Big budget, big screen
Made-in-P.E.I. feature film set in Skinners Pond, getting theatrical run this year
The largest budgeted movie ever made in P.E.I. is getting a theatrical release this spring.
A Small Fortune, written and directed by Adam Perry of Charlottetown, is about a desperate man – an Irishmoss fisherman – who imagines a better future and then suddenly finds a bag of lost money on the beach while harvesting. He decides to keep it but soon finds himself in a deadly predicament.
Without giving away the ending, Perry said the man’s decision turns the quaint fishing village of Skinners Pond into a growing crime scene.
The movie, a co-production of P.E.I. and Newfoundland and Labrador companies, has already been showed at the FIN Atlantic International Film Festival and the Charlottetown Film Festival, debuted at the Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival in Lafayette, La., on Jan. 27 and will be screened soon at the Manchester Film Festival in the United Kingdom.
“This is like winning the lottery,’’ Perry told SaltWire Network on Jan. 26, referring to his movie getting international attention. “I don’t have a prominent name (as a director), but I have a good story and a good movie, and it’s like the movie had to go to Manchester, you know, to say, ‘you’re right’.’’
A Small Fortune, first conceived as a feature film in 2013 by Perry and Charlottetown producers Jenna MacMillan and Jason Arsenault, was one of two Canadian-made movies selected to appear at this year’s Manchester festival.
The movie will also appear on a streaming service later this spring, but Perry said he cannot identify the service just yet because the deal has not been signed.
The Charlottetown director, who started writing the script for A Small Fortune eight years ago, said it is finally starting to sink in that the movie is going public.
“Just this week we released the teaser trailer, and I realized that’s the first footage that’s been publicly viewable and accessible since I made the movie two years ago. The feedback from the trailer has been incredible. I put everything I had into the film, so I hope it does well.”
MacMillan said it is nice to see all their efforts finally paying off with the release, but he admits pandemic restrictions have put a damper on their excitement.
“Adam had imagined full theatres, even when we had our Canadian premiere at the Atlantic film festival in December,’’ MacMillan said. “It was really exciting to see it on the big screen, but it was mostly our crew that was able to come because of the restrictions. That part was a real bummer but everyone in the industry, internationally and nationally, is in the same situation.”
MacMillan said the movie will get its best shot on streaming.
“We’re trying to keep our chins up,’’ she said.
HIS FIRST FEATURE
While Perry has worked on plenty of projects in P.E.I., this is his first feature-length film.
Shooting for the film wrapped in February 2020, just before public health restrictions were introduced to deal with COVID-19.
Perry said it took another year to finish post-production, which included editing and distribution rights.
The movie was supposed to get its Canadian theatrical run before Christmas, but pandemic restrictions have moved things back twice.
Perry said his goal from the beginning was simply to write a good story that resonated with audiences around the world.
“I wanted to tell a very personal story – a story that takes place on P.E.I. – but I also wanted to tell a story that people in other countries could watch and still understand, with themes like money and how it can corrupt, and that family comes first.’’
While the 90-minute movie is set in Skinners Pond, it was shot in French River for budgetary
reasons.
“It would have taken a huge chunk of our budget to go up there and shoot,’’ Perry said, referring to Skinners Pond. “So, we decided to do it within an hour’s drive of Charlottetown so (the actors) could stay at home and we wouldn’t have to (find accommodations) for people and feed them as much.’’
Perry and MacMillan think this is just the beginning of feature films shot in P.E.I.
“I’m hoping someone in Toronto (for example) watches it and thinks, ‘I want to go to P.E.I.’,’’ Perry said.
“We are now a viable and competitive player (in the movie business),’’ MacMillan added, referring to the province.