Kevin McDonald returns with ultra-short comedy concieved by Quarrington

Comedy sketches come naturally to Kids in the Hall member Kevin McDonald. Writing anything longer than a few minutes does not, he bemoans in his famously high-pitched tone.

“In the past 15 years I’ve pushed myself to learn how to write hour-and-a-half things, like movies, or half-hour things, like pilots for TV shows,” McDonald said in a recent interview from Niagara Falls, Ont., where he shot a film cameo.

“At first they were like long sketches. (Then), each scene was like a sketch. And now I’m (thinking): ‘Oh, maybe this scene doesn’t have to have a horribly funny thing, just a mildly funny, witty thing. Because it adds to the next scene and the story’s important.”‘

It’s fitting then that his return to series television on Monday comes by way of what could be Canada’s shortest show — the four-minute “Papillon.”

McDonald stars in Bite TV’s offbeat farce about an ultra discount airline and its peculiar employees. The frizzy-haired funnyman plays Darius, a nebbish co-pilot with a fear of flying. Other characters include cocky pilot Cal (David Fraser), pragmatic flight attendant Marcia (a cross-dressing Randal Edwards) and the severe — and possibly homicidal — flight attendant Eva (Hannah Cheesman).

The outlandish comedy — in which the frugal airline eliminates frills such as drinks, meals and seatbelts — was created by late author, musician, filmmaker and playwright Paul Quarrington.

McDonald says it was originally envisioned as a 30-minute sitcom but evolved into a short series.

Bite TV — which populates the rest of its joke-heavy lineup with critical faves “Arrested Development,” “Extras,” and “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” — says the “Papillon” shorts will be packaged into 30-minute episodes at the end of August.

McDonald says the Internet has fuelled a renaissance in comedy shorts.

“It’s funny how modern technology advances make you go back. Like, now it’s three-minute pop songs that are the thing,” says McDonald, who co-wrote three of the 15 “Papillon” episodes with partner Paula Blair.

“That’s the way the world is going.”

“Papillon” starts Monday July 11 on Bite TV.

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by Cassandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press

Date: Friday Jul. 8, 2011

Read the complete story at http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Entertainment/20110708/KevinMcDonald-return-small-screen-110708/

Paul Quarrington Life in Music Doc Wins Gold Remi at Houston WorldFest

Out of more than 4,300 international category entries in the 10 major Remi Award Competitions, WorldFest-Houston, the third longest-running International Film Festival in North America, announced its roster of Award winners this week.  PAUL QUARRINGTON LIFE IN MUSIC garnered a Gold Remi in the category of Biography Feature.  The film is a production of BookShorts Inc., in collaboration with Bravo!, a division of CTV with the support of Canada Media Fund.  It was directed by Bert Kish and Executive Produced/Produced by Judith Keenan, with Executive Producer William Laurin and Bravo executive Charlotte Engel. For complete credits, trailers, and to purchase the DVD, visit http://www.bookshorts.com/pq_life_in_music

The documentary is an intimate portrait of an amazingly talented artist who is given a life sentence by one of the most ubiquitous diseases of our age – cancer.  Diagnosed at stage 4 (there is no stage 5), his lung cancer gave Quarrington only ten months to live.  But live he did, pouring his heart, soul and emotions into a host of creative projects: he toured the country and recorded a new album with his band Porkbelly Futures; made his first solo album called The Songs; finished writing his memoir Cigar Box Banjo: Notes on Life and Music; completed scripts for a dramatic series and a screenplay for feature film.  And of course he made this documentary film, capturing all of these endeavours on camera.

Though the filmmakers do hope to inspire audiences to live life to the full by sharing  Paul’s journey, the film is steadfastly not a “cancer film.”  There are no hospital shots or doctor’s diagnoses.  Instead, the audience witnesses an artist at the height of his creative process, delivering his story with humour, candour and poignant insight.  As Paul says himself, he wants his audiences to cry through their laughter, and laugh through their tears – that’s when a person is truly open to all the incredible experiences life has to offer, be it one year, or one hundred years long.

