Miscellaneous Articles

Urban Legends

An Orwellian look at an all-news network, The Beast is the latest ABC series to be unceremoniously dumped; Witchblade conjures modern and ancient tales.

By John Leonard

Wendy Crewson must wonder what she ever did that ABC should hate her so. Only a little more than a decade ago, the talented Crewson -- a Canadian version of Anne Archer, especially suited to playing adult women who prove to be as smart as they are handsome -- was cast as the honest producer in Studio 5-B, an ABC dramatic series about a morning-TV-news program, with George Grizzard and Jeffrey Tambor. I will admit that I was kinder than I might have been to this show, which lathered up more soap than journalism, because I had liked Crewson as a reporter on the CBS newspaper series Hard Copy, and liked her even more when I met her in October 1988 at the Cannes Television Festival, where she was hanging out with Robert Altman's entourage. Still, Studio 5-B deserved better than the three weeks ABC gave it before the ax.

And now Crewson is ever so briefly back in The Beast, another ABC dramatic series, this time about a whole 24-hour-broadcast news organization instead of just a single show. But if you tune in the next six Wednesdays, try not to get excited: Even though it's better than anything else on ABC, the network pulled the plug not only on Wendy Crewson, but on Frank Langella, Elizabeth Mitchell, Peter Riegert, Jason Gedrick, Naveen Andrews, and Harriet Harris, all of whom also work for World News Service (WNS), where the people who are watching us find themselves watched as well.

If the media are the "Beast," WNS is Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon, an all-seeing model prison. Langella, the maverick mogul who has created this monster of surveillance, believes that journalists have lost their objectivity. To encourage them to find it again -- a kind of obligatory introspection reminiscent of the self-criticism sessions of the Chinese Communists during the Cultural Revolution -- he has cameras trained on their workplace, in the halls, from the ceiling, so that the very process of news gathering is itself recorded and can be broadcast live on the Internet. There is a supereditor somewhere in the pixeled sky, more God than ombudsman, a divine executive producer determining which failures of craft or character are made public. It's as though, in some second-guessing chat room made entirely out of two-way Microsoft Windows, Cops met The Blair Witch Project during halftime at an XFL game.

Thus the new girl on the block, former freelancer Mitchell, has been lured by Langella to WNS specifically for her righteous standards. Will she lower them to get that interview with a death-row convict, and even allow herself to be fondled to secure exclusive broadcast rights to his "live" execution? Thus news anchor Gedrick is so furious about the lunacy of most of what he reports that he sounds hourly more and more like the prophet Jeremiah with a substance-abuse problem. Thus news director Riegert, unemployable anywhere else because of his terrible temper and even greater contempt, stays on in the belly of the "Beast" because Langella's process would seem to require his potential for creative violence.

While Crewson wants a baby of her own, with test-tube help if necessary, she will have to settle for being the managerial mother of the rest of these misfits. The divine executive producer has to decide whether to inform his fellow WNS employees that the McVeigh-like media bomber being so assiduously tracked by Naveen Andrews has actually signed on as an intern in the Panopticon, and looks poised to strike at the very nerve center of the military-industrial -entertainment complex while the rest of them are all too busy worrying about their professional ethics to notice or, except for Harriet Harris, to care.

The Beast was created by Kario Salem, who wrote the remarkable Don King: Only in America. Executive producers include Mimi Leder, who directed the first episode; Ian Sander and Kim Moses, who co-conspired at Profiler; and Ron Howard. The cast is as snap-crackle-and-pop as the dialogue put in their mouths. It is as satisfying as it is provocative, much like Max Headroom, the dramatic series it most resembles and the best one ever on any network about TV news, which also embarrassed ABC by being more subversive than it could stand. And that was in 1987, before Disney. As with Wonderland, so with The Beast. So long, we never knew you. It's getting worse, folks.

SHOPPING WITH: WENDY CREWSON

TRALEE PEARCE

It's precisely what you'd expect from a day of celebrity shopping. Actress Wendy Crewson breezes into a private room lined with racks of designer clothes and a table of artfully arranged accessories. They are hers for the plucking.

Crewson, who is appearing as we speak in The Santa Clause 2 and is filming her next role with Robert Redford, is smaller than you'd think. Her glossy dark hair is perfect, her makeup flawless. She's in a black leather jacket and snug, sexy L.A.-style jeans.

In the corner of the room sits a spread of catered shrimp kebobs and chicken skewers, somewhat diminished, since our star is late.

Yes, it's all that. Only a little more, well, Canadian. Crewson apologizes for her tardiness and means it. The racks of clothes are by up-and-coming Canadian designers. We're not in the back room of some swanky boutique; we're at Toronto's Fashion Incubator, a resource centre and association that nurtures its in-house and outreach designers.

Crewson has agreed to be a part of a juried competition of young designers. She's here to pick outfits to wear to various events related to the contest. "I'm not an expert, but I do support the industry by spending thousands of dollars!" says the actor, who knows that a single photo of her wearing one of these designers give them a big boost.

On the very formal clipboard of possible events to dress for are the Geminis and a dinner with the Prime Minister.

"Gorgeous!" she says as she inspects the racks of daywear with public-relations diva Christine Faulhaber and TFI director Susan Langdon watches. Over at the long, slinky eveningwear, one daring number catches her eye. "This is what I wear all the time, darling. Taking out the trash." Crewson stops at a turquoise jersey wrap dress by new label Istyle. "This colour always looks good on camera. It's quite lovely."

She should know. Crewson has done everything from Canadian features like the recent Perfect Pie, to her big Hollywood breakthrough as Harrison Ford's wife in Air Force One.

She jokes about her role in The Clearing as Robert Redford's mistress as a dubious casting choice: "Robert, now wake up, wake up!"

