Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Avi Federgreen: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1759

Episode Date: September 10, 2025

In this 1759th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with prolific film producer Avi Federgreen about Canada's challenged film industry, his UNLEASHED: A Producer's Guide to Indie Filmmaking podcast... and directing Home Free, his dream project. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, the Waterfront BIA, Blue Sky Agency and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at mike@torontomike.com.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 When there's nothing left to burn, you listen to Toronto, Mike. of Toronto-Miked, proudly brought to you by the new and improved Toronto Mike's Patreon account. Go to patreon.com slash Toronto Mike to become a member today by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade Italian pasta. Austin entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga and Oakville.
Starting point is 00:01:04 Toronto's Waterfront, BIA, check out what's happening on Toronto's waterfront this summer. Blue Sky Agency, the official distributor of Silence's quiet, comfortable, and customizable office pods. Create sanctuary within your workspace. Recyclemyelectronics.catech.a.committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. and Ridley Funeral Home, Pillars of the community since 1921. Joining me today making his Toronto-Miked debut, it's Avey Federer Green.
Starting point is 00:01:40 Welcome Avey to Toronto Miked. Thank you for having me. I've been waiting for this moment my whole life. Your entire life. Okay, now I believe it because, you know, usually when somebody is making their Toronto Mike debut, at least often, I meet them for the first time at the door. Like, it's got to be like an instant.
Starting point is 00:01:58 rapport. I'm like, hello person I invited over who I've never met. Let's sit down and talk like we've been best friends forever and have a nice chat. But you're different. And how is that, Mike? I feel like we're already buds because we've spent a lot of time together, right? Yes, we have. I'm grateful that you're the producer of my podcast Unleashed and that we seem to find one another at all these Toronto events non-stop. It's quite crazy. Oh, we did bump into each other at the Imperial Ballroom of the Royal York Hotel.
Starting point is 00:02:35 This was just last Friday, right? That was the Hollywood Sweet Breakfast. Yes, the Hollywood Sweet Toronto International Film Festival Breakfast, which you've been probably there many years prior, but until I started working with you on Unleashed, I never really knew who you are. but now you're the biggest celebrity in the room.
Starting point is 00:02:56 So you're telling you, that's not true, because Ben Johnson was there. Well, that's right. Ben Johnson. Wow. 979. That literally, that's his license plate, Ben 979. And I got to meet him because you introduced me. When I see Ben Johnson in a room now, it's kind of a wild world I live in where I go up to Ben and I smile because there's my buddy Ben. He smiles back. We talk like we're longtime friends.
Starting point is 00:03:19 Ben Johnson considers me a buddy. Well, what was interesting is you actually had a starter. pistol and you shot it off in the room and he took off like a bad out of hell so i produce don't know his license plate does not say this but it could be like db 984 so donovan bailey who ran clean that's an important distinction won the gold medal with the fastest time of nine eight four yeah but of course eight years earlier running dirty is that how you say it well basically having a performance enhancing drugs. He was on steroids actually. Ben Johnson ran 979. So I would say if those two race today, and I'd buy a ticket to see this, I think Ben beats the socks off of Donovan.
Starting point is 00:04:06 I see Donovan limping down these stairs, like he's had some Achilles tendon injuries and stuff. I think Ben would whip Donovan's ass if they race today. Well, I would, I don't know about that because Ben is carrying a little extra heavy weight in that midsection. So I'm not quite sure he would. So is Donovan. But, you know, if you put them each in a wheelchair and at the starters line, you never know who might win. Whoever's got the strongest arms.
Starting point is 00:04:33 Now I'm thinking we could fill up the dome of Donovan versus Ben, but like the way they are today. I can't wait. The next time we have the Olympics in Canada, both of them are going to carry the torch. The question is who's going to make it to do the handoff? I wonder if they would have been anywhere around a sanctioned Olympic event
Starting point is 00:04:53 considering he was banned. I think he would. I think they would. And I hope so. So just quick final word on Ben and then it's all about Aubby the rest of the way is that Ben told me when he visited with Mary Ormsby, because she wrote a book about him,
Starting point is 00:05:05 he told me his dream is to basically make enough money that he retires to Jamaica to basically live off, not off the grid, but not a public life. Like he's just going to quietly retire to Jamaica. and spend the rest of his life there.
Starting point is 00:05:19 So I was chatting with him about this on Friday. And he says, I said, Ben, how close are you to making this dream a reality? He says, Mike, one more year, one more year. And then I said, Ben, look me in the eyes. You know, this is my move. I make you look me in the eyes, the deep blue eyes. And I said, Ben, before you fly off to Jamaica for the final time to spend the rest of your life, you must visit the basement for the exit interview.
Starting point is 00:05:42 Yeah. Yeah. And he said absolutely 100%. And then we've said, so Ben, will definitely drop by the basement before he leaves Canada for the last time. And what's the parting gift you're going to give him like? A lasagna from Palma Pasta. Not a metal?
Starting point is 00:05:59 I just realized you've never, even though you've been in this basement many, many times to record episodes of Unleashed, a producer's guide of indie filmmaking, which we'll talk about later. But you've never actually received a Palma pasta lasagna, right? No. You're getting one today. Oh my gosh. That's, it makes this entire trip.
Starting point is 00:06:18 Doubally fantastic. Well, you got, and, uh, also fresh craft beer from Great Lakes. Woo! I, listen, um, let's just talk for five hours straight and we can, I can, I can, you need it? If I, if, if I get a little too hot and sweaty, I'll just take one of those craft beers and put it on my forehead to cool me down a little bit. Well, we're going to, we got a lot of ground to cover. I've been waiting, you've been waiting your life for this moment. I have.
Starting point is 00:06:44 I've been waiting, uh, my life. for this moment. So much to discuss. Like, I want to talk about something that Stu Stone said to me. By the way, Stu Stone,
Starting point is 00:06:53 a guest we share, because he was on your podcast, unleashed. Yeah. And believe it or not, he's being on Toronto Mike. About 100 times. Well,
Starting point is 00:07:00 yeah, about 100 times. I think he's close to holding the Guinness Book of World record for most appearances on Toronto. I think he's in second.
Starting point is 00:07:07 Like, I think that record is held by Cam Gordon. Okay. And I think Stu's in second place. Well, I think there's many more years
Starting point is 00:07:14 left of Stu Stone. So I think, he'll probably surpass. I just saw the tattoo, the tragically hip tattoo. No dress rehearsal. This is our life. Yes. I just saw, I took my 11-year-old to see a tragically hip cover band on Sunday.
Starting point is 00:07:27 They're called Practically Hip, and they were playing the Kingsway music. What are they called? Taste of the Kingsway. Taste of the Kingsway, yeah. And because I can't take them to see the tragically hip, and this is the best thing for my 11-year-old. And we had a great time, and I love that lyric from ahead by a century. It's, they're my band. they will always be my band.
Starting point is 00:07:47 And oh, there's a, there's a tragically hit album right over there. Road apples. I can see it. Road apples. On vinyl, which I can't play because I have nothing in this headset plays vinyl. But there it is. Just spin it on your finger. Oh, and I saw Jay Gold at this on Friday. That's right.
Starting point is 00:08:00 Jay Gold, the legend. Well, you can't be careful because it's Jake Gold, but I also saw Joel Goldberg there. Yes, Joel. And he went by the name Jay Gold. That's right. And he's the director of the Bruce Coburn documentary that I distributed in Canada. Oh, my God. Okay, so you have to, like, don't be shy with how you're connected to everybody everywhere.
Starting point is 00:08:19 Do you know he's got a doc in the can about James B? Yes, and actually I'm loosely involved in that one, too. How are you involved in the James B though? We're probably going to be distributing it on VOD in Canada for them. So when you say distributing, like, what do you mean? I mean. I'll be releasing it on like Apple and Amazon and all those kinds of platforms for him. He's already pre-sold it to Hollywood Suites.
Starting point is 00:08:42 and so the rest of the, you know, traditional VOD and stuff like that, hopefully we'll be working together on that. Do you think James B is famous? I had actually never heard of James B until Joel told me about the project. And then I did a bit of Googling and learned a lot about James B and his associations with people like Ms. Johnson, who you're very familiar with on That's correct
Starting point is 00:09:15 Big Molly head over here Have you heard the Molly episode of Toronto Mike? No, but I heard about it on Friday to the point where I've earmarked it for me to listen to later this week. Okay, so I do want to know about our origin story and I want to know about yours. I'm just holding up this is the Look People album
Starting point is 00:09:32 that I have some vinyl in this studio I can't play. But this is James B's band with great Bob Scott and Ian and Sylvie. his son, Clayton Tyson. Tyson, of course. And Kevin Kern's in this band.
