I’ve been working with MUBI (formerly The Auteurs) since the beginning of the year on a project to put the MUBI experience on the Sony PlayStation 3 in Europe. It was this project that allowed me to go to the Cannes Film Festival for the first time, for the official announcement of the partnership between MUBI and Sony, where I had the privilege of meeting the likes of Agnès Varda. It’s a very cool and demanding project that has us working with the fine folks at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe to create an easy to use video-on-demand platform with social capabilities. When it launches, MUBI on PS3 will be available through the PlayStation Network in 18 countries and 7 languages.

As part of the development of this project, I’m moving over to London to establish the MUBI UK office with Efe and Ryan and to work closely (and finally in the same time zone) with the Sony team.

I’ve been living in Toronto for most of my life and I truly believe it’s one of the greatest, most liveable cities in the world, and to prove it to myself I’m leaving it behind to discover another great city: London. Living in Europe, and London in particular, is an adventure I’m excited to embark on.

Before we leave Toronto, Ryan and I are planning a send-off party on July 18th at Cadillac Lounge on Queen St. W. where we’re hoping a lot of our friends will join us for a drink. We’ll be there from 3pm onward so if you’ve got some time, try to stop in, it would be great to see you.

Fast on the heels of their success with Spent and the Toronto Star’s proclamation of Ravi Jain as a Person To Watch in 2010, Why Not Theatre is hard at work crafting I’m So Close, which will be shown as part of both The Theatre Centre’s Free Fall, as well as Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage.

Ravi hired me to make the marketing and promo materials for the show and after a few meetings discussing space, orbits, technology, love, loss and a whole bunch of other things, along with sharing references and YouTube videos, I went into my lab and came up with a bunch of ideas for our photoshoot.

The shoot was a lot of fun, we did a lot of experimentation and ended up with a lot of great shots to work with. I rented the beautiful 24-70mm f/2.8 lens for my D200, which was so versatile and sharp, I didn’t need anything else.

I really wanted to get my good friend and amazing illustrator Chris Simonen involved in the process. We discussed a bunch of ideas, including tracing photos, using watercolours, and particularly agreeing that hand-drawn fonts were something we wanted to experiment with.

Chris came up with a handful of beautiful font samples for the title and the body text and after deciding on one, I sent him off with some of the photos and a brief synopsis of the play as I knew it to get creative and make some illustrations for the main poster.

In the meantime, I came up with the idea of making several teaser posters after looking through some of the cool shots we got. Aside from creating more work for myself, I only had a rough idea of how I wanted them to look. The only thing I knew I was going to start with was the watercolour/space backgrounds. From there, on a rainy Saturday in California, riding in the back of a car on the way up to Napa Valley, I started to experiment, and by the time we got to Bouchon Bakery I had more or less designed the postcard. I was really excited about the direction the design took and knew right then that I was going to use it throughout the promo materials. From there it was just a matter of refining the technique, getting all the copy straight with Ravi and the various producers, and formatting them for print.

Apparently Harbourfront Centre and Theatre Centre were both so excited about the design that they’re using the postcard as promo for their respective festivals as well, so you could be seeing these designs all over the place in the coming month.

The show opens on March 23, 2010 at The Theatre Centre. Check the postcard and the various websites mentioned above for more details. I’ll be in attendance and hopefully I’ll see you there.

This is the last week to catch the amazing Ravi Jain and Adam Paolozza in Spent, their hilarious and insightful show playing at Factory Theatre until October 25th.

If you’re looking for a great night of fun and laughter, definitely check this show out. I may be slightly biased but I firmly believe Ravi and Adam are among the best actors working in Toronto right now.

The show is hilarious, amazingly executed, and quite insightful. It has gotten great reviews from The Toronto Star and NOW Magazine (among others).

Click here for more info about the show and how to get tickets

Ravi and Adam conceived of and built the show around the image on the poster. I created the poster as a prototype for the marketing materials for the show.

Spread far and wide!

