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Casting call

In the film world, Thunder Bay is isolated. But with a compelling story and a motivated crew, one film professor says the city can put itself on the cinematic map.
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Anthony Roch gets his picture taken at Confederation College on Sunday. (Jeff Labine, tbnewswatch.com)
In the film world, Thunder Bay is isolated. But with a compelling story and a motivated crew, one film professor says the city can put itself on the cinematic map.

Confederation College’s film production program held a casting call to fill its book of potential actors and actresses Sunday. The auditions started Saturday and had men, women and children fill out casting forms and have their pictures taken.

College film professor Lee Chambers said there are 75 film students shooting different productions throughout the summer.

"You may as well be in the North Pole, " Chambers said about the city’s isolation within the world of film. "We’re a good eight hours away from rental houses but with modern communications you can email and fire information back and forth pretty easily. The isolation gets smaller over time."

A good story and crew are the most important parts when creating a film. It won’t mater where a film is short if the production has those elements, he said.

With competition south of the border, Chambers said Canadians have an advantage by applying for government grants. American films tend to have more commercial and corporate funding, which the professor said leads productions to focus more on profit making than telling a story.

"Because there is funding for Canadian film makers we can sometimes be riskier and edgier," he said. "The important aspect isn’t to make a big Iron Man 2 blockbuster. So we can still tell some unique stories."

Chambers added that it is important to update the casting book because people tend to change their appearances. He said students need everyone from leading roles to extras.

The final day for the casting call is on Monday from 6 to 8 p.m. People who miss Monday’s audition can contact him through the college to have a photo taken and a form filled out.





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