Two strangers stood with their backs to me at the Quince pastry counter. The slight, bespectacled redhead was quietly ordering an Americano Mistro when his bigger, burlier, rougier sidekick heard my footsteps and turned. Our eyes locked for a brief moment before I could glance away, my face burning; it was them. You couldn't tell for looking I only knew from the lack of any other patrons that I was staring at the scum of the city. Charity whores. Artists. Or as another local paper outed them last week: "shameless and entitled pricks."
Yes, despite being a default member of Angry Vancouver (my address happens to fall within city limits), I found myself rendezvousing at a quiet corner table in a cafe near the WE with... crowdsourcers.
The ringleader: director Darcy Van Poelgeest. His name makes him sound like some bored Euro bourgeoisie who's taken up filmmaking as a pastime between polo and skirt-chasing seasons, but his rap sheet reads like a who's who of film industry heavies: TIFF, National Film Board, Leo. Ten years of being "in" with the union has given him the idea that this city is his for the taking.
The consigliere: producer Mike Gill a pikey-looking ox of a man; an enforcer who keeps employees in line and lightens the pockets of regular citizens who just want to be entertained.
Their crime: fundraising. Specifically: In cahoots with the radical fringe organization Indiegogo, the two panhandoutlers are seeking modest stacks of cash from friends and film buffs for Corvus a supernatural neo-noir short film that Van Poelgeest has been dreaming of making ever since he discovered dreams could be storyboarded.
Gill had some premium equipment in his possession from a previous job and the arrant associates hatched their plan to write, film and screen a great Canadian story; a tale so universally told, they hope to maybe be able to drop the Canadian label and just call it a great story.
Then they called in the favours. They made Ian Tracey of Da Vinci's Inquest an offer he couldn't refuse (a good detective script); Vampire Diaries star and girl-about-town Sara Canning was their dame on the side and they had dirt on the villainous Matthew MacCaull mostly just that he looks sinister (which, within state lines of Florida, is apparently a crime).
The film got made, everyone walked away with fingers and kneecaps intact. So what were these guttersnipes doing talking to a member of the accredited news media?
I asked them to. Because I saw the campaign video and thought their film looked cool.
While asking the public to help fund a project may seem felonious to some, when the filmmakers explained their motives to me, their logic was actually quite brilliant..
Their film genre doesn't qualify for any government assistance (apparently the Canadian government pooh-poohs narratives and would prefer directors make arthouse slow motion studies of glass breaking) so these cons of men paid for the filming themselves while fronting on the Westside making commercials and dabbling in other petty artistic crimes. Now Corvus is in post-production, and if the cash comes through, we'll start seeing street versions of the finished product popping up at film festivals in Berlin, Toronto even our own backyard.
What's worse, to pay for the scoring, cutting and distributing of the goods, their crew has started hanging out in people's email and Facebook feeds, just waiting to prey on suckers with loose wallets. They've already taken advantage of every friend they have now they're recruiting from society at large for their diabolical scheme (at Indiegogo.com/corvusfilm). Like lookie loos at a crime scene, you won't be able to resist watching their professional and endearing public appeal.
Their first attempt may seem innocuous they admit Corvus may not blow the film noir, detective, graphic novel context open the way, say, a hollow-point bullet would a watermelon but it's a story you and your friends might accidentally enjoy and if this goes well, they intend to offend again.
They also have bold plans for their dealings with the law. While still on the record, they talked about wanting Canadian content rules to apply to film theatres as well, much like how radio supported our musicians for years and now we have Feisty Arcade Fires. If they succeed, one day people might actually watch Canadian films. The horror...
You can follow Kelsey Klassen on Twitter @kelseyklassen.
