Published February 2019.
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It’s February 20th and time for a very special party at Ferreira Fest, because today is Louis Ferreira’s birthday! We have some great memories of his time on the series Highlander way back when, a CSA nomination and our exclusive Reading Series, and we check in with his friends and chosen charities. Grab a slice of birthday cake and an age-appropriate pineapple cocktail at our virtual bar and come on in!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOUIS!
This year’s Birthday Project was a series of film strips joined together to make a Birthday Wishes Movie! We collected around 1000 birthday greetings from all around the world via email or snail mail, and thanks to the attendees at the 2019 Georgia ThesCon who also participated in great numbers.
Here is what the finished film reel looked like:
We’ll have photos of Louis with his loot in the next Ferreira Fest.
If you missed out on this year’s fun, never fear: we will gear up for the 2020 Birthday Project in December of this year, so stay tuned and check the Birthday Project Page for updates!
CHARITIES NEWS
Ability Online
Ever had a concussion? Ability Online, a supportive safe and free online community, has a safe and open space called Connect with Concussion.
Connect with Concussion strives to provide online support and connect youth and adolescents that have experienced a concussion or brain injury to learn, grow and conquer.
You can register at http://www.abilityonline.org to check out the helpful resources, friendly forums and open but safe, live chat and other spaces.
From the January 2019 Newsletter:
Upcoming Events To Look For…
- February’s Pink Shirt Campaign
Join us, and many others internationally, and wear pink to show your support against bullying on Wednesday February 27th. We will be setting up with a bake sale at Guelph-Humber University to raise money and awareness for this cause.
This year’s focus is on cyberbullying. Although it’s a newer issue it is all too relevant in today’s social media dependent world. A tip for you as an individual is to THINK before you post, if it is True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, and most of all Kind. For more information click here.
- Winter Ice Breakers
1. Wear a Conversation Starter
Try wearing one of your favorite shirts, or accessories that others will recognize. Graphic T’shirts are great conversation starters, and will get others to talk to you first.
2. Talk about Food
Almost everyone eats, so an easy way to start a conversation is to ask what someone has for lunch, or dinner, or maybe even what their favorite food or drink is.
3. Ask about their Weekend
Weekends can be relaxing or boring, but can also be busy and exciting. Ask someone about how their weekend was, or ask how their upcoming weekend will be.
4. Give a Compliment
Compliments make people happy, so this is another kind way to make a good first impression. Try complimenting someone’s shoes or shirt, or even their smile.
5. Talk about the Weather
The weather is a quick and simple topic to bring up for small talk. Talking about your thoughts will make for easy conversation.
Ability Gives
Seven year old Chizy has autism and is non-verbal. She needs an iPad and the Let me talk app so that she can communicate with her family.
Getting an iPad for Chizy to communicate with her family and friends will minimize her feelings of “being left out”, crying and being upset. She learns more from the Let Me Talk app on the iPad she is using at school and it also calms her down whenever she is upset or tired. Having the opportunity to use an iPad at home will maintain consistency in her learning and improve her communication skills.
iPads and the Communication apps are expensive, and Chizy’s family needs help with funding in order to give Chizy a voice. Please click here to help this little girl.
Of course you can always make a donation to Ability Online and help provide a safe, monitored online environment for kids with disabilities by clicking on the logo below. It’s easy, fast and secure.
Project Limelight
Project Limelight‘s co-founder Donalda Weaver writes:
We are currently in the process of submitting the short film that was created in our last program (The Girl With No Superpowers) to various festivals. I will let you know how that pans out. We have not publicly released the film (as per rules of many festivals) but I am happy to share it later on!
In the meantime, please visit their Instagram feed for still photos, and please donate to support inner city kids in Vancouver and providing a free high-quality performing arts education for them. Just click on the logo below!
