KEEPING IT ‘REEL’
Kirk Caouette has made the transition from stuntman to passionate filmmaker
Hollywood North has always been a hotbed for high-kicking series and fast-moving features — and is home to a burgeoning FX scene as well.
But all the CGI in the world won’t ever cover for real live onscreen action. That’s where Kirk Caouette comes in.
From X-Men to Watchmen, The A-Team to Arrow, the veteran stuntman has coordinated, choreographed and performed everything from massive fights to basic utility stunts depending on what the job required.
He has also put on multiple hats of writer, composer, director, producer and actor in his acclaimed 2012 indie film Hit ‘n Strum, which is based on the character of a homeless street busker inspired by late Gastown street busker Andre Girard.
One scene shot outside Waterfront Station where the character Mike the busker collapses was shot so actual passersby were included in the scene. The shot made national news when nobody bothered to check to see if he was alive or dead. A cleaner even emerged from the building and carefully swept around the lifeless body before going back inside.
In recognition of his decades of contributions, late last year Caouette was awarded the Sam Payne Award from UBCP/ACTRA, the organizations that represent talent in the film and TV industry in B.C.
The former professional snowboarder and capoeira aficionado, who parlayed a love of extreme sports and martial arts into a cool paying gig, says he’s always expanding his skills. Besides film work, he plays music and still travels the world for inspiration and experience.
“I don’t know what I am as I wear many hats, so I guess filmmaker would be the only reasonable option,” said Caouette. “Certainly, the experience I had with Hit ‘n Strum was the most thrilling to that point as I’d never done that before and didn’t know if I could do it.
“I certainly discovered how difficult it is to make a good film with no money and to get the industry to take any note of it.”
By his recollection, Hit ‘n Strum was rejected by every festival the first time around. Thirty different festivals didn’t give the film a nod. Caouette doesn’t mince words discussing just how sobering an experience this was and what a revelation it gave about the gap between local and Canadian independent films and the big studio system that dominates the creative industry.
However, when the film eventually premièred at the Canadian Independent Film Festival in Toronto it won for Best Cinematography (Pieter Strathis), Best Actor (Caouette) and took the William F. White Award.
It went on to play in Shanghai, Goa and elsewhere to universal acclaim. Hit ‘n Strum even enjoyed a money-making run at a limited number of cinemas.
“It was an incredible success where it was shown, and I still don’t really know what it takes to mount the right campaign to get into the right festival,” he said. “Actually, I’m not sure if I want to know, because it’s far more interesting making the next film and working on other projects. It’s still what I want to do.”
Among these is ASURA, a $100-million Chinese cinematic mega-project that’s slated for wide release across Asia in 2018. Caouette relocated to Beijing in 201415 to rewrite the script and says it has one of the largest visual effects productions he’s ever seen.
“I don’t know what Avatar was, but this one has been in post-production for over six months already and we had about 2,500 visual effects shot,” he said. “It takes so much time and you have to shop it out all over the world to get it done.”
Lately, he’s been trying to get his new film Real Fiction of the ground and released later this year. Once again, Caouette is writing, directing and starring in the feature. Described as a “dark and intense drama,” the film boasts a stunt team of nearly 100 men and women. How does a guy working with an indie budget pull in that kind of action?
“Well, it’s a big project without any money and I’m very, very fortunate to have a lot of friends in the business who add up to a great team, great support and access to great gear and operators for a great price,” Caouette said.
“We had one large fight scene in a bar in the film which has over 35 stunt people in it and they all showed up after I made the call. It’s the only way I could get it done.”
Call it giving back for services rendered, as many of the stunt personnel are former students.
Every year, Caouette volunteers his time to hold his weekend Film Fu professional stunt fighting classes for around 50 or so stunt performers and actors. He also presents the Film Fu Fight Fest movie festival. Any monies raised from the classes or festival go to charity.
Classes are held at the FKP Mixed Martial Arts facility which lets him use its Fraser Street space.
This year’s focus charity is the Water Underground Project (waterundergroundproject.org) that works to provide access to safe drinking water in central Mozambique. The Film Fu Fight Fest raised $3,300 for the organization.
I certainly discovered how difficult it is to make a good film with no money and to get the industry to take any note of it.