Island film reaches Hollywood director
Some Island filmmakers are hoping their movie gets some high profile attention after they successfully got it into the hands of a Hollywood director.
Kooperman, a feature-length comedy movie by P.E.I.’s Periscope Pictures, screened last week at Fundy Fan Fest in St. John, N.B.
Also in attendance at this comic convention was Hollywood director and writer Kevin Smith, who is best known for the cult favourite films such Clerks, Mallrats and Dogma.
When the P.E.I. filmmakers heard Smith was attending Fundy festival, they launched a social media campaign looking for ideas on how to get a copy of Kooperman into the hands of the famous director, who also owns his own distribution company.
“Like Kooperman, Clerks was a micro-budget comedy,” says director and co-writer Harmony Wagner, “so we figured if we could meet Smith, he would be able to relate and maybe even help us.”
“At first we thought it was just a bit of fun for our social media, but people suggested some really useful ideas as well,” says producer Jason Rogerson. When we got to Fundy Fan Fest, we took the opportunity to move the Island film industry forward very seriously.”
After the film screening, Wagner and Rogerson were successfully able to present Smith with a copy of the film for his consideration.
“He is very approachable and generous with his time at these events,” Wagner said. “And with over three million twitter followers, he is a great connection to have made.”
A recipient of the Telefilm Micro-Budget Production Program, Kooperman premiered at the Atlantic Film Festival. Since then, it has screened at several regional film festivals and national comic-cons. The film is available to rent at www.vimeo.com/ondemand/kooperman.