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AMAZE FILM + TELEVISION, in Associa�on with GRAiNEY PICTURES and FOUNDATION FILMS
Presents
BEING CANADIAN Distributed by CANDY FACTORY FILMS
Wri�en and Directed by Robert Cohen Produced by The Sibs [Colin Keith Gray & Megan Raney Aarons] Execu�ve
Producers Michael Souther, Teza Lawrence, and Michael Lafetra
Available in Theaters and On Demand – September 18, 2015
Running Time: 89 minutes
Press Contacts:
New York
Susan Engel – [email protected] – 212.373.0114 Lee Meltzer – [email protected] – 212.373.6142
Los Angeles Jazmin Sanchez – [email protected] – 310.854.3267 Rebecca Fisher– Rebecca.Fisher @pmkbnc.com – 310.854.4897
Margaret Gordon– [email protected] – 310.854.4736
CANDY FACTORY CONTACT Jason Ward, CEO Candy Factory Films
[email protected] – 518.857.8468
INDIECAN ENTERTAINMENTAvi Federgreen
SHORT SYNOPSIS When Calgarian Robert Cohen moved to L.A. to pursue his dreams of becoming a comedy writer, he quickly realized that his new friends and colleagues knew nothing but the usual stereotypes about his beloved homeland. After years of frustration, Robert decided to embark on a personal quest, traveling from one end of Canada to the other, to prove BEING CANADIAN is more than just maple syrup and Mounties. Imagine “Sherman’s March” or “Roger and Me”, but wearing a toque.
LONG SYNOPSIS BEING CANADIAN chronicles the real life quest of Robert Cohen, a proud Canadian, who, after leaving Calgary for the U.S. to start a career as a TV comedy writer, began noticing how little people outside his beloved homeland knew or cared about it. After decades of ignorance, insults, and indifference to the land he truly loves, he decided to do something about it.
Rob sets off on an epic personal quest, driving from the East coast of Canada to the West, to make sure the country he had been fighting for is still what he remembered after living away from it for so long. He weaves this journey with interviews from a variety of famous Canadians, like Mike Myers, Seth Rogen, Martin Short, Howie Mandel, Michael J. Fox, Will Arnett, Alanis Morrisette, Dave Foley, Malcolm Gladwell, Cobie Smulders, Eugene Levy, and many others. Along the way, he also sits down with a Canadian nutritionist, psychotherapist, a politeness expert, and the man in charge of protecting Canada’s top-secret emergency maple syrup reserve. Some long time American friends, like Kathy Griffin, Ben Stiller, and Conan O’Brien, also weigh in.
And he sets the most Canadian of deadlines for his answer…midnight on Canada Day, in Vancouver. Although comedic in nature, Rob’s desire to rediscover his national identity and gain internal peace is real. Imagine Roger and Me or Sherman’s March, but wearing a toque.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT When I first moved to the U.S., I was surprised at the way people reacted to me BEING CANADIAN. I didn’t view Americans and Canadians as being that different, but it didn’t take long for me to realize how Canadians were perceived beyond our border: with a weak smile and uneducated shrug. And for the few times they were forced to discuss Canada, between the sounds of their eyes rolling, I would hear snide comments about Mounties, hockey, beer, and drunk Mounties playing hockey. How could this be? I could name all 50 states and most of the world capitals, while “they” gingerly guessed that Toronto was the capital of Vancouver. This level of global indifference towards my home only became worse the more I traveled, so I decided to do something about it.
So I finished a hockey game with my drunk Mountie friends, and joined forces with fellow L.A. based Canadians Colin Keith Gray and Megan Raney Aarons, better known as The Sibs (and both originally from Ottawa, Canada’s capital by the way!). We then teamed up with Mike Souther and Teza Lawrence of Amaze Film + Television (based in Toronto), and what developed is my first feature length documentary, BEING CANADIAN. Our goal was to cross the entire country in 10 days, going from coast to coast, with the deadline of finding out what it means BEING CANADIAN set at midnight on Canada Day in Vancouver (July 1st, but everyone reading this obviously knows that). Along the way, we met a wide selection of fantastic people and visited so many incredible places, hoping to erase all the ignorance about Canada, while rediscovering the country I so dearly missed and loved.