Crewson's no snore, though.

Though she says she rarely chooses black for formal events, she is game to try on a stunning deep V-neck David Dixon halter gown. Langdon takes one look at the J.Lo-style plunging neckline, "Do you think this might be a little too much for the Prime Minister?"

"It might be a little too much for the Prime Minister," Crewson says, twisting to exaggerate the potential for full breast exposure.

Her eyelids drop, her body goes loose and sexy. "I'm here, Mr. Prime Minister," she whispers, a la Marilyn Monroe.

He should be so lucky. The dress is also nixed for the Geminis, where Crewson was to receive a humanitarian award for her work for the ALS Society. "I'm giving favours to the boys in the service," she croons in the same voice.

More sober is a David Dixon soft grey suit, with an extra long skirt and fitted jacket.She and Langdon are debating sleeve length. Crewson wants it long. Split the difference? Langdon agrees.

On to a slinky jersey pants and top ensemble by Joeffer Caoc of Misura, for Jury Meeting One, this week. The pants are reborn into January's Jury Outfit Number Three by adding a plum sweater by Olena Zylak. The turquoise wrap dress is added to the lineup, with a slight hemming job. "My leg is better there than there -- just at, not below, the knee."

Actresses don't just have a good or bad side. They know where their leg looks its best, if one shoulder is a fraction of an inch higher than the other. This actress also knows Toronto is her best locale. She's just moved back here from Los Angeles.

"In Los Angeles, you have to be 22. I'm busted. They're all Botoxed and pulled. They all look like they're from Atlantis. Like they've come up out of the ocean," she says. "This is my tribe. I've always spent a lot of time here. There's something very comforting about being in Toronto."

Another bonus? Her new house has her dream walk-in-closet. "I filled it up. I left my husband six inches."

A good portion of the clothes hanging there come from movie wardrobes. I ask if there are any favourite film outfits. "You can't say Air Force One because I was only in one outfit. I never want to see it again as long as I live."

Crewson says she had great outfits in The Santa Clause 1, but when it wrapped, she heard Disney was stingy on sharing. "Usually, actors can buy the clothes at half price. I thought, I'll just ask for one fabulous outfit. Not only would they not let me buy it, but they wrote me a letter saying it was policy. They gave Tim Allen a Lamborghini."

Crewson pauses her storytelling only when her head is actually inside a sweater or dress. Once it emerges, we forge on, leaving Faulhaber and Langdon to pin, pull, add and subtract.

"This is like a wardrobe fitting for a film. I never pay attention," she says. But Crewson is paying attention. She knows she'll be in the judge's seat soon.

"When I'm judging, are the clothes on models or just hanging?" she asks, looking in the mirror. Clearly she understands that fashion is more than just hanger appeal. This is the kind of insight she's hoping to bring as a judge. As if her celebrity endorsement wasn't enough. "I'm not that famous," she says.

"It's so hard to get noticed and to get the ball rolling." Crewson remembers one classy leg-up, from none other than Mary Tyler Moore. "For my U.S. papers, I needed 10 letters of recommendation from well-known people saying that I was exceptional in my field of endeavour.

"I was doing a movie with Mary Tyler Moore in Canada -- a little tiny part. I said, 'Would you mind?' She said, 'No, of course not.' So I wrote a little recommendation for her to put on her letterhead. Mary took that and wrote this big gorgeous long letter, way more than what I asked. That's a nice favour."

Crewson's Calgary adventure
by Kevin Williamson Calgary Sun

Wendy Crewson spent the summer horsing around in Calgary with Tom Selleck.

The Canadian actress, who starred as Harrison Ford's wife in Air Force One and is currently acting opposite Kiefer Sutherland on the upcoming third season of the hit drama 24, stars in Twelve Mile Road, which was filmed in southern Alberta this past June. It airs Sept. 28 at 10 p.m. on channel 12.

"I was there for Stampede - I rode in the parade! It was a great time. We went and saw the chuckwagon races and did the whole thing, sat in the stands and drank beer. We had a riot, it was great," Crewson says, during a phone interview from her Toronto home.

"It's a really lovely story. I had worked with Tom on a movie called Folks years ago and we've kept in touch. He called me to say they were doing this and he thought I'd like it. I got the script and loved it. It was a really nice job. That ended one week and 24 began the next."

Based on the novel Mystery Ride: My Life by Robert Boswell, the TV movie was written and directed by Richard Friedenberg (A River Runs Through It). It was co-produced by Calgary-based Voice Pictures. Selleck plays a divorced rancher trying to reconnect with his troubled teenage daughter who spends the summer with him for the first time in 10 years. Crewson co-stars as the girl's mother.

"She's an attorney, but she's not a shoulder-padded type. She does a lot of pro bono work, like helping battered women. She can do all this, yet helping her own daughter seems to be impossible. And then over the course of this summer the family sort of reunites. It's a nice, really emotional piece. We shot the whole thing out on this farm northwest of Calgary. It was a beautiful, spectacular farm. We were out there the whole time. It was like a vacation in the foothills."

Selleck, who last year filmed the TNT western Monte Walsh here, had an equally enjoyable stay, she adds. "He loves the outdoors. He was in actor heaven around all these horses and cows and dogs - you know, all that guy stuff."

2003-09-27

A big bet on Hollywood North
Egos get dumped in the new Movie Co-op. How Canadian is that?
By GAYLE MacDONALD Saturday, October 11, 2003 - Page R5

TORONTO -- More than 80 years ago, a handful of famous friends -- fed up with Hollywood avarice and apathy -- decided to start their own little company, United Artists.