Starting point is 00:09:47 Well, look at that. He's in Bar-Naked Ladies now, and he's doing some work with the Rio Statics because I saw him when I got like a preview of the new Rio Static's Great Lakes. It's funny. It's everything ties together here. Dave Bidini.
Starting point is 00:09:58 Dave Bidini, yeah, absolutely. It was at the Paradise, I think it was, but it was great. And we got, so again, I want you, maybe can we start by me finding out? I'm very selfish on Toronto Mike. Okay, this is not unleashed. But how did you discover I exist?
Starting point is 00:10:12 Like, how did we get connected? So my lawyer, Brenda Blake, is an active listener to Toronto Mike. It's actually probably one of her top podcast that she listens to regularly. Why can't you just say it's her favorite? Because she never said that. And I don't want to step out of turn here. But I mentioned to her that I wanted to start out my podcast and that I was looking for somebody to produce it. And she says, well, I've got.
Starting point is 00:10:39 the person for you. So this Brenda Blake, yeah. By the way, that Ben Johnson book, I'm getting a note on the live stream from Jeremy Hopkins,
Starting point is 00:10:46 that Ben Johnson book that Mary Ormsby wrote with him is nominated for a Heritage Toronto Award. Wow. So it's a great book. Well, he might be able to leave
Starting point is 00:10:55 in six months instead of a year now if that book takes off. Well, you know, and he was at the Hollywood Suite event because they're making some kind of a series. Limited series, yes.
Starting point is 00:11:04 But is it done like comedically? Like, is it a series? I got the idea like maybe it was more of a comedic spin on everything. I don't know if you have any details. Maybe it's, maybe it's like a mockumentary kind of thing. Like spinal tap? Well, there is nothing even similar to spinal tap. Except for the next spinal tap, which is soon to be released. How come that didn't make it to Tiff?
Starting point is 00:11:24 I thought we would get like the new spinal tap. Don't get me started with Tiff. Well, I may go up. The vein on the right side of my forehead might snap. You know what? Have you been talking to Alan's Weig lately? I feel like he's been going off on TITT. Listen, I can never get enough of Alan's wag. I love Alan. And Alan's a great filmmaker. And one of the funniest docs I've ever seen is his, when Jews were funny. Yep.
Starting point is 00:11:54 I've seen that one. Yeah. I like speaking, it's funny, we were talking about all the vinyl I have in my studio that I can't play. I, on TVO, I caught vinyl. This is many, many moons ago. And I'm like, I like the way this guy does his shit. And I had it like a mental note. If I ever start a podcast,
Starting point is 00:12:10 which I didn't know what a podcast was back then, but if I ever start a podcast, see if Alan Zweig will visit the basement. Listen, he's an amazing guy and has a massive vinyl collection, has done some amazing documentaries that's premiered at Hot Docs and Tiff and many other festivals.
Starting point is 00:12:31 Legendary documentary. Absolutely, but his latest film was rejected by TIF. It puts them in good company, right? Listen, my film was rejected at TIF last year. Is that home free? Correct. Okay, so we're going to do a whole home. I'm going to close with the home free segment.
Starting point is 00:12:45 Awesome. I want to let the listenership know that I have seen home free and I've got a little clip and everything. We're going to talk of it home free. Absolutely. I have to wrap up the Brenda Blake discussion. So Brenda Blake is your lawyer and she's a big, she's a big FOTM. That's correct. Why have I never seen Brenda Blake at a TMLX event?
Starting point is 00:13:05 well i don't know she's um she's very busy but she she gets out she does she she definitely um participates in a lot of the local uh jazz um scene in some of the finer oh then she knows james b she probably knows james fm yeah she might very well and she's um she's been my lawyer for since 2005 so 20 years okay i'm dedicating this episode to brenda blake a listener who connected me to Avi because Avi I instantly liked you and I love you I love your podcast Unleashed a producer's guide to indie filmmaking it's like you're delivering the Canadian film industry
Starting point is 00:13:46 real talk and I mean just hook it to my veins I appreciate it's fantastic thank you and you're not afraid to like I don't know what the term would be burn some bridges or slay some sacred cows I believe in transparency and I think everybody there's a lot of people out there that think that the film business is all glam and, you know, those kinds of things,
Starting point is 00:14:10 when the reality is there's more tears than laughs in the industry. So what made you want to get into this industry? Like, when did you realize you wanted to be in the film industry? So when I was probably nine years old, I went downstairs to say good night to my father, who was doing some paperwork downstairs at the house, and he was watching something that I was completely fascinated with, And it was in black and white, and I was just stood there with my mouth open,
Starting point is 00:14:39 just fascinated about what I was watching, and I'd never seen anything like it before. And I pointed at the television, my father has reminded me of this story before he passed away, which was, I want to make that. And he says, what do you mean? He says, I want to make that. And what that show was was Wax Museum with Vincent Price. and I was fascinated by that. And then years later, I saw Jaws when it first came out.
Starting point is 00:15:08 And that film is the reason why I became a filmmaker. It's my favorite film. I've seen it a million times. Every single version of the movie on physical media that's come out, I own a copy of it. I actually tattooed it to my arm. Oh, wow. And that all ties to the hip, too, because Gordowny wore that t-shirt.
Starting point is 00:15:29 That's wild. And he roared the t-shirt. Yeah. So Jaws is an inspiration for me, and it was a film that everybody thought was going to flop, and it set the tone for many, many other films to be made, essentially. So I have a mug in my hand right now for the listenership who can't see. It says Redwater Entertainment. It's hard to keep track of all your businesses, all your companies, but one of them, I guess, is Redwater. Correct. Okay. And it says you're going to need a bigger cup. So I pulled a quick clip for you. you, Avi. You better need a bigger boat.
Starting point is 00:16:07 So, 1975, 50 years ago, that film, and I've seen that film, I don't know, I've seen that film like 25 times or something. I think it's almost a perfectly crafted film. I love Jaws as well, but I did not see it when it was released because, you know, I was one years old. Right. And maybe if I saw it, I don't remember seeing it. But so you see, and I guess you're still a young man because you're not that older than me. let me see a burp certificate i need to check things out of you but you see jaws and you're like i want to be the uh canadian version of stevens bill bergay i mean i was only 12 at the time but i
Starting point is 00:16:44 mean for me it was like i i had never seen anything quite like it and and although the the shark obviously didn't look real but it was it still i it felt real to me and it felt like a real situation and the the cast was completely amazing Richard Dreyfus and Robert Shaw and Roy Shider Robert Shaw is amazing in that movie His his monologue
Starting point is 00:17:11 about the sinking submarine is probably one of the best monologues in film history Absolutely oh my god I just watched did you see I'm sure you saw it but it was Jaws at 50 Yeah yeah The documentary was amazing yeah it's amazing that thing got made And, well, it basically
Starting point is 00:17:29 And it was 100 days over budget. 100 days over budget. It's crazy. Okay, wow. So you see, you're only 12 years old. You see jaws. But then what's next? And I feel like I mentioned Stu Stone for a reason about 20 minutes ago.
Starting point is 00:17:43 I brought up Stu Stone because when I was chatting with Stu about Avi Fedigreen, I think when I met you, I said, hey, Stu, do you know this guy, Avi Federer? I'm not vetting you. I'm just, you know, what's going on? And he says, this is Stu Stone speaking. He says, Avi Federer Green is the most. prolific film producer in this country. Is that true?
Starting point is 00:18:04 I would say that's, I'm super excited to hear him say that. I have a huge amount of respect for Stu. Look, a number of people said that. And oh, my goodness, look at that salad dressing that. Would you like some on your palm of pos? I don't know. It's probably sat on that counter for at least a couple years. Well, don't fuck of ghosts.
Starting point is 00:18:27 but um listen i put my blood and sweat into this industry because i love it so much and i love collaborating with really amazing talented people and i love making film i love the idea of being on set and making something super special um and i'm a big fan of being a mentor to the emerging feature filmmakers of tomorrow um because if people like me don't help those filmmakers there will be you know, tomorrow. So I care deeply about the business and about the content that I've made, and I've now made over 80 feature films in 30 years. And I would make all of them again, for sure.
