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The Lethbridge Herald
November 28, 2002

Up-and-Coming Attraction
Local indie filmmaker tackles terrorism on a shoestring budget in new action flick
by Kristen Harding

In The Haven, coming soon to a theatre near you, filmmaker Deric Olsen tackles terrorism with a rogue division of a government agency created to hunt and eliminate potential threats to security along the world's longest undefended border.

Sound like the next Hollywood action flick? It's not - at least not yet.

Olsen is a student at the University of Lethbridge and the action takes place right here in southern Alberta. In his fourth year of the multimedia program at the University of Lethbridge, Olsen plans to apply to York University in Ontario in the fall to complete a master's degree in film. "This movie is kind of a culmination of all the things I've learned while I've been at the University," he says.

The Haven will be shown at a special screening at the Movie Mill next month, showcases an abundance of up-and-coming local talent. The flick pits Black Ops agent Ali Silver (Alison Murray) against an unknown terrorist (Kingsley Mann) with an assassination plot and formula for a biochemical weapon. Silver must recover the substance and terminate the terrorist.

After tracking the suspect to Waterton Lakes National Park, Silver teams up with a local RCMP officer for a high-stakes game of cat and mouse all the way to the 49th parallel. "I wanted to write a script that reflected some of the potential for conflict between the US and Canada. Basically, what the premise of the story is, now that (Sept. 11) has happened we're living in a different world."

Olsen, who grew up on a ranch near Waterton, says he knows first-hand how porous the border crossing can be and after Sept. 11 the issue of Canadian security has surfaced front and centre on the international stage. "Canada took a lot of heat right after Sept. 11. I wanted to write a story that was about Canada's efforts to do more."

Writer, director, cameraman, sound technician and general go-to guy, Olsen's life has been dominated by The Haven for the past year. Olsen began research for the script in January and started the writing process in March. By August production had begun and filming took a mere five days - albeit at 18 hours apiece.

Olsen chose to keep the film's length to just 30 minutes. Any film over 30 minutes can be classified as a feature and it becomes difficult for small, independent studios like his to compete at film festivals with bigger-budget movies. Olsen plans to enter The Haven in the Edmonton Film Festival and as many others as possible next year.

"We worked with a shoestring budget,"he says. "Basically just covering the cost of materials." The actors and crew - mostly students - all worked for free and Olsen says that making the film has been very much a collaboration. "None of use have our name on anything. We wanted to put something together that we could be proud of.

"We shot all over southern Alberta - in the Westcastle area, which doubled for Waterton, Calgary International Airport and around Lethbridge." Olsen says the opening scene was filmed in Esquires and another scene required the use of a cherry-picker to get several high-angle shots down 3rd Avenue South.

"We were very low-key," he says. "It was very much a type of guerilla filmmaking." Rather than using the university's broadcast-quality camera, Olsen opted to use a digital hand-held, which made filming and transporting a lot easier and the entire process more inconspicuous.

"You don't want everyone looking at you when you're trying to film - but we still got some looks," says Olsen. Using the hand-held camera helped most of the crew remain incognito in the Calgary Airport, but actress Alison Murray decked out in a long, dark trenchcoat and carrying a large silver case, got some suspicious looks. "The mark of a good storyteller is to be able to tell the story without having all the fringe benefits of a big budget," says Olsen.

The Haven hits the Movie Mill Dec. 4 and the public will have the opportunity to check out some of southern Alberta's own home-grown talent. "When you have a theatrical showing it gets people to see the film and it's great feedback," says Olsen. "Like any artist, you are your own worst critic and it's great to get feedback from people outside your sphere of influence."

Tickets for the movie are $5 and will help Olsen offset the cost of the screening fee. Production is also underway for the The Haven on DVD and Olsen will be taking orders the night of the show. He says the disc will sell for around $15 and anyone who comes to the screening can have the $5 admission fee applied as a discount on the DVD.

© Copyright 2002, The Lethbridge Herald