The merry band comprised Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and his wife Mary Pickford, and D. W. Griffith, all of whom had a mission: to create a safe haven for actors and filmmakers with quality stories to tell, and in an environment where they would retain creative control and a share of the profits. In 1919, it was a brazen concept. United Artists, which became known as "the company built by the stars," set a new direction for the entertainment industry.

Today -- about 4,000 kilometres northeast of the concrete studio lots that are now Arnold Schwarzenegger's stronghold -- a different group of famous folk are setting up something similar in Canada.

The Movie Co-op is a fledgling business partnership that combines high hopes and big-name clout. So far, its 16-member roster includes Eugene Levy, Gordon Pinsent, Wendy Crewson, Maury Chaykin, Saul Rubinek, Paul Gross, Martha Burns, Mark McKinney and Colin Mochrie. Like United Artists, the Movie Co-op's goal is simple: use the biggest talent in the land to shake things up.

So in lieu of their (on average) $250,000-to-$1-million-per-picture salaries, these Canadian actors are going to work free of charge on the upcoming comedy, Mozart Loves Me, written and directed by George Bloomfield. And in exchange, they and the other stakeholders in the Movie Co-op will own a share of the production and any potential payout.

Why, you may ask, would these successful people stick their necks out in a decidedly high-risk venture? Because they say they believe feature filmmaking -- at least in English Canada -- is broken and urgently in need of fixing. Financing for indigenous films is increasingly scarce, not to mention mired in a maddening bundle of red tape. Scores of their friends are out of work. Every year, fewer homegrown films are being made.

So the Movie Co-op -- the brainchild of veteran TV director Bloomfield, his wife, painter Louisa Varalta, television producer Alyson Feltes and Crewson -- has taken matters into its own hands.

Bloomfield, renowned in Canada's production community as an actor's director who was, among other things, creative producer of Due South, CBS's E-Z Streets and Road to Avonlea, says the focus of the Movie Co-op is to make "character-driven stories about people we can all relate to.

"Normally, what happens is you take your project to a distributor, or to various places like Telefilm Canada," says the septuagenarian. "But here I saw an opportunity to get people like Wendy, Maury, Saul . . . all people I know, all the people I have worked with over the years. To say to them, if you truly like this project, would you invest your normal fee?" Bloomfield explains.

The way Bloomfield and his partners see it, Mozart Loves Me is a $3.5-million to $4.5-million film that because of the largesse of the actors, directors, writers and composers, can be made for $1-million -- in time for the Toronto International Film Festival next fall.

The hitch, and it's a big one, is the $1-million that will still have to be raised for incidentals, such as film stock, crew (union) salaries, even the groceries to feed the production team over the 30-day shoot. To save some dough, Bloomfield and Varalta are shooting the film in their century-old Toronto home. Crewson, who has been a Co-op advocate from its inception, says the $1-million will be a challenge. "Because people don't invest in movies. They're a bad investment, generally," says Crewson, who has worked the past 20 years here and in the U.S., including roles in such big-budget films such as Air Force One and What Lies Beneath. "But given our combined track records, and years of experience, we think we're a good bet.

"Sometimes you can hit it lucky. We think it's worth the risk. What we're looking for is control over our project instead of somebody saying we think the lead actress needs bigger breasts or a car exploding in this scene."

Bloomfield and Varalta, married 32 years, hatched the idea of Mozart Loves Me three years ago. It's about a director named Stoner (Chaykin) and a painter called Big Lou (Crewson). Big Lou falls in love with a fantasy character, Mozart (Peter Outerbridge).

The cast includes Levy, Rubinek, Gross, Pinsent, Burns, McKinney, Mochrie and Sheila McCarthy, and Bloomfield says recruitment was a breeze. Levy, for example, rushed to do it. "It's not unlike how we do the films with Chris Guest," said Levy, referring to Guest's cult classics such as Best in Show and A Mighty Wind. "The budgets are pretty much the same, we always use the same people and nobody interferes. Nobody is telling Chris what to do creatively at all."

But Bloomfield's and Varalta's pitch didn't stop with on-camera talent. They also went after equipment suppliers and sound mixers, composers and cinematographers. Again, they insist, the response was overwhelming. For free, they got equipment from Bill White (the owner of William F. White International) and postproduction services from Jane Tattersall. They got another pal, Nikos Evdemon, to be director of photography and a University of Toronto professor, Christos Hatzis, to compose the music.

A few weeks ago, they shot 20 minutes worth of footage in their home in Toronto. The Bloomfields, Feltes and the film's other executive producer, Perry Zimel, are now getting ready to take this teaser tape door-to-door to raise the $1-million. Mochrie's agent heard about the tape, and the actor offered his services free of charge, as did McKinney.

Chaykin, reached in Aspotogan, N.S., where he has a oceanfront home, said jokingly that he signed onto Mozart Loves Me first because, well, he loves his uncle, George Bloomfield.

Family relations aside, though, Chaykin adds that the Movie Co-op comes at a time of huge turmoil in his business. "I worked very hard for many years to get my fees to a point where I could make a good living, both doing work in the United States and here in Canada. And what is now happening is the very high-budget projects are just paying their stars the $20-million fees and everyone else is getting scale, which poses a serious problem for actors in my category. So Movie Co-op appeals to me because I've always thought, if you donate your time and services, it's only fair you get a chance to participate in any future profits. The potential of this is enormous and I think it could be quite commercial."

That said, the co-operative model can be a logistical nightmare. ACTRA is supplying a co-op business plan and has agreed to help work with the various unions. "We have a tier system set up," explains Bloomfield. "For instance, Wendy, Maury and Peter will be up there in the tier, because they're the main actors, working every day on this thing. Someone doing a cameo for half a day will be on a different system. The bottom line, though, is we will all own Mozart, and we will own Movie Co-op. And all of us will have a continued stake in the next thing, and the next thing, and the next."