Starting point is 00:19:09 And I have... So does that mean you agree with Stu's statement? You're the most prolific film producer in this country? I mean, I'm probably the most, like I put myself out there on social media and things like that, um and talk about indie filmmaking and things like that i appreciate him thinking that about me i'm a number of other people have said that about me uh i'm grateful for you know these these commentaries about me um i think of myself as somebody who just loves what i do and would do it till i can't do it anymore print the legend ovi let's just run with this like let's make t-shirts
Starting point is 00:19:48 Okay. Avi Federegrim, most prolific filmmaker in Canada. All right, let's do it. By the way, when you're 12 years old watching Jaws for the first time, are you in Edmonton? Yes. So you're, I just want to let the... I saw the film at the...
Starting point is 00:20:02 World No. Oh, my God. What's the name of the theater? It was on Jasper Avenue. Should I call Monica down? Yeah, call Monica down. Ask her... Babe!
Starting point is 00:20:12 She's up there somewhere. It was a multiplex with actually two theaters on Jasper Avenue, downtown Toronto. And I was a doorman. Okay, you said downtown Toronto. Sorry, downtown Emmington. And I was a doorman at the theater at the time. At 12.
Starting point is 00:20:30 At 12, because I had an inn at Cineplex Odeon at that time. And who was the district manager. And he let me work as a dormant because my father was very good friends with him. And his name was Sam Binder. and he took a shine to me and he knew that I love film and he let me work at the theater. So you're kind of like, it's like Tarantino working at the movie rental place, you know, you're just wanting to be surrounded by film.
Starting point is 00:21:03 Yeah, I mean, nonstop. And in those days, you know, you'd get into the movie theater for, you know, a couple bucks. And, you know, same thing with, you know, popcorn and popcorn. pop 50 cents or whatever and you'd go and on my days off after school I would go down to the theater and hang out because we were allowed to go and see movies and we got free popcorn and pop with our own containers and things like that and I watched that movie multiple times a week it changed my life Jaws you saw multiple times a week yeah okay so help me so you're inspired by Jaws you're working at the theater but then how do you
Starting point is 00:21:45 get into the industry from there? Like, I guess I'm curious about a couple of things. One is, how do you get into the industry? And when the heck do you get to the greater Toronto area? So after high school, I worked for years in a system manager. We opened up the first movie theater complex at West Edmont Mall called Cinema 6 in phase one. And I was the assistant manager of that theater.
Starting point is 00:22:09 And we used to do amazing promotions. like we had come dressed up as your favorite Conan the Barbarian character. And this was part of my thing, which is I coordinated all that and came up with the ideas and things. And at that time, I also applied to film school. And I didn't get in. So I chose my second path,
Starting point is 00:22:34 which was computers at the time was the rage of the future. So I went to DeVry Institute of Technology. Oh, I remember the ads well, DeVry. In Calgary. And then I went to, Phoenix, Arizona and got my degree, and I came back to Canada after a period of time in Arizona and then L.A. where I did some stand-up comedy there. I didn't know this. And it was a race to the bottom because unless you got into Auntie Carson, you were never going to make it. So
Starting point is 00:23:08 I learned pretty quickly after six months of being out there that I was never going to make it. Is this what Pauly Shore's mom's place? Did you ever do any stand-up there? What was I called? The comedy store, the laugh factory, the improv. What's her name? Mitsy? Is it Mitsy? Sure.
Starting point is 00:23:23 Anyways. I think it's Mitsy. Okay. Okay. So can you give me a vibe of, like, you as aspiring stand-up? Because I produced a show for Humble and Fred, and Humble went to L.A. In the early 80s, I think it was.
Starting point is 00:23:38 Okay, around that time, I feel there was a bunch of Canadians in L.A. trying to get on cars. Yeah, and I mean, you know, we were sort of like the early. opening acts and you know uh again if you didn't get on johnny carson you likely were never going to make it funny i've known you a long time i don't think i'm funny mike i'm just being funny i'm just being funny um my comedy wasn't telling jokes my comedy was almost like russell peters or or joan rivers or don rickles kind of thing where you would talk to people and you would it would create humor by doing that like roasting them sometimes and in and in
Starting point is 00:24:14 And, you know, in those days, today, some of the things that I would say would be inappropriate today. But in those days, it wasn't. And people laughed or they would heckle you. And so you got a bit of both. But the issue was, is that you could never make a living at it. Like, you really struggled. And I was living in a four-room place with three starving actors. and the room was costing me $75 a week
Starting point is 00:24:46 and I was basically living off of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and mac and cheese, you know? I'll just say both those meals sound delicious to me. Well, they were delicious at the time, but even eating them seven days a week was not necessarily a fun thing. Yeah, you can't afford it. So when I realized that I was never going to make it,
Starting point is 00:25:06 I packed my car and drove back to Canada and I started working for a computer firm in Edmonton which then led me to move to Toronto where a friend of mine was living. He was in his last year of film school at Ryerson, now called Metro. TMU. Yeah. The other TMU. The other TMU.
Starting point is 00:25:27 Not the Toronto Mike universe. Exactly. And so I worked for this company for six to seven years, but my friend had graduated film school, and he was working as a location manager at the time. And I called him up, and I said, I'm really not happy with what I'm doing in the computer industry. I want to get into film. This is something I've wanted my whole life.
Starting point is 00:25:49 And so the first show that I did in the business, I was working as a location PA on a Canada Swiss co-production called Waiting for Michelangelo. And it was like 20, 21 hour days, $100 a day, and basically picking up cigarette butts and garbage. and I would come home smelling like, you know, filth, and my wife would make me sleep on the couch. And I did that for a couple of shows, and then I started moving up to assistant location manager,
Starting point is 00:26:25 and then location manager, and then assistant production manager, and then production manager. And the first, and then I started producing short films, probably around, I don't know, somewhere in the early, late 90s, into early 2000s, and then I produced, I co-produced my first feature in 2007 called One Week with Joshua Jackson.
Starting point is 00:26:49 Okay, pause for a moment, because Gordowny's in that movie. That's right, Gordowney's in the movie, and that's where I met Gordowney. And I, you know, when he was in one day, and we were shooting at one of these motels on the lakeshore, and he showed up just before lunch, and we invited him to lunch. He didn't want to go. he stayed at the motel and had brought his guitar with him just to screw around while we were on lunch and I basically decided not to go lunch and I hung out with him and asked him a bunch of questions and he asked me a bunch of questions and we sort of hit it off and we stayed in contact had
Starting point is 00:27:25 many in-person conversations after that I was already a hip fan before I met him and after getting to know him as well as I could, I became, like, completely enamored with the man, his passion for music and telling truth in music and to affect people, which is the kind of movies that I make, right? I saw one week in theaters. Like, I was a big fan of St. Ralph. Yeah, Mike McGowan, who directed St. Ralph, that was his first feature. his second feature was one week.
Starting point is 00:28:06 I was such a big fan of St. Ralph that I went on a personal mission, like a spiritual journey because there was no soundtrack to St. Ralph. And of course, Gordowny sings, hallelujah in this movie. And it's just, what a wonderful performance.
Starting point is 00:28:24 And you can hear a hitch in his voice because there's a race around the bay, blah, blah, blah. What a wonderful little film, actually. But I went on a personal journey. I was just a lowly blogger, okay, I have no podcast to be, to be found. And I befriended a chap named Andrew Lockington. Mm-hmm.
Starting point is 00:28:40 The composer who works a lot with, um, um, the creator of Yellowstone and, uh, King, uh, King, Kingston and, and things like that. So I don't even, I hope I'm not telling tales at a school, but I got us, got the story as to why they never released this soundtrack. This soundtrack includes a short version and a long version of Hallelujah performed by Gordani. And I have in my hand, I'm not even supposed to have this, Avi, I can't believe,
Starting point is 00:29:10 I might have to delete this before I release it. But this is an unreleased soundtrack to St. Ralph. You can touch it there, Ovi. Oh my God, look at that. That's it. That was, thank you to Andrew Lockington. Andrew's awesome. I'm a big fan of Andrews,
Starting point is 00:29:23 and, you know, he was early, it was the infancy of Andrew in the film industry with St. Ralph, and then eventually, you know, stayed in Canada, did a bunch of films and then moved to the States and is now like a Taylor Sheridan composer, essentially, with a lot of his projects.
Starting point is 00:29:45 I'm glad to hear this, that him sending me that soundtrack didn't result in him getting on any black lists or anything. That's good to hear. But you might, listen, if there's a knock at the back door here, make sure you, I would put a camera out there to make sure it's not the, on the RCMP who's looking for you.
