Why the Film Producer of Nobel and the Kid chose North Bay
Jim Calarco
I sat down with Ryan Keller, the executive producer and co-writer of the futuristic film Nobel and the Kid. I wanted to know why he choose North Bay for his latest film.
I would like to provide a little background. Ryan Keller is the Executive Producer and writer of the futuristic film Nobel and the Kid and is originally from Northwestern Ontario. His first film project Poor Agnes (2017) won several awards including Best Canadian Feature at the Fantasia International film festival. His second feature Happy FKN Sunshine, filmed in North Bay, premiered in Hollywood and won a worldwide distribution deal with Random Media. Ryan has worked as an executive on Letter Kenny, Shorsey and Children Ruin Everything.
Jim Calarco: Why did you chose North Bay to film Nobel and the Kid
Ryan Keller: I started collaborating with the local producer and director of Happy FKN Sunshine (Derek Diorio) and found 95% of the cast locally. It was a really good experience and it just made sense to go back to where things worked out perfectly the first time. I think on this film we had 12 to15 cast members and only two came from outside the region. I directly attribute that to the work that the NOHFC has done over the past 10 to 15 years on shows like Hard Rock Medical, Letter Kenny and Shorsey.”
Jim Calarco: What would work better for local communities to attract or maintain film productions?
Ryan Keller: At the present time local film productions are ongoing but I cautioned the worst thing an industry/community could do would be to rest on its laurels and take (productions) for granted. It is very competitive from a business incentives perspective. There are a lot of regions that are competing for film work and (film) is a business of economics so it must make sense for producers to come up here.
I think it’s very important that everybody sort of keeps in mind the sort of landscape that they operate within and I’m not just talking about Nationally but Internationally. If they want to continue to attract bigger international productions, they really must keep their eyes on who else is trying to attract those productions and ask themselves if they are offering a value proposition.
Postproduction work on Nobel and the Kid continues and hopefully it will be released in the near future.
The Top billed cast members local actors Josh Bainbridge and Morgan Bedard together with Toronto actors Athena Park and Lora Burke highlight the film Nobel and the Kid.
Watch for more columns from Jim next week
BIO
Jim Calarco, a member of ACTRA has most recently appeared in A Masked Saint,Orah, The Captive and the TV series Hard Rock Medical.Formerly a Drama consultant with the Near North Board of Education he retired in 2000 and began working exclusively in film and TV. In 2008 he established North Star Talent with producer Brigitte Kingsley in order to represent Northern Ontario Actors . In the same year he started Real to Reel BG Agency. In 2010 he started Cast North , a film and television casting and audition agency .He is winner of the Quonta Best Actor Award,And a Best Actor in a Short Film Award(Belgium) and in 2008 he was inducted into the Northern Entertainers Hall of Recognition .His two most recent shot films that he wrote and directed have won 23 awards internationally.He continues to works as both an Actor/Director and Northern Film Consultant.
