ErinLaing.com

I’m looking for a very particular exterior. The driveway and the steps leading up to the door are integral in the script… I did these sketches very (very) quickly based on existing homes.

Finding a producer.

I’ve started interviewing various Quebec producers. One of the mandates for Jeunes Createurs is that I hire a producer under the age of 35. Everyone I meet has something new to bring to the table which is great. It’s a very difficult decision to make for many reasons. For starters, I’m coming to the table with the money in hand, plus a distribution deal with Christal Films and sponsorship from Kodak Canada. So I’m not so much looking for a producer but a co-producer. Someone who I trust and someone who I feel is really passionate about the project. It’s very difficult to see where people’s passions lie when a lot of the leg-work is done. Nevertheless the producers I’ve met are all very intelligent and come highly recommended from other filmmakers.

So the press release is out. I was very touched by the speech one of the jury members made regarding my script. She says “For the freshness and flair of the script, written with a delicate touch, all is not said but evoked.”

Birthday Girl (it’s a working title) was selected as one of seven finalists for a competition SODEC organized called Cours Écrire ton Court! The whole experience was amazing, and I’m not just saying that because I won, but because every one who participated was incredibly talented and so encouraging towards every one else that the atmosphere felt hardly competitive. I was assigned a remarkable script consultant - Jacob Potashnik - to work with. I honestly believe that if it were not for him I would not have taken home the grand prize on the evening of October 21st. It is a surreal memory, but a great one nonetheless.

Three other writers took home prizes that night:

Best French script went to Marc-André Girard for Mauser
CBC/WGC prize went to Tom Fennario for Washed in Blue
Coup de Coeur du Public Télé Quebec went to Mireille Paris for Prière de ne pas Prier

“We are all amateurs; We don’t live long enough to become anything else”
- Charlie Chaplin