Starting point is 00:30:03 Oh my God, okay. But now, of course, so that's how I kind of got introduced to the filmmaker. Mike McGowan or Mike McGowan? Mike McGowan. And, of course, one week, I want to talk about one week for a moment because not only is it like a rare acting performance
Starting point is 00:30:18 from Gord Downey, but also I'm going to shed out a couple more people. One, compose the theme song, not for you, but the theme song to your excellent podcast Unleashed is performed by Joel Plaskett. Yeah, who's also in the movie. Who's also in the movie? Yeah, million dollars was the song.
Starting point is 00:30:35 And I hear it might be changing soon? Yeah, we have the song for the podcast will be changing as of October to a song by my second favorite Canadian band, Sloan. You know what, you and I have a lot in common. We should hang out more. Okay, I love Sloan too. But there's another name I'm going to drop on you.
Starting point is 00:30:56 I've yet to get Joel Plaskett. I didn't get Gord Downey on the podcast either. A couple of great regrets here. Not too late for Joel, of course. But a woman who did come by and I had a wonderful chat with is M. Griner. Oh, yeah. Who's actually a very dear friend of mine. And actually, M appeared on one week because we had reached out to a bunch of singer-songwriters
Starting point is 00:31:18 to play that part in one week. And we just were hitting a brick wall. And we had already started filming and had started driving. and had started driving across Canada to shoot the movie. And Mike and I had a meeting at the end of the day one day and said, look, we got to figure out who we're going to have because we need that person to be in Vancouver on a certain day to play this part with Josh.
Starting point is 00:31:42 And I suggested M. Griner. And I reached out to M. that same day, and she was in L.A. recording a record. And I said, M, I'm making this movie. I think you'd be perfect for it. It would shoot in Vancouver on this day. We would pay for your flight to Vancouver and back. It's one day of filming.
Starting point is 00:32:03 It's with Josh Jackson. Here's the rundown of the story. And she said, I'd love to. And so she came out, did the day. She was amazing. I'm still a huge fan of M's. And we still stay in contact, not as much as I'd like, but I'm a big fan of M's. and she did an amazing job in the film.
Starting point is 00:32:27 We'll take a number. We're all big M heads here, okay? Awesome. She actually composed and recorded a song for my dear friend, Mike Kick, who was dying of esophical cancer at the age of 32. And when M came over, we closed with that song. And I can tell you, even just thinking about it now, I'm getting goosebumps, a beautiful song,
Starting point is 00:32:47 beautiful tribute to my late friend, Mike Kick. And M was gracious enough to let us use a song of hers in the movie, Blackwing Bird, which is one of my favorite M. Griner songs, to be honest. Okay, so here you are. This is like 2008 for those following along at home.
Starting point is 00:33:06 2007, we shot it. It played TIF 2008. And probably the most amazing filming experience, driving across our great country, shooting at the world's biggest at every place we stopped, filming in Drumhiller, Alberta,
Starting point is 00:33:26 and Medicine Hat. We went to Tafino. That was the end of our across-the-Canada trip and then came back to Toronto and shot in Ontario for another couple weeks. And the soundtrack is sort of, I would consider one of the best Canadian soundtracks ever. I mean, we had winter sleep,
Starting point is 00:33:49 we had Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucette, we had M, we had, um, we had just an array of amazing, amazing artists that really, you know, that soundtrack could stand on its own, like it really could. Well, at least it got released. No, we never released the sound. It was, it was, it was, it was, it was, it was early days of iTunes and we, we created a, we created a playlist for the film. Okay, well, you know, digitize, man.
Starting point is 00:34:20 That's what I say. So, I have some questions. about these various, you know, firms that you kind of start up. So one is Indycan Entertainment. So I guess I'm curious about, like, there's Indycan entertainment, but there's also Federer Green Entertainment, which I got a little audio clip for you on that one. But there's also, I mean, all over the place, there's Redwater Entertainment. Like, can you maybe do a little 101 on all these different companies?
Starting point is 00:34:46 Yeah, so Indycan Entertainment is my distribution company, film distribution company that I started in 2011 out of pure frustration about the landscape of distribution of film in Canada, especially and specifically more towards indie film than, you know, bigger budget Canadian film. And it started with a film that I had made with my dear friend, Sean Sisterna, called Moonpoint, that we made for literally less than $100,000. and we couldn't get a distributor to take the film. And so, out of pure frustration, I just said, Deshaun, screw it, I'm going to start my own distribution company,
Starting point is 00:35:31 not knowing what that meant. And it was the first film that I released in February 2012. And, you know, we were very successful with the release of the film. We played in 11 cities. We opened at the Young and Dundas Cinema. in February of 2012. We, opening weekend, we had the fourth best box office in the theater, even including beating Tintin and Warhorse.
Starting point is 00:36:04 Wow. And from that, great theater run, I was able to sell the film to TMN at the time, which is now Crave. We sold it to Air Canada, and we sold it international. and that was the sort of start of my distribution company and since then I've opened up Redwater Entertainment which is geared towards genre films like horror action sci-fi that kind of thing I opened up Pride Pictures which is geared towards LGBTQ films I have my own record label called Indycan Records which I started around 2015 which basically is a label
Starting point is 00:36:50 aimed at emerging singer-songwriters. And, you know, through all that, then I started my podcast Unleashed, which obviously fabulous Toronto Mike is the producer of. And so, you know, I've dedicated a lot of my time to helping audiences see, indie cinema. I'm going to play a little tiny piece of audio for you.
Starting point is 00:37:32 When you hear this little, I don't know, we call it a stinger, whatever we call that. So that is from the Great Lake Swimmers, who was at, you know, and still is, a huge, I'm a huge fan of them. Miranda Mahaland, who was the, who's in the band. the violin player I became friends with. I think that their music transcended me into this awesome world of indie Canadian music at the time when I first discovered them. And I was great. I approached them and their manager at the time that I wanted to, I was starting this, you know, I really wanted to have an,
Starting point is 00:38:19 animated logo, and I wanted some music behind it. And this is Federegrine entertainment. Correct, which is my production company. And you're Federegrine. Yes, because I'm Avi Feddergreen. And they were gracious enough to let me use it. I love the synergy between your love of music and film and how they collide. Another film, I actually promoted this on Toronto Mike.
Starting point is 00:38:41 I had on Jay Semko from the Northern Pikes, promoting things I do for money. Correct. Which is one of my favorite Northern Pike songs. Yeah. And shout out to Ridley. funeral home because Brad Jones from really funeral home tells me his favorite band of all time the Northern Pikes and actually at the end of the movie we see um we do the rendition of um things I do for money with the cast and
Starting point is 00:39:07 with um um you know it's it's a salute to the film sure it's a salute to the song um and I And I think, I mean, he was gracious enough to let us use the song and the title. And we're very proud of that movie. We made that movie for Peanuts. Well, okay. Well, so many places I want to go here. But one, I want to quickly shout out, not go, we've already shouted out, Gordownie, who we miss every day.
Starting point is 00:39:38 But there's another Gordon I want to shout out, Gordon, okay? Okay. Who, I believe, went to, I get this from Stu Stone and Cam Gordon. They like to tell me famous people who went to Thornton. Lee Collegiate. I think Gordon Corman's on that list, okay?
Starting point is 00:39:52 But I read them like crazy these Gordon Corman books growing up, like Bruno and Boots, for example. But you produced Bruno and Boots. Line producer. I can't tell the difference
Starting point is 00:40:01 between a line producer. We did a couple of Bruno and Boots movies for Family Channel with my friends at Aircraft Pictures who had optioned the material and had developed the scripts and that's how I met
Starting point is 00:40:17 Anthony and Andrew from aircraft who graciously brought me on to help them make these and from there we went on and made Holly Hobby which was a kid's series that we also did for Family Channel and for
Starting point is 00:40:32 Hulu and things like that and I've done probably six or seven projects with the guys at Aircraft. I think you are the most prolific film producer in this country because I'm looking at just a list of films. It's not even in a complete list, but
Starting point is 00:40:50 it is lengthy and it's, it's, it's, there's so many films, like so many things that touch upon. It's, but I do want to spend some serious time with home free. Okay. But before we get to home free,
Starting point is 00:41:02 yeah, when did you think about directing? Like, so we're talking about producer. And I personally, maybe you can explain it very quickly, but some things you're a line producer, then you're an associate producer, you're an executive producer.