Hunter Todd, Chairman & Founding Director in his correspondence to the winners, states “It is very difficult to win a Remi in WorldFest… with so many entries, only about 15-20% are good enough to win the Award for Creative Excellence. In some categories, sometimes no awards are made because the entries that year did not score high enough to earn a Remi Award. My personal congratulations for a job very well done.”

WorldFest, founded as an International Film Society in August 1961, became the third competitive international film festival in North America, following San Francisco and New York.  WorldFest evolved into a competitive International Film Festival in April 1968 and has a long list of “discovered” film greats such as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, David Lynch, Ridley Scott, Oliver Stone, Atom Egoyan, Randall Kleiser, Ang Lee, Robert Rodriguez, the Coen Brothers, John Lee Hancock and many others from their beginning efforts for film submissions early in their careers.  Multi award-winning producer/director Hunter Todd founded this film festival to honor all categories of film and video production continuing his long dedication of “Discovery,” spotlighting emerging Independent filmmakers as “the Spielbergs & Ang Lees of tomorrow.”   The Remi takes its name from the famous artist Frederick Remington, who captures the spirit of Texas and the West with his brilliant paintings and sculptures.

For more information and screening copies, contact:

Judith Keenan,  Executive Producer & Producer

Judith-at-bookshorts-dotcom

Quarrington concept launches comedy web series for Bite TV, Babelgum

GlassBOX Television’s Bite TV is in partnership with independent media creators Duopoly and Farmhouse Productions for a new original comedy web series, Papillon.

Based on a property originally developed by the series’ Executive Producer Catherine Tait and Paul Quarrington,  Papillon (15 X 4 minute episodes) stars Kevin McDonald of the acclaimed TV show Kids in the Hall.  The series is one of the few projects selected for the first Independent Production Fund supporting linear online content.

Papillon will be seen in Canada first online, at bite.ca and then broadcast on specialty channel Bite TV, as well as the popular international Internet platform Babelgum the US.

Papillon centers on the motley crew of misfits who operate a discount airline out of the working town of Windsor, Ontario.   Papillon is the airline that promises to put the flutter back into flying.  In other words – no unnecessary ‘perks’ such as in-flight drinks, meals, or pesky seatbelts.   The web series is slated to begin production January 11, 2011.

“Papillon is both perfectly targeted to Bite’s audience and a wonderful fit with our commitment to develop fresh new programming that utilizes Canada’s tremendous depth of comedic talent,” said Jeffrey Elliott, Founder and Co-CEO GlassBOX Television.

Papillon is an original concept created by the late Paul Quarrington and written by Mark Steinberg, with three scripts by writing team Kevin McDonald and Paula Blair. Paul Quarrington was one of Canada’s most celebrated writing talents. As a screenwriter, he wrote or contributed to several produced screenplays, among them: Men with Brooms, Whale Music, Camilla and Perfectly Normal, winner of the Genie for Best Screenplay.  His television writing credits included Due South, John Woo’s Once a Thief, Power Play, The Counsellors, Tom Stone, 1-800 Missing and Chilly Beach.

For the complete story, visit Mediacaster Magazine

Paul Quarrington Life in Music DVD now available

We are thrilled and elated to report that Paul’s film is now available on DVD!  And we’ve loaded the disc with a range of special features that ought to delight those who know the man, and titillate those who are just getting to know his work.