Manifesto, fightingtheboss and Honour Rebel continue

MONTAGE
A monthly spotlight on local independent filmmakers

On Thursday August 13th, MONTAGE returns to transform the parking lot of the Manifesto Space at 358 Dufferin into an Outdoor Urban Theatre as we celebrate the work of our city’s (and the world’s) independent filmmakers and artists, minus the barriers of genre, scene or subculture. Featuring short films from the worlds of animation, documentary, avante-garde and the far reaches of our collective imagination, MONTAGE aims to bring together the inspired and expressive, the audience and artist, in all of us.

More than anything else, MONTAGE is a celebration. With music provided by ANDY CAPP (Bang the Party), art installations by Phillippe Blanchard and Sean Procyk, an artist market and refreshment stand, this night is about coming together to bask in the independent spirit of Toronto.

You complete the picture. Be a part of the MONTAGE.

Thursday, August 13th, 2009
358 Dufferin Street, Toronto
8 – 11pm
$5 or PWYC

Rain or shine.

We’re also still looking for submissions for more outdoor screenings later this summer so if you or anyone you know has a film they’d like to show, get in touch.

Spread far and wide!

Manifesto, fightingtheboss and The Alt continue

MONTAGE
A monthly spotlight on local independent filmmakers

with an OUTDOOR SCREENING in the courtyard at the Manifesto Space (the same people who just brought you the amazing Canada Day Michael Jackson Tribute at Dundas Square). We’ll have many short films and installations by local artists, popcorn, and drinks. Join us for a fun evening of movies under the stars!

Thursday, July 9th, 2009
358 Dufferin Street, Toronto
8 – 11pm
$5 or PWYC

Rain or shine.

We’re also still looking for submissions for more outdoor screenings later this summer so if you or anyone you know has a film they’d like to show, get in touch.

Manifesto and fightingtheboss have partnered up with the good people at The Alt to bring you MONTAGE this summer, with outdoor screenings in the courtyard at the Manifesto Space. MONTAGE is a monthly showcase for local independent filmmakers and that’s where you come in.

If you or someone you know has a film they’d like to screen at one of our events, get in touch with us and we’ll work to make it happen (details are in the poster).

Our first event is being planned for Thursday, July 9th, with more to follow through the summer.

The Manifesto and fightingtheboss present

Montage: A monthly spotlight on local independent filmmakers

featuring the world premiere of

VENTURE CAPITAL
Directed by Daniel Libby

“A debut projection in the midst of a great economic crisis, a little digital movie 6 years in the making… A cutthroat critique of the capitalist system, with a gentle touch of prestidigitation, and a controversial hint of mysticism…”

ATTENTION We’re looking for shorts and features from local artists to play at this series. If you or anyone you know is interested in screening a film for friends, family, and the general public, get in touch with us and we’ll work to make it happen! We’re even looking for shorts to play before the main film for this Tuesday, so if you’re interested, or you know someone who might be, get in touch!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The Manifesto Space
358 Dufferin St., Toronto, Suite 104 (Map)
Programme starts at 8pm
$5 Suggested Donation
Popcorn included

If you want to bring your own seating, blanket, sleeping bag, pillow, whatever, that is definitely encouraged! You can also bring your own food, drinks, booze, whatever.

Pass this on to anyone who might be interested!

The Manifesto and fightingtheboss studios present A weekly curated screening of classic and contemporary films

Volume 006: The Future Is Noir

featuring

BLADE RUNNER / 1982 / Ridley Scott / USA / 7pm

“A haunting, eerily prophetic mixture of science fiction and film noir, director Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner boasts one of the most astonishingly designed futures ever put on film – a dark, decaying Los Angeles circa 2019. Blade Runner is based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by science fiction master Philip K. Dick. It stars Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, a onetime ‘blade runner’, who is called out of retirement stop four homicidal ‘replicants’ – genetically engineered humans with superior strength and intellect who are used as slave labour on off-world colonies. Gorgeously designed, teeming with ideas about reality, memory, and mortality, Blade Runner is a groundbreaking motion picture. It is also universally acclaimed as one of the most highly influential science fiction films of the past 25 years.”

followed by

MINORITY REPORT / 2002 / Steven Spielberg / USA / 9:30pm

“Based on a short story by the late Philip K. Dick, this science fiction-film noir reflects the writer’s familiar preoccupation with themes of concealed identity and mind control. Tom Cruise stars as John Anderton, a Washington, D.C. detective in the year 2054. Anderton works for “Precrime,” a special unit of the police department that arrests murderers before they have committed the actual crime. Precrime bases its work on the visions of three psychics or “precogs” whose prophecies of future events are never in error. When Anderton discovers that he has been identified as the future killer of a man he’s never met, he is forced to become a fugitive from his own colleagues as he tries to uncover the mystery of the victim-to-be’s identity.”