Starting point is 00:41:15 There's a lot of executive producer credit. on here. So when did you say hey, I want to direct? So my friend Justin McConnell who directed Life Changer and he's directed Clapboard Jungle and Skull World
Starting point is 00:41:32 and a bunch of other films we became friends at Fan Expo probably I don't know 13 years ago and we hit it off. We were at this function and we had never met, we sat down, we got along really well,
Starting point is 00:41:52 and we started talking about, you know, projects and things like that. And we eventually, Justin wrote Life Changer, and then he brought it to me, and I loved it, and I said, let's make this. And so we went down the road of trying to finance it, which we eventually did. And we made the film. And, um, From that, I need to go backtrack. Remind me of why I'm telling this story again.
Starting point is 00:42:23 I think we're building towards red balloon maybe. No, so, no. So basically, yes. So basically we were traveling around the festival circuit. So we were traveling all over the world. We went to Fright Fest in London. We were everywhere. And then we got into the Busan International Film Festival.
Starting point is 00:42:42 So we were there. our film screened there was amazing like over a thousand people would come to a screening of the film and ask for our autographs like they would literally corner us after the screening and want us to sign things and things like that
Starting point is 00:42:58 but there was a typhoon that was happening in Busan while we were there and we were in the hotel room we couldn't go anywhere where you're sort of forced to stay in our hotel until it blew over so to speak and we got to talk about our one career regret and mine was that I had never directed anything and so on the
Starting point is 00:43:23 way back to Toronto I decided that you know what I want to direct the short and so when I got back I made a post on Facebook Instagram wasn't around then saying I was looking for a short film that I wanted to direct and within three or four days I had over a hundred submissions. Wow. Just people emailing me. And I had the support of Karen Walton, who was an amazing writer and showrunner in this town. And they, she promoted this for me on Facebook as well and a number of other people. And we, Justin and I were heading to a festival in Mexico called Marbedo. And so I had printed out all of these scripts and decided, I decided to read them on the plane and during our time in Mexico
Starting point is 00:44:16 and to decide which one I wanted to do. Well, I had read a bunch of them and then all of a sudden this little script came up called Red Balloon and I read at it and it was like, I don't know, 10, 11 pages and I cried my eyes out and I said that's the one I want to do. And there was no question I wanted to do it. And I'm super proud of that film. I think it, you know, unfortunately it got finished right when COVID,
Starting point is 00:44:42 hit and so the festival run that it had was much more limited than it probably could have been but it also established me with some festivals that are i've become friends with today and and humphria's event has played at these festivals as well but it sort of put the fire in my belly that after doing having that experience and learning a lot about directing that things that i didn't realize as being a producer, and actually making that short made me a better producer because I was sitting at a different seat. Right. And from that, I made the decision that I wanted to make Home Free, which was my first feature film.
Starting point is 00:45:25 Okay, so we're going to dive deep into Home Free. A film I've seen, and I teared up watching Home Free, and I couldn't, how do I say this about sounding like a jerk? I couldn't believe you made that movie. It was so good. I appreciate that. I can't believe I made that movie either. But it was because of the help of so many people, for sure.
Starting point is 00:45:44 So we're going to thank a couple of partners, and then we're going to talk about home-free. But I do have in my hand Kleenex that I received at the... See, I'm more of a wipe-it-on-your-hand kind of guy, right? Or my shirt or whatever. But I'm not fancy that I need a thing of Kleenex. But it's a home-free Kleenex that was handed out to everybody who saw the screening I saw.
Starting point is 00:46:05 Because so many people in the theater need tissue. because they're crying. So we're going to dive into Home Free. This is all just a teaser here. I know I already shouted out Ridley Funeral Home. I want you to know, though, there's a great podcast from Brad Jones called Life's Undertaking.
Starting point is 00:46:24 And we're recording a new episode Friday, but also, Avi, I know this is the real reason you're here. Here's a measuring tape for you, courtesy of Ridley Funeral Home. No, thank you. I appreciate that. And does that mean I have to measure my own casket? Yeah, let us know your measurement.
Starting point is 00:46:38 And we won't need to get that casket ready for another 50 years. Do they do Jewish people there? Of course. I actually just had a guest. Oh, Lorne Hanickman. So Lorne Hanickman was here last week, I think Friday. And I asked him because I had somebody over who told me they can't be buried. They can't have a funeral at Ridley Funeral Home because they have to go to Benjamin's.
Starting point is 00:46:59 Correct. So can we have your funeral at Ridley Funeral? No, unfortunately, I have to go to Benjamin's. Benjamin's holds the honor of bearing all of us Jews. But there's another one, right? Steels or something? Yeah, I mean, but Benjamin's is... That's the go-to place.
Starting point is 00:47:17 For those of the Jewish faith. That's correct. Okay. Also, that's where Howard Berger... They just don't know that I want to be lit on fire and had ashes created for me, which is very much against the Jewish faith. Okay. Well, I want things...
Starting point is 00:47:30 But I want my tattoos taken off, which they do. and they can... Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What do you mean? Like, they take your skin off? Yeah, correct. And then they treat it in such a way and they put it in frames.
Starting point is 00:47:44 This reminds me of psycho. Right? Because... No, sounds of the lambs. Remember he's skinned the guys... But they're both... Yeah, but both Psycho and Silence of the Lambs based on Ed Gein,
Starting point is 00:47:54 a real-life serial killer who would wear the skin. There's a movie coming out about Ed Gein. It's called Monster, the Ed Gein's story. So he... Now, we won't get too graphic here, but he would wear the skin of his victims. Correct. Okay, but no one's wearing your skin after they'd take it off.
Starting point is 00:48:11 Maybe some of my foreskin was made into jewelry, I don't know. And what, you know what, I also, I'm not Jewish. I wish I was Jewish, but I also, they also took my four skin when I was a baby. Well, maybe there's some luggage made out of it or something. So if anyone saw some four skin in 1974, that was mine, man. Okay, and give it back. Okay. By the way, shout out to Howard Burger, fellow.
Starting point is 00:48:34 F-O-T-N. Oh, but you're now an F-O-Burger works at Benjamin's. Wow. Did you know that? Can you hook me up? He was one of my favorite... Well, I'm a Ridley funeral home.
Starting point is 00:48:43 ...analysts and reporters. Are you kidding me? Well, he learned what many a sports broadcaster learned. Just get out of sports and go into the funeral business. Right. Yeah. But I'm, you know, I'm loyal to Ridley Funeral Homes. So, uh...
Starting point is 00:48:56 Well, I appreciate that. But shout out to Brad Jones's podcast, Life's Undertaken. I already gave you fresh craft beer from Great Lakes Brewery. Yes. And Palm of Pasta. By the way, Great Lakes is host. hosting us at the GLB brew pub, which is Jervis and Queens Key. That's happening September 25th from 6 to 9.
Starting point is 00:49:11 That's TMLX 20. That's happening, Avi. Wow. I don't know what you're doing on. Who's going? Anybody I know? Steve Paykin. What about Stu Stone?
Starting point is 00:49:22 He's out of town. Oh, he'd be there. He'd be there. You kidding me? If Stu's in town, he's at a TMLX event. But he's all over the place. Well, Steve Paykin is quite the name drop right there. Well, I had to think quickly of a name you'd know.
Starting point is 00:49:32 And Steve Paykin will be there. I'm a fan. Come and meet Steve. Steve was my most recent guest on Monday night, a tribute to Ken Dryden. Did he interview you or did you interview him? I wanted to talk about Ken Dryden. Okay, well, that's one of the greatest goaltenders to ever live.
Starting point is 00:49:47 Well, this is the thing about Ken. I never saw him play because I'm a bit younger than you. But so you got the 72 Summit Series victory. But then you have six Stanley Cups in like a nine-year career. Retires Young. Actually took a year off in the middle there between Cups to go article because he becomes a lawyer, right? And then a politician.
Starting point is 00:50:05 But, yeah, but hold on. Before politician, he writes what was probably the greatest, the game, the greatest book about hockey, one of the great sports books at all the time. So he's prolific, exceptional author. So he's a lawyer, doing a lot of work of CTA,
Starting point is 00:50:17 but he becomes president of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team. Yep. And then he becomes an MP, a politician, and he's a member of cabinet. Like this, think about all these facets to his life and the contributions he made beyond being a guy who won six Stanley Cups. And the brother of Tony Espizzo...
Starting point is 00:50:35 No, sorry. The brother of... The brother of... What was Dave Dryden, who was the goalie for the Emmington Oilers. Okay, you know what? That's true. And funny, you missed it...
Starting point is 00:50:45 You mixed it up with the Esposito brothers because of the 72 Summit series and I've seen the documentary a hundred times. Phil Esposito, the heart of that team. Wow. Okay. So, shout out to Bob Clark, who hacked that bone. Bobby.
