Ms Adventures in the Screen Trade Scene 10 SAVING SAM

"The Sixth Book of the Books of Bokonon is devoted to pain, in particular to tortures inflicted by men on men. "If I am ever put to death on the hook," Bokonon warns us, "expect a very human performance." Kurt Vonnegut, Cat's Cradle

OCTOBER 1985

     October 1 a letter to the editor appears in the Globe & Mail in answer to Jay Scott's review of Samuel Lount:

"To say that the film "purports to examine the Farmer's Rebellion" and that it "insists in letting Lount get in the way of the drama" is perplexing, since it was precisely the struggle of the historical Samuel Lount to reconcile conflicting ideals - in that era, peace and justice - that was the subject of the drama. I wonder whether the reviewer really read the title before he criticized that film?" Flora L. Phelps, Washington, DC.

     Laurence and I are back in Vancouver recovering from the trauma of the Toronto film festival. We gave up our Toronto apartment because we can no longer afford two apartments. Also, the glamour of Toronto has been somewhat diminished by the events of the past few months.

     In the meantime, Doug MacDonald of Film House has reneged on the deal made during the festival and is again demanding 100% of the bill in cash instead of the agreed 60%. Delivery to CBC is scheduled for October 1. Upon delivery, CBC is to release its final payment of $250,000, payable to Telefilm which had interim financed it. Then Telefilm is to release its final payment of $52,500 to Film House. There had been some confusion about this final payment as the Film House deal read that it would be paid the 60% cash portion upon delivery to CBC, from the final payment. It should have read from the Telefilm final payment. It was not a major error, but it gave Doug MacDonald more ammunition to use against me. 

 Producer Elvira Lount, Doug Macdonald and director Laurence Keane 

 1985 Genie Awards (c) Eva Everything1985

     Needless to say, because of Film House, we are unable to deliver to CBC on time. Not only that, I have lined up a number of festival appearances for the film in October, including the Festival of the Arts in Ottawa, the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax and the Women in Film Festival in LA. Doug MacDonald is refusing to release the film. It is heartbreaking. He appears to be vindictively trying to destroy any possibility of the film achieving success. 

     Forever optimistic, we put together an investor proposal to try to raise the remaining 40%. I fly to Toronto to set up a screening at Film House for some investors, with the help of Terry Ortt, a Calgary businessman who spends a lot of time in Toronto, and writer Tasso Lakas. Laurence stays in Vancouver, to reluctantly investigate the possibility of selling our public company Moonshine. 

     At first Doug MacDonald refuses to allow a screening, but eventually agrees. Doug claims that Peter Pearson is the problem, that he is trying to kill the film because we had made it against his wishes. Terry and some others suggest that I talk to Peter. I'm not too crazy about this idea, but I manage to track him down at a conference in Ottawa on the future of broadcasting. 

     I put the ticket on my mother Elizabeth's charge card and fly to Ottawa on October 17. I stay with Robin Jackson from the DOC (Department of Communications). She has been a help to us in the past and now arranges with Telefilm that Peter meet me at the conference. Peter gives me a little lecture. He complains about Sandy Flanagan phoning him and harassing his staff. If I have any complaints I should make them myself. You got yourself into this he says. You made a lot of mistakes, but you know that. I don't have to tell you. One reason I've stood back and done nothing is to put you through it. You've got to learn what it's all about. Thanks Peter. I think I've got the idea.

Robin Jackson

     It's beginning to look like we might be getting closer to a settlement. I have found a new lawyer, Peter Steinmetz, to represent us and finalize the deal. However, he wants a $5,000 retainer, which we don't have. 

     In addition to looking for private investment, I am also finalizing a $50,000 deal with City TV for syndicated television rights for Canada, after the CBC window. With this in place perhaps we can get a secured loan from Telefilm to pay out the lab. I go to see Barry Young, owner of Spectra Film, about picking up the film for distribution. Spectra is the distributor for My American Cousin. They have a New York office run by Canadian Linda Beath, formerly of United Artist Classics. Barry has heard good things about our movie and offers to do what he can to help, such as phoning Peter Pearson as well as CBC's Roman Melnyk and John Kennedy on our behalf. Barry drives a sleek, white Jaguar with a car phone. After our meeting he drops me off at my grandmother Elvira's apartment, where I'm staying while she is in Europe. On the way he phones Elizabeth on the car phone and assures her everything will be fine.