Haven Toronto
Presenting a ‘Stand-Up Charity Night‘ in support of Haven Toronto! It includes a special performance by Ben Miner, host of Canada Laughs & Top Comic on SiriusXM on Thursday, February 28th at Absolute Comedy. Tickets: $15 Available online only at http://www.shophaventoronto.ca.
Read the February e-magazine online! Topics this month include the stories of 10 famous athletes who were born in poverty, and the importance of companion animals for the homeless.
Dog food is always free for Haven Toronto’s clients’ four-legged friends. But you can do even more by purchasing any item on their Shop & Share site: anything you buy there goes straight to an elder homeless man in need, rather than cluttering your own closet.
You can always make a direct contribution to alleviate homelessness by donating at our very own donations page (please note: the page is still under the organization’s original name The Good Neighbours’ Club, but everything goes to Haven Toronto!). Click on the logo below to help!
The Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada
February 14 is Have A Heart Day, a child- and youth-led reconciliation event to help ensure First Nations children have the services they need to grow up safely at home, get an education, be healthy, and be proud of who they are.
We know that Aboriginal youth are over-represented in foster care at 13 times their representation in the Canadian population. This overrepresentation in the child welfare system is the result of many complex issues, including the legacy of residential schools. When they come into care and are removed from their culture of origin, they often lose their connection with their traditions and identity.
The Children’s Aid Foundation of Canada is responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations by helping to ensure these young people are accessing the supports available to them.
We aspire to support more Indigenous kids involved in child welfare to access the resources, opportunities, and support they need to thrive, in collaboration with our growing partner base.
Today and every day, we join together with other caring Canadians to show support for First Nations children and youth.
Read more in the online newsletter The Buzz.
Please consider making a contribution – however small – to help First Nations children have a good start in life after foster care. Click on the logo below – the process is simple and secure.
BAD BLOOD
Louis has snagged a Canadian Screen Awards nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his work as Domenic Cosoleto in Bad Blood. That’s the Canadian equivalent of an Oscar nomination!
Congratulations, Louis! It is a well-deserved honor!
Here’s the announcement and the other nominees. Click on the screen shot to go to the website. To find the nomination you need to select the TV category, then scroll down about 3/4 of the way.
And here is the detailed ledger that appears when you click on his headshot.
Bad Blood also earned nominations for Best Drama Series, Best Writing/ Drama Series and Best Lead Actor/ Drama Series.
Congratulations to the whole team!
The winners will be announced on Sunday March 31.
We will have an interview with actor Franco Lo Presti who played Louis’ character’s son on Bad Blood in an upcoming issue of Ferreira Fest, so stay tuned!
TRAVELERS
Sadly, the intriguing time travel show Travelers has been cancelled. Louis had four great guest appearances in it, culminating in the Season 3 episode Philip, which Louis considers his favorite as well. The series also starred our friends Jennifer Spence and Patrick Gilmore.
The first two seasons had aired on Showcase in Canada before streaming on Netflix, with Season 3 of the series airing exclusively on Netflix. It premiered in Canada in October 2016 as the highest-rated new Fall series. Netflix took over last May as the exclusive first-run network for the drama series in every territory around the world, including Canada.
VIDEOS
Louis shares two brief video clips this month!
Experimenting with a new freaky gadget on his phone camera…
A Happy Valentine’s Day message from Louis and Jackie!
Q&A
Matt asks:
I’m watching the Highlander TV series where you played the immortal Kanis, a man who used Rottweilers to soften up Immortals before he took their heads. It was a long time ago (1995), so you may not remember, but I always wondered how those dogs were off-set. I hope they were very sweet dogs and you gave them lots of pets and treats.
Here is Louis’ answer. Listen to the sound clip here:
Transcript:
LF – Boy, you couldn’t be further off, my friend. That was not my experience at all. First of all, I actually am terrified of certain types of dogs because as a kid I was attacked by German Shepherds, and so I’ve always had a fear of dogs. That’s why I’ve always, I love dogs. I love my dogs, I love certain dogs. But dogs that fall under the category of Rottweilers, Pit Bulls, sadly I’ve made assumptions; now, I’ve met some really nice ones and with time I’ve warmed up to them.