This documentary was made by Canadians, for Canadians, and for anyone who has ever been curious about that massive polite blob sitting on top of Montana. This film is our home movie, about our home.
Robert Cohen July 2015
FILMMAKER BIOS
ROBERT COHEN (Writer/Director)
Robert is the pride of the Canadian Rockies and has more than 20 years of experience in network sitcoms, sketch comedy, variety, improvisation, animation, and motion pictures. Most of it positive. Rob’s comedy writing stints include The Ben Stiller Show (for which he won an Emmy), Just Shoot Me!,
The Big Bang Theory, The Wonder Years, Saturday Night Live, MADtv, and The Simpsons. This last opportunity also enshrined him for most of eternity as the visual inspiration for Bart Simpson’s best friend Milhouse, to whom he still bears a striking resemblance. His feature film work includes the Austin Powers films, all three Shrek films, Dodgeball, Madagascar; Tropic Thunder, and Anchorman 2. Rob also works as a commercial director and has produced/directed pilots and short films for MTV, Comedy Central, and HBO; eight episodes of the critically acclaimed IFC series Maron; studio feature campaigns for Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros., and 20th Century Fox; a music video for Aimee Mann; and multiple promos starring Tom Cruise, Ben Stiller, Mike Myers, Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, and Robert Downey, Jr.. Rob’s turn-ons are honesty, cold pizza, and moderately short bios.
The Sibs (Producers) Colin Keith Gray and Megan Raney Aarons
Colin and Megan are an award-winning brother/sister writing, directing, and producing team originally from Ottawa, Canada. In 2003, The Sibs launched GRAiNEY PICTURES, a full service content creation company based in Los Angeles that specializes in unscripted content across all platforms. Recent credits include The Godfather of Pittsburgh for A&E, a TV docu-series produced with Mario Signore & Renegade 83; the feature doc Atari: Game Over for XBox & Showtime, directed by Zak Penn and produced with Lightbox & Fuel Entertainment; the rock-doc web series Hello, Again that The Sibs directed & produced for Beck/Lincoln Motor Company (Cannes Cyber Lion and Webby award winner); Meena, a scripted short film on child sex trafficking based on Nicholas Kirstof & Sheryl WuDunn’s book Half The Sky that The Sibs wrote and directed with Lucy Liu for UNICEF; Clean Break, an interactive web series that The Sibs directed and produced for Schick and Sony Crackle; Redlight, a TV documentary on child sex trafficking in Cambodia that they co-wrote and produced for Showtime; and Freedom’s Fury, the internationally acclaimed feature documentary that they wrote and directed about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. The Hungarian Government knighted The Sibs, along with Executive Producers Quentin Tarantino and Lucy Liu, for their work on the film.
Michael Souther / Teza Lawrence (Executive Producers) Michael and Teza are co-owners and co-founders of Amaze Film + Television. Both acted as producer of four successful seasons of Call Me Fitz, a half-hour comedy series for HBO Canada
(The Movie Network and Movie Central) starring Jason Priestley, which won Best Comedy Series at the Canadian Screen Awards. The series won 24 other awards during its four-season run. Their feature Finn on the Fly, won the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film at the 2009 Sprockets Toronto International Film Festival for Children, and a Best Independent Feature Film Award at the 2009 KIDS FIRST! Film Festival. They also received a 2006 Genie Nomination for Best Feature Film as a producer on Saint Ralph. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, winning the Grand Prix at the 2005 Paris Film Festival, and was distributed theatrically around the world. In addition, they have produced and directed a number of award-winning national television commercials and just wrapped production on the first season of the half-hour multi-cam series, The Stanley Dynamic for YTV.
A SMALL SAMPLE OF SOME OF THE AMAZING PEOPLE IN OUR FILM...