     Saturday night October 19, local producer and 1st A.D. John Board picks me up on his motorcycle and we go for dinner and a movie, joining filmmaker Jack Darcus and some others. John produced Jack's movie Overnight. We go to see After Hours by Martin Scorcese. It's about a guy who goes out for the evening in New York and gets caught up in an extremely bizarre trip that gets worse as the night progresses. The movie makes me feel really uncomfortable. Right near the end the hero gets entirely covered in a plaster cast. At that point I can't take it any more and have to leave. The scene makes me feel like I'm suffocating. I'm sitting in the lobby as everyone exits the theatre and who should appear in front of me but Beryl Fox and Doug Leiterman from MPG, our completion guarantors who tried to take over the movie!(1)  There is no escape.

John Board

     Ironically, in the end it is a friend of Elizabeth's Tesni Steele, who comes to the rescue with a loan of $5,000. We will be able to pay our lawyer Peter Steinmetz. I fly back to Vancouver for a few days, while Tasso organizes another screening. On October 26 a review by Mark Terry appears in the Catholic Register:

"Here we have a film that is unquestionably Canadian; thoroughly entertaining and gripping thanks to a marvellous script and top-notch performances ... Director Laurence Keane makes an impressive debut with his attention to detail and reconstruction ... Let's hope Samuel Lount the film blazes a new trail for our movie industry, much the same way Samuel Lount the man did for our country."

NOVEMBER 1985

     Doug MacDonald is refusing to allow another screening. Worse still, he has posted a notice in the Toronto Star that the film is going to be "auctioned" by means of a bailiff sale on November 14 at 10:30a.m., for $118,000, the value of the services outstanding. 

CBC note re bailiff sale

     Back in Vancouver, I meet with Graham Allen, who has been advising me on battle strategy. An expert negotiator, he calls Doug MacDonald to see if he will settle, but gets absolutely nowhere. Laurence and Sandy Flanagan also meet with George Chapman of IATSE, Crawford Hawkins of the lab Alpha Cine, and Ray Hall, President of the BCFIA (BC Film Industry Association). They offer to do what they can politically.

     The evening of November 2 I am due to fly back to Toronto on the Wardair red-eye to continue efforts to find private investment. I'm feeling a bit panicky because of the impending auction. Laurence and I have dinner with Sandy Wilson, writer/director of My American Cousin, and her cousin Mindy at Kibune Sushi, our favourite Japanese restaurant. Sandy's producer, Peter O'Brian, is trying to persuade her to attend a benefit screening of My American Cousin to be held the following day at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto. Sandy has been having a dispute with Peter O'Brian and Barry Young of Spectra over her fees and is refusing to go, but we persuade her to reconsider. She ends up joining me on the red-eye. 

    My mom Elizabeth picks us up at the other end and takes us to my grandmother Elvira's apartment. That evening the three of us go to the screening. Unfortunately, Sandy told someone she was coming who then told Peter, so the surprise is spoiled.

     On the 7th I fly back to Vancouver, just in time for the premiere of My American Cousin. Coincidentally, this is the same date that I have been hoping to have our Vancouver premiere.  The after party is being held in a restaurant on Broadway, across from the Hollywood Theatre where the film premiered. The place is packed and buzzing with excitement. Everyone loves the film. It's a big hit. Producer Peter O'Brian is by the bar chatting to Toronto producer/distributor Peter Simpson whose company distributed my documentary Baby Clock. Peter is in town producing the movie High Stakes. I go over and make some remark about producers from the east invading my territory. It's meant as a joke. However, Peter Simpson take offence and launches into a tirade about my incompetence as a producer, and why wasn't I doing anything to get out of the mess I was in, that my reputation in Toronto is mud and I will never be allowed to make another film in Canada. 

     It just so happens that Peter Simpson is a close personal friend of Doug MacDonald. He is also very well connected to Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. His company, Simcom, received a huge advertising contract from the Conservative Government after it came to power in September 1984. So, not only does Peter produce the sort of films I dislike, but he is also on opposite sides of me politically and a friend of my major enemy of the moment. 

     It is really too much, after all I've been through, to have him give me a hard time. So, I flip out and tell him that I am doing everything I can, that he has no idea what is really going on, that he is only listening to the other side, that he has never asked my for my side of the story and so on. Pretty soon we are screaming at each other, right in the middle of Sandy's party. Peter O'Brian stands there open-mouthed, totally amazed by the scene. Peter Simpson storms out of the restaurant and I follow him. We continue our fight on the sidewalk. It is a memorable evening for all concerned. 

