INERTIA

PRODUCTION NOTES

"I had always been interested in making a film about relationships," states INERTIA Writer/Director Sean Garrity. "But I wanted to do approach it differently. In most movies, the theme is always the same, and in the end, everyone falls in love and lives happily ever after. I wanted to make a film without the heroics and the happy endings. I wanted to make a movie that people could watch and say, "That's me up there. That's my life".

The writing process for INERTIA was unique and came to be because of Sean's interest in the cinematic applications of improvisational theatre. Sean's background as a musician figured heavily into this method: "When I'm playing with other musicians, a lot of the best stuff that happens on stage is improvised. I became really excited about applying that approach to filmmaking". Sean came up with a concept, wrote the skeleton of a story and then collaborated with improv actors to develop the scenes and characters. He contacted the four actors who would eventually star in INERTIA, Jonas Chernick, Sarah Constible, Gordon Tanner and Micheline Marchildon. After providing them with the general outline, he directed improv sessions, and videotaped them, then spent a month in Japan transcribing, editing and rewriting the first draft of INERTIA.

"It was so easy to write the script because the characters were so real. It was almost impossible to write out of character with their input. It was like having four story editors, each specializing in one character."

Sean had known INERTIA Producer Brendon Sawatzky through the Winnipeg Film Group, and the decision to work together on this project came about after a conversation about the state of filmmaking in Winnipeg. Sawatzky, a filmmaker himself, remembers their initial meetings. "We were discussing the fact there weren't enough opportunities for new directors to shoot their first feature film, when I remarked that maybe I could help with development. The next week Sean walked into the Film Group with the first draft for INERTIA." Brendon quickly started filling out applications and proposals for the project and it wasn't long before he and Sean were selected for the 1999 National Screen Institute's Features First program. This influential program offers professional development for filmmakers, as well as project development services.

Through the NSI'a Features First Program, Garrity and Sawatzky were able to meet with Toronto producer Alexandra Raffe (whose film projects have collectively won 11 Genie Awards) and story editor Peggy Thompson (Better Than Chocolate), who helped fine-tune the script. States Sawatzky, "Features First gave us both the big picture on the Canadian film industry and also introduced us to other filmmakers who were only too glad to help out."

As the Features First program wrapped up, more proposals and applications were sent out to funding agencies. What really got the ball rolling was a successful application to the Canada Council for the Arts. Soon after that the financial structure came together thanks to Telefilm Canada, the Manitoba Film and Sound Development Corp. and the Federal and Provincial Tax Credit programs. An initial broadcast license was acquired from Showcase Television, which was soon followed up by another pre-sale to The Movie Network.

In early January of 2001 pre-production began with the assembly of an eager cast and crew. Locations were scouted, film was ordered, equipment rented and filming began promptly on March 10th.