After a limited release earlier this month, The Company You Keep debuts today across North America.

This Vancouver shot film centres around Jim Grant, a former Weather Underground member, anti-Vietnam war group who is wanted for bank robbery & murder. 

 After 30 years of hiding in plain sight as an Albany attorney, his life & career start to unravel when a young reporter Ben Sheppard figures out his true identity.

Oscar award winning actor Robert Redford both directs & stars in this film as Jim Grant, while popular young Transformers franchise star Shia Labeouf plays Ben Sheppard. The film has a whos who of notable Hollywood names in it including Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Nick Nolte, Anna Kendrick & many others.

I caught them filming in Gastown 1 day. the scene involved Redford and Labeouf doing a scene as Grant & Sheppard. Here is some photos from that set... as well as a video of the scene being shot on 1 of the takes here


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwLGGdVOxn8&feature=share&list=UU4eJiULi4vbsQ9hEtRwP8JA

By now, if you are a fan of any of the TV programs done in Vancouver, or even just a fan of TV & movies in general. You have heard or read about the uproar in the filming community of British Columbia over the fact the current Premier of the Province, Christy Clark, has essentially washed her hands of the multi-billion dollar industry & is happily letting it die. More disturbing, she has gone as far as to have facebook comments protesting this decision deleted from her facebook page...by the 100s & maybe even now 1000s.

A website devoted to screecapping & cataloguing the deleted posts http://www.ninja12.com/cc/
is so long, I couldn't read it all in 1 sitting (and its a read worth reading)

An article early this morning by political journalist Bob Mackin http://www.biv.com/article/20130110/BIV0103/130119995
caught the eye of many, especially in the industry. The groundswell of anger & frustration from the deleted comments moved into a plan of action, as tweets, tumblr posts and of course a petition were created to demand action from Christy Clark.

Currently, the petition
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/SAVE_BC_FILM/?wgxOzcb
(yes, I generally mock online petitions...but it is still a way to make your voice heard) has garnered over 3,500 signatures in about 24 hrs. It's goal is 10000 signatures, and at its current pace, probably will get there by tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest. From the handful of times I stared at names rolling across the screen of recent signees, mostly Canadian, I saw many connected to the B.C. filming industry that I was familiar with lke Callum Keith Rennie, Crystal Lowe, Erica Cerra, Tanya Hubbard and Frank Cassini scrolled down the ticker in the time I watched. I saw a few others, who work behind the scenes, whose names I recognize also pop up. These are not millionaire actors who are griping over losing a couple thousand dollars. These are people making a barely livable wage in this province, and more specifically VANCOUVER, recently called the most expensive city in North America, angry that she wants to eliminate their jobs all together.

For every Jensen Ackles, Jennifer Morrison, Robert Carlyle or Joshua Jackson making millions annually from the B.C. film industry, theres 100s more who make not much more than you or I, put in far longer hours than you or I (I often talk to crew on set who have put in 16+ hour days...then do it again the very next day) & do not have the luxury to just fly off to Los Angeles, Toronto or New York when things dry up here. They have families, secondary jobs, small businesses (many in the industry have invested heavily into it with businesses HERE that will surely have to close up if the industry continues failing) & responsibilities HERE.

Tweets from actors & actresses on the Save B.C. Film Campaign

"Primeval New World" actress Crystal Lowe
https://twitter.com/RealCrystalLowe/status/290562419875528704
"Eureka" actress Erica Cerra (2 tweets)
https://twitter.com/AirikahChaira/status/290526320335659009
https://twitter.com/AirikahChaira/status/290615372858654720
"Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes" actress Chelah Horsdahl
https://twitter.com/chelahhorsdal/status/290537138813014017
Actor & Producer Kenji Maeda
https://twitter.com/kenjimaeda/status/290557782401376256
"Glee" actor Patrick Gallagher
https://twitter.com/PatrickGman/status/290579555683561473
"Continuum" Actress Jennifer Spence
https://twitter.com/SpenceJen/status/290581532349964289

These arent millionaires, these are all actors you have likely seen on TV or movies, who work a handful of days a month when things are going well, and might work 1 or 2 days, maybe even none, when things are not. Without a film industry in B.C. these people, who have trained to be actors & actresses, who care so much for the industry, would either be unemployed or forced to move out of the Province that they have called home & developed roots in. They are just a fraction of the industry too.

