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The Lethbridge Herald
July 28, 2005

Southern Alberta Filmmaker to start shooting spy thriller
by Al Beeber

Mountain View native and aspiring filmmaker Deric Olsen will be filming scenes for his upcoming movie The Phoenix Agenda in southern Alberta in early August. The film is for Olsen's master's thesis at the University of Regina and was co-scripted with Scottish screenwriter Derek Paterson he met on the Internet.

The ambitious project, using high-definition digital equipment from the U of R, usesan unpaid cast of aspiring Saskatchewan actors. One cast member is from Alberta - Alison Murray of Picture Butte. Murray also worked with Olsen on his first movie, the award-winning short film The Haven. Olsen specifically wrote a part for Murray, who he bused from Calgary to Saskatchewan to shoot her scenes.

Filming on the feature-length project, which Olsen hopes to have ready for a screening in May, began in early July using Regina as the backdrop for an unidentified Alberta city. The Phoenix Agenda is an espionage thriller set in southern Alberta. The synopsis of the story in Olsen's words is:

"Ryan Burke (Ray Dunnison) a Canadian counter-terrorism agent, has apprehended The Phoenix (Yi Dai), one of the world's most notorious hackers. The Phoenix was double-crossed by Akkayan (Munish Sharma), who used him to steal a substance of unimaginable toxicity.

"The American agents in Ryan's international coalition want The Phoenix extradited to face charges in the US but Ryan petitions for more time to use The Phoenix to flush out Akkayan. It is all for nought when The Phoenix is extracted by a duo of professional assassins, Taran Miner (Adam Tondevold) and Dominique Nivara (Katherine Chambers), who leave Ryan's friends and colleagues dead in their wake. While tracking down the killers, Ryan is unknowingly implicated in the conspiracy and is, himself, being pursued by an internal investigator, McDowell (Chris Cunningham).

"With the threat of a major terrorist attack on North America looming, Ryan, The Phoenix, Taran and Akkayan play out a gripping match of deception and betrayal that keeps everyone guessing as the conflict brings them to the brink of an ecological nightmare that would ripple across the continent and, ultimately, the whole world."

While the cast is unpaid, his Northbound Studios has deferred contracts with the actors, meaning that if the film ever makes any money, they will be compensated for their work. The film will be roughly 110 minutes long, one minute for each page of script, says Olsen.

Olsen came up with the original story but cold-contacted Paterson because "I don't fancy myself a writer. I wanted a co-writer who has a passion for dialogue." He and Paterson collaborated over the internet and developed the script which was workshopped at the university. "It took a year to get a workable draft."

Creating a script that could be feasible required losing characters and some exotic locations. That, however, fits with Olsen's thesis that the completed films will differ from the original creative vision. "Traditionally three films are made - the one that's written, the one that's directed and the one that's edited," says Olsen.

Often the artistic vision will change dramatically from beginning to end as collaborations put different spins on the work. "It can make for a fragmented product," says Olsen, using the last Star Wars instalment as an example. "[As a fan], I was quite disappointed by the lack of character of Darth Vader. The movie is marketed as being all about Vader with a heavy focus on the dark helmut and suit. But in the film, he's only in the suit for about 30 seconds. I was disappointed because I had hoped to see him fight in character." Filmgoers are often misled by trailers which indicate either humour or drama when the film may be something else entirely, he says.

Shooting on high-definition video is cheaper than film and easier to edit. It's "just gorgeous and beautiful. As the technology gets better, you'll be hardpressed to tell the difference" between it and film, he says.

While Waterton and surrounding areas wont be mentioned by name in the film, Olsen wanted to shoot in these locales so "our part of the world is represented well." As part of his academic requirements Olsen must show the film publicly and is hoping to have it run in a local theatre. "I'll try to get it in some independent theatres. It'll give my hometown area a chance to see what I'm doing."

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