Tuesday, April 28, 2009
358 Dufferin St., Toronto, Suite 104 (Map)
Programme starts at 7pm
$5 Suggested Donation
Popcorn included with the screenings

If you want to bring your own seating, blanket, sleeping bag, pillow, whatever, that is definitely encouraged!

You can also bring your own food, drinks, booze, whatever. Come for one or both movies.

Pass this on to anyone who might be interested!

The Manifesto and fightingtheboss studios present
A weekly curated screening of classic and contemporary films

Volume 005: My Job Sucks

featuring

IKIRU / 1952 / Akira Kurosawa / Japan / 7pm
In Japanese with English Subtitles

“Considered by some to be Akira Kurosawa’s greatest achievement, Ikiru presents the director at his most compassionate—affirming life through an exploration of a man’s death. Takashi Shimura portrays Kanji Watanabe, an aging bureaucrat with stomach cancer forced to strip the veneer off his existence and find meaning in his final days. Told in two parts, Ikiru offers Watanabe’s quest in the present, and then through a series of flashbacks. The result is a multifaceted look at a life through a prism of perspectives, resulting in a full portrait of a man who lacked understanding from others in life.”

followed by

OFFICE SPACE / 1999 / Mike Judge / USA / 9:30pm

“Unable to endure another mind-numbing day at Initech Corporation, white-collar peon Peter Gibbons (Ron Livingston) has had enough. Armed with a bold new attitude and a sexy new girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston), he neglects his job with a vengeance – and is quickly promoted to upper management!”

Tuesday, April 21, 2009
358 Dufferin St., Toronto, Suite 104 (Map)
Programme starts at 7pm
$5 Suggested Donation
Popcorn included with the screenings

If you want to bring your own seating, blanket, sleeping bag, pillow, whatever, that is definitely encouraged!

You can also bring your own food, drinks, booze, whatever.

Pass this on to anyone who might be interested!

The Manifesto and fightingtheboss studios present
A weekly curated screening of classic and contemporary films

Volume 004: Turf Wars

featuring

THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS / 1966 / Gillo Pontecorvo / Algiers / 7pm
In French & Arabic with English Subtitles
Based on True Stories

“One of the most influential political films in history, Gillo Pontecorvo’s The Battle of Algiers (La bataille d’Alger) vividly re-creates a key year in the tumultuous Algerian struggle for independence from the occupying French in the 1950s. As violence escalates on both sides, children shoot soldiers at point-blank range, women plant bombs in cafés, and French soldiers resort to torture to break the will of the insurgents. Shot in the streets of Algiers in documentary style, the film is a case study in modern warfare, with its terrorist attacks and the brutal techniques used to combat them. Gillo Pontecorvo’s tour de force—a film with astonishing relevance today.”

followed by

CITY OF GOD / 2002 / Fernando Meirelles / Brazil / 9:30pm
In Brazilian Portuguese with English Subtitles
Based on True Stories

“The streets of the world’s most notorious slum, Rio de Janeiro’s ‘City of God’, are a place where combat photographers fear to tread, police rarely go and residents are lucky if they live to the age of 20. In the midst of the oppressive crime and violence, a frail and scared young boy will grow up to discover that he can view the harsh realities of his surroundings with a different eye: the eye of an artist. In the face of impossible odds, this brave ambition to become a professional photographer becomes a window into his world and ultimately his way out!”

Tuesday, April 14, 2009
358 Dufferin St., Toronto, Suite 104 (Map)
Programme starts at 7pm
$5 Suggested Donation
Popcorn included with the screenings

If you want to bring your own seating, blanket, sleeping bag, pillow, whatever, that is definitely encouraged!

You can also bring your own food, drinks, booze, whatever.

Pass this on to anyone who might be interested!