Peter Pearson (left), Peter Simpson (right), (c) Eva Everything 1984

     The date of the auction is rapidly approaching. The legalities of the situation are not clear. For instance, how can Film House auction the film if it doesn't own the copyright? However, if Film House proceeds with the auction it could mean a long court battle which everyone wants to avoid. Then the film would never see the light of day.

     At the eleventh hour, CBC comes to the rescue with the reluctant approval of Telefilm. CBC Director of Business Affairs Rudi Carter has worked out a deal whereby the amount owing to Film House will be deducted from the $250,000 CBC owes to Telefilm upon delivery of the film. The balance will go to Telefilm. The end result is that we are left with an outstanding loan to Telefilm, secured by first revenues on the film, which at the moment consist of the syndicated sale to City TV in the amount of $50,000. 

     What had started out as a $70,000 overage in March 1985 was up to $140,000 in June and has turned into $240,000 by the time the film is finally released from Film House and delivered to CBC on November 28, 1985. (2) Most of the overage has been caused by the delays. The additional $100,000 accumulated since the end of June includes a buyout of the Film House deferment which comes to $85,000. Legal fees and overhead make up the balance. Of the $240,000 overage, CBC came up with $28,000 and MPG about $55,000, for a total of $83,000. The Telefilm loan is $85,000 plus an additional $70,000, the estimated overage in March 1985. We now owe $155,000. 

     At times like this you ask yourself why couldn't everyone have been calm and reasonable in the first place and allowed the film to be finished as scheduled? We could have avoided all this needless delay, expense and pain. Plus the chance of the film's success would have been that much greater.

However, at least we have the picture back. Victory, but at what expense!

Previous post Scene 9 Disastergram : https://elviralount-utopiapictures.blogspot.com/2025/09/ 

(1) More details to come in an earlier chapter yet to be posted.

(2) More details to come in an earlier chapter yet to be posted. 

 ________________________________________ 

CREDITS: Written by Elvira Lount; edited by Laurence Keane; associate editors Gail Henley, Constance Olsheski; proofreaders Donna Dudinsky, George Lount.  

Special thanks to Laurence Keane, Sandy Flanagan, Elizabeth Lount, Elvira Gyure, Tesni Steele, Terry Ott, Tasso Lakas, Peter Steinmetz, Robin Jackson, Graham Allen, Sandy Wilson, Barry Young, Rudi Carter, John Kennedy, Roman Melnyk, George Chapman, Crawford Hawkins, Ray Hall.

 

Ms Adventures in the Screen Trade Scene 9 "Disastergram"

INTRO

      In 1991 I wrote a book about making films and trying to make films in Canada in the 1980s, entitled Ms Adventures in the Screen Trade. During the period covered by the book December 1981 - March 1990 - I kept detailed notes and diaries of my experiences. The book is based on these. Although the focus was on Canada, it was international in scope. It was also about the creative process and transformation - personal, political and social. I never published the book for a variety of reasons, but mainly because self-publishing and the internet were not yet a thing and events of life took over. 

     September 12, 2025, was the 40th Anniversary of the nearly cancelled premiere screening of my feature film Samuel Lount at the Toronto Festival of Festivals, (Toronto International Film Festival) on September 12, 1985. I thought that now would be a good time to finally publish this chapter on how the film almost wasn't screened. It's a bit of a nail biter. Enjoy!

Elvira Lount, Producer

 SCENE 9 DISASTERGRAM                                                                              

"Sometimes the pool-pah,", Bokonon tells us, "exceeds the power of humans to comment." Bokonon translates pool-pah at one point in the Books of Bokonon as "shit-storms" and at another point as "wrath of God. Kurt Vonnegut,  Cat's Cradle

SEPTEMBER 1985

     The good news is Samuel Lount has been accepted in the Toronto Festival of Festivals. The world premiere is scheduled for Thursday September 12, 7:30pm at the Cumberland Theatre in Yorkville. This theatre is situated on the site of the cemetery Potter's Field - the very spot where Samuel was originally buried in 1838.  

     The bad news is that Film House is refusing to release the print. They are now insisting we pay 100% of their bill in cash rather than the agreed upon 60% and 40% deferred. Now, with the film completed, Film House hold the trump card - the negative and the print. Our major concern is to ensure that the film plays in the festival.

     My partner, writer-director Laurence Keane, and I enlist the support of Sandy Flanagan, publisher of Reel West Magazine. Laurence and Sandy become a team, mounting an intense lobby effort among all the delegates at the trade forum and hammering away at Murray Gough and Stan Ford at Film House to try and retrieve the print.  Doug MacDonald, the owner, skipped town for the festival (he is supposedly in L.A. on business), and left his henchmen to deal with the problem. 

