tumbling in the surfline?
I made an experimental SciArt video for an ambient music track. It required using my bootlace to fish with the GoPro after I nearly lost the camera in a slightly-larger wave.”
Mika is a very prolific science communications writer. Here are some of her recent published articles:
- Newly Discovered Swimming Dinosaur Is Delightfully Bizarre
- The Tricks Pixar Used to Make Coco’s Super Slick Skeletons
- You Don’t Have to Have Synesthesia to “Hear” This Silent Gif
- Scientists Discover Ancient Black Hole From the Dawn of the Universe
- This Giant Penguin Was the Size of a Human
- What Lurks Below Jupiter’s Great Red Spot?
Eugene Lipinski
Eugene presented the best stunt award at the UBCP/ ACTRA Awards this year. Congrats!
For more photos be sure to check out the interview with Lease Bertram, director of The Great Lakusta, above. Like Louis, Eugene is a great supporter of short films. He writes:
“Independent film making is the soul of our industry. With no experimentation there is no great film.”
Eugene is currently escaping the cold Canadian winter on a beach in Kauai.
Troy Mundle
Watch a Bucketheads Behind The Scenes video by clicking on the screencap on the right! Troy did his own stunts in the short film. Director Marco Bossow writes:
“Knowing first hand how restrictive and inflexible this suit is makes Troy Mundle pulling off all his own stunts all the more impressive! Also huge shout-out to Chad Riley for lending us his pro stunt expertise!”
Troy also filmed another short film recently, this time with his friend Paula Elle who also directed it, titled Don’t Tell.
Troy with Paula between takes…
…and getting a little tied up.
Dennis Heaton
There are two new opportunities to listen to Dennis’ perfect radio voice! Arbutusfilm did a great podcast with Dennis in which he teases Ghost Wars, recalls the origins of Fido, and why we should be making short-films and web-series.
He also did a podcast about 49 Degrees North.
Dennis features prominently in an interview on TVGoodness about collaborating with Kristin Lehman on Ghost Wars. Here they are on location together:
“It’s probably all the blood and animal parts (fake) on the floor behind me.”
Dennis was caught on camera having a chat with the 1st assistant director. Dennis stands firmly on the cargo shorts side when it comes to a debate about pants vs. cargo shorts:
“Cargo shorts offer the comfort of a swimsuit with the pocket capacity of a pair and a half of pants. TWO extra extra pockets! It’s like some genius said ‘let’s take this wasted fabric from below the knee and do something useful with it’.“
Patrick Gilmore
There are three new interviews with Patrick out there – lots of good stuff to read with awesome photos and screencaps as well!
The L.A. Times did a nice Q&A with Patrick about his travel adventures.
TrunkSpace did an interview about Travelers, which is about to finish its second season on ShowCase. There is also a nice Season 2 review on Forbes Magazine, focusing on the structure of the show.
StageRightSecrets interviewed Patrick about his roles in Travelers and You Me Her (both series also star our friend Jen Spence!)
And lastly, there’s also an article at Diario Hoy (in Spanish) about Travelers as being part of the golden age of TV, where some series are of a quality comparable to that of cinematic movies.
Alex Appel
Alex was at the In the Tub book launch!
You can watch a promotional video for the book here (grown-ups only, please) – Alex appears at 2:11.
You can order the book here, with a choice of digital or regular print edition. If someone you know has been affected by breast cancer you can rest assured that all profits from this book will go towards eradicating this terrible disease.
The book’s photographer T.J. Scott has been behind the lens as director of numerous television series, including Star Trek, Orphan Black, Longmire and Gotham.
Sawyer Ferreira
Here’s a photo of Sawyer on her recent trip to Ecuador.
And below are two photos of Sawyer with her dad and our friend and interview guest Claudia Ferreira celebrating the holidays together.
Sawyer just finished her first semester as a college student, so she’s taking a well-deserved break.
David Dingess
David plans to take a break from social media in 2018, so we will have less frequent updates on him. His work as a music teacher keeps him plenty busy, and he continues to do amazing work in the Middle Georgia area.
Here’s David with the Bibb County Honor Choir at their annual Holiday Concert.
Jennifer Spence
Jen did two recent interviews with The Televixen, the first one is about the Travelers episode Traveler 0027, in which Jen’s character Grace Day is featured prominently.
The second interview covers the finale of Season 2 of Travelers, her new short film Dog Bite and her ongoing web series You Me Her.
Rob Munic
Here’s Rob… then and now.
Peter Kelamis
Peter is still creeping everybody out as Yellow Jacket in the supernatural series Beyond.
As to whether his character is hiding anything, Peter tweets:
“The answer… Yes. Yes I am.”
Beyond Season 2 begins January 18, 2018 on Freeform.
Bradley Stryker
Bradley has been filming El Infiltrado, a new Telemundo telenovela (soap opera) in Mexico City. He’s currently starring in Damnation, and he’s also filming a new movie he wrote the script for called Tumbleweed. Oh yes, and he’s busy being a dad, too.
Clearly, Bradley has a few clones…
HEALING BODY ART
Every month Vancouver artist Nicole Pilich shares one of her henna creations with Ferreira Fest. Please visit her website for lots more photos and fascinating facts and information about this ancient artform. And if you find yourself in Vancouver – visit her studio and treat yourself to some Healing Body Art made just for you.
This month Nicole writes:
“Give me a big beautiful belly as a canvas and give me some artistic license and look what happens…”
And that, dear Friends, is about it for this month! Thanks for visiting often! Be sure to follow us on Twitter for all the Louis news you can handle and TV reminders!
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We hope to see you all in January 2018!