MIKE MYERS MICHAEL J. FOX HOWIE MANDEL ALANIS MORISSETTE
PAUL SHAFFER ALAN THICKE
DAVE FOLEY ALEX TREBEK
WILL ARNETT BEN STILLER
RUSH RUSSELL PETERS
KATHY GRIFFIN THE TRAILER PARK BOYS
CONAN O’BRIEN BARENAKED LADIES
DAN AYKROYD NATHAN FILLION
EUGENE LEVY WILLIAM SHATNER
MALCOLM GLADWELL RICH LITTLE
CAROLINE RHEA DAVID STEINBERG
MORLEY SAFER RICK MERCER
FORMER PRIME MINISTER KIM CAMPBELL SETH ROGEN
COBIE SMULDERS THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FARCE
MARTIN SHORT CATHERINE O'HARA
JASON PRIESTLEY GEORGE STROUMBOULOPOULOS
... AND MANY, MANY MORE.
BEING CANADIAN END CREDITS
AMAZE FILM + TELEVISION
In Association With GRAiNEY PICTURES
FOUNDATION FILMS
And ENTERTAINMENT ONE
Present
A Film
Written & Directed by ROBERT COHEN
Producers THE SIBS
[Colin Keith Gray & Megan Raney Aarons]
Executive Producers MICHAEL SOUTHER
TEZA LAWRENCE MICHAEL LAFETRA
Editor
BECKY HUTNER
Director of Photography MEGAN RANEY AARONS
Composers
CRAIG NORTHEY & SCOTTY HARD
Graphic Designer DAN PIERSE
DOJO DESIGN & MOTION, LLC
Co-Producer JARROD THALHEIMER
Associate Producers STEPHEN KESSLER
PETER B. ARONSON
Featuring (in order of appearance)
KATHY GRIFFIN CONAN O'BRIEN DAN AYKROYD
HOWIE MANDEL GEDDY LEE NEIL PEART
ALEX LIFESON EUGENE LEVY WILL ARNETT
CAROLINE RHEA MORLEY SAFER
SETH ROGEN COBIE SMULDERS
ANN LUU TANYA MEMME MARTIN SHORT
JASON PRIESTLEY CATHERINE O’HARA
MICHAEL J. FOX TIM LONG
CHUCK TATHAM DAN SIGNER JOEL COHEN
GEORGE STROUMBOULOPOULOS ALANIS MORISSETTE
KIM CAMPBELL DAVE FOLEY
WAYNE FEDERMAN MIKE MYERS
DAVID STEINBERG ADRIAN HAREWOOD
BRIGITTE GALL
ANDREW CLARK ALAN THICKE ALEX TREBEK
BARENAKED LADIES RUSSELL PETERS
DR. R KEITH RANEY BEN STILLER
MALCOLM GLADWELL TRAILER PARK BOYS
FEARLESS FRED PAUL SHAFFER
NATHAN FILLION DANA GOULD
WILLIAM SHATNER MANISHA KRISHNAN
LINDA ALLEN ANDREW ESTABROOKS
MIKE MACDONALD CHRISTY MORGAN
RICH LITTLE ROYAL AIR FARCE
MARC THUET MARY BAMFORD PAUL ROUILLARD DARRELL DENNIS HERBIE BARNES
ANTON LEO MARC COHON
BRIAN HANSON RICK MERCER
SUSIE PATRICOLA ROB’S MOM
MARSHA BERNIKER HELGA STEPHENSON
ROGER HASKETT BRONWYN PAGE
Field Producers SARAH DELINE
BORGA DORTER PRAMEN PRASAD
Second Unit Cinematography
TYLER HECKERMAN
Additional Camera Operators HUGH BELL
ROBERT COHEN COLIN KEITH GRAY
SUAT KUTLUG TABB FIRCHAU GERARD BYRNE
ANDREW PAWSON MONIRUZZAMAN
SYED MANIKM ANMOL TIKOO
Additional Interviewers IMOGEN BUTLER-COLE
BETTY MARISOL GARCIA TESS JOSEPH
MEV ERLY GREG LANDER WILLIAMS
FAHIM FERDOUS
Additional Editors DEAN GONZALEZ
