Ontario Creates IFF event brings new projects from Malcolm McDowell, Clement Virgo

by Jeremy Kay

Ontario Creates’ International Financing Forum (IFF) will feature 40 projects from Canadian and international teams bringing new work from Malcolm McDowell, Clement Virgo, and Rafael Kapelinski, director of 2017 Berlin Crystal Bear winner Butterfly Kisses.

The forum, now in its 19th year, runs September 8-9 in Toronto in association with Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). It brings together jury-selected producers looking to find co-producers and secure financing for upcoming projects.

Canadian projects include The Benefactor starring McDowell from A Clockwork Orange and Mozart In The Jungle in the story of a widower who believes his house is haunted.

Ontario’s Byron A. Martin (The Chronicles Of Riddick, Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D) of Byron A. Martin Productions is producing, and the UK’s David Parfitt (The Father, Shakespeare In Love) is co-producing.

Virgo, the director behind films like Brother and Poor Boy’s Game, will direct Half-Blood Blues. Virgo’s partner at Ontario-based Conquering Lion Pictures, Damon D’Oliveira, is producing with Caitlin Grabham.

Based on Esi Edugyan’s Man Booker finalist, Half-Blood Blues follows the plight of Black jazz musicians in Nazi Germany who attempt to flee the country.

Read More

Angourie Rice & Mallori Johnson Leading Canadian-Belgian Thriller ‘Steal Away’, WME Independent Handling Sales

by Zac Ntim, Andreas Wiseman, Valerie Complex

Angourie Rice (Mare of Easttown, Spider-Man: No Way Home) and Mallori Johnson (Kindred, Genius MLK/X) are leading under-the-radar Canadian-Belgian psychological thriller Steal Away, which recently wrapped principal photography in Belgium.

Producers Damon D’Oliveira and Clement Virgo of Conquering Lion Pictures (Canada) and Peter De Maegd and Tom Hameeuw of Potemkino (Belgium) are behind the film, which Virgo (Brother, The Book of Negroes) also directs.

The official synopsis reads: “Fanny, a naive teenager, starts her journey to adulthood when Cécile, a mysterious refugee, is taken in by her charitable family. As the two girls develop an intense and obsessive bond, Fanny becomes captivated by Cécile’s way of navigating life, leading to an awakening of desire and jealousy. Gradually, both girls realize that the benevolent world they inhabit is not what it appears.”

Lauren Lee Smith (The Shape of Water) and Idrissa Sanogo Bamba (The Boys) also star. Script comes from Tamara Faith Berger (Lie With Me) and Virgo, inspired by the non-fiction book, Steal Away Home by Karolyn Smardz Frost. The movie is made in association with 2CFILM in the Netherlands.

Pic is being released by Elevation Pictures in Canada, and is targeted for a late 2025 theatrical run. U.S. and international sales are being handled by WME Independent.

Executive producers are Paula Devonshire (Indian Horse), Caitlin Grabham (Brother), Laurie May (Infinity Pool), Noah Segal (Blackberry), with Edvard van ‘t Wout serving as associate producer.

“We’re going to unsettle and surprise the audience with this female-driven thriller, weaving sharp social critiques on race, sex and family into an entertaining, psychological thrill ride,” said Clement Virgo and Tamara Faith Berger.

“We want to provoke a conversation about how to make allegiances outside your own tribe. In a way, we are all teenage girls: fierce, full of love and fighting the powers that be.”

Cinematography is by Sophie Winqvist, production design by Elisa Sauvé, costume design by Sofie Callaerts, and editing by Jorge Weisz.

Backing comes from Telefilm Canada, The Canada Media Fund, ON Creates, Elevation Pictures, BNP Paribas Fortis Film Finance and Screen Flanders.

Source: https://deadline.com/2024/07/angourie-rice-mallori-johnson-movie-steal-away-1236014116/

Toronto author Catherine Hernandez's latest novel Behind You optioned for film and television

Conquering Lion Pictures have acquired the film rights to Behind You by Catherine Hernandez. 

Behind You, released on May 5, 2024, follows the story of Alma, a film editor for a corny true crime series. At a glance, her life with her wife and teenage son seems comfortable and safe. But when Infamous' latest episode features the Scarborough Stalker — who terrorized Alma's own neighborhood when she was a girl — Alma is consumed by her long-suppressed past. In present day, she must reckon with her understanding of consent to stop her young son from making terrible choices toward his own girlfriend. Unfolding in two timelines, Behind You challenges and dissects rape culture and champions one girl's resilience into adulthood. 