The partners hope to make two or three films a year.

"We're not Telefilm averse either," points out Feltes. "But what we'd like to do is invite them our party, which is also a new way of doing things."

Crewson says there is an overriding feeling these days that the business is in trouble. "I was in Ottawa yesterday with the actors' delegation [ACTRA] trying to get the television fund restored. The film business in Toronto has dropped over 40 per cent in the last year. No one has any work suddenly. The American work isn't coming up like it was, and with Arnold [Schwarzenegger] in as governor of California, you can be sure it will dry up further. Meanwhile, our domestic industry is in a terrible state.

"Everyone is tired of being a service industry for the United States. We wanted to see our stories, told by us, for a distinctly Canadian audience."

Eighty-five years ago, United Artists embarked on a course that ultimately revolutionized the motion-picture business. Rather than own production facilities and sound stages, it acted exclusively as a distributor. This gave it an advantage over its far richer competitors, eventually forcing the major studios to follow suit by moving into independent production in the 1940s. According to the United Artists Web site, "having led the way for independents, United Artists has enjoyed an unparalleled reputation throughout decades of history as a forum for artists to nourish the projects other studios refused to risk."

Risk is a big part of the Movie Co-op's equation. But the players all believe it's a gamble worth taking.

"It's time we start thinking we're as good as everyone else," says Crewson. "The message we're trying to get across to our huge creative talent pool -- scores of whom are flooding south (and God knows, I've been one of them) -- is that there is something here. And you can be on the ground floor of something enormous and meaningful."

What do hair and $25-million have in common?
We asked some notable Canadians from the arts community for their Christmas wish lists. Here's what they want
By GAYLE MacDONALD AND ALEXANDRA GILL
Wednesday, December 24, 2003 - Page R1

Actor Wendy Crewson, starring in the Fox TV show 24 and working on a new miniseries for the CBC, called Sex Traffic.

"What I was really looking for this Christmas was some glad tidings from our new minister of heritage and culture. I was looking for a passionate, rousing speech to the cultural community, giving us a little hope for the New Year. Because I haven't heard anything from her yet except her department is no longer going to be a bank, which is a little disheartening. And, so I'm looking for $25-million -- it's not much -- to restore the Canadian Television Fund. And then I'd like a little something in black cashmere."

CBC anchor Peter Mansbridge. "Personally, I'd like hair. And from a cultural standpoint? I'd still most like hair. But, no, I guess that's not appropriate. I would like us all to care a little bit more about our culture and our heritage."

Chris Haddock, Vancouver-based television writer and producer of Da Vinci's Inquest and the CBS series The Handler.

"I want a big long holiday, and several stockings full of support and subsidy for the film and TV industry. Everybody has to kick in at this point. There's a lot of moral and verbal vocal support from everybody -- but really, a substantial tax break has obviously proved beneficial. Especially now that Alliance Atlantis has jettisoned its production arms, it's time to support the little guys."

Denise Robert, producer of Golden Globe-nominated The Barbarian Invasions, and also the movie Mambo Italiano.

"Personally, I wish health to all my family and friends. And then I'd like tickets for all Canadians to the Golden Globes so we can have one big party, and all share the fun of rubbing shoulders with Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Culturally, I'd like to see everyone of us have the opportunity to go and appreciate a Canadian film in 2004. And for Paul Martin, and his team, to go and see every Canadian film to be released this year."

George Bowering, poet laureate.

"I really hate Christmas, pretty well. But if I have to have any Christmas presents, I suppose that I would like to have a New Orleans Zephyrs baseball cap, size 7 7/8 because I am writing a book about baseball, Jerome Charyn's last three books, a carton of Big Turk chocolate bars, an end to U.S. invasions, Mike Myers movies and Viagra ads and a copy of the video of The Girl Can't Help It . What I do not want is a CD. I cannot get the wrapping off a CD without destroying the CD."

CTV talk show host Vicki Gabereau.

"Bill Leach of Ironbridge, Ont., now 19 then three, was heard to remark to Santa in response to the big question of what the boy would like for Christmas . . . 'Peace on Earth and a hot dog.' I am with him."

Writer and visual artist Douglas Coupland.

"I'd like to be marooned in Haida Gwaii for three months, on the west coast of the north island, facing all the storms. For culture, I wish for more, and more diverse Canadian publishers. They're dying, and once they're gone, that's that . . . Mr. Martin, Doug on line one."

CTV anchor Lloyd Robertson.

"My greatest wish is for a Christmas uninterrupted by tragedy. The world needs a time of reflection to treasure the blessings of life and contemplate a better future. Hoping for even a few hours without conflict in some corner of the globe is no doubt naive and probably in vain . . . but it is the true message of the season and the people of the world need the pause."

Film director Ron Mann.

"Personally, I'd like more time for yoga. Culturally, I'd like to see the trend continue for a more individual rights. I think that we live in a very enlightened country, where there's real progress in areas such as gay marriage, and decriminalization of marijuana laws. And it kind of makes me proud to be a Canadian.

Catching Up With...Wendy Crewson
By Jenelle Riley

Who she is: The elegant and stunning Wendy Crewson has made a career out of playing smart, strong women thriving in a man's world. In America she is probably best-known as the no-nonsense wife to Harrison Ford's President in Air Force One or as the wickedly unsympathetic physician in The Doctor. There must be something about higher office and healing the sick that appeals to her, as she can currently be seen in the hit television show 24 as the doctor and love interest of President Palmer, played by Dennis Haysbert. Hopefully, her Dr. Anne Packard is a little better at her job than the brisk physician she played in The Doctor, a role that apparently made an impact on those in the medical community. "A friend of mine is the head doctor in the emergency room at Oakland Children's Hospital, and she'd go to conferences where they would show clips of how not to behave, and it would be me in The Doctor," Crewson said, laughing.