Starting point is 00:50:59 Okay. So... I would just quickly like to tell you about some of the events happening on the waterfront. So Waterfront BIA stepped up to sponsor the program. We'll do a special episode with those good people later this month. But I can tell you, have you ever, you said you were a stand-up comic. Have you ever done any work at Second City in Toronto? I have not.
Starting point is 00:51:20 Okay, well, now they're at one York. It's like York and Queenskey. York and Queenskey, yep. And they have a great play, I guess it's, what do you call it? Skit. skit? It's a It's funny. I don't know. It's improv comedy.
Starting point is 00:51:35 It's called dual citizens. It's a fast-paced comedy spectacle. That's what I'm going to call it. You can use that, Mr. Executive Producer. Stacked with razor-sharp satire, hilarious songs, and I can say hilarious, ridiculous characters and their signature improv comedy. So come laugh with the Second City as they turn chaos into comedy. And again, I'm going to have a special episode of the Waterfront people very soon.
Starting point is 00:52:00 Thank you, Blue Sky Agency for stepping up. Maybe one day one of these partners will be Redwater or Fed of Green Entertainment. I'm actually looking for sponsors for Unleashed, but we won't go there right now. We'll sponsor each other's show. Blue Sky Agency has forged partnerships with established office furniture brands like Silen and Green Furniture Concept and Ruellyard. So here's the call to action for all the listeners right now before we get into Home Free. This is going to be a very special chat about Home Free.
Starting point is 00:52:26 But if you are looking for dynamic and creative work environments, write Doug Mills right now. He is Doug at blueskyagency.ca.ca. Just let them know you're an FOTM and then talk about dynamic and creative work environments. He's the man behind Blue Sky Agency. Thank you, Blue Sky. Recycle My Electronics.ca, Avey, that's where you go.
Starting point is 00:52:48 If you have old electronics, old devices, old computers, whatever you got going on phones, don't throw it in the garbage. Those chemicals end up in our landfill. go to Recyclemyelectronics.ca and find out where to drop it off to be properly recycled. Fun fact for the listenership, I saw the VP of Sale sent me a picture. He is dropping off electronics today at a location that he learned about from Recycle My Electronics. That could be you, Avi.
Starting point is 00:53:14 It will be me. Yeah, I'm sure you have a lot of stuff. I have some electronics I need to. I'll bet. Dispose of. I'll bet. Some stuff you've been hanging on to since the 70s. Yes, exactly.
Starting point is 00:53:25 Home Free, I'm very interested in the details, and I have questions along the way, but when did you get this idea that you want to direct? Now, this is, we talked about Red Balloon. That's like a short film. So Home Free is your directorial debut when it comes to full-length feature films. Correct, yeah.
Starting point is 00:53:44 Tell me, where's the origin of, like, when did you realize you want to make this movie? I knew right after making the short, Red Balloon, that I wanted to make a feature. The question is, what was that feature? you're going to be. And years prior, the writer and director of a script called Home Free came to me with the idea of me producing her film. From there, we tried to develop, and I really liked it when I first read it. We tried to develop it, get the script where we thought
Starting point is 00:54:21 we could get it made, and we just couldn't get there. So, um we shelved the project she went on to write and direct some shorts and develop some other feature link projects and things like that and i went on my merry way to work on some other projects and then eventually excuse me direct red balloon after i decided that i wanted i wanted to make a feature i started thinking about okay now what where am i going to find this feature and then it came to my mind about this script that I had read called Home Free and I still had it on my hard drive and I opened it up and I reread it and I went, oh my God, this is definitely this is the film I want to make. And, but I knew that, you know, we needed to be changed so that we could get it
Starting point is 00:55:11 financed. And so I approached the writer, director of the project with the idea that I wanted to produce and direct the movie and I'd shared with her a link to red balloon she really liked it and she agreed to let me develop it with her and if we got to a place where we were both happy with the script then um we would move forward and try to get the movie financed um then COVID hit and so May 2020 I called some really close friends of mine who were actors of which I felt like they were the people that I wanted to play the parts in the movie. Michelle Nolden, Natalie Brown, Tara Spencer Nairn, Art Hindle. And we had a couple of other people participate in the table read on Zoom.
Starting point is 00:56:07 And by the end of the Zoom table read, everybody was crying. Wow. And the cast would really pumped about the script and, said, look, if there's a way that we can be in this, we'd love to be in it. Michelle Nolan, who played Rain in the movie, called me right after the table, read saying, irregardless of whether she gets to play in the film or not, she felt that we should shoot the film at her house in Paris, Ontario. The Homer House.
Starting point is 00:56:39 The Homer House. Wow. And I didn't even know what the house looked like. She sent a couple of pictures, and it looked like, oh, my God, this is the right place. So when it was, when Ontario started opening up things again from COVID, myself and a few of the key crew went out to Michelle's house and walked around and we said, yeah, we got to shoot the movie here. It's the perfect house.
Starting point is 00:57:02 It's how I envisioned the house to be. It was an 1800s house. It was perfect. And it reminded me of the house in a movie called August Assange County, which is a movie that I use as a reference in what I want. wanted home free to be and um so then then the next element is to try to get the movie financed and we went to the funders two years in a row we didn't get the movie funded and so um okay now what well after i got rejected the second time by um telephone canada i closed my computer
Starting point is 00:57:42 took a bottle of pills and a bottle of bourbon and i went outside of my back porch and I was destined or I envisioned me killing myself. Wait, Avey, hold on here. Just pause for a moment here. So you couldn't secure financing. The traditional funding models fell through. Yeah. To put it politely.
Starting point is 00:58:04 Yeah. And because this is your dream project and you're so committed to it, you decided time for me to make my exit? Yeah. I mean, I felt like I had done everything that was to do in the industry. and that the one thing that I hadn't done was to direct a feature that I was completely passionate about. It was my sort of dream project and to be told that I don't get to make it because the
Starting point is 00:58:31 funders weren't going to give me the money was devastating to me. It was like I wasn't seeing past that. I wasn't seeing past that no. Because trying to raise non-traditional funding in this country to make a feature film is super hard it doesn't happen every day it happens very rarely now and i felt like i was never going to make this movie so what's the point of being here anymore i couldn't see past that and it was an immediate response to the rejection and so i go outside i'm three quarters the way through a bottle of bourbon and my wife and daughter are up up north my daughter's going to day camp up there my
Starting point is 00:59:13 wife was working on a show here and so she was commuting back and forth to her parents cottage up in the caswick area sure and so she called me to say good night and i was talking like a crazy person like i don't want to be here anymore they turn me down um there's no point anymore i've done everything else i can do they're not letting me make the movie um i'm done and she basically kept me talking and eventually I literally blacked out. Well, you took some bottle of pills. No, I didn't get to the pills yet. I had them on the ready.
Starting point is 00:59:53 I had them on the ready. Okay. And I was at that point where, okay, so now I'm three quarters of the way through a bottle of bourbon. Right. It's time. Like, I was so numb to it all that I was just, had she not called, that might have been my next.
Starting point is 01:00:07 Like, were you basically building up some liquid courage so that you could... It wasn't that I was building up courage because I had tried suicide many years prior, probably 10, 12 years prior. So I wasn't scared about it or anything. And I was just at the point where if I'm going to do this,
Starting point is 01:00:30 I want to do it where I really don't feel it happening. You know what I mean? Oh my goodness, but your wife kept you on the line. She kept me all along until I literally passed out and I woke up the next morning to a phone call from my father-in-law who said, I want you to come over and we need to talk. And so I cleaned myself up, went to his place, and he said, I heard what happened, that telephone turned you down and that you can't raise the money
Starting point is 01:00:56 to make the movie. And he said, I want to give you the money to make the movie. No strings attached. Go make the movie. Whether I see my investment back or not is irrelevant, you need to make this movie. I'm here today because of my wife and my father-in-law and the movie exists because of them. So your father-in-law, am I allowed to name him? Let's just say, my father-in-law.
Starting point is 01:01:22 Your father-in-law, that's fine, it's fine. He's basically going to self-finance home-free because of his belief in you. Yes. And your vision for this film. Correct. Your dream film. Yeah. And this saves your life.
Starting point is 01:01:38 Correct. So I'm going to say the obvious, which is, I'm glad you didn't take those pills, okay? Yeah. You wouldn't be on Toronto mic right now. Can you imagine you never would have become an FOTM? This is my life. This is, this tops my, I don't think I could top this now. And you've, I mean, I hope you've been talking to people about this.
