More casting choices made

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

To recap: Last time in this column (April 30), writer, director and King David High School student Adam Bogoch had finished his first feature-length film, which won several awards, and had started on his next big project, Complexity. He had secured producer and casting director Mattie Shisko, composer Ron Philips and actor Patrick Spencer as the male lead.

For this month’s column, Adam has lots more casting news, but first, a quick refresher of the plot: a young woman, Clara, is “stuck in a place of uncertainty, being pushed and pulled in all different directions by her family. When Clara meets Scott, a man very interested in her, things take a drastic turn from bad to worse.”

The latest-breaking news is that Leo Award-winning Emilie Ullerup has joined the cast as Clara. “This is incredibly exciting news and we are very happy to have her aboard! She starred on Sci-Fi network’s jPod and Sanctuary,” said Adam.

“Now, we also have Destini Willian, a young and incredibly talented up-and-comer, who will be playing Scott’s younger, troublesome sister, Holly. Morgan Leaney, an alumnus of Vancouver Film School, will be playing Clara’s adopted sister, Mallory. And, finally, we have the bubbly Stacy Mahieux, who will be playing the character of Cassie.” For behind-the-scenes, the production has secured Anthony Epp as assistant director.

“May has been hectic!” Adam said. “We originally planned to shoot the film in April but decided to move it to early May, then mid May, then late May, then early June, then mid June and now ... we have set in stone our shooting dates for July. I’d just like to make a public ‘thank you’ to my producer, Mattie Shisko, for delaying our project about 380 times. All jokes aside, it’s a great time to shoot and it all works out for the best!

“We also have had some bad luck with some of our crew members’ schedules, but it seems to be working out in the long run.”

Some progress has been made in the costume department, with wholesalers Allan and Ava Loomer recently supplying the production with “some great wardrobe pieces,” said Adam. “Morgan and I went into their clothing warehouse to fit her and pick up some things for some of the other girls, great stuff!”

The time period of the film is present-day, said Adam, “so they’ve supplied some beautiful, stylish pieces. These are things they sell to companies, which are provided by big name brands. For instance, the character Holly will be wearing mostly Jenny Han.”

Some readers might be wondering at this point: how can Adam possibly be doing all this film work and finishing high school?

“I set my priorities in order and I just do it,” he explained. “I have to say that King David is very helpful. The school is well aware of how big Complexity is and that it’s schooling in itself for me. When things get really busy with work, I sign out of my studies and get work done or take a couple calls. It’s all exciting really; I like the stress, it’s good stress. This is not to say that sometimes it’s not overwhelming, because it can be. I don’t have a massive school workload this year at KD because of what I take, but sometimes people don’t understand the workload outside of school that I have. I have to make compromises to be able to get everything done, but that’s just part of life, I guess. But, surprisingly, I’m doing the best I’ve ever done in school ... yeah, I’m sort of surprised about that.”

As to what compromises Adam has had to make, he said, “Let’s put it this way, film never gets sacrificed. It’s usually on the top of my list, also the fact that so many people are dependent on some of the things I do. I keep my promises and do my best to work as hard as I can, especially since I’m the youngest out of anyone who’s working with me. I have to keep up. What gets sacrificed? My social life, my family life, occasionally school. But, as I said, KDHS is very understanding and I am doing better then ever before academically ... probably because I don’t take math.”

June 3 is graduation day. For any shadchans (matchmakers) out there, he already has a date. The day will start with grad photos at Queen Elizabeth Park, followed by the formal ceremony, a reception, dinner and, of course, party. So Adam soon will no longer have to divide his school-film time, though his social life may still suffer, as he takes his responsibilities to heart.

Noting that there are a few people who believe that filmmaking is a mere hobby for him, Adam stressed, “if this is a hobby, then not only me, but everyone working with me are completely screwed. This is not a hobby, we take it very seriously, and it’s extremely important to me. However, the amount of support I get from the others outweighs the negativity or skepticism. I am very lucky to have people that are not only supportive but that are interested. I thank them as much as I can.... I don’t even need to mention my dad’s support, since he’s my executive producer. It’s great to have a father so heavily involved and so supportive of some of the biggest decisions of my life.”

And his dad, David, has been there for the celebrations, as well. Last October, he and Adam attended the Fort Lauderdale lnternational Film Festival, where Adam’s Avoid Confrontation won two awards. (In March, the film picked up another honor, at the Canada International Film Festival in Vancouver.)

“It was massive, tons of great talent and great people,” said Adam about the Fort Lauderdale festival, which offered many different parties and cruises. “Recognizable actors at the festival were Michelle Monaghan (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and Michael Jai White (The Dark Knight). There were some incredible films shown at FLIFF, one of which I see just got a major distribution deal, Jac Schaeffer’s TiMER. I actually got a chance to have a brief conversation with Jac at the festival.”

Adam said, “Jac and I just talked about both our films, as you do at film festivals. We also touched upon how we each came to the film industry, and how we were each able to finance our projects. TiMER’s concept is just so remarkable, so I asked her about that. It’s set in a world where you can pinpoint the exact moment when you’ll meet the love of your life. She’s incredibly sweet and very talented.”

Looking to the future, final casting, final crew, table reads, rehearsals and raising some cash are on Adam’s to-do list. He said that, for as little as $5,000, someone could purchase an executive producer credit.... His e-mail is [email protected].

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