Playing the truth: Landing the plum role on 24 was made extra sweet for Crewson because she didn't have to audition. She recalled, "I just got a call saying, 'Would you like to do this role?' And I thought, Is that a trick question?" She added that it's thrilling to work alongside Haysbert. "Not to kiss and tell, but it's every bit as great as you'd think it would be." Crewson was able to tell little else about her character, as 24 is notorious for keeping its storylines secret. "Here's the whole thing about these characters: you don't know who you are, they haven't been written ahead, they don't know who you are. So it's sort of a week-by-week revelation. It's a little weird, but all you do is play the truth of the moment. And whatever comes along down the line, it is what it is."

Also a fan: Crewson was a fan of the show from the first season, when her good friend (and fellow Canadian) Leslie Hope starred as Kiefer Sutherland's wife. "I was really hooked on it, and I was so mad when they killed her," admitted Crewson. "But I sort of got sucked back in during the second season and couldn't stay away." Hope also warned her about the fanaticism of 24 fans, something Crewson had never experienced. "I've never been on a popular TV show before, so this is a whole new experience for me," said Crewson in an interview the day before the 24 premiere. "I'm going to get my grocery shopping done now, just in case."

The loving wife: In addition to playing the love interest to two presidents, Crewson also starred as governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger's wife in The 6th Day. "I am the power behind the throne. Just call me Lady Macbeth," she joked. "I'm always somebody's wife. I've played wives to the best of them. Those parts are hard because you know what you're there for. You're there to support your leading man in every way you can." But she isn't complaining. Asked if she finds such roles limiting or frustrating, she instantly said, "No. I love it. First of all, it takes all the onus off you. The movie's not sitting on my shoulders. I can have fun. It gives it sort of a sense of holiday. It's nice to be there, they're always great actors who are generous and kind, and because I get that cache from those big movies I can come back to Canada and do leading parts in our movies and TV dramas. I have to say it's been a nice balance."

Crewson, who recently won her fourth Gemini Award for the TV film The Many Trials of One Jane Doe, has played a wide variety of roles in her native Canada. "If you were just working in the States, those kinds of roles get frustrating if that's all you're doing and that's how people see you. But I have this nice little outlet where I can run out and do some big dynamo part and I'm OK going back to L.A., hanging around and sipping cappuccinos with Harrison."

Gibson's girl: In addition to her work on 24, Crewson will be seen in the upcoming films A Home at the End of the World with Colin Farrell and The Clearing with Robert Redford. She is also off to Romania to shoot a miniseries for London's Channel 4 about the trafficking of young girls in Eastern Europe. Considering some of the big-name co-stars she's worked alongside, is there anyone she's dying to collaborate with? "I'm wondering when Mel Gibson's going to need a good wife. I auditioned for Ransom when the part was smaller. He was so cute and so fun I thought he would be great to work with." But don't Gibson's movie wives tend to suffer some horrible death? "I can die, I don't mind," said Crewson with a laugh. "I've died before. As long as we get to kiss a little first, I'm OK."

Anatomy of a student film
Jan. 23, 2004. 01:00 AM
RITA ZEKAS

It's not exactly on the same scale as Mickey and Judy's, hey let's go to the barn and put on a show.

But Toronto's Anthony Green, 21, a third-year film student at NYU has pulled off a coup by shooting Pigeon, a student short starring national treasure Wendy Crewson and Academy Award nominee Michael Lerner (Barton Fink) on a shoestring of under $25,000 Canadian. Okay, it doesn't hurt that Green is the son of Don Green, co-founder of the Roots empire. But Green fils assures us that the cast and crew aren't getting Roots product in perpetuity. They responded to the script, which Green wrote, inspired by a true story recounted to him by Rabbi Eli Rubenstein. "It is set in occupied France," Green relates. "A Jewish woman was on a train in Germany with fake papers. The Nazis started to do a raid on the train, questioning everyone and she started to lose it. A stranger across the aisle noticed and he stood up and started yelling profusely at her that she forgot her wallet, her glasses and now his wife has forgotten her papers. The Gentile stranger ended up saving this woman's life.

"But because of how long ago the story occurred, the woman has passed. We contacted her family about inconsistencies like why she was on the train."

Green fictionalized some of it and changed the dynamic: Crewson's character saves Lerner's life. "Michael is incredibly Jewish looking so Wendy is the hero. I switched the roles around so the strength is in the woman and it plays even better with the Nazi dynamics."

He got Lerner onboard through artist Jim Budman, brother of Roots' other co-founder, Michael Budman, who is Lerner's friend.

"I was scared to bring an Academy Award nominee on set," he confesses.

They shot in two days of frigid weather in Tottenham, Ont., near Orangeville, but at least the blizzard conditions dissipated for the shoot.

"We got a break in the weather," he sighs. "I haven't slept for the last week.

"It is a period film, it is historical and there are costumes. I had kid actors, moving vehicles, animals - pretty much everything our professors warn us against."

Never mind finding a steam engine, which is where Tottenham came in.

"It has the South Simcoe Railway with an 1890 steam train," Green attests. "It is one of two period trains in Canada on the eastern seaboard and it was in hibernation, but I was able to convince the guy to steam it up."

He consulted producer Karen Wookey, whose credits include Mutant X.

"She was excited by the script and Karen pulled together a lot of industry support, including Fuji Film, William F. White (supplier of camera, lighting, grip and related production equipment), Panavision. Everything donated was the equivalent of $ 1/2 million."