Starting point is 01:01:55 Yeah, I mean, what I do is, and, you know, you were at the screening at Canadians, the Canadian Film Fest, and I talk about this in all of my Q&As because probably 20 or 25 percent of the audience sitting in that theater are fighting mental challenges and that many of them are too scared to talk about it to come out with the fact that they have mental challenges and they or they're not dealing with. They're not seeing a therapist. They're not on medication. And I feel and what I have realized is the more I talk about it, the more people go, wow, he had the guts to talk about it and to deal with it. Maybe I should. Removing the stigma, right? Correct. Correct, which I think is really important.
Starting point is 01:02:41 Listen, my philosophy with making movie is that if you can save one person's life by the movie that you've made, then you've done your job. And I feel like I've done my job in multiple ways with Home Free, but especially with regards to the stigma of mental health. Such a final solution to a temporary problem. But you don't, when you're in that mindset, you're not thinking rational. No, you can't apply your rational thought. I was so angry and so devastated by their decision,
Starting point is 01:03:11 especially after they had asked me to come in a second year in a row, which left me with this idea that they liked the project so much that they just didn't have room for it, that the second time around would make it to fruition. And it didn't happen. But why do you think it didn't happen? Like looking back now that you've made this film. I mean, I have my own thoughts about it, which I can't really say. Because if I do, then I will be
Starting point is 01:03:40 um, um, um, um, um, um, um, ostracized,
Starting point is 01:03:44 expelled from, from ever working in the industry again. But you're going to do that with Unleashed anyways, right? Like, well, I am, but I mean, the thing about Unleashed is that I,
Starting point is 01:03:54 I pull some punches for sure, but I don't name names, right? Well, I try not to. Okay. So before we get back to Home Free, this is like a,
Starting point is 01:04:05 me, telling the listenership that yes I'm biased because I produce this show but Avi brings the goods with Unleashed like this isn't I can't believe this exists. Unleashed a producer's guide to indie filmmaking go to wherever you get your
Starting point is 01:04:20 podcast and subscribe I mean even if you want to if you're an FOTM you can start with the Stu Stone episode and then rediscover the rest but it's incredible the inside info you give on what I believe having listened to Unleashed is a fucked up industry
Starting point is 01:04:35 Like it's broken It's completely broken And there's no funding for a movie Like Home Free Which thankfully because of your father-in-law Was made and completed I've seen it This is a real thing
Starting point is 01:04:48 So maybe walk through You've got a place to film it Thank you to Michelle Nolden You've got a place to film the film And You got like Art Hindle I sat across the Like he was on the far right of his row
Starting point is 01:05:03 And I was the next one over seen this film live. I'm like, that's Art Hindle. Like, get me Art Hindle on Toronto Mike. No problem. No problem.
Starting point is 01:05:12 I'll make it happen. I want to talk to Art Hindle. I'll make it happen. I'll do an introduction. Happy to me. Okay, he's a legend. He's in everything. He's in everything.
Starting point is 01:05:21 But I will say this, because one of the women I had met because she came over for another show, I produced the, please remind me, that the woman from Corner Gas, Nair. Tara Spencer Nair.
Starting point is 01:05:33 Yes. she's excellent in this but everybody in this cast is excellent I think it's the best ensemble cast in a indie feature in this country ever and I'm not saying that because I made the film but I just I've seen so many indie Canadian films and I've never seen such a great ensemble performance okay so when like what we're now in September
Starting point is 01:05:56 2025 yeah to remind myself so when did you complete the film you completed it January 31st 2024. Okay, so about 18 months ago or so, right? So what's next for a film? You have this film now, which is a good film, well-acted, well-written, well-directed by some guy named Davy Feddergreen.
Starting point is 01:06:17 It's a good film. I watched it, I cried, I loved it, and not just because I love you, okay? I want to remove, I disclose my bias already, okay? Come on, I'm not Steve Paken over here, okay? Yeah. I got feelings, okay? well he's so like he is like I love this guy like a brother he's going to be at this event on September 25 but he's so up the middle in that you know oh you know I'll talk to the guy on
Starting point is 01:06:43 this side and the guy on the side which is fine I'll talk to everybody too but I will talk to everybody having belief a belief system so if I talk to you know so so it like I will still be me as I talk to people on both sides where he's so up the middle I find a TVO being up the middle like that, it works for you. You can moderate debates because, you know, we don't know what side you're on. But in the podcasting world where Steve Bacon now lives, it's just different, it hits
Starting point is 01:07:09 a bit differently not to have opinions on anything. I agree. I totally agree with you. But I love him, but I love Yeah, but we disclose our love, we disclose multiple things on this program. One is our mutual love for Steve Pagan. Does Steve Paken have to go to Benjamin's? Yes. So
Starting point is 01:07:25 everybody who is a proud Jewish person can't. Listen, I'm sure Steve Paken relatives have gone to Benjamin's. Maybe they're buried on top of one another. I don't know the infrastructure there, but yeah, I mean, many a Jew has been buried in Benjamin's. A lot of work for Howard Berger.
Starting point is 01:07:45 Maybe I should go to Benjamin's to see if they'll be a sponsor of Unleashed. If my guest is a proud Jewish person, it's brought to you by Benjamin's. And if you're a Gentile, it's brought to you by Ridley Funeral Home. Exactly. Well, you got to clear that with Ridley first, though. Well, you go to Benjamin's first. You know how this works, right?
Starting point is 01:08:04 I will. Get a deal and then I'll bring it to the right. We'll work something out here. Okay. So, it's January 2024. It's completed. Yeah. So what's next for you as a guy, a prolific producer, but now this is your first, the first film you've directed. So I guess you produce and direct this film. Yes. Okay. So this is your baby. This is my baby. Although I had a number of other producers on it that worked really hard to help the, film get made as well as all the crew um it's not a one person film uh it's a host of many people that put their blood and sweat and time into making the film and it shows in the film um the film has
Starting point is 01:08:43 played in over 40 film festivals around the world it just got into a new festival in spain that it will play i think next month um and they're the in my international sales agent antipod believes it will be playing into a lot of other international film festivals before it's all said and done but I'm going to be theatrically releasing the film in Canada end of October, early November
Starting point is 01:09:10 it will then go on transactional VOD on November 11th in Canada and the United States my partner in the U.S. is a company named Virgil Films, Joe and Tim there who are releasing it same day as me in Canada and then it will be going on Super Channel this fall.
Starting point is 01:09:30 And then after the film has finished, it's run on Super Channel, it will be going to Hollywood Suites where it will be playing probably starting in 2027. Okay, but there will be a theatrical release soon. Correct. Yes. That's exciting, because I always want to tell, like, the listeners,
Starting point is 01:09:46 I've been talking about this home free, and I've been talking about it on this podcast before you ever came on because I was so affected by the viewing. And then I want to be able to tell them where to see it. So obviously, is the role of the festivals to find like a distributor, like, because you're doing all these festivals. The role of the festival is to, you know, introduce film lovers to
Starting point is 01:10:07 great films. Right. And the more festival's success that you have, the better off you are. Um, and it becomes more appetizing or interesting to sales companies, distributors, things like that. Um, obviously I was, because of my own distribution company, I had always intended on distributing the film in Canada myself. I then shared the film with my friends at Virgil Films in the U.S. They loved the film. They also shed a few tears in watching it, and they were passionate about wanting to release
Starting point is 01:10:39 it in the United States, and that means more to me than just some distributor who just wants it because they think they're going to make a bunch of money on it, is that this distributor really cares about the film and the message that it carries, and they want to be involved in getting it out there. And I think that that's super important when you're a filmmaker and you're looking to find a distributor is, do they just see a dollar sign in front of the film? Or do they actually believe in the film itself and that they want to be, they're empowered by wanting to help get it out there?
Starting point is 01:11:11 Can I ask a dumb TIF question? Please. Because I know nothing about this. All I know is what I learn on Unleashed, okay? Wonderful podcast. But like, let's say, I was thinking of what I read something Swig wrote about his latest. He was disappointed his most recent film. was rejected by TIF.
Starting point is 01:11:28 And I have memories of seeing a documentary at Roy Thompson Hall called 299 Queen Street West, which I remember Sean Menard came over and said he was disappointed. It was rejected by Tiff. So he said, fuck it, I'll rent Roy Thompson Hall during Tiff and do it myself, which is a ballsy move. And he did that.
Starting point is 01:11:43 Right. He did that because I was there as well. But does somebody at Tiff watch Home Free then make the decision that this doesn't fit or we're not going to platform this. come on either early on in the process because they believe in the film, they read the script, they like the casting, they like the filmmaker, and so on, or they see the film after it's completed and they go, yeah, this is a film that we think we can be successful with, and that they would take it on then. It depends on the stage.