"I have a love/hate relationship with true crime," said Hernandez in an email. "The usual structure goes like this: misogyny shapes the killer, fragile masculinity leads to shoddy investigations, rape culture blames victims/tells those targeted to do better job of saving themselves, when killer is caught the patriarchy says, 'we saved you, you're welcome.'" 

"What some may call enthralling entertainment is what I call an enraging pattern. And having moved to Scarborough the same year a serial killer began attacking women and girls, I decided to write a book that challenged us to halt these cataclysmic cycles of harm."

Hernandez is a Canadian writer, author and playwright. Her 2017 novel, Scarborough, was a shortlisted finalist for the 2017 Toronto Book Award, the 2018 Trillium Book Award, the 2018 Edmund White Award and was on Canada Reads 2022 defended by actress Malia Baker. 

Scarborough was also adapted to screen as a feature film and premiered at TIFF in 2021. Her other books include The Story of Us, Crosshairs and the children's books I Promise, M is for Mustache and Where Do Your Feelings Live?.

Conquering Lion Pictures, co-founded by Damon D'Oliveira and Clement Virgo, is known for its adaptations of Canada Reads books Brother by David Chariandy and The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill. 

"I am beside myself with excitement for the future of this project," said Hernandez, who is writing the screen play for the film version of Behind You. "I have been dreaming of the day I could create alongside Conquering Lion Pictures ever since I watched the adaptation of Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes."

Hernandez is most excited about the opportunity to subvert the way true crime stories are told. 

"I wrote the first draft of the screenplay and the final drafts of the novel simultaneously with the same intention: to pull focus from perpetrators to survivors and victims," she said. 

"This fictional story exploring the impact of a fictional serial killer on generations of people is not about perpetrators. It's about us. This simple act of redirection allows us to examine the insidiousness of rape culture, explore society's complicity in sexual harm and all the ways we allow history to repeat itself."

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/books/toronto-author-catherine-hernandez-s-latest-novel-behind-you-optioned-for-film-and-television-1.7193315

Clement Virgo’s Brother wins 2024 NAACP Image Award

by Kelly Townsend

Clement Virgo’s drama feature Brother was recognized at the 55th NAACP Image Awards.

The film won Outstanding Independent Motion Picture during the virtual awards ceremony on Wednesday (March 13), and Outstanding International Motion Picture at the awards dinner on Thursday (March 14).

Other nominees in the Outstanding Independent Motion Picture category included Chris Spencer’s Back on the Strip, Aristotle Torres’s Story Ave, Martin Guigui’s Sweetwater, and Bomani J. Story’s The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster. The film was up against Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, C.J. ‘Fiery’ Obasi’s Mami Wata, Raine Allen-Miller’s Rye Lane, and J.A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow for Outstanding International Motion Picture.

Brother is written and directed by Clement, who produced the film alongside his Conquering Lion Pictures partner Damon D’Oliveira and Hawkeye Pictures’ Aeschylus Poulos and Sonya Di Rienzo. Elevation Pictures is the Canadian distributor, while Vertical Entertainment distributed the film in the U.S.

The film is based on the novel of the same name by David Chariandy, and follows the trials and tribulations of two brothers (portrayed by Lamar Johnson and Aaron Pierre) growing up in Scarborough, Ont.

Brother was nominated for three NAACP Image Awards categories overall, including Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture for Pierre.

The NAACP Image Awards honour excellence in film, television, music, theatre and literature. The 2024 winners have been announced across five events: three virtual ones between March 10 to 13, a non-televised awards dinner on March 14, and a live awards broadcast on Saturday, March 16 in L.A.

Source: https://playbackonline.ca/2024/03/14/clement-virgos-brother-wins-2024-naacp-image-award/

Producing for the Planet coalition wants to make the film industry more sustainable

COTTONBRO VIA PEXELS.

by Kristi Alexander

How can Canadian filmmaking become more eco-friendly and sustainable?

It’s a question that a new climate change initiative is setting out to answer.

Producing for the Planet is a coalition of Canadian indie media producers who are banding together to take action on climate change as it relates to the motion picture and screen industry, aiming to lead positive environmental change and implement sustainable practices on set.

Thus far, at least 40 companies have signed on to the coalition, including Vancouver’s Lark Productions (responsible for Real Housewives of Vancouver), Blue Ant Media (Canada’s Drag Race), and Conquering Lion Pictures (Brother, Book of Negroes).

“We’ve joined Producing for the Planet because we want our productions and stories to do their part to protect the environment we all depend on,” says Damon D'Oliviera, president of Conquering Lion Pictures, in a release.

The coalition will focus on four key areas (the results of which will be shared in an annual impact report): on-screen storytelling, emissions, waste, and collective action.