Wookey and Crewson have the same agent. "Wendy loved the script and she knows Karen," Green says. "Wendy's daughter is in the same class as my little sister."
Crewson worked for scale. She would have done it for nothing.

Okay, what about Roots? Did his dad throw money at it?

"My dad's support came in Roots dollars: $6,000 and $7,000 gift certificates for 40 people on set. I was pretty insistent on me taking on the rest (of the cost). It's a lot to ask my dad. The last thing my dad needs is to bankroll his son's film."

Green's interest in entertainment and media was spiked when he was editor the yearbook for 2000 at his alma mater, Upper Canada College.

"I was in love with New York City and I knew about NYU film school," he explains. "I shot my entrance video about a teen in Toronto who undergoes stress in high school because of family problems - which is the exact opposite of my life."

Green intends to submit the short in the film festival circuit, starting with the Jerusalem International Film Festival on April 1st and possibly the Toronto International Film Festival.

He lists as one of his mentors, Norman Jewison, founder of the Canadian Film Centre. Federico Fellini and Stanley Kubrick are also right up there on his list of favourite directors.

Meanwhile, it's back to school for Green. He is in the third of a four-year program at NYU and will probably go to grad school, perhaps working towards a Masters degree in communication.

"I'll likely go to grad school overseas. Probably in Great Britain."

Why not Italy? University of Sienna has a great campus.

"I do love Italy," he concedes. "My girlfriend is from Italy."

Maybe he could tackle a short on Fascist Italy next time. Something along the lines of Under The El Duce Sun.

SINGLE-MINDED
Embracing a contented life
Single women pass on the idea that marriage cures all
Jane Ganahl, Chronicle Staff Writer

No package of stories on the highs and lows of the year would be complete without a look back at how the female gender -- single and otherwise -- fared in 2003.

Women's roles in film, TV and books increasingly showed the best attributes of women -- attributes that have nothing to do with "Baywatch." Young women and single women are getting off their dainty duffs and getting more politically involved. And -- praise God and pass the ammo -- "The Rules" are dead.

Long live the one new Rule that matters: that single women, and women in general, should embrace their lives as they are and quit chasing the illusory notion that being married fixes everything.

There are signs -- borne out by figures -- that we're becoming less frantic about the search. In a recent online poll, 51 percent of women said they were "perfectly happy" being single. That was nationally: In the oh-so- ahead-of-the-curve Bay Area, 61 percent of single women say it's a lifestyle choice they're content with.

Given the figures, and what my friends tell me, it appears that the online dating frenzy has waned -- at least around here. And the national backlash is setting in. The New York Times recently dubbed the plethora of services promising love the "dating industrial complex," and so it has become, with so many online services vying for your buck that I'm waiting for the one that caters to midlife red-headed newspaper columnists before I sign up.

There will be one, I promise you.

Most of my friends who relied on such Web sites to find dates wound up bitterly disappointed and have moved on -- or back -- to meeting lovers through friends, in cafes or at bars. Hey, at least it gives one a chance to check the all-important chemistry component before hours of e-mailing time is fruitlessly expended.

One can also hope that the popularity of TV reality shows about finding true love is also waning. The notion they promote -- that one can find a soul mate in a thicket of competitors by virtue of a bitchin' smile and perky wit -- is perverse and toxic.

At the same time, there were some female characters on TV this year who were authentic, entertaining, attractive and brainy all at once.

My new favorite is Dr. Anne Packard, the president's significant other on "24." Played by Wendy Crewson, Anne is 47, serious, capable and gorgeous -- and makes the case for midlife women as action heroines. Of the younger set, Carla Gugino as Karen Sisco in "Karen Sisco" kicks serious butt as a no- nonsense, albeit romantically challenged, federal agent. And perennial props go to Allison Janney as C.J. Cregg on the "West Wing." What a woman. If only our real president had a similar woman to beat some sense into him.

One hopes that young women are watching these shows and learning what strong, brainy women can do.

A booby prize of sorts must go to the hapless Jessica Simpson of "The Newlyweds" for showing us how not to prepare for marriage. Hint: Learn how to pick up your own towels first -- and figure out the difference between tuna and chicken.

In film, big huzzahs go to Diane Keaton in "Something's Gotta Give" for paving the way for midlife women to be re-examined as vital, sexy beasts. Ditto to the cast of "Calendar Girls" for helping knock down those barriers.

It was also a good year for female action heroes, albeit most in unworthy movies: Kate Beckinsale in "Underworld," Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill: Vol.1," Angelina Jolie in the second "Lara Croft Tomb Raider," Halle Berry and Famke Janssen in "X2," the "X-Men'' sequel. Keira Knightley, despite perma-pursed lips, swashbuckled as well as Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom in "Pirates of the Caribbean."

But my favorite inspirational female role of the year was played by a child: Keisha Castle-Hughes in "Whale Riders." The 11-year-old Maori actress from New Zealand portrayed Paikea, a child descended from tribal chiefs, barred from becoming chief herself because she was "just a girl." The film, depicting her spirited, relentless pursuit of her rightful destiny, ought to be required viewing for all prepubescent girls feeling daunted by being born female.

Female rockers proved that in 2003 you don't have to take your clothes off (hello, Britney and Christina) to be appreciated. Getting lots of ink and rocking hard (fully clothed) were Karen O, lead singer of Brooklyn's Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Palo Alto's the Donnas.

In the book world, for every tome preaching how to snag a man (or woman), there were boundary-stretching volumes, from Jane Juska's "A Round-Heeled Woman," about a 70-year-old's late-life binge on sex and romance, to "Seductress: Women Who Ravished the World and Their Lost Art of Love," by academic Betsy Prioleau, celebrating gutsy, wanton women throughout history.