Starting point is 01:12:15 But how important is star power? I mean, so you have a great cast of Canadian actors. They're not known outside of Canada, really. Right, right. That's where I'm going. It's like Art Hindo. Most distributors or sales agency. want named cast.
Starting point is 01:12:27 So, like, Tiff, if you had, let's, I'll make it up. Let's say Ryan Reynolds was in your movie. Now Tiff has, now Tiff is interested. I'm just curious, like, how important star power is for these. One never knows what goes into the minds of the programmers when they're looking at all the films that they look at and whether they want to select the film for their festival or they don't.
Starting point is 01:12:47 And maybe there's a theme in each year's festival that determines the kind of films that they're looking at programming. I was completely gutted when I found out that the film didn't get accepted to TIF, but it's super happy that it got into Cinefess Sudbury and Calgary International and Halliburton and Forest City and many other heartland in the U.S. and Illinois, sorry, Indianapolis and a host of other places, Gasparilla and Tampa and Dunedin Film Festival in Florida. Those festivals welcome me with open arms. They welcomed the film. The screenings were amazing. Yeah, I was going to ask what the reception is like.
Starting point is 01:13:34 Many of them, full houses, with people that, you know, stayed for half an hour or more for the Q&A. I remember one of my fondest screenings was in Halliburton, and the theater was packed. There was probably 230 people plus there. And every single one of them, when the film was, over and after we had done about a half an hour Q&A, I'd stood at the entrance of the auditorium
Starting point is 01:14:01 and every single person lined up to either shake my hand, kiss me on the cheek, or give me a hug. You're a very huggable guy. That doesn't happen every day. And the film touched them in many different ways. And that's, you know, that's the point of why I'm a filmmaker is to affect people by the storytelling. So just to review here, there will be a theatrical release.
Starting point is 01:14:27 So you said, did you say November? End of October early November. Okay. So you can see it in a theater. Yeah. And then it's going to be on Super Channel. Transactional VOD like Apple. Oh, so you basically.
Starting point is 01:14:39 Cable Vod as well. And then it'll go on Super Channel sometime soon after November 11th. And then at some point it'll be on Hollywood Suite. Fluid Suites, 18 months after November 2025. Okay. Okay, so congratulations on the fact that you hit it out of the ear. You're like Spielberg, although that wasn't his directorial debut, Jaws, but it might as well have been. No, but I mean, you know, you made that truck TV movie.
Starting point is 01:15:03 You use that as a launching pad to what are you going to do next, right? Like, you have to, you're only as good as your previous film. So you have to use that as a way of helping create new projects and develop them and then finance them and so on. So are you going to direct again? I'm attached to a bunch of things that hopefully will happen as I'll be a producer and a director on. There are some projects that I'm involved in that I'm working with friends like Joshua Demers or Reese Evan Eschen of their projects that I'm producing that we're trying to get finance now. My friend Gore of Seth, we have a project that we're going to be moving forward with Hollywood Suites on called Hit and Run that we're hoping to shoot next year. um so you know there's always projects in the pipeline it's just whether or not you can get them
Starting point is 01:15:58 finance or not will you ever work with stew stone and adam rodness from seven five seven films i can't get on my knees as many more any more times to them to let me be involved in some way shape or form with any of their projects i think they're great um they are passionate they are Noah's not an option type of filmmakers like me, and they're just awesome, and I have nothing but positive things to say about them, and I would love to work with them. Okay, so again, congrats on Home Free. I loved it very much. Thank you.
Starting point is 01:16:34 I think Stu's exactly right. You're a prolific filmmaker, a long list of things. I'm sure there's a lot more coming up. You've got a lot of different businesses. We've talked about Indycan, and we talked about Federer Entertainment. you have a fine podcast people can subscribe to right now called Unleashed. We've done seven episodes right now, and our next episode is happening next week. And, you know, again, I have to warn you, Mike.
Starting point is 01:17:03 You can't get all, you know, fan boyish on our next guest. She scores. Do you remember this? Do you remember that? Yes, I do. She scores. Should we tell the people who the next? Yeah. Tease this guest.
Starting point is 01:17:21 You have a big guest. We have a big guest. And a very good friend of mine, the wonderful, incomparable, Megan follows. Is that how you say the first name? That's how I say it. But does she say it like that? I never asked her. I think it's Megan.
Starting point is 01:17:37 Megan, Megan, she's amazing. She's a director. She was Anna Green Gables. Of course. She's been in tons. tons of shows. Megan follows. And she is a delight.
Starting point is 01:17:48 And I'm looking forward to having her on Unleashed. Well, listen, if I poach that guest from you, take it with love. No, do it. But don't poke her too much. Megan, she shoots, she scores. It was a CBC movie. And I guess I was like about 10 years old. I'm not quite sure if there's a context to that statement.
Starting point is 01:18:09 But I remember, was it the guy from Murdoch Mysteries in that? Am I? Is that him? I don't think so Who's the Murdoch Mysteries guy? Don't make me Google this You don't watch it
Starting point is 01:18:22 But I'm surprised you haven't had to I had this chat with Joel Greenberg The other day I was recording his podcast And every guest he has on Had a guest role How come I've never been invited On Joel Greenberg show
Starting point is 01:18:33 Well you got to work in theater It's not his show is about theater In this country Well I'm trying to make a theater project right now Well okay I'll talk to Joel Because he'll do a fourth season for sure here Why am I blanking on Yanik Bisson.
Starting point is 01:18:45 I'm going to say, I'm going to Google it now, but I think Yannick Bisson, I think it was him and Megan follows in that movie. She shoots, she scores. She shoots, she scores. Oh my goodness, you think I'm going to, here, I know, listen, you want a vampal?
Starting point is 01:19:00 Sounds like a porno movie. Well, that's, well, maybe it is. See, you can't even find it on Google. No, but I saw it, I saw it on CDC. I think you saw it in one of your dreams. Did you see it? You know what I'm talking about? I did see it.
Starting point is 01:19:16 And I know Megan was in it, but I don't know if... She started it. I know. I want to get this right, okay? Can you just bear with me here? I got a long theme song. That's what Rob Proustage me. I love this episode, and you'll be on again. But I wish you so much continued success here.
Starting point is 01:19:31 Thank you. It's possible because it's not showing up on the wiki page. I just did a command F on the word shoot. Well, you'll have to ask her when she comes in to do... But it's embarrassing to me. I probably have mistaken her. You better be well research before she gets on the podcast next week. It's not my show.
Starting point is 01:20:02 You've got to do the research. Yeah, but I always open it up for you to ask questions and stuff. All right, I'll do my homework. I could have sworn, so it's funny. I remember seeing a... This is when I was 10 years old. I saw a CBC movie. I thought it was Megan Follows.
Starting point is 01:20:16 I thought it was called She Shoot, She Scores. Maybe it wasn't called that. And I thought maybe the guy was... No, it wouldn't have been Yanik. He's too young? I think he's... I don't think it's the kind of project that he would have done. I just...
Starting point is 01:20:30 I wonder if it was... He was above that. I wonder if it was... What's his name from... Kianna Reeves? Oh, Paul Gross. Paul Gross, maybe. I didn't like Passion Dale.
Starting point is 01:20:42 You and many other people. I'm not going to state whether I liked it or I didn't like it. You got to plead the fifth. Okay, but everybody out there in listening audience, what do you think I thought of the film? Let us know, Mike at Toronto Mike.com. By the way, my next guest is a woman probably most famous for 902 and O but did a lot of stuff, Kathleen Robertson.
Starting point is 01:21:03 She's here tomorrow. Wow. You want me to get her in your next movie? Yes. Because that might get you into TIF. And that brings us to the end of our 1,759th show. Go to Tronomomike.com for all your Toronto Mike needs.
Starting point is 01:21:20 Subscribe to Unleashed a wonderful podcast from Avi Federgreen. Megan follows. We'll find out if she was in this movie I dreamt up. And check out Home Free in theaters this fall. Two thumbs up from your host, Toronto Mike. Homefree is excellent. Much love to all who made this possible. Again, that's patrons like you.
Starting point is 01:21:38 Go to patreon.com slash Toronto Mike. Become a member today. Great Lakes Brewery. Palma Pasta, Toronto's Waterfront, BIA, Recycle My Electronics.C.A, Blue Sky Agency, and Ridley Funeral Home, and maybe one day, Benjamin's.
Starting point is 01:21:53 See you all tomorrow with Kathleen Robertson.

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