So I just touched down from Vancouver... man, what a week it's in been for Coopers' -- from the NOW Cover, to the sold out shows to all the media buzz... I landed happily into my wife's arms so I can get ready for the premiere weekend. It's a good time to talk about what I'm sure people will be talking about once the film premieres --- THE CAST.  Now, there's a couple things I've learned as a director: 1) It's the Script, stupid, and 2) If you cast well, you don't have to really direct. That's right.

For all you film school kids that are scouring these TIFF blogs for any nuggets -- the pearl I can tell you is: if you have the right cast, you don't need to direct.  The last thing you really want to do on an intense 11-day-shoot is to actually "direct". With the right cast, you can focus more on making sure you're telling the story, getting the right beats and finding the coverage and shots needed for the edit. And sleeping every 2nd day. I had a DREAM CAST. All the more time to think about things like blocking. And shot lists. And figure out how Mike Beaver was going to go down a snow hill half naked on a wheelchair (thank you Simon Fon).
 
Michael Stevenson and Caroline Malette at FADE TO BLACK Casting put together an all-star cast ready for the playoffs. They've always been there for me in the past (Fade to Black cast "Ham & Cheese" and recently my hockey comedy "Puck Hogs") - and on Coopers - they hit one out of the park and got me the best cast I could have wished for... Like these guys here...
Jason Jones and Samantha Bee, are fearless. As a couple in real life, they're an inspiration - to see them with their children and family makes you root for them even more since they're just so grounded and cool about being on the best show on TV. But I want to talk about Mike Beaver and Dave Foley for a second. Mike Beaver gives one of the most inspired, determined and movie-stealing performances I've been privileged to witness first hand, on set.  His "Uncle Nick" is the relative from hell that always seems to show up during the Holidays and never seems to leave until the liquor cabinet has been emptied. And puked in.

You hate him because he makes you feel so uncomfortable, but love him because - let's face it - he's the life of the party. His invention of Uncle Nick is truly one of the highlights of a film that has so many amazing actors playin' at the top of their game. Like Mr. Dave Foley. Like Mike, Jason and Sam - Dave is an alumni member from "Ham & Cheese" - our first film we put together about 87 years ago... and thankfully he has come back to provide, what the TIFF program so aptly
 states, "...in undoubtedly one of the strangest recurring cameo appearances of the year, Dave Foley helps the film feel like a who's who of Canadian comedy."  Along with the beautiful and talented Kate Campbell, Dave and Kate play 'The Davidsons' - the Coopers' next door neighbours and quite possibly the 1985 version of The Ice Storm meets Swingtown. They are only in the film for short bursts at a time (you'll get it when you see the movie) --- but you'll have imagery burned in your brain for days.
And talking about imagery... let's talk about THE SISTERS... Samantha Bee, Jenny Parsons (first time I've worked with her - won't be my last. Her audition for Coopers' is the stuff of legend - pure magic) and Jennifer Baxter (like Jason and Sam,  Mike's real-life wife Jenn plays his counterpart in our film - she's honestly one of my all-time fave actresses to work with). The scenes with the sisters are some of my favourites because they're so honest, real and full of subtle and layered conflict - the actors really give the sense that it's "Christmas" --- families act this way. Sisters react this way. Their hairstyles & wardrobe are roles in themselves!
Cue the kids. These aren't kids. They are freakishly talented, wise-beyond-their-years uber actors that had only one goal on their minds: Steal. The. Scene. Dylan Everett and Nick McKinlay play Teddy and Marcus Cooper and they nearly take the whole show with them. Dylan is a natural -- he's got a slew of new movies and TV shows coming up and I'm so priveleged to have worked with him at this point.... basically before I can't afford him anymore. Him and Nick (who DEBUTS in Coopers' in his first lead role in a film and has one of the most f**'d up characters ever committed to a Chirsmas movie) - create a fresh, new take on siblings caught in the middle of chaos. By the time Teddy Cooper makes a play on his cousin Heather (the phenonemally gifted Hayley Lochner- watch out boyz, she's gonna steal your heart), Marcus finds out his deep dark secret, and little Dougie (Gage Munroe - "The Professional" - what a find this kid was) puts his groin-punching skills to the test --- we forget that we're watching young, exciting actors at the start of their careers --- I really hope you feel like you're just watching the Cooper family. Unraveling into tiny little pieces of agony and fun. IMDB these kids now folks and bookmark'em -- they're going to be big, fancy and famous shortly.

What I love about the script Jason and Mike wrote - was not only did they capture 'The Holidays' -- but they were able to create complex, kinetic and hilarious family members that come and visit our main heroes.  Uncle Okeke (the lush-voiced, super smooth Onyekachi "Lucky" Ejim who himself just directed a knock-out feature called "The Tenant"), the hard-of-hearing, but full-of-spunk Poppy (Jock McLeod, who thrilled me and the rest of the cast and crew when he rocked the toboggan) and Cousin Wayne
 (the multi-talented Steven Yaffee - proving that you can be silent, but recklessly deadly at the same time.... wait for him crashing into a scene...) all show up with their "A-Game", firing line drives into the gaps and swinging for the fences (I am happy, because inexplicably the Blue Jays won against Tampa Bay tonight.... oh what could have been this year).
 
Talking about "A-Game," I want to briefly talk about some 9th inning heavy hitters that came in for us. Rob Tinkler and Boyd Banks are stars in their own right. Both are alumni from "Ham & Cheese", Rob and Boyd came in and did super cameos for us as Sgt. Stevenson and Officer Malette (tip the hat to our fab. casting directors!) --- and gave us a wonderful moment of grace right after we've unleashed hell upon the Coopers. I'd like to make a whole movie just about these cops.  Again, once you see the movie....
 
....you'll know why I left Peter Keleghan and Jayne Eastwood for the end. They are my "closers" (I sincerely did not start this blog with a baseball motif in mind - but Halladay did win his 18th game of the year) --- Now, my background is in music videos.... I've been around singers and musicians all my life - back to the days my brother Bobby would take me on tour with The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and... Haywire (!) --- so I'm used to bands and artists. No problem. Put me in front of storied actors --- and I get a little starstruck. Sometimes really starstruck. I hope Peter and Jayne didn't sense the awe I had, trying to figure out how the hell I ever got them onto one of my sets (I know - it's because of Mike and Jason) --- but I was really nervous, excited and thrilled that they wanted to do this picture. And they blew me away. Jayne's Nana Gert is only in the picture for a bit (she goes to sleep at noon!) - but she kicks off the film and gets it into high-gear - nicely setting the table for Peter's Uncle Tim to appear. Watching Peter and Jason go at each other is like watching two boxers take stabs at each other in the ring - except, you know, more funny. And without the shorts. But there's pain.

I realize I might be pushing the limits of how long a blog post you can have on this TIFF site. But to ripple what I said in my post about my crew - If you had a cast like this, you'd make the blog as long as you possibly can... to remember how lucky I was to have had such an amazing cast.  I want to leave you with this picture. Dylan Everett's audition at Fade To Black. This was the start of the movie for us. He was one of the first actors we saw. I remember thinking at that moment (I didn't take too many pictures in the audition room) - I remember thinking -- REMEMBER THIS MOMENT.  It's gonna be the start of something grand.

Look how far we've come guys.

Shoot Good Film,

WPS