Special Features

• MUSIC VIDEOS including CLAIRE by The Rheostatics; HEY, HOLLYWOOD by Paul Quarrington; ARE YOU READY performed by Sharon Riley and Faith Chorale
• SHORT FILMS including the award-winning  PAVANE directed by Paul Quarrington; plus ANGEL TAKES ALL and SEVENTH SEAL REDUX
• INTERVIEWS by MARGARET ATWOOD, PAUL GROSS, JOHN KRIZANC, ALISTAIR MACLEOD, NINO RICCI plus a conversation with Booker Prize winning author RODDY DOYLE
• PHOTO GALLERIES from behind the scenes MAKING LIFE IN MUSIC, intimate PORTRAITS OF AN ARTIST and an exclusive collection illustrating Quarrington’s last book, CIGAR BOX BANJO

The DVD can be ordered through Producer Judith Keenan using PayPal by Email.
Paul Quarrington Life in Music DVD w/ Special Features
$20 CAD plus HST includes shipping within Canada

ABOUT THE FILM >> Paul Quarrington Life in Music

Director Bert Kish has done a masterful job revealing the inner life and work of this renaissance artist – writer, teacher, musician, filmmaker – delivering both humourous and poignant insights into what it takes to live a creative life.

… funny, defiant and moving… – James Reaney, QMI Agency

… A fascinating look at an eclectic artist whose impending death led him to embrace both his life and his art.
 – TV Week

… the artist’s last year of life was his greatest work. - The Globe and Mail

… a fitting send-off tribute to a Canadian great – National Post

… one of our country’s leading artists – Calgary Herald

The DVD will be available at each of the screening events taking place this coming fall – subscribe to the RSS feed for this site for updates!

Film Screenings for PQ Life in Music

We’re pleased to announce the first screenings in the Moving Stories Film tour of Paul Quarrington: Life in Music.  Each Festival and venue is combining the film event with wonderful live additions, from musical performances to readings and theatrical presentations.  For details on each, visit each festival’s website – we’ve provided the links below.

Leacock Summer Festival, Orillia – Sun. July 25

Haliburton Forest Festival - Sat. Aug. 21

Thin Air: Winnipeg Writers Festival – Sat. Sep 25

WordFest: Banff-Calgary Intl Writers Festival – Sat. Oct 16 & Sun. Oct 17

Vancouver International Writers Festival – Fri. Oct 22

Paul Quarrington The Songs (CD) and Cigar Box Banjo (book) will also be available at each venue.   More screenings across the country to be announced soon!

Paul Quarrington Life in Music Now On Facebook

All PQ all the time!  We’ve now got enough fans to have our very own Facebook Page URL >>

Paul Quarrington Life in Music

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Stop by anytime – ask questions, read interviews and reviews, post feedback – tawk to us ya!

Yours in geekdom-groupie-ness

Judith

Paul Quarrington Life in Music Doc Airs May 29 on Bravo!

Paul Quarrington is an award winning, well respected and much loved author, filmmaker, musician and teacher. Though a very public figure in the field of Canadian arts, and an artist who made himself easily accessible to fans, he was also a complex person. So much so that few in his public or private sphere say they really knew him. With the sudden diagnosis of terminal illness, he is compelled to address this in the best way he knows how – he chooses to make art – to squeeze the juice from life and pour his passion into making this film, into re-writing his about-to-be-published memoir to include his “new thematic material,” and into writing songs, lots of songs, all made more poignant for the absolute deadline at hand.

Through this film, Paul gives us a rare and insightful glimpse into the inner workings of an artist in the act of creating. As he writes, records and performs, you see the heart and soul of a man able to express in music deeply personal issues. We witness the artist, and the man, reach for a resolution to the question that we will all face when our time comes, “what would you do?”

What unfolds is a laugh-out-loud funny, compelling, warm and enlightening story – a journey woven around music, bearing witness to the power of song to elevate, encapsulate and explain the emotions that poured into this artist’s creative endeavors. His story will inspire every viewer to look at life a bit differently – to engage and to be present as if life were to end tomorrow. It is a story of friendship and community – of immersing oneself in the redemptive powers of an audience to find solace and validation.

