Hillary Pitcher is joining Toronto-based studio The Juggernaut in the role of executive producer. Pitcher has extensive experience in production as well as sales and marketing at various houses and agencies, including Lowe Roche, Open and School Editing in Toronto, and Robin Frank Management in New York. Pitcher will play a key role as The Juggernaut expands its capabilities into full content production after 17 years as a postproduction/VFX house. The Juggernaut now represents a varied lineup of directors, DPs, designers, and creators including Mathew den Boer, Nigel McGinn, Nick Sewell, Cam Roden, comedy director Mark Mainguy and veteran director/DP Eric Yealland. The roster is supported by in-house editor and online artist Alec McKay. The roster expansion coincides with The Juggernaut’s move into its new downtown studio, a historic coach house near Kensington Market. The space, which is in the final stages of a rebuild by noted architects Francesca Piccaluga and Vis Sankrithi, features a fully equipped shooting space with load-in, editing and finishing suites, and an industrial kitchen designed to accommodate food and beverage shoots. The Juggernaut recently worked with Cronos Group to film the cannabis brand’s operations and growth facility; produced a live-action/animated national campaign for Molson with Rethink; worked with agency SOS to shoot and edit promotional pieces for Queen’s and Algoma universities; collaborated with forthcoming video-app Snibble on an animated brand video; produced a series of animated content for gaming giant Ubisoft; and shot and finished more than 80 beverage and recipe videos for Diageo. The Juggernaut was founded in 2002 by partners Patrick Fay (new business) and Craig Small (executive creative director)….
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More