But in that particular case, the guys who were training those dogs had just come off this live Jungle Book movie. They came up to me on Day One and said, “We haven’t had much time with these dogs. All we’re going to tell you is do not look them directly in the eye.”
And I was like, is that a joke? I do remember it quite well because of the experience for me, so I happen to be… literally, I think the episode was called Leader of the Pack.
FF – Yes it was.
LF – Yeah. And I had to be this master to these six dogs. So I remember, this is the scene that will encapsulate my entire experience on Highlander. Actually, two scenes that I’m remembering.
Number one, it was a scene where I shot, I think it was a cemetery, and these dogs… I mean, first of all, they were the biggest Rottweilers I’ve ever seen. They were hired because they were to be looking vicious and they could look that way and sound that way, etc. So, I was just trying to avoid them at all cost.
And the trainers weren’t particularly working well with me. And it was kind of like, they were trying to bond with the dogs before they even got to the actor, so I don’t remember having any real time with them. So, what they said, they said, “You know what we’re going to do, we’re going to tie them down with invisible…” They had this collar that they would use, and then they were kind of tied down by the grave site. So there would be some kind of string, and obviously they were taken care of, they weren’t being hurt or anything, but they were just, they were leashed.
And they were leashed and the hitch was in the ground, by the tombstones. And there were four or five dogs around. As I was doing, and I think it’s where I discovered my deeper voice, because I think I played Kanis with (lowers his voice) this kind of voice.
FF – Yes.
LF – And when I was doing that, all I remember is that out of the corner of my eye, I was going, “Duncan MacLeod”, and I saw one of the tombstones literally being pulled out of the ground by the dogs, because that’s how strong they were.
FF – Oh my goodness.
LF – And I went from like, (in deep, guttural voice) “Duncan MacLeod” to like, (in high pitched voice) “Oh my God what’s happening over there?!” And I remember jumping, literally running off set. Going, like, oh my god, a dog is coming off that thing. And the trainer’s going, oh…
The director, Mario Azzopardi, is a friend of mine, I believe laughed really hard. I’m always happy to make my friend Mario laugh. But I was just terrified.
Then, the other thing, this is the big one. So, they are like, “We are going to bury you alive.” Which is already insane, I’d never done that. So, I had to be buried. They gave me a straw that was about fifteen inches long and I was to breathe through that while they called the rolling and stuff. And I’m under there for like twenty, twenty-five seconds, thirty seconds, but the point is, is it feels like a lifetime because you’re underground in dirt. It’s freaky, and I’m claustrophobic to begin with. So, not fun.
So, then they say, “When you come out, the Rottweilers are going to be right there. And when you come back to life,” – because I think I come back to life or something – “they’re going to be there and they are going to be so happy they’re going to start licking your face.”
I was like, what do you mean? Now, their heads are bigger than mine. What do you mean they’re going to be licking my face?!
“Yeah, we’re going to put a little peanut butter on the sides of your cheeks, kind of this invisible peanut butter. And they’ll just go for it.”
I was like, yeah, no, that’s just going to make me go to the bathroom right now, you even saying the sentence. It’s not going to work for me, dude. There’s no way.
So I think what they tried to do is do a shot where the dog’s face was close but they were going to use plexiglass, so there was a divider between me and the dogs.
Other than that, the dogs were great.
And then in that episode, I also had to be hung off a horse. I was like, this is too much for one episode. They ain’t paying me enough for all of this action because I just was like… it was a challenging episode. I quite liked the show, and I liked Adrian Paul, and I liked the director, and that’s kind of why I did it. But I sort of don’t think I really… and I had to do a big sword fight. So, it’s a lot of, you know… I’m good at certain things, but that was one of the more challenging things. But that’s interesting they brought it up. So that’s my Rottweiler story on Highlander.
