Ted Stenson

Playwright and filmmaker Ted Stenson always played on bad high school sports teams, so he never understood redemption stories, where the underdog surges back to triumph.

It was his own, more mundane high school experience the 36-year-old took into his first feature film — Events Transpiring, Before, During and After a High School Basketball Game — which screened at 2020's Calgary International Film Festival.

“I was always reading, writing stories and seeing movies as a kid,” says Stenson, son of well-known Alberta writer Fred Stenson and father himself to two young sons. “But I also played lots of sports and was lucky at Queen Elizabeth there was no divisive vibe between jocks and those in drama.”

Filmed at QE over 13 days with Alberta actors (most of them newcomers), Events Transpiring is not a “sports” movie — though it does have a basketball team — but takes a comedic look at everyday high school life.

Stenson started making his own short films while working on big Hollywood movies — including RV with Robin Williams — as a production assistant, after high school graduation.

That experience, he says, “showed me I wanted to make movies in a different way; that I had to take my own path.”

While the mainstream film industry can provide a good living, Stenson's taken the independent, do-it-yourself approach.

With a master's degree in playwriting from the U of C (with a supportive supervisor in well-known playwright Clem Martini), he's written about a dozen plays performed in Canada and U.S., while also working as a DJ.

Armed with his theatre experience, a Talent to Watch Telefilm Canada grant and production/ mentorship from Kino Sum Productions, Stenson made his first feature film.

This year, he hopes to shoot another movie and take Events Transpiring — already screened elsewhere in Canada — to international festivals.

Stenson's advice for future filmmakers is to network and connect with arts organizations.

“I wish I had done that earlier. They have a huge impact for young artists.”