Filmmaker takes his short from N.L. to Cannes
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — Cody Westman first stumbled onto a film set in Montreal after reading an advertisement for extra work.
The music school graduate had just moved to the city, but soon found his language skills left him unemployable.
“I thought I could live in Montreal and not speak French, you know, which is not the case,” Westman recalled in an interview.
Westman fell in love with film sets. After years as a background actor, and a brief stint in Vancouver’s film industry, he has found himself on the other side of the country, and on the other side of the camera.
The St. John’s-based director is flying to France to show his short film Casey at this week’s Cannes Film Festival, part of Telefilm Canada’s Not Short on Talent Short Film Corner.
Casey is one of 22 films selected to screen at Canada’s short film pavilion during the festival. Westman and his coproducer Jenny Hawley headed to Europe armed with copies of the film to hand out to interested buyers.
The gothic-influenced short follows a day in the life of a young girl living with an overprotective mother. After an encounter with some well-dressed bullies, Casey’s reality starts to unravel.
The film was written, filmed and produced in St. John’s, but Westman says the story could take place anywhere.
“The only hint of Newfoundland in that story was a couple of the kids’ accents and that’s it. I wanted it to be sort of almost timeless in a way,” Westman said. “I didn’t want to stereotype anything, and you kind of want it to read anywhere.”
The story might not be specific to the place it was filmed, but the province certainly played a role in Westman picking up the camera, and in funding his work.
Westman moved from B.C. to St. John’s to be closer to his wife’s family. After a few months of working in restaurants and playing local shows, he decided to take his passion for filmmaking one step further. He bought a camera online and taught himself to shoot from watching YouTube tutorials.
His first documentary, Erin’s Pub, about a historical St. John’s bar, was picked up to play on Air Canada flights in 2015. He hasn’t stopped shooting since.
“I’ve had so many jobs in my life and I’m finally able to do this for a living, so I feel very grateful about it,” he says.
While Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal often double for American cities in film productions, Westman said Newfoundland and Labrador has developed its own class of creative filmmakers.
“Out here is totally different because we’re so isolated and everything,” he said. “There’s just a lot of talent here and there’s also a lot of funding here, too. There’s a lot of support.”
Westman said he feels fortunate for the funding he’s received from the City of St. John’s, Telefilm and the Newfoundland Independent Film Makers Co-Op since starting his directorial career.
Filming in Newfoundland and Labrador comes with its challenges. Westman and his crew filmed Casey in April last year in what Westman described as “long johns weather.” The year before, he filmed another short during the same time of year, in 50 centimetres of snow.
“It can be very challenging to make films here, 100 per cent. Shooting anything outside, the wind is nuts,” Westman said. “I think this place creates some tough filmmakers.”
But Westman is toughing it out for the time being.