And, in keeping with the new I'm-OK-You're-OK attitude toward being single, 2003 gave us "Living Alone and Loving It: A Guide to Relishing the Solo Life," by Barbara Feldon (yes, formerly known as Agent 99 on the 1960s television show "Get Smart"), and the stereotype-busting "Party of One: The Loners' Manifesto," by the Bay Area's own Anneli Rufus. And coming next month, "Quirkyalone: A Manifesto for Uncompromising Romantics" by Sasha Cagen.

The message of all three: It's OK to be alone, OK not to date, smart to take charge of your own romantic destiny.

Take that, Rules women.

There are other signs that the stock of single women is on the rise. Despite a certain lack of female friendliness in Washington these days -- or possibly because of it -- women's groups have been spurred into action. Locally, the Emerge training program for young women interested in political careers is having ripple effects around the country. And Women's Voices, Women's Vote has just started a national campaign to enroll more underserved single women in the political process.

And despite the national media's focus on San Francisco's new mayor as a future hope of the Democratic Party, where was the mention of a young African American woman who'd never run for public office before and yet crushed an incumbent district attorney? If you're scouting for rising political stars in their 30s, I offer you Kamala Harris.

And Jane Fonda is back, re-entering the feminist fray. Her speech at the National Women's Leadership Summit in Washington (available on alternet.org) whipped around women's e-mail lists like wildfire.

And now it seems we're at a female crossroads of sorts: the end of HBO's "Sex and the City" this month. How will it end? It's the subject of much debate. I lost interest in and some patience with the show and its characters a while ago. I just couldn't subscribe -- to the heartless, joyless sleeping around or the relentless pursuit of matrimony.

But I was encouraged recently by comments made by Sarah Jessica Parker about how she would like it to end. She, like many of us, has learned that we need to look inward to find what makes us happy -- whether that's being married, being alone or counting on our female pals.

"I'm very conflicted," she admitted. "I really want contentment for Carrie. And that doesn't mean that is a man or marriage, but maybe it is man and marriage. I want her (to be) the way she is during her best moments with her women friends. That kind of feeling of safety and comfort and inspiration and challenge."

TV reading club lacks depth, reflection
MICHAEL HIGGINS
OPINION
Jan. 24, 2004. 01:00 AM

It is quite fashionable to belong to a reading club, the sole purpose of which is to foster discussion around ideas. These groups may be based on geographical proximity, ethnicity, shared professions, gender or age. They are one constructive response to the splintering of community. In the late 1970s, I founded a reading club at St. Michael's College School and several fellow teachers joined me in an experiment that enriched our intellectual and social lives. Three decades later, now in a university environment in Waterloo, I find myself again a member of a reading club, one founded by Toronto Star columnist Richard Gwyn (Chancellor of St. Jerome's University, among other things) and appropriately named the Pilgrim Club. Our bi-monthly gatherings overflow with opinions, insights, intellectual energy and spiritual openness. It was in light of these discrete but similar experiences that I looked forward to the CBC's version of a reading club: Mary Walsh: Open Book. After all, Walsh is an engaging talker, feisty, and humorous. All the ingredients are there for a sprightly, possibly heated half-hour talk show with a difference.

Alas, my first exposure to Open Book was an unhappy one. The unexamined religious biases, cheap shots, flagrantly uninformed judgments, and rampant silliness of the program made it a deep disappointment. Now clearly, Open Book is not Ed the Sock with a dictionary and subsequent viewings have somewhat mitigated my first impression, but only somewhat. My first night with Open Book was a closed shop - intellectually and spiritually, that is. The book for discussion was Antonia White's first volume of her autobiographical tetralogy, Frost In May. This poignant evocation of a convent girl's struggles in early 20th-century London is bound to elicit strong reactions. And rightly so.

But Walsh and her panellists of the evening - Shirley Douglas, Wendy Crewson, and Bette MacDonald - appeared startlingly ill-equipped to provide enlightened commentary on a work that has become a minor classic. They offered opinions that were, to my mind at least, nothing more than spontaneous outbursts of anger, annoyance, pity, and amusement. There was no depth, considered reflection, or luminous awareness. Walsh and her companions seemed to delight in commiserating with the travails of a convent girl and were outspoken about growing up in the shadow of a nun's veil. They made comparisons drawn from the United Church, and, in one particularly egregious moment of staggering political ignorance, opined that Pol Pot, the ruthless mass murderer of Cambodia, killed in the name of God.

Now this is not to say that Frost In May shouldn't spark controversy, only that care should be taken to provide a viewpoint that, if not comprehensive, should at least be considered. For instance, Antonia White, a confessedly autobiographical writer, recounts in her powerful fiction - and that includes her several novels as well as her one collection of short stories - the emotional and intellectual upheavals that characterized her life. These should have been alluded to in the far-flung discussion. We should have been apprised of her series of emotional breakdowns (what she called the "Beast"), her three marriages and numerous love affairs, her tortured relationship with her father, her departure from the Roman Catholic Church in her 20s and her re-conversion at 41. We should also have been informed of her illustrious career as a writer, critic, translator, and correspondent of distinction. The reason for doing so is simply to move beyond caricature, easy stereotyping and ideological score settling.

White's book deserves both a sympathetic and a critical reading and viewers deserve a focused discussion distinguished by its level of genuine interest and sensitive discernment. White's feminist and theological convictions, nicely encapsulated in her volume of correspondence The Hound And The Falcon, throw light on the bittersweet evolution of the child protagonist of Frost In May, Nanda Grey. It's fair play to give the larger picture. Open Book's discussion of the anguish of a fragile convent girl was anything but open. It's time to move beyond the clichés and get to the heart of the matter.