     With all this turmoil going on in the background, I have to put on a good front and act as if everything is just fine and under control. I proceed with my own lobbying efforts and organizing the premiere and after party. My mother and sisters are helping out, making sure all our friends, relatives, cast, crew, etc. have tickets for the screening and are invited to the party.

     I have a meeting with John Watt of the Department of Communications (DOC). John, a Canadian history buff, has been a supporter of Samuel Lount and an invaluable behind-the-scenes ally in our battle to get the film made. I hand him a letter outlining the details of what has happened in the course of making this movie. If the film doesn't screen I plan to release this letter to the media. A copy also goes to Telefilm, CBC, MPG (Motion Picture Guarantors), our Co-Executive Producer Don Haig and Film House. 

     Over the years I have learned that the best course of action when in trouble is to put all your grievances on paper and send it out to everybody. For some reason this usually seems to work. 

     One evening I go to City TV to try and see Moses Znaimer, the President, thinking perhaps there is something he can do to help. As I wait in the lobby for over an hour my good friend writer-director Sandy Wilson arrives for a dinner engagement with Moses. Her film My American Cousin, has become the hit of the festival. She's getting rave reviews. 

     Moses is an intriguing man. Harvard educated, with endless energy. He loves to create an aura of excitement, drama and mystery around him and has so far managed to do this quite well. Entering his office is like entering some secret chamber. The office overlooks the main TV studio. Piles of files, papers and books cover every available space. 

    As I explain my predicament I notice a poster of Machiavelli placed strategically on the wall behind him. It reminds me of a line in Kurt Vonnegut's "Cats Cradle", - "Why bother with made-up games when there are so many real ones going on." Moses says, "It's only a movie" and suggests I talk to Jay Switzer, head of programming, about licensing the film to City TV after its CBC run. This would give Telefilm and Film House some secured revenue. 

     On September 11 a picture of me appears in the Globe & Mail that is somewhat amusing under the circumstances, captioned: "ELVIRA LOUNT with her important folder doing the rounds." Deidre Kelly writes: 

"ON THE PROWL: We're not exactly sure what Elvira Lount, producer of Samuel Lount (Elvira's ancestor, who fought in the 1837 Rebellion of Upper Canada) is looking for. But it must be something awfully important. She's been seen at all the parties carrying a folder stuffed with forms, paper and flyers advertising her movie. Anyway, we can tell you that lots of other people have been seen looking for her. A few lonely hearts are smitten by her beauty and brains. Imagine that! But here's a warning to you from festival communications director Helga Stephenson: the lovely Elvira has a boy friend and he's none other than Laurence Keane, director of Samuel Lount."

     The day of the screening starts off with no settlement in sight. Laurence heads off for an early morning coffee with Sandy Flanagan to plot strategy. Sandy says there is one missing element in the mix. Who represents the shareholders of Moonshine Productions Ltd, the production company? After all, it is a public company. Laurence and Sandy devise a plan. Sandy buys two Moonshine shares from Laurence on the spot, for 50 cents. He becomes a dissident shareholder out to protect his investment. 

     Laurence and Sandy then head over to the apartment and type up a letter for Film House. The letter demands the release of the film for the festival and hold Film House responsible for any damages that might occur if the film fails to appear. Sandy then delivers the letter to Murray Gough and Stan Ford at Film House as if he were delivering a writ. He informs them that he is acting as a shareholder of Moonshine and expects immediate action; otherwise, he will consider legal action for any damages.

    In the meantime, the festival organizers have found out that the film has not shown up. I'm called into the festival office by Helga Stephenson and Anne Mackenzie and told that if the film is not there by noon, the press will be informed that the screening is cancelled. I calmly assure them that it will be there, but I need until 5 pm. They reluctantly agree to 4:30 pm. 

    I have lunch with Sandy Wilson at the Park Plaza, headquarters of the festival. It's ironic how she has become the darling - the "cause celebre" of the festival. I have become "persona non grata." I tell her that I have no idea what is going to happen, if we will have the screening or not.  

     Back at Film House, for some reason Murray Gough suddenly appears willing to negotiate and a meeting is arranged for 4 pm. Laurence gets to the phone at Shopsy's, just down the street, and calls a friend, lawyer Tony Baker. He drags him away from the closing of a million dollar real estate deal. Our own lawyer, Steve Levitan, is conveniently out of town. (Famous Toronto saying - "When disaster is about to hit, get out of town.") Laurence also calls our executive producer Don Haig who has been saying to "forget the screening, there is no way Doug MacDonald is going to release the print." I am at City TV waiting for a meeting with Jay Switzer. Laurence and Sandy suddenly appear in the lobby. They inform me of the latest developments and then run off trying to hail a cab back to Film House. 