There are writers, stunt people, entire crews who build & tear down sets, make up & hair stylists, publicists, casting agencies, location scouts, CGI specialists, artists, prop makers and countless other professions directly tied to this industry....not to mention 100s of other smaller sub-sections of industries that survive because of the addition of the film industry here, such as hotels, drivers, police, medical, fire staff, reporters, and yes, even us lowly autograph hounds. The reality is, there are few large or small industries in Vancouver that arent affected directly or indirectly by filming. The loss of this industry would have a large trickledown effect throughout the entire province.

I was so annoyed, I made a tumblr blog post...something I almost never do, because I wanted the message to reach the broadest audience I had available & twitter just doesnt do it in 140 characters.... here was my statement on there...

http://canadagraphs1.tumblr.com

I have posted tweets at Christy several times over the past months of different newspaper articles, tv reports & blog posts about the struggling film industry.

NONE of them did she ever everrespond to.

Make matters worse, the Premier FOLLOWS me on twitter, and I even contacted her via DM if she wanted to discuss this privately...still no reply to that attempt either. It is blatantly clear, she HATES TV & Movies & wishes they would go to Ontario, Louisiana or California... which has happened in droves over the past couple years.

To say the industry needs a massive boost right now is a gross understatement. There is an election May 14th, but what damage will Christy have inflicted by that time? (NOTE- I edited this section.... it previously said 2 yrs till next election. Thanks to those who corrected my inaccuracy). It will consist of shows that were already here before the intentional murder of the industry started and no new, fresh shows will come to open up spots of employment for the 1000s of unemployed people in the industry this Province worked so hard to build through the 80s & 90s.

It is hard for me to believe I am saying this, but it is possible Christy Clark is a worse Premier than Gordon Campbell, a man who implemented laws so absurd it nearly financially cripled myself & many others who are in the low income backet. Christy Clark seems to have no business sense. She seems to be oblivious to the fact there is a multi-billion dollar industry in her Province that is slowly moving to places where they WILL give tax breaks. Christy Clark would rather tax it, have it leave, create 1000s of unemployed workers surviving off Unemployment Insurance & Welfare, instead of working in an industry that has made B.C. a desired place for people to visit (tourism $$), relocate to & do business in.

If you WANT shows like Supernatural, Once Upon A Time, Arrow or Psych to keep making the quality products they have been making... you need to have your voice heard. Sign the petition, blog about it, tweet about it, comment on Christy Clarks page & make her P.R. team know we wont quietly heed to her tyrranical actions. This is an industry with MONEY, POPULARITY and MANY OUTLETS to have its VOICE heard.

My recommendation to Christy Clark... BACK DOWN from your demands to kill the industry before you end up portrayed as an incompetent, addle minded, crazy person character on 1 of the shows.... afterall, they have the power to make it happen. .. and if you keep poking the bear, I am sure 1 or more of them will make it happen.

Other articles referring to this campaign that I've seen today...
http://www.timescolonist.com/film-tv-gaming-left-out-of-bc-jobs-plan-1.44327
- Victoria Times Colonist
http://www.vancitybuzz.com/2013/01/save-bc-film-petition/
- Vancitybuzz
http://vancityfilming.com/save-bc-film/
- Vancity Filming
http://www.facebook.com/GlobalBC/posts/10151322419517808
- Global TV story on the noon news
http://www.globaltvbc.com/video/save+bc+film+campaign/video.html?v=2325159573#stories
- Save B.C. Film twitter account (200+ followers already)
https://www.facebook.com/savebcfilm?fref=ts
- Save B.C. Film Facebook page (already 1200+ likes)
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/savebcfilm

"Kick Ass" star Chloe Moretz stops on the red carpet of her 2011 Toronto International Film Festival Premiere for "Hick"

It is time for the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival!!

The 37th TIFF is rolling out another star studded line up for its event.

With legitimate A Listers like Johnny Depp, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro & Will Smith coming, as well as up & comers like Jennifer Lawrence, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Emma Watson & Marion Cotillard, as well as notable TV stars like Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, John Goodman & Keifer Sutherland, this festival will be full of star sightings around Toronto for the next week & 1/2.

The festival is starting off with a roar as "Looper" starring The Dark Knight Rises star Joseph Gordon Levitt & Die Hard legend Bruce Willis opens the festival.
Other notable titles are
-"Spring Breakers" featuring a trio of the next generations "in" names James Franco, Selena Gomez & Vanessa Hudgens.
-"Anna Karenina" with Keira Knightley & Kick Ass star Aaron Taylor Johnson.
-"Argo" The Ben Affleck directed & starred in thriller featuring John Goodman & Bryan Cranston.
- "Cloud Atlas" featuring Tom Hanks, Hugo Weaving & Halle Berry.
-"Silver Linings Playbook" featuring Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper & Jennifer Lawrence.
&
-"The Company You Keep" directed by Robert Redford & starring Shia LaBeouf & Mr. Redford himself.
Thats only a 1/2 dozen of the 100s of films featured at the festival.

