Local film producer Angela Heck said she's "still in shock," after hearing that a handful of comedy legends will be mentoring her team through their latest filmmaking project.
Last week, Heck discovered the filmmaking team behind her latest project, the comedy-western Saddlebags, was chosen to take part in Telefilm Canada Features Comedy Lab, which connects budding filmmakers with such high profile industry experts as Eugene Levy and Ivan Reitman.
"It's a pretty prestigious honour," said Heck. "It's pretty unbelievable. I think I'm still in shock. It's a huge vote of confidence as well. The script is really unique and to have it be recognized and seen by people like Eugene Levy and Ivan Reitman is phenomenal.
"They are comedy masters at one level, but also incredibly savvy about the business. Ivan Reitman, well he's a producing legend in Canada. Eugene Levy is really funny and he's a Canadian icon in his own right."
Saddlebags competed against 73 other projects to win one of five spots in a mentorship workshop series with the leading industry experts beginning in November and continuing for three months.
The Comedy Lab is a collaborative effort between the Canadian Film Centre and Just For Laughs and is designed to help take Canadian film projects into commercial theatres.
"The Features Comedy Lab is one of the most important building blocks to ensure a vibrant future for Canadian film comedy," stated Levy, the Comedy Lab chair, in a release. "It's just a win-win for the Canadian film industry."
The Comedy Lab will allow the winning production teams the opportunity to meet one-on-one with industry professionals who have a plethora of film experience. The workshops are meant to help strengthen scripts, and develop and package ideas.
Mentors also include Step Brothers, Elf and Talledega Nights producer Jimmy Miller, My Cousin Vinny and Rushmore producer Tai Duncan and Meatballs and The Pink Panther writer-producer Len Blum.
"[Being chosen] means that [Saddlebags] will have the attention of some of the biggest names in comedy, not just in Canada but internationally," said Heck, who also produced the award-winning film In The Shadow of the Chief.
"Really there's a lot of great scripts out there but getting access to key people is really important and to keep the right people involved is also super important."
Saddlebags is a western-comedy based in a northwestern mining town in the late 1890s.
"It's a really romping, raucous comedy that turns the western genre on its head because the protagonists are women," said Heck.
Written by Christine Lippa and produced by Heck and Elizabeth Yake, the film follows a Scottish shopkeeper, a prostitute, a fragile Englishwoman and a sexually repressed religious fanatic as they engage in thievery and attempt to evade an evil sheriff.
"It's pretty crazy. It's a full on comedy," Heck said. "There is nothing subtle about it.
"We're excited about [Saddlebags] because there's four very strong female lead parts in it - and that's a rarity in a film made today. So we're providing some fairly meaty roles for some amazing actors."
After starting as an actor, Heck has worked in several different capacities within the film industry for more than two decades.
"It's [been] a very circuitous route through various jobs et cetera but ultimately really doing what I love," she said. "Film and theatre is really my first love."
For more information on Saddlebags, visit saddlebagsthemovie.com.
