Cinema Canada (Jan-Feb 1979)

INTRODUCING... him into closer contact with the actual functions of directing a variety of programs, including film documentaries. After a year of freelance work, which included directing, camera, sound, and film editing, Jim ventured into the world of the independent production company, as Secretary-Treasurer of Interquack Productions Ltd. He is now President and driving force of the one-man operation. But he is not alone: he shares office space with Tinsel and Sham Productions, another Edmonton company. It’s a friendly office, spacious and sunlit, lush with hanging plants. Interaction between the two companies is evident, from quick consultations between the two presidents, to shared secretarial staff, right down to the communal coffee urn. “We’re small, and we can’t do everything at once,” Jim explains. “So if one of us is out filming, the other can be doing the deskwork; or we may help each other round up the necessary craftspeople for a project. But we are independent — we still compete on the same bids.”’ It is this type of cooperative camaraderie which emerges from many Alberta film companies and is an ambiance into which Jim fits well. The bearded, gentle-mannered, 36-year-old shows none of the self-importance one might expect from a busy producer. He is low-key, casual in a T-shirt, and completely unpretentious. There is no hype, no pressure, no pushiness: ‘‘Maybe you could just watch me work instead of interviewing me,’ was his initial reaction to talking about himself. He is an outdoors man, who loves fishing, hiking, cross-country skiing and so on, but finds little time for them with Interquack to tend to. Now, with the added duties of AMPIA, he is philosophically resigned to having even less. ““AMPIA work can take up to three days a week; and this year we are going to be very busy. During its first five years, AMPIA was more or less a vehicle of communication, or a lobby, to make the government aware of what is going on and what is needed by the film community here. Now, it is becoming an effective industrial organization. We have to establish an ongoing system of communication,” he explains; and there is going to be alot of groundwork involved. Communication is a theme that comes up a lot in Jim’s conversation. Previously, as a member of the AMPIA board of directors, his main effort 8/Cinema Canada was to work on a by-law revision which would allow independent craftsmen (that is, not employed either by TV or by government) to have a direct voice in the affairs of the organization; a voice which they did not previously have. And, communication has been the most satisfying aspect of Jim’s past film work. “Any film that really gets through to the audience is satisfying. Entertainment shows are always fun to do, because you can see the effect right away. And motivational films are rewarding; you communicate to a specific audience with emotion; if you can affect them positively, it is a good feeling.” Jim has worked in many different functions on virtually dozens of production films for TV, government, and the private sector. Jim Long is already busy with plans for two upcoming AMPIA projects; tentatively in February, there will be a series of sessions for filmmakers on the business aspects of the industry — marketing, legalities, and so on, probably to be held in Edmonton; and later, early in May, AMPIA plans a basic film workshop dealing with such facets as camera, sound, continuity, lighting, and so on. Participants in the seminar will be broken up into several film crews, each one producing a film based on one script. As far as Jim’s goal for his coming year as President of AMPIA, he sums it up by saying he hopes to be able to promote a positive climate for growth of the film industry in Albera. Martha Jones liza langloir eating her cake Lisa Langlois is 19 and looks the role of ingénue. She’s young, freshfaced, smiles easily, and is generally bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She is also a determined and serious actress who knows what she wants, and will probably get it. She has been working professionally for two years now, ever since a dance teacher suggested that she find an agent. Probably best known by the general public for her work in commercials — Quench, Get Cracking, pushing burgers and fries under the ubiquitous golden arches of McDonaldland — and for roles in several television dramas and documentaries, she has also in the past year and a half, had supporting roles in three feature films, Blood Relatives and Violette Noziére by Claude Chabrol and most recently finished shooting on Nicolas Gessner’s It Rained All Night the Day I Left, shot in Montreal and Israel, and in which her role is pivotal.