Perhaps other "religious" books - non-fiction as well as fiction - will fare better on Mary Walsh's late-night program. They deserve to.

Wendy Crewson: Just truckin' along

By Marcy Cornblum Actor Wendy Crewson

Wendy Crewson is a gifted actor. She gave a riveting performance starring in the world premiere TV movie The Many Trials of One Jane Doe, which aired recently on CBC. This emotionally charged drama is based on a real-life story.

The native of Hamilton, is a respected and much-in-demand actor. Audiences have seen her in numerous films. She appeared opposite Arnold Shwarzenegger in On the Sixth Day, Harrison Ford in Air Force One, Tim Allen in The Santa Clause, and Michelle Pfeiffer in To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday. Crewson's TV credits are also extensive. She starred opposite Sidney Poitier in The Last Brickmaker in America. She portrayed the lead in the Joanne Kilbourne murder mysteries. One of her most notable performances was her Gemini Award winning portrayal of Sue Rodriguez in At the End of the Day. Later this year, she can be seen starring opposite Robert Redford and Helen Mirren in The Clearing, and in the cable feature Jack, starring opposite Stockard Channing and Ron Silver.

Crewson, her actor-husband Michael Murphy and their two children recently moved back to Canada after years of living in San Francisco. Of all the roles she has played, Crewson's favourite is being Mom.

Crewson is charming, lovely and always a delight to speak with. She was thrilled to share her experiences about driving and her passion for her Chevy pickup truck.
Q: Do you find driving relaxing?

A: I love to drive. I find driving relaxing if I know where I'm going. When I'm working in a strange city and I'm trying to find the set, I feel stressed. There is something enormously comforting about having a driver. He picks you up on time and knows exactly where the location is for that day's shooting. I can bundle up in my sweats and parka, holding my mug of coffee and get into the car. Then I can read over my script and start concentrating on the scenes for the day.

Q: What is the everyday car?

A: It is a 1995 Honda Acura Legend LS. I like it because it runs every time I get in it. It's a dream car. I feel safe in it, especially when I'm driving with my kids. It's comfortable for driving on short or long trips.

Q: What made you choose a Honda Acura?

A: This story is totally indicative of cars and me. When we lived in San Francisco, we owned an Infiniti. Then we decided to try the drive trip to L.A. rather than flying. So, we needed another car. My husband asked me what I wanted. I really didn't know. So, he went out to look for a car. He came back a few hours later with a car. He drove it up the driveway and I said it's perfect. I love that I didn't have to go out looking for it.

Q: What do people say when they see you driving the Acura?

A: There goes any Mom in the world. I want to blend in with the crowd. My husband says it's become my big trash can. It's not that I want it to be. The car is full of kids, hockey equipment, mail, an old Coke can and a couple of apple cores. I live in the car.

Q: What music do you listen to while you are driving?

A: Everybody has his or her own specific music tastes. The kids listen to rap. I prefer big, loud music. We have so much fun on road trips. My daughter is a fabulous DJ who will sit there and spin CDs for us while we're driving. We even sing along.

Q: Do you remember road trips from your childhood?

A: Yes, the family took many cross-country road trips. I grew up in Winnipeg. It was great driving from there to Victoria through the mountains. We'd pull a little pop-up trailer and camp. I have many fond memories. These days we take road trips to our place in Maine.

Q: Were you eager to get your driver's licence?

A: Not really. I'd taken a few lessons with my Dad. For one reason or another I didn't go to take the test until I was 20. Around the same time, I was cast in the movie Mazes and Monsters, with Tom Hanks. The role required that I drive a standard. I couldn't operate the vehicle. My agent at the time, took me out to an empty parking lot in his car, which was a standard and taught me how to drive. All this so that I could drive the next day on the set. Tom Hanks was giving directions for shifting gears going up hill. How many times did I stall that car going up the hill? An endless number of times. I had the crew scattering to get out of my way.

Q: What vehicle do you drive when you are in Maine?

A: I have a fabulous 1951 Chevy pickup with a flatbed back. It is glorious. It's the most beautiful Chevy green truck you have ever seen.

Q: What reaction do you get when you drive the truck?

A: When I'm driving, guys at the side of the road will yell, "Sweet ride!" I yell back, "Yeah, baby." I don't feel like the suburban mom in that thing.

Q: Where did you find a 1951 Chevy pickup truck?

A: I was pregnant with my daughter, 13 years ago, we were living in Maine. The house was full of vintage car magazines. I had always dreamed of owning a Chevy pickup truck. I was reading a truck-trading magazine and spotted a picture of the prettiest green pickup that was located in Texas. It was priced at only $6,000. I telephoned the guy in the ad and bought the car over the phone without seeing it. When it arrived, I was overjoyed. Of course I didn't realize it was standard. I didn't want to drive one again after the movie experience. But I loved the truck, so I finally did figure it out. Now I drive it everywhere.

Q: Do you tinker with cars?

A: No, I'm fine with choosing upholstery. With the Acura I can barely figure out where to put the windshield wiper fluid.

Q: What is your fantasy car?

A: I want a '56 T-bird in classic mint green.

Q: What's the silliest thing you've ever done in a car?

A: I got off a plane from L.A. and was picked up and taken to a television talk show. Due to the fact that I was booked to appear the following day, I wasn't dressed properly. I grabbed my suitcase, found an outfit and changed clothes in the back seat of the van. The driver promised he wouldn't look. I stepped out of the van, put on a touch of makeup and went on camera to do the show.

Q: How would you compare driving in Toronto with driving in San Francisco?

A: Toronto is so much easier. San Francisco is hell with a car and they're crazy drivers. There's no parking available. The volume of cars is unbelievable. It's like the Wild West. Toronto is great!