10 Men in a Tent may become film
In 2009, 10 Niagara Falls men came together to test their endurance, their patience and maybe their own friendship.
Five muggy days later, they had raised $302,000 for Project SHARE, and made the phrase ‘10 Men in a Tent’ part of the local lingo. It spawned a followup fundraiser with most of the same participants in 2010, and a female version called 12 Women Who Care in 2011 and 2012.
The original fundraiser was sparked by Niagara Falls businessman — and now regional councillor — Bob Gale, who pitched the concept of familiar faces gathered in a tent for five days and four nights on his property next to the Gales gas station on Montrose Road.
He was joined by former Niagara Falls Review publisher Dave Martineau, then-councillor Jim Diodati (now mayor), Ice Dogs owner Bill Burke, radio personality Rob White, Ripley’s Entertainment manager Tim Parker, then Winter Festival of Lights manager Dino Fazio, Dr. George Zimakas, and businessmen Brian Pellow and Kevin Grealy.
It was an enormous success. And now, nearly a decade later, it may live on as a movie.
Martineau, who left The Review to help start up the now-defunct Bullet News, enjoys part-time work as an actor these days.
While on the set of the TV show Reign last summer, he started talking about 10 Men in a Tent with scriptwriter and director Joseph Schur. The more Martineau talked, the more Schur’s eyes lit up.
“He grabbed my arm and said, ‘This is a movie!’”
Both Schur and Martineau were intrigued by a fictional story based on the true events, which could shed light on poverty and the need for food banks across the country. Schur soon had a script ready, and Martineau gathered the original 10 Men earlier this year to share the news.
“I filled them in and said ‘This is the path we’re going to go down.’ I don’t want to speak for anybody ... there was genuine excitement, but (also), ‘Yes Dave, this sounds really cute, we’ll see if it happens.’
“Even my initial reaction was like, ‘Come on, this is crazy.’”
And yet, every step of the way, Martineau finds more support for the project. With a budget of $150,000, he believes an IndieGo-Go campaign for $50,000, starting Thursday, will get the cameras rolling.
If all goes well, filming could begin this fall or next spring.
While there are elements of humour — there was no lack of funny stuff during the original 10 Men in a Tent — it will mostly be an inspirational story told from the viewpoint of Jeff Guarasci, Project SHARE’s resource development co-ordinator in 2009 (and now Niagara Falls’ community development co-ordinator).
“He was the guy that organized it all, showed up every morning, kept everything on track,” says Martineau. “It’s good he’s going to get the recognition he should have got eight years ago.”
Fazio remembers feeling uncertain how the event would go over in 2009. Would people respond to 10 well-off guys sleeping in a tent to raise money? “From the time we walked to the site from the Project SHARE office three kilometres away, on the hottest day of the summer, I hoped we could rally the community behind us,” he recalls. “Some thought the idea was weird or strange, but the community really latched on and saw the promise of what we were trying to do. “It was a moving experience.” White can remember being hot, hungry and sleepless, but is “honoured to be part of this event, and the legacy of it.”
Every day of the event, businesses, residents, sports teams, etc., would drop off food or money. For five days, the tent became a focal point in the city.
Martineau, who will be the film’s executive producer, says the event wasn’t meant to simulate homelessness, but provide a “tiny glimpse into what it’s like for a lot of people.”
He looks back on it as a triumph for the community, not just the 10 Men.
“When you’re that close to it, you don’t realize maybe what occurred,” he says. “Maybe we didn’t understand the magnitude of it, and we’re kind of starting to now.”