Way back in 1992 or so, Edmonton's Film and Video Arts society (FAVA) was holding a short film contest, and I decided I wanted to compete. I enlisted a bunch of my friends from the University of Alberta Star Trek Club and the Bleak House of Blahs to write and shoot My Love is a Red, Red Spy, the first in a planned series of adventures of Government Grant, my spy/civil servant alternate identity. Jeff Shyluk and I wrote what is probably our second-best screenplay (after Toilet Chase) and we were ambitious enough to secure props, scout locations and even include a car chase with a stunt.
Poor Ron Briscoe took the brunt of the abuse in this film - I had him flung into a snowbank and he had to crawl across an icy parking lot for the film's climax. It was minus 30.
For some reason I think Colin Dunn was originally enlisted to cameo as Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, but I don't think that's him at the beginning - it appears to be Jeff.
Shot and edited on VHS, the video and sound quality are far from high definition, and at a couple of points you can even hear me saying "cut!" I'm also a little uncomfortable with some of the rather juvenile sexism, even though this is supposed to be a James Bond parody. But I think some of the gags are still pretty funny, and I enjoy seeing my friends act. I think they're pretty good!
3 comments:
Is the movie in there (YouTube) twice? It seems to stop at 14:30 and then restart after the credits.
Or is that the director's cut?
Whoops, you're right. The hazards of downloading from DVD and picking the wrong VOB file.
I am speechless. It is also fortunate I didn't get into acting. Earl, that was fun reminscing. Thanks.
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