As a teacher, Paul would always tell students to write about what makes them uncomfortable – to be unafraid of the subject matter. With much of the music in this film written and recorded post-diagnosis, the process of coming to terms plays itself out musically. “All the Stars” – a hauntingly beautiful ballad, tells of one left behind, while “Are You Ready,” written expressly for the film, pulls all that has transpired into a deceptively simple lyric whose impact is made clear in the powerful and surprising denouement.

On screen conversations with some of the most important people in Quarrington’s life amplify the inspiring message, including longtime friend and bandmate Martin Worthy, Roddy Doyle, Dave Bidini, Wayson Choy, brothers Joel Quarrington and Tony Quarrington, daughters Carson and Flannery and their mother Dorothy Bennie. Comments by Nick Jennings and Martin Levin provide context and threaded throughout are live performances by Paul, his band Porkbelly Futures, Dan Hill, Joe Hall, Roberto Occhipinti and many more musical guests.

Producer Judith Keenan, Director Bert Kish and Editor Caroline Christie have done a masterful job of drawing the viewer into the life and work of this Renaissance artist, a gift from the man we finally get to know – the author, musician, teacher, father and friend – Paul Quarrington.

PAUL QUARRINGTON: LIFE IN MUSIC
A Feature Documentary Film
Produced by Judith Keenan, BookShorts Inc., Director Bert Kish

BRAVO! TV Broadcast Dates
Saturday, May 29 at 7pm EDT and Sunday, May 30 at 6pm EDT

DVD Available
June 2010

National Screening Tour
September – October 2010

Richard Lewis: Video Telegram for Paul Quarrington

A comedic tribute to Paul Quarrington by Canadian actor / director Richard Lewis, shot on the Montreal set of Lewis’ next feature film, “Barney’s Version.”? The clip was shot to be screened at the live event “Life in Music, Words, and on Screen” produced by BookShorts on behalf of Humber College and the International Festival of Authors, and took place in Toronto on Oct 24, 2009.? Richard was the director of Quarrington’s multi-award winning feature film WHALE MUSIC, adapted from the author’s own novel of the same name; Quarrington also penned the screenplay. In celebration of Quarrington’s life and work and as inspiration for more brave artists crossing genres, join the Quarrington Arts Society – info at www.quarringtonartsociety.ca .?

Robert Lantos: Video Telegram for Paul Quarrington

A tribute to Paul Quarrington by filmmaker extraordinaire Robert Lantos,? captured on the set of his next feature, “barney’s Version.” The clip was created expressly for screening as part of the live celebration “Life in Music, Words, and on Screen” produced by BookShorts? on behalf of Humber College and the International Festival of Authors (Toronto, Oct 24, 2009). Mr. Lantos has become a seminal member of the Quarrington Arts Society — for more about this initiative to further the careers of multi-talented artists of page, screen and stage, visit www.quarringtonartsociety.ca

Pavane reviewed at NXNE

@ NXNE: Pavane

By Kate Xian

Preceding feature documentary Depeche Mode: They Came From the Posters on the Walls, Pavane, written and directed by Paul Quarrington based off his novel The Ravine is a beautifully simple short film filled with subtext. On the surface, lounge bar piano player Jay and challenging patron Phil seem to be strangers butting heads when it comes to song selection. But as the conversation progresses, and with slight nuances abound, we come to realize that these two have a much deeper and darker relationship than first thought.

With music as its anchor, the film is cut with minimalist yet very telling animation about the brotherhood between Jay and Phil and loss of innocence in a deeply dark way. And the events of that unforgettable day have left an immense weight on the both of them right into their adulthood.

Female patrons Gail and Kim provide comic relief to the heavy themes while the animation gives the film just a touch of lightness among its weighty content. Produced by past JXM Feature of the Month, Judith Keenan of BookShorts and Quarrington successfully create a film filled with backstory and character in a matter of minutes.

See the original review at Jaded Expressions Magazine

NB: There was also a mention of the film screening on “Dutch Touch Radio” on June 13.

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