Foundation Features

When Just Friends was released in 2005, it was the first hit feature film commissioned by a major studio and filmed in Saskatchewan -- representing a key moment in the evolution of the province's growing film industry.

Starring well-known actors Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris and Chris Klein, and set over the holidays in a New Jersey suburb, Just Friends presented producer Rob Merilees with the perfect project to bring to Saskatchewan.

Merilees, then with Infinity Features in Vancouver, had been meeting frequently with Susanne Bell and Valerie Creighton of SaskFilm, and liked what they had to say about the benefits of shooting in Saskatchewan.

"They'd been telling me all about Saskatchewan; the amazing tax incentives, the new stages that had been built, and how they could service a production. I was very interested in working with them, and had been looking for a project that would suit the setting."

Just Friends came to Infinity through New Line Cinema, and the decision was made to co-finance the project. In discussions with director, Roger Kumble, Merilees suggested Saskatchewan as a potential stand-in for New Jersey during the wintry Christmas season.

"Saskatchewan is the perfect place for that," said Merilees. "We came out and scouted the area, and once we determined that we could get everything we needed, both creatively and financially, the decision was made."

Shooting took place over February and March of 2005 at a number of different locations in and around both Moose Jaw and Regina.

The biggest challenge, however, proved to be the weather. "We got caught in a real cold snap -- I think it was around -55ƒ with the windchill. We had blizzards and cables snapping and all of that crazy cold-weather stuff."

The results were worth the effort, said Merilees. "What we ended up getting was a look you just can't get anywhere else, where it's very cold but with that bright, beautiful light and sunshine that you only get in Saskatchewan. It suited the movie really well, and worked perfectly as a stand-in for New Jersey."

"I loved shooting there. It's a totally different experience than you get anywhere else, but it's a great one."

>>Click here to see full article

Just a few months ago, Rob Merilees and Dave Valleau were executives and partners at Vancouver film production company Infinity Features, carrying on the work of their late mentor, William Vince.

Today they head a new company, Foundation Features, which on Monday began shooting its first feature film, Altitude. And while Merilees and Valleau have embarked in a new direction, Bill Vince is still a guiding light to both of them.

"We felt we were going in separate directions," says Merilees of their split with Infinity. "This is a new start, a new day, and we like to think that this is what Bill would have liked us to do, reinvent ourselves, since we did that a few times with Bill."

Vince's legacy permeates much of what Merilees and Valleau hope to do with Foundation, from his "never give up" mantra and firm decision-making to his belief that the film business should be fun.

Foundation's office in Chinatown is just blocks from Infinity's digs. All seven people who work at Foundation came from the film and television production side of Infinity, and Foundation will continue on in the direction that Vince, who died last June, had set for his partners: a mix of film and television projects; co-productions with other countries; and stories that have international appeal.

"We're just continuing on what we started with Infinity, trying to make high-quality, high-profile theatrical films and television shows that will last and stand the test of time," says Merilees.

Valleau stresses that while Canadian projects will be important, international appeal is a priority.

"We won't be limited to the Canadian-content films," says Valleau. "We're making films for the world market."

Read the complete article at The Vancouver Sun.

Toronto -- "90210" star Jessica Lowndes has risen to the lead in "Altitude," the feature directorial debut for Marvel Comics artist Kaare Andrews ("Hulk," "Wolverine").

The indie thriller from Escape Factory and Foundation Features will feature Lowndes as a rookie airplane pilot whose weekend getaway flight with friends faces a series of unexplained malfunctions.

No word on additional casting. Production will take place in and around Vancouver in April.

Paul Birkett penned the "Altitude" script, with Ian Birkett producing. Rob Merilees, Dave Valleau, Gary Hamilton and Mike Gabrawy share the executive producer credits.

Alliance Films will release the indie picture in Canada, and Arclight Films will handle worldwide sales.

Lowndes is repped by Apterture's Adam Goldworm, Apa and attorney Harris Hartman.

Click here to view the full article at the hollywoodreporter.com

By Marise Strauss - Playback Magazine

View full article at playbackonline.ca >>>

Charles Martin Smith hopes audiences will take to the underdog story in his latest feature, Stone of Destiny, which the Hollywood-actor-turned Canadian director is currently posting at Vancouver's Infinity Features.

The $13-million Canada/U.K. copro is Smith's second feature collaboration with Rob Merilees of Infinity, which recently scored a massive success with Capote, the inconspicuous release that ended up netting star Philip Seymour Hoffman an Oscar, and collected US$49 million in worldwide box office.

Destiny, which stars Scottish heavyweights Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting) and Billy Boyd (the Lord of the Rings films), tells the true tale of four University of Glasgow students who hatch a plan to retrieve the Stone of Scone, a symbol of Scottish pride, from England's Westminster Abbey.

Smith, who began directing after he moved to Vancouver in the early 1980s, is mostly known as a diminutive character actor, often playing an outsider who transcends his quirkiness. Memorable roles include the zany Terry "The Toad" Fields in George Lucas' American Graffiti (1973), and the accountant-turned-federal agent Oscar Wallace in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables (1987).

His directing career took shape with the low-budget horror Trick or Treat (1986), and later included Disney's Air Bud, which took in a reported US$23 million at the North American box office in 1997, and the Farley Mowat adaptation The Snow Walker, which received nine Genie Award nominations in 2003, but took in only US$200,000 in theaters, despite a $10-million budget.

In a recent interview with Playback, the amiable 53-year-old filmmaker talked movie budgets, television collaborations with Chris Haddock, and fond memories of working with Sean Connery.

How did the Stone of Destiny shoot go this past summer in Glasgow and London? 
It was a very, very intense shoot. I wanted to do so much and there's only so much you can do in the given time. It had that wonderful kind of intensity, where you feel that everyone's just rolling up their sleeves and diving in. Glen [Winter], my cinematographer, did a terrific job. We work very well as a team.

You have a great cast that includes Robert Carlyle and Billy Boyd. How did it work out? 
I've never worked with a cast that was so talented and so easygoing...it was just a joy to come to set everyday. Robert is a dream. Billy Boyd is very much underrated...I'm in the cutting room right now and it's just a delight to see his footage.

How do you feel about the commercial prospects of the film? 
I do leave a lot of that to Rob [Merilees]. To me, this film has the universal appeal of an underdog story...there's such heart and emotion to it. It's a feel-good story full of strange twists and turns. That's the way to market the film.