ROB STILES
Assistant Editors KENDALL JAMES MARIE FURTER
TAYLER BRAASCH
Sound Editor TYLER HECKERMAN
Sound Recording
ALI AHSAN BETTY MARISOL GARCIA
VINCENT FATATO EVAN FREEMAN
JONATHAN HONG EUGENE KIM
MICHAEL LENGIES FRANK MANNINO STEVE MCNAMEE
JON PLANE MIKHAIL STERKIN
Make-up Artist
KAYLEEN MCADAMS
Additional Graphic Elements SCOTT SIMERLY
SAM YOUNG
V/O Record HOWARD COGAN
5150 PRODUCTIONS
Music Supervisor AMY FRITZ
Colour & Online
RED SQUARE MOTION
Colourist MILA PATRIKI
Visual Effects Artist
CRYSTAL REEVES
Post VFX Supervisor PASHA PATRIKI
Project Manager
JAKE ROSS
Online Editor SOFYA LIFANOVA
Audio Post-Production POST CITY SOUND INC.
Sound Supervisor
PINO HALILI
Dialog & Sound Effects Editor JOSH BROWN
Re-recording Mixer ALLEN ORMEROD
Re-recording Assistant VLADIMIR BORISSOV
Mixed At
POST CITY SOUND, TORONTO
Translations ERIKA-KRISTEN EASTON
DARIA SAIDI
Production Assistants PAUL ATKINS NOAH BAKST ERIN BROWN
ALEXIS CASTENADA BETSY DELONG
MORGAN DE SANTO ERIK ESPARZA
LOUIS GALANTI JENNIFER KING SAM KOOPMAN ANDREW LOVE
ADRIENNE ROSS ANJELLE RUPPE EMILY SMITH
ASHLEY STITES BARBARA TWIST NICOLE VILLELA DANIEL YELLIN
Social Media Manager BREANNE SCHRODER
Cross Canada Road Trip Publicist
DANIELLE MORGAN
Accountants ASSOCIATED FINANCIAL CONSULTANTS
DAN MEIER & MELISSA MEIER KAY & WARBURTON
Legal
STOHN HAY CAFAZZO DEMBROSKI RICHMOND LLP
Insurance MOMENTOUS INSURANCE
RANDY TYRREL WINNIE WONG
AMAZE FILM + TELEVISION
Executive Producers MICHAEL SOUTHER
TEZA LAWRENCE
Executive in Charge of Production VICTORIA HIRST
Development Director
TARA WOODBURY
Manager of Digital & Business Affairs DAN SMILEY
Executive Assistant to Michael Souther and Teza Lawrence
HANNAH BEEMER
Accountant ANDREA ROMAK
Indiegogo Campaign Manager DAN SMILEY
GRAiNEY PICTURES
Co-Founders / Creative Directors COLIN KEITH GRAY
MEGAN RANEY AARONS
Executive Producer AMAECHI UZOIGWE
Executive Producer
TIM FLATTERY Head of Production / Producer
BRIAN DAVID CULP
Producer CARRIE KANGRO
Group Creative Director MICHAEL BACHMANN
Digital Producer DAVID WARREN
Production Coordinator
SACHA SMITH
Office Managers AVERY KOTZUR
JOLENE GLASSER
Canadian Distributor ENTERTAINMENT ONE
Executive in Charge of Production
BRYAN GLISERMAN
Executive Producer MARK SLONE
Locations / Cross Canada Access BRADLEY GLEN REID & THE QUEENSLAND DANCERS
THE CITADEL, HALIFAX PICAROONS BREWERY, NEW BRUNSWICK
QUEBEC FEDERATION OF MAPLE SYRUP PRODUCERS JUST FOR LAUGHS COMEDY FESTIVAL, MONTREAL MAID OF THE MIST STEAMBOAT COMPANY, LTD.
