Deanne Foley is the latest filmmaker to have Telefilm Canada wondering what’s in the water in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Foley, a St. John’s native now based in Halifax, just wrapped up shooting her first full-length feature film, “Beatdown,” in which Telefilm is the major investor, in St. John’s with Pope Productions.
Foley wrote “Beatdown” with Iain McLeod about circuit wrestling; the main character a young female.
“Iain was telling me about all these crazy experiences he was having watching wrestling in Pictou County, Nova Scotia. He was describing all these awesome wrestlers with names like Lincoln Steen and all these stories of crazy fans; of people losing it at matches. I just thought that was hilarious, and such a fascinating world.”
“Beatdown” tells the story of 18-year-old Fran (played by “Republic of Doyle’s” Marthe Bernard), who wants more than anything to become a professional wrestler. Her overprotective single father Whitey (played by Robb Wells of “Trailer Park Boys”) is a former pro who’s dead-set against Fran taking up the sport. Fran, determined, runs away to join Whitey’s former rival Dark Thunder (Tony Nappo) on tour, and her devastated father tries to get her back. Other cast members include Bernard’s real-life father, Andy Jones, and her “Doyle” co-star, Mark O’Brien.
Wells came on board with the project after reading the script and asking to play Whitey.
“It’s a very character-driven comedy and I’m a big fan of comedies, obviously,” Wells, who plays Ricky on “Trailer Park Boys,” said.
“The whole father-daughter relationship thing appealed to me; I really enjoyed the character and I really wanted the chance to do something different than Ricky, especially, and some other characters I’ve done. All the underlying themes fit around the wrestling and it really works well together.
“One of my concerns with the film was that the wrestling would not look authentic. They assured me it would and when I realized they were going to use real wrestlers for a lot of it, it changed my decision completely. I’ve seen it and it looks fantastic.”
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Full article here:
http://www.thetelegram.com/Arts---Life/Entertainment/2011-07-23/article-2672472/%26lsquo%3BWrestling%26rsquo%3B-with-relationships/1Sounds awesome, I hear it should be out sometime after Christmas.
First person to ask if the G**** B***** will be making an appearance will be banned.