Of course, most of Hollywoods star power will be on hand promoting their projects.
Every year I have a top list of who I want to get. Here is my 2012 crop (list was made before some late additions to the list of attendees was known)

My top 25 list

1- Johnny Depp - Its Johnny freaking depp. You know, Officer Hanson. How could I NOT put him 1st?
2- Will Smith - The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, Men In Black 1 & 2, Independence Day. MOST years, he probably would have been #1 with a resume like that.
3- Colin Farrell - In Bruges is 1 of my favorite movies ever. The main 3 from the film are all apparently coming...but he was the only confirmed 1 when I made the list.
4- Tom Hanks - You heard of that film Toy Story? No? How about Toy Story 2? Toy Story 3? A League Of Their Own? Forrest Gump? I knew you woulda heard of something hes done if I named enough. 2 Academy Awards. Nuff said.
5- Robert De Niro - My hope to get him is waning. 2 years in a row I have been within inches of getting him, only to go away shut put. Is 3rd time the charm?
6- Bryan Cranston - Walter Fucking White. Do I need to say more?
7- Aaron Paul - Cant get 1 member of Breaking Bad without getting the other, right?
8- Hugh Laurie - Gregory House is 1 of my favorite TV characters ever. Got snubbed by him last year. Trying to right that wrong this year.
9- Jason Bateman - In the last year or so I became an Arrested development fan. I got Jason in 2007, but didnt care much as I had not seen a second of AD yet. Now, different story.
10- Aaron Taylor Johnson - I got Hit Girl Llast year, this year, gotta get KICK ASS.
11- Hugo Weaving - Loved V For Vendetta. 
12- Saoirse Ronan - Although I got her last year, this year, I wanna get 1 that isnt sign in a gawdawful dying silver marker.
13- Brendan Gleeson - In Bruges star.
14- Eli Roth - Loved Grindhouse & Inglourious Basterds. Dont love ALL his work, but the ones I do, are pretty awesome.
15- Ralph Fiennes - In Bruges star. That is all.
16- Mary Elizabeth Winsted - As the actress playing a cheerleader in a movie in Death Proof she was automatically on my list. Her role in Live Free Or Die Hard solidified it)
17- Jennifer Lawrence - The Hunger Games. Enuff said.
18- Saskia Rosendahl - Every TIFF I find 1 "dont know much about her" name that intrigues me. This year, Saskia caught my attention.
19- Selena Gomez - Even though I got her several times in the past, I havent got her in awhile.
20- Pierce Brosnan - James Bond should always make any list.
21- Helen Hunt - got her before. But would like to get again.
22- Christina Hendricks - just too hot not to want to get.
23- Viggo Mortensen - got him before...but now, theres even MORE films of his I like. So I want him again.
24- Ray Liotta - Wild Hogs, Goodfellas...and he has his own honey.
25- Keira Knightley - Hmmm'ed & hawwed about who gets 25tyh. In the end, decided the POTC star trumped Marisa Tomei being in My Cousin Vinny.

Honourable mention -  Gwynyth Paltrow, Bruce Willis, Olga Kurylenko Marion Cotillard,  Steve Buscemi, Ray Liotta, Christopher Walken, Kate Hudson, Javier Bardem, Marisa Tomei, Jude Law, Lena Headey,

In 2010 I managed only 8/20 (but managed my #1 Michael C. Hall) http://canadagraphs.weebly.com/1/post/2010/09/my-top-20-wants-at-tiff-2010.html

In 2011 I managed only 9/30 (but managed my #1 Chloe Moretz & 4 of my top 5 INCLUDING Madonna) http://canadagraphs.weebly.com/1/post/2011/09/the-2011-toronto-international-film-festival-starts-this-week-here-is-my-top-30-want-list-for-tiff-11.html

How will I do in 2012? Who will I get? Who will I miss? Will Mr. Depp keep the #1 streak alive?

TODAY TIFF KICKS OFF!! I will try to update my blog with reports of my daily ventures when time permits. I will certainly cover every day...eventually, just might be a couple days late sometimes.