THE SECOND CITY CANADA HOCKEY HALL OF FAME (KELLY MASSE) STEAMWHISTLE BREWERY, TORONTO THE RCMP MUSICAL RIDE, OTTAWA
OTTAWA CURLING CLUB EXPEDITION RADISSON EXPEDITION (JAMES SISTTIE)
DUDLEY R. KAY OF SCITECH PUBLISHING, INC. HERITAGE PARK, CALGARY
CANADA PLACE, VANCOUVER ARS NOVA THEATER, NEW YORK
Archive Footage & Stills Provided By
CBC ARCHIVES / ARCHIVES RADIO-CANADA NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA
ALBERTA TOURISM BOARD NOVA SCOTIA TOURISM BOARD
THE CALGARY EXHIBITION & STAMPEDE LIMITED NATIONAL FILM ARCHIVES
ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FARCE THE SECOND CITY CANADA
RUSS MARTIN, courtesy AIR FARCE PRODUCTIONS ARCHIVE.ORG
SHUTTERSTOCK
"Gangsters" by EVERETT COLLECTION "Young cowboy" by VIA FILMS
"1910s - The making of maple syrup" by RICK RAY "Hypnotized couple" by IRONSTRIKE
"Loop-able spinning Earth" by ZOL STUDIOS
POND 5 "Close Up Of A Vinyl Deck Playing A Record" by RUS009
"Ice Hockey Players Fighting" by EUROSPIDERS "Aerial View of the Hollywood Sign" by MOUNTAIRYFILMS
"Maple Sugar" by NORMSTOCK "Full length silhouette man with broom cleaning office corridor" by ANDREY
POPOV "Storm Clouds" by CONJOSTUDIOS
"RAIN" by P2HD "Glowing wallpaper" by 5@NICEMONKEY
"Space Nebula Seamlessly looped background" by SPRINGDAY "Gold picture frame" by JACK F
GETTY IMAGES
"Cheering Declaration" Photo by HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES “Terry Fox Marathon of Hope" by Boris Spremo
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
“Charlottetown” by GEORGE P. ROBERTS "David Cassidy taken in the Plaza Hotel New York" by ALLAN WARREN
"Michael Cera: This Is Our Youth Tour, Play Comes To Sydney Opera House 2012." by EVA RINALDI
"Ryan Reynolds, 2010 Buried Premiere" by CHRIS JACKSON "Lower Manhattan from Staten Island Ferry Corrected Jan 2006" Photo by
DAVID ILIFF. License: CC-BY-SA 3.0 "Lorne Michaels" by DAVID SHANKBONE
"Leslie Nielsen" by ALAN LIGHT
FLICKR “Laura Turns 100” by EVE MARTELL
“The White House” by DANIEL ZIMMERMAN “The Mall” by FMPGOH
“Taco” by EVAN SWIGART “Fish N Chips” by BEV SYKES
“Sushi” by RITA YANG “Province of Canada” by CHRISTIAN IONITA (edmaps.com)
"Beaver begging for food" by MICHAEL BENTLEY "Canada Geese" by PAUL SULLIVAN
"Canoeing on the Potomac, April 1973" Photo by DICK SWANSON - The US National Archives
"Around the house on a cold winters day the power of a lucky loonie 2014 winter Olympics" by DAVEBLOGGS007
"Harvest wheat field" by GRIPPED "Dungarees" by EM_J_BISHOP
"Steamship SS Empress of Britain /Bateau à vapeur SS Empress of Britain"
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA "Geography of the Dominion of Canada and Newfoundland ... With ten
maps, etc" THE BRITISH LIBRARY
Additional Music Provided By AUDIO NETWORKS LTD.
