Young filmmakers shoot series in Strathmore

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

The loss of a grand prize of $50,000 to turn their pilot into a series at the Telus STORYHIVE contest, didn’t stop three emerging Alberta filmmakers from pursuing funding and securing double the amount of money to produce their show that will film all over Alberta, including Strathmore.
Griffin Cork, Morgan Ermter and Josef Wright, who formed Numera Films, received the green light to start filming the first season of their comedic television and web-based series Abracadavers on May 7.
After missing out on the Telus STORYHIVE contest, the filmmakers took the original pilot to the Banff World Media Festival where the project received local and international interest. There, the company teamed up with a leading film production company, Mind Engine Entertainment in Edmonton, and the show was eventually awarded $100,000 by Telus STORYHIVE and a spot on Telus Optic On Demand and online to be aired towards the end of summer.
“Telus has been really great supporters of indie Alberta and British Columbia films and they’re giving us a lot of rein which we just love them for. They’re giving us this huge step and they’re also letting us do whatever we want with it,” said Griffin Cork, who executive produces and stars in the leading role of Chris.
“I can’t even tell you how excited I am, especially because I was originally brought on as an actor, and as an actor I really felt that I connected with the content of it and I love the people that I’m working with. I decided to stick with it and see what I can do with it especially when we didn’t win that first round. And then all the heart and soul and blood and sweat and tears that Morgan and Joe all put in, to see that pulled off is amazing.”
Abracadavers tells the coming-of-age story of Chris, played by Cork, whose mother dies in a freak hair salon chair accident. The character becomes attached to the chair responsible for her death, which he suspects provides superpowers to those close to it. His friends believe his attachment to the chair is turning into an obsession and kidnap him on a road trip, which leads to the friends dealing with super-human abilities along with solving regular human issues and escaping the struggles Chris is facing with his grief and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
“It’s not too far from me because it’s a story of coming of age about a bunch of friends that just graduated high school and they’re trying to get Chris off of the mourning of the death of his mother,” said 21-year-old Cork. “So it’s just a group of friends trying to have a good time after high school. Our cast and crew is made up of young emerging artists so it’s a journey. It’s pretty close to my heart already.”
Cork is no stranger to the big screen. When he was only 12 years old he starred in a movie with Matthew Perry, who played Chandler on the popular TV show Friends, called The Ron Clark Story. While he is just finishing up his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Acting at the University of Alberta, he was recently named one of this year’s top 25 influential young artists by the Alberta Foundation of the Arts.
Ermter and Wright have also been making names for themselves, having both graduated from SAIT and spending the last few years on professional film sets in Alberta including El Chicano, Heartland, Fargo and Chokeslam.
The cast and crew will be shooting footage throughout Alberta including Calgary, Sylvan Lake, Drumheller and Strathmore.
Production of the series runs from May 7 to late June. Telus Optic TV ON Demand and online will be airing Abracadavers towards the end of summer. For more information about the project visit abracadavers.tv.