Thanks to Casey and Paco for the transcript!
Got a question for Louis? Send an email and the answer will be featured in an upcoming Ferreira Fest!
SCREENCAPS
And speaking of Highlander, here are 288 screen caps from the Season 4 episode Leader of the Pack, where Louis plays the immortal Peter Kanis.
Logline: Immortal Kanis is using attack dogs to injure Immortals so he can easily take their heads, and Duncan is his next target. In a flashback to 1785 England, Kanis has his dogs hunting a young boy and McLeod kills one.
For a detailed synopsis click here.
You can watch the full episode here.
Here is a direct link to the album: https://ferreirafestscreencaps.shutterfly.com/pictures/35927
THE NEW READING SERIES: MR. MUGS – PEEK IN PLEASE
The third monthly reading series is Mr. Mugs – Peek In Please 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 all the book readings under the Reading Series Tab.
This month’s issue is Chapter 14 of Mr. Mugs – Take A Peek.
FRIENDS NEWS
Alaina Huffman
Alaina is back to being a blonde! Check out her Instagram feed for the latest photos…
Karyn Mott
Karyn writes:
“Finally revamped my website. Feeling good, feeling fresh, ready to take on 2019 and what beautiful and wonderful surprises and gifts it has in store.” Check out the new site here or click on the screen shot
Amanda Alexander
Amanda is back on Altered Carbon, working as the series’ script supervisor for Season 2!
Congrats on the gig and continuing with a great team!
Mika McKinnon
Mika is working on her SciArt Project.
Here is her interpretation of Mexico City!
Mika did a new Podcast! Listen to her on STEM Everyday #118: Staying Curious, Being Excited, and Finding Ways to Make the World A Little Better
Mika writes:
“I’m a geophysicist. My signature fieldwork uniform is bright pink.
Pink won’t fix the systemic sexism in the sciences, but it also won’t hinder the development of anyone’s skills!”
Read a new article on color stereotypes and what to do about them at Vox.com.
For more cool SciArt and thought-provoking, informative articles visit Mika on Twitter.
Troy Mundle
Troy can be seen in the new series Demon X which is now available on Amazon. Check it out here. Troy plays Deacon John in episode 6.
Dennis Heaton
Publicity is starting to pick up on Dennis’ new show The Order. It will start airing on Netflix on March 7! And you can watch a short teaser video here. Great artwork can be found on the show’s Instagram feed.
Patrick Gilmore
Sadly, Patrick had to bid farewell to his character David Mailer on Travelers as well. But there are two new podcasts with Patrick you can listen to, where he talks about the series.
- The Martini Lounge Podcast episode 104
- The Mancave Chronicles Podcast (available on iTunes, Podbean and Castbox)
Patrick’s new series JANN premiers on March 20 at 8:30pm on CTV!
Here’s Patrick on the cover of Vents Magazine!
And here’s another great photo by Karolina Turek.
David Dingess
You can watch the Official Visual Album of David’s latest release Booster Pack right here!
Jennifer Spence
Jen is sad about the end of Travelers, but her series You Me Her will premier its 4th season on April 9th on Audience Network, so stay tuned! Our friend Patrick is also in the show.
Peter Kelamis
Peter writes:
When only ONE eye patch isn’t enough! Look for me voicing the character of Villads on The Dragon Prince on Netflix… It’s a pretty cool show…
Bradley Stryker
Bradley is in the new movie Cold Pursuit with Liam Neeson!
And right now he’s filming a Season 2 episode of Altered Carbon!
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:
“Not only do I do temporary tattoos but I also practice karate! Here is a picture of the Japanese symbol for my type of karate, I put this on myself before a big karate camp I just attended.”
ODDS & ENDS
Reddit r/portugal
Louis has a discussion thread on Reddit r/portugal. This is a place to only discuss articles related to the country Portugal or Portuguese people in the world. They can be in Portuguese or English.
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 next month!