DWEEZIL ZAPPA
“Tom Sawyer” Written by Pye Dubois, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart
Performed by RUSH Courtesy of Anthem Entertainment
"Canada"
Written by Hutch Harris, Kathy Foster, and Westin Glass Performed by The Thermals Courtesy of Kill Rock Stars
By Arrangement with Terrorbird Media
"Oh...Canada" Written by Luke Boy, Mike Boyd and Glenn MacDonnell
Performed by Classified Courtesy of Sony Music Canada Entertainment Inc.
"Working for the Weekend"
Written by Paul Dean, Matthew Frenette and Joseph Reno Performed by Loverboy
Courtesy of Sony Music Canada Entertainment Inc.
Remix Courtesy of Thomas Reynolds Music
Special Thanks GREGG SHANKS
J.P. MANOUX PAM BRADY
SALLY ANN SALSANO FRED GRAVER
PETER B. “PISHUK” ARONSON ERIK WILSON
KIRK ANDERSON
BARCLAY EASTON ROBERTA BOUCHARD
JOANNA & KRIS VANDERVEER AMANDA SAGE & KICKASS CANADIANS
JON BARTLETT & KELP RECORDS ZACH EVANS
DREW MASTERS KATIE ZWICK ALAN BRAUN
BOBBY KENNER ANDREW SAUNDERS
KIMO SANBORN KEITH RICHARDSON
STEVE SHUSTER JD SACHAROK
YOGI ROTH THE AMAZING JILL LEIDERMAN
JOEL, SANDI, RACHEL & SAMARA COHEN MARK COHEN
CHANNAH J. BROWN WILLIAM B. COHEN
DAVID STEINBERG, ESQ ROBIN RUZAN
MICHAEL GELMON MATT LABOV JON POLLACK
JON ANSCHELL DAVID MILLER MEG SYMSYK
JENNIFER JUHOS GRAY BRAD AARONS & XAVIER AARONS
ANN JEFFRIES DR. R KEITH RANEY & DR. CHRIS NIELSEN
DR. DONALD H. GRAY & MARCY GRAY IAN GRAY & CHRISTINE GRAY
THE GREENHOUSES THE SPIEGELMANS
THE AARONS KERRY GIRVIN & GUGGENHEIM PRODUCTIONS
CAMERON HUGHES JAY SHORE
LADVENTURE LADS LUCY LIU
STEPHEN MARKS MOSES, LUCIANO, GRACIE & HENRY
LORIEN GABEL JESSICA LICHTENSTEIN
DEAN CHAPPLE DAVE RATH
KARA WELKER NICOLE RENNA
MARIO SIGNORE ANDY CORREN BROOKE STITES ALLISON LAHAV JOHN TRIGONIS
THE LEGENDARY BERNIE BRILLSTEIN PAT MARSHALL
GERMAIN VEZINA HARISH AMIN
STEPHEN MCDONOUGH CINDY GILLIES KLAUS SHILLER
JOHN GAUDET, RCMP-GRC AL ANDERSON
EVA CANDELARO/ FROSCH ENTERTAINMENT WWW.GAYCANUCK.NET
LANNY WILLIAMSON THE FOLKS AT INDIEGOGO
CHRIS PEREZ / DONALDSON-CALLIF LAW FIRM IAN COOPER
MATT JACOBS RSA CAA
WRITERS GUILD OF CANADA AMERICAN FEDERATION OF MUSICIANS OF THE UNITED STATES & CANADA
ACTRA PERFORMERS’ RIGHTS SOCIETY CANADA
Card #1 with TMN wording & logo
Produced in association with The Movie Network,.
a division of Bell Media, Inc
Card #2 with MC wording & logo
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THE HISTORY OF CANADIAN HUMOUR INC is the author of this motion picture for the purpose of copyright and other
laws.
This motion picture is protected pursuant to the provisions of the laws of Canada, the United States of America and other countries.
Any unauthorized duplication, distribution and/or exhibition of this motion
picture may result in civil liability and criminal prosecution.
No animals, or feelings, were hurt in the making of this film.
©2015 All Rights Reserved History of Canadian Humour, Inc.
Amaze Film + Television GRAiNEY PICTURES, Inc.