     I meet with Jay and then go to Film House, arriving at just after 4 pm. Film House's attitude has totally changed. Stan and Murray now say, in front of our new lawyer Tony Baker, that the whole thing has been a misunderstanding; that it is obvious that the recoupment on the 40% deferment is pari-pasu, a point they were disputing previously. They agree to release the print under guard for the two festival screenings as long as as it is returned to them afterwards, so they can ensure they are paid the remaining 60% they are entitled to. At 4:30 pm Don Haig phones the festival office to say that the print will be delivered in time for the screening. We are saved. But it sure has been a cliff-hanger. 

     What accounted for this change in attitude? Was there anything that triggered it? Or was it the sum total of all our lobby efforts? Had Doug MacDonald merely been bluffing and intended to release the print, but held out until the last minute to see if he could win his point? 

     It wasn't until a month later that I found out the missing piece of the puzzle. It seems my lobby efforts with the DOC paid off. Apparently on the day of the screening, September 12, Marcel Masse, Minister of Communications, phoned Peter Pearson, Head of Telefilm, and told him to call Doug MacDonald and demand the release of the print for the festival. After all they had a major investment in the film, as did CBC. 

     Back at the hotel, after the meeting at Film House, I'm ready to collapse. My mind starts playing tricks on me. I see a police officer in the lobby and become totally paranoid. I think he is there for me. I go to the room and the phone rings. I let it ring, grab my stuff and run down the backstairs of the hotel and along Bloor Street, two blocks to our apartment to get myself together for the screening. 

     At the screening, I'm feeling so sensitive that I'm picking up all sorts of negative vibes. The fact that there is a heavy-duty guard from Film House watching over the print doesn't help matters any. The slightest cough or movement disturbs me, and the ghosts of the past, buried beneath the theatre, are stirring. Samuel Lount has risen. His spirit is released into the world. 

     I feel much calmer at the after party at the nearby underground restaurant, The Coffee Mill, owned by a Hungarian friend of my mother's, Marta. (For all we know, it's on Samuel's old grave site.) People congratulate me, including relatives I've never met before. They love the film. There is a good feeling among the guests. We realize we have a lot of friend and supporters. We have made it through another nightmare. 

Elvira Lount with John Kennedy, Head of CBC Drama
at the after party for SAMUEL LOUNT

     However, the euphoria doesn't last very long. Early Saturday morning, September 14, fast asleep in our room at the Park Plaza, we are awakened by a jarring ring of the phone, The red light attached to the phone flashes on and off ominously. It's co-writer Phil Savath calling from his room at the Windsor Arms. 

     "Disastergram," he says, and proceeds to read us our review by Jay Scott in the Globe & Mail:

To put it bluntly, Samuel Lount, a hagiographic film that purports to examine the Farmer's Rebellion is a disaster ... The fulcrum is by al rights the firebrand, alcoholic rebel William Lyon MacKenzie (Cedric Smith), but the film insists on letting the drably tortured Lount ... get in the way of the drama .. A black farce - at once appalling and appealing - might be the most profitable way of bringing the rebellion to life with historical accuracy, a nicety Samuel Lount doesn't bother about ... the screenplay is out to canonize the saints and vilify the sinners. 

     In retrospect, taken in context with the reviews that come later - which are on the whole favourable, some of them even glowing - this review doesn't seem so bad. However, given our state of mind at the moment, it is a final blow. It seems that Samuel Lount has once again been buried in the same spot, 147 years later. After a review like this it's going to be difficult to get our film back from Film House.  

____________________________________________________________________________________

 

CREDITS: Written by Elvira Lount; edited by Laurence Keane; associate editors Gail Henley, Constance Olsheski; proofreaders Donna Dudinsky, George Lount. 

 

Special thanks to: Laurence Keane, Sandy Flanagan, John Watt, Moses Znaimer, Jay Switzer, Don Haig, Tony Baker, John Kennedy, Marcel Masse, Phil Savath, my mom Elizabeth and sisters Joan, Liz and Tina, and all our cast, crew and friends who helped make the film and get it released.  

One of these days

Many years ago I wrote a book about my "Ms Adventures in the Screen Trade" but never published it. Beginning to think that now is the time... of course I don't have the time right now, but one of these days:-)