SFU students talk Freeman into being in their film

Plenty of people have wished Morgan Freeman had narrated their life.

The deep, reassuring timbre of the Oscar winner’s voice has guided audiences through Million Dollar Baby, The Shawshank Redemption and March of the Penguins.

Now that voice is part of a remarkable journey involving two Simon Fraser University film students. Ian Macdougall and Mack Warner have just returned to Vancouver after a five-day whirlwind trip to the U.S. The trip culminated with them finding Freeman in Mississippi, and getting him to be in their film, which is due for a school assignment this week.

That would be bizarre enough. But the film, called Narrated by Morgan Freeman, is itself about trying to get the Hollywood star to narrate their documentary.

“It’s been pretty incredible,” said Macdougall from an airport in Houston, Tex., where he and Warner were editing between flights. “We’ve been blown away by the response of people to the project . . . and the kindness of others along this trip.”

Inspiration for the duo’s journey came not from a dream, but desperation. Macdougall was trying to finish a different film last week when his hard drive began to crash regularly. Knowing that the class assignment was due this Saturday, he remembered an idea that his classmate Warner had come up with months ago.

“Reaction from friends and family was mixed. The majority thought it was a bit overly ambitious. But the minute we committed to it, pretty much everyone got behind us.”

They managed to find out that Freeman was at a fundraiser in a blues club he owns in tiny Clarksdale, Miss. Thousands joined a Facebook group in support of the film.

The moviemakers maxed out their credit cards to fly to Memphis and more than $2,000 was donated to their cause. They bought the last two tickets to the fundraiser. It turned out the person they sat next to on their plane was also going, and had a rental car.

Unfortunately, while Freeman was fine being on-camera, he couldn’t narrate Narrated by Morgan Freeman. “He said he always has to go through his agent for these things,” said MacDougall. But he’s hoping for the ultimate Hollywood ending — Freeman narrating a fulllength documentary of their quest.