What sets Burns Film Ltd. apart from the other film-production companies in Alberta is Gary Burns, the artistic core of his company.
Film academics have a word for people like Burns: auteur. The label describes a person with a consistent artistic vision and strong creative control over an entire film product.
All four of his company’s films (The Suburbanators, Kitchen Party, waydowntown, and A Problem With Fear, which premiered in Calgary last week) share fundamental themes and styles, and have been written or co-written and directed by Burns.
His company is unusual because, instead of going primarily for commercial success, it chiefly fulfills the artistic vision of its founder and co-owner, Burns himself.
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| Photo courtesy Burns Film Ltd. |
| Filmmaker Gary Burns is finding success without having to leave Alberta for the U.S. |
That a writer/director is able to make his
living fulfilling a personal artistic vision is rare. That Burns is also doing it while remaining here, in out-of-the-way Alberta, is startling.
All of Alberta’s home-grown auteurs, like Edmonton’s Anne Wheeler, have left for the big film centres of Los Angeles, Vancouver, and Toronto once they attained measurable success. With Burns Film budgets approaching
$5 million, a TV series in the works (a spinoff from waydowntown), the company is
staying put, telling stories that are uniquely about our province.
But that’s not to say his producers are content to ride on Burns’ coattails. Producer George Baptist says he is now beginning to cultivate works by other writers and directors in order to diversify and grow.
It’s just another sign of the success of Gary Burns. A company with his name attached is now likely to attract top talent.
THE SKINNY:
* Name: Burns Film Ltd.
* Website: www.waydowntown.com
* Employees: Three (although this number is not reflective of the hundreds of people hired on specific film shoots, usually under co-production agreements and/or subsidiaries)
* Business: Producing films and television programs.
