THE STORM
I finished this film right before the new year (2009). An interesting experience that revealed more about itself as we worked.....
I became a Canadian Citizen
As I now live primarily in Canada, I had applied for permanent residency. I thought that this would be a simple task considering that I am married to a Canadian citizen, and my children are dual citizens with the USA. I was wrong. It is an incredibly lengthy and detailed process which includes medical exams, interviews, essays, etc. Now, one might ask why go through it, especially since we now have a new President (there was a moment where I contemplated claiming political refugee status!), and it mainly has to do with my job. Don’t get me wrong, it is pretty wonderful to have free health care, but it was attaining CAVCO status that was so alluring.
Now, it’s kind of complicated, so let me simplify. If you have PR (permanent residence) status, you become a tax break for any production filming in Canada. This is even more meaningful than being a citizen since you are currently residing and paying taxes in Canada. So, you suddenly become more sought after since you can mean more money for the budget. Usually it takes about nine months for you to obtain this status. When "The Storm" came up I had finished all the steps, I was just waiting for it to make it through bureaucracy. This alone could take up to six months, and I had only been waiting for one. However since it was a good economic decision for Canada, we were able to inquire if some official could pull my application out of the pile and take a look. They did, and I was approved, and so I committed to the movie.
We filmed in Vancouver
It was called "The Storm," you know. Oh yeah, it rained every day but two. Wow. I think I was covered in a thin film of moss. Not only that, but 90% of the movie takes place in a farmhouse. A cold, wet farmhouse that was surrounded by mud, and don’t forget that it was always raining. To step outside for just a minute meant covering every inch of yourself. Can’t have wet hair or makeup. Wet wardrobe, not a good thing. Mud on your character shoes? No, no. It was best to never leave the set. Stop drinking. Imagine dressing to go use the porto potty, and then negotiating all of that in the little cubicle. Now, I know you’re wondering where my big motor home is. Why don’t I stay in there between scenes? Well, our base camp was located on a pig farm. Enough said.
Then there was my director. Uwe Boll. Normally I thoroughly consider all the details of any project, but I’ve explained that the driving force of this job was getting my status. So…I guess the first indication that this relationship was going to be unique was that I never spoke to him until I was on the set ready to shoot the first scene. No meeting, no phone conversation, no communication of any kind. Weird.
Then I start to find out more. He’s known for churning out cheap schlock. His reputation is awful, and he supposedly is only capable of making bad movies that bomb. Plus, he is known to be crazy. Why else would he challenge all of his bad review-writing critics to a fist fight and turn it into a pay-per-view event? I’m not kidding. His videographer is a young kid who wrote for some website, and would routinely disparage Uwe and his movies. Uwe beat the crap out of him in the ring, and now they are co-workers. Am I making it clear how bizarre this all is? As I sit dripping, wondering if I am replacing Kathy Griffin on the “D” list? I thought, there have been so many great actors in Uwe Boll movies. Sir Ben Kingsley for pete’s sake!...right?...
At the end of the day, it wasn’t that bad
Essentially it was just four of us in the movie. I was a married lady who lived in the farmhouse with my son, and my husband played by Steve Bacic. Steve is a Canadian actor who works in Canada all the time. He is big and great looking, with the personality of a kid. A delight, and he kept me laughing. That is until he realized that his allergies were really getting bad. Why? Because he is allergic to cats, and we found out the house was the home to 14 of them (hair, pee, fleas), mainly to keep the rat and mouse population under control (I kid you not!).
So my good humor guy had to stay in a tent outdoors in between takes. He tried to convince me to hang out there with him by setting up another chair and a heat lamp, but by the time I would get all wrapped up to go outside it was time to go back to set. Jeepers. The fourth person was a mysterious drifter who shows up at our house in the middle of the storm. He was played by Luke Perry. I’ve known Luke for a long time. He’s just easy and professional. I was glad to be surrounded by these guys in these conditions. The hair and make-up girls were a blast, and believe it or not, Uwe was OK. He was abrupt and dictatorial, but no bullshit. He loved to rant and rave and spout his opinions about everything, and his dog, who was always at his feet , NEVER stopped farting. Lots of ‘hot air’ around the camera. Uwe and I butted heads sometimes, but I left really appreciating him. He’s honest and not at all phony, and is just more of a businessman than an artist. The script at least was a suspenseful page-turner. One never knows...
