By John C.

 

Canadian director Michael McGowan has been busy recently, as his film Score: A Hockey Musical opened TIFF on September 9th, and starts a limited release in Canadian theatres tomorrow.  I caught up with him over the phone to discuss everything from his hockey musical, to his little known first film, My Dog Vincent.

 

Having also directed the excellent, critically acclaimed Canadian movies Saint Ralph and One Week, Michael McGowan continues to give us satisfying, heartfelt entertainment and it was great getting to talk to him about his work as a writer and director.

 

Our reviews of Score: A Hockey Musical will be coming tomorrow.

 

Enjoy!

 

Left to Right: Noah Reid, Director Michael McGowan and Dave Bidini.  Photo by Ken Woroner.

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My first question for you is, what inspired you to do a hockey musical? Well, I think the fact that we live in Canada, it represented kind of who we are – we’ve always loved hockey and music.  I don’t know exactly where the inspiration came from, it just was like a great idea that popped into my head, and I decided to run with it.

 

What was your first reaction when you heard your film would be opening TIFF? I was pretty incredulous actually!  I mean the fact that they chose to open with it was not necessarily game changing, but it is one of the highest honours as a Canadian filmmaker to even make it into the festival.

 

How did you cast the actors? Some like Olivia Newton John, who we were interested in, and the fact that Olivia got the script and wanted to play in the same sandbox was great.  The others like Noah and Allie, they came to the auditions – we held open auditions, and they were cast from there.

 

How long was the whole filming process for Score: A Hockey Musical? Five weeks in Toronto.

 

What were some of your favourite scenes to film? I loved filming the big dance sequences – they were really fun, such high energy, and it was new to me as a filmmaker.  I hadn’t done anything like that before.

 

And what were some of the hardest? Again, the same kind of scenes.  There were time constraints and we’d have to shoot for ice availability.  So it worked both ways for those scenes.  Filming the outdoor ice stuff was also pretty hard – we had such a warm winter that we weren’t sure we’d get the right conditions, but luckily we did.

 

Where did you draw the inspiration for the music? Well, it was just stuff that I liked really.  Mostly I drew it from the musicians.  I’d hear what they could do with my words and let them do it.  I’m not a musician, I don’t have any musical talent, so what you have to do is just let them do their thing.  Of course, sometimes I’d say, do it a little less like this, or a little more like that, but they got it.  I think we drew from everything from Juno to the 1940’s.

 

Will there be a CD release of the soundtrack? It was actually released yesterday on iTunes.

 

Is it available in stores as well? That’s a good question. It was actually released under the Universal label and should be readily available.

 

Good.  I’ll have to pick up a copy.

 

Producer Avi Federgreen was at Planet in Focus last weekend talking about some of the ‘green initiatives’ for this film.  Can you tell me a little more about how this production was kept environmentally friendly? Well, he knows more about that than I do, but basically everything from handing out recyclable water bottles to keeping the paper flow to the minimum.  Those were the more obvious ones.  We also used a lot of biodegradable supplies.

 

Where did you get the hockey equipment used in the film? Canadian Tire.  And then we donated the stuff we didn’t need to the Wayne Gretzky Foundation.

 

What was it like watching Score for the first time with an audience? It was great.  You know, it was at TIFF the first time, and I had Nelly Furtado behind me laughing and Olivia Newton John – they loved it, so that kind of put me at ease.  You always worry that people won’t like it.

 

I saw it for the first time with a TIFF audience, and everyone seemed to have a really great time. That’s what I thought.  It is a bit of a fairy tale and fantasy, but I think it’s great to walk out of a movie that puts a smile on your face.

 

How do you think it will be received outside of Canada? We’ve had some reaction and It’s been great so far.  I think when you start with ‘O Canada’ and end with ‘Hockey, The Greatest Game in the Land,’ you can’t get more Canadian than that.  My other films, St. Ralph and One Week got some attention from international audiences, so I think this will be the same thing as well.

 

I’ve been a big fan of your work since I saw Saint Ralph on DVD a few years ago, and I thought One Week was one of the finest movies of last year.  But according to IMDb you also made a little known film called My Dog Vincent.  Can you tell me more about it? Thank you.  Yeah, it was basically a student film.  My friend and I raised the money and we didn’t really know what we were doing.  For me it was like going to film school.

 

Did you go to film school? No, I took English in University.

 

Which probably helped you become such a good writer. It is true, I consider myself to be a writer who directs, rather than a director who writes his own stuff.

 

I did a few internet searches and I couldn’t find My Dog Vincent on DVD – has it been released? No, it had not – I’m actually thinking of putting it out on DVD.  It’s like my lost film.  Although I have seen it come on CBC a couple of times.

 

Because a lot of people think of Saint Ralph as your first film. Exactly.  I never try to shy away from My Dog Vincent in conversation, but I went from making a very small film to a very big one and I learned a lot.

 

Who are some of your greatest inspirations as a filmmaker – what are your favourite movies? I love Rushmore, Waking Ned Divine, Amélie, Inglouious Basterds, Reservoir Dogs, and the small Irish film Once.  I don’t really have a favourite director, and some are hit and miss.  I’m just really happy my career hasn’t been pigeonholed into one type of film and I’ve had the opportunity to explore.  I never wanted to be considered like Canada’s version of ‘this director.’

 

The films you mentioned are all great movies, but they’re also ones that mix drama and humour. I really think I’ve sort of come to the conclusion that mixing heart and humour is what really works for me.  Like in One Week we were basically laughing at a funeral.  And even in Score there is a real emotional core to the story.

 

What advice would you give to aspiring filmmakers? Find a great script.  If you have a great story, then you will have a better chance at making a great film.  If you have a terrible story, well, you’re not going to have a good movie.

 

Are there any upcoming projects you can tell me about? I don’t mean to sound coy when I say this, but there isn’t really anything I’m talking about right now.  I’m working on a few ideas, and I hope to shoot something next year.  In a couple of months I think I will have a clearer idea of what will see the light of day.

 

Are you writing any new scripts? Yes, I’m writing one right now actually.

 

Is there anything else you’d like to add before we wrap up? Not Really – I think we covered everything.

 

Congratulations on the wonderful Score: A Hockey Musical and thanks for taking the time to talk with me today. Thanks for doing this interview and for your enthusiasm about the film!