Cinema Canada (Nov 1977)

As it turned out, it was to my benefit because from that, I got my first film offer. Dick Schouten, whom I’d known from previous years when he was with Time phone me up when I got back to Toronto and said, ““Do you want to work on a film?” SoI said, “‘sure’’. That was Black Christmas, my first film, and then somebody else offered me the job at the Zoo, So I did Black Christmas and then I went to the Zoo. Sounds appropriate. The Zoo. The Zoo was wonderful. Except for the politics. I started before it opened, and I had a wonderful time because I did a lot of creative input, i.e., I took a lot of photographs and put together a slide presentation. I want on the road; I went down to Rochester, I went down to Buffalo, I went to the automobile clubs and I gave presentations to all these people. Travel editors, bus tour operators, Kodak people, all in order to interest them in the Zoo, and they were very enthusiastic about it. And that was fun. I really had a good time then. I was not only doing publicity, but I was doing marketing. And that was fun. And it’s important because it is very applicable to films. What do you market at a Zoo? Well, I was. marketing the Zoo in terms of going down with these presentations. A study in San Diego determined that the market area for tourist attractions like the zoo is within a 75 miles radius for day trippers, and then for a week-end trip it’s a little further out. So, I just covered what I considered was that area. So I was making people — the media and travel operators — aware of this great project and they would eventually bring bus tours and all that to the Zoo when it opened. And it worked. And what happened in terms of politics? Why did you leave? Well, those politics were just a mess. They had an original Board that had worked 9 years to get the Zoo going; rather establishment Torontonians. And then, they fired the boss and it wasn’t handled very well. He was almost like another Al Bruner, by the way. He was the ideas man, but he was not good at administration. Anyway, then this new Board got a campaign going which in my opinion .was bad, was not based on facts. But they somehow appealed emotionally to the membership, the Zoo Society, and we had a meeting and an election. They had a very slick lawyer. Zap! They got rid of all the old board. Now, I was still there, hired by the old Board, and I was therefore, in their eyes, connected to the old Board. And there were nasty things .. like, they thought I was leaking stories to old Board, which I was not, I was just trying to do my job. After a while they got this new American in. I found out later that they did put pressure on me to resign, because they couldn’t fire me. And this American would come to my office and say, well, subtle things to my assistant (who was a good friend of mine); Well, have you kicked her out yet?’ And one day a man came in to measure my office for a new wall — I mean it was really like something that you read. Nobody told me anything. and then... I won’t go into the sordid details, but it was nasty. So I resigned and I thought,’ Phooey on this. I'm going to go out West — I’m from Victoria — and see if I like the West Coast.” I packed my car, sublet my flat, drove across Canada, had a wonderful time, went to my Uncle Bill’s ranch, rounded up cattle. Terrific. Got to Vancouver and got a phone call. Would you like to do publicity for Breaking Point? So I said, ‘‘Sure’’. I flew back, and then that sort of got things rolling in filming. I did that, and then Harold Greenberg, at that point, was going to do David Copperfield. So I went back to Victoria where we were hoping to film and I did location hunting. Al Kasha came up from Los Angeles and we went around the city and looked at locations. He was wonderful, a really terrific guy. And then Harold meant to come, but he got sick that year. Then, of course, the project fell through because of the Americans. I understand that the Americans wanted their credit, of course, because they wrote the film. I guess in the point system, in terms of tax write-off, they couldn’t get it so the whole project folded. I flew out another time to set up the Breaking Point world premiere party. A film which fortunately rapidly disappeared from the screens... What it was like working on Breaking Point. SPOT LIGHT It was Bob Clark, the same director, who did Black Christmas and who is very nice. We had fun because we had some kooky stunts and one of the photos went around the world... when we set the guys on fire, and they jumped into the lake. A nice crew. I don’t recall any terrible hassles. You know, I like to enjoy myself, right? And for me, it’s necessary to have a good laugh. The pressure was terrific, but I like the pressure because it’s stimulating, and you know that when it’s over you will have worked hard and then you can have this nice holiday. I recall Breaking Point as a pleasant, easy experience. After Breaking Point I went back home and I heard that Sophia Loren was going to be in British Columbia. So I drove down to Los Angeles. I wanted to go to California, so I thought I could get a tax benefit like this, and include the trip. I’d written to Zev Braun in advance and I phoned him. He said, ‘“‘Who?” I said, “It’s Prudence.” “‘Ah’’, he said, “phone Dale Olsen at Rogers & Cowan’, a big PR firm. So I went and saw this guy, Dale Olsen. I said, ‘‘I’ve done this and that, and I know all your gang in London because I used to work with them in London.” He said, “Sure, you’ve got the job.”’ So I thought, Terrific! I drove back to B.C. Then, of course, Sophia got ill and the whole project finished and my year was up out West. I’d given myself a year. So I got in my car, I was in Vancouver and got a phone call... “It’s on!’’ So I phoned and I asked, “Am I still on?’ and they said, ‘“‘Yes, but it’s in Montreal.’”’ So I drove across Canada again, unpacked in my flat in Toronto, stayed a night, and came here. So there we are. We are now starting Angela. The Uncanny | did simultaneously. Then there was The Disappearance. Then there was a lull, about five months, except for 3 days work on The Disappearance to put together a press book. And now we are here. So I came down actually for a holiday, but which coincided with the last four days of Sophia Loren, to wrap it up. And Denis Héroux said, ‘‘Prudence, we want to work with Claude Chabrol.’’ I said, “Denis, I have commited myself to Coup d’Etat.’’ He said, “Well, I don’t mind. You at least launch it, and I have Robert Lussier who is very good, who can take over from you when you go.’ So I said, “Ok.” And Denis, I adore, anyway. He’s a lovely person to work for. November 1977/9