“Being sustainable is part of how we remain a world-class and resilient industry and Blue Ant could not be more proud to lend its voice to the need for urgent action on climate change,” says Mark Bishop, co-president of Blue Ant Studios, in the release.

Producing for the Planet will be releasing a digital interactive Climate Action Producer Toolkit in the spring as its first project.

Source: https://www.straight.com/movies/producing-for-planet-coalition-wants-to-make-film-industry-more-sustainable

Damon D’Oliveira appointed as CMPA chair

by Kelly Townsend

Conquering Lion Pictures co-founder Damon D’Oliveira (pictured) has been appointed as chair of the Canadian Media Producers Association’s (CMPA) board of directors.

The CMPA announced the full board for the 2023-25 term on Thursday (Sept. 28) following its annual general meeting, which includes eight new additions.

D’Oliveira assumes the role from outgoing chair Erin Haskett of Vancouver’s Lark Productions, who will remain as a member of the board. Winnipeg-based Eagle Vision’s Kyle Irving and Toronto-based WildBrain’s Anne Loi both serve as vice-chairs.

Source: https://playbackonline.ca/2023/09/29/damon-doliveira-appointed-as-cmpa-chair/

Brother dominates with a dozen wins on third night of Canadian Screen Awards Social Sharing

Scene from Clement Virgo's "Brother". — Photo: Elevation Pictures

by Jenna Benchetrit

Brother, director Clement Virgo's intense portrait of two Jamaican-Canadian siblings growing up in a Toronto suburb during the 1990s, swept the third night of the Canadian Screen Awards (CSAs) after winning 12 of its 14 nominations in the cinematic arts categories.

Among its many laurels were best motion picture, achievement in direction for Virgo, and performance in a leading role for Lamar Johnson, a rising Canadian star who has appeared in The Last of Us and Your Honor. 

The film, an adaptation of David Chariandy's eponymous 2017 book, is a meditation on masculinity and family set against the backdrop of Scarborough, Ont.'s fledgling hip-hop scene. Brother had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Its theatrical run began on March 17.

Its other CSA wins include performance in a supporting role for British actor Aaron Pierre, adapted screenplay, and awards for achievement in casting, sound mixing, sound editing, original score, art direction, hair and costume design.

‘Brother’ Director Clement Virgo Is ‘Stunned’ To Lead Canadian Screen Awards’ Film Nominees: ‘It Feels Heartening And Overwhelming’

Scene from Clement Virgo's "Brother". — Photo: Elevation Pictures

The very first email Toronto filmmaker Clement Virgo received on Wednesday morning was from Scarborough author Catherine Hernandez.

“It said, ‘Congratulations. Well deserved’,” Virgo tells ET Canada. “At first I wasn’t sure what she was talking about.”

Then he checked the news and saw that his movie “Brother”, a coming-of-age story set in Scarborough that he wrote and directed, received 14 Canadian Screen Awards nominations, topping all nods in the film category.

READ MORE: Exclusive: Clement Virgo’s ‘Brother’ Explores Growing Up Amid Toronto’s Pulsing ’90s Hip-Hop Scene

Just as Hernandez’s book was turned into an acclaimed film (2021’s “Scarborough”), “Brother” is an adaptation of a 2017 novel by David Chariandy. It follows two sons of Caribbean immigrants as they grow into young men while traversing Toronto’s ’90s hip hop scene. Among the CSA nods it received were Best Motion Picture and Achievement in Direction.

“It feels heartening and overwhelming. And I’m stunned,” says Virgo about receiving the nominations.

“I’ve been making films for 20-plus years and I’ve made some good films, I’ve made some films that weren’t as good as ‘Brother’. As a filmmaker, as artists, we’ve all had ups and downs. So to have a film that people respond to in this way and to have 14 nominations, it’s encouraging.”

Like the brothers in his film, Virgo, who was born in Jamaica, is an immigrant who grew up in an underserved area of Toronto — Regent Park. His work often tells stories about the immigrant experience and masculinity, which is a throughline that can be traced back to his 1995 debut film, “Rude”.

On top of the CSA nods, “Brother” also made the Toronto International Film Festival’s Top Ten list for 2022.

Virgo says seeing his film rack up the accolades is significant for Scarborough and communities like it.

“We’re so used to seeing films set in New York, Brooklyn, L.A., Paris, Seoul, Korea,” he says. “But to see a film set in Scarborough and saying that this community is just as valid, these lives are just as valid and these stories resonate, is important to me. [It says] that the community that shaped a lot of us, that shaped me, is recognized around the country. Hopefully people will see it elsewhere.”

Clement Virgo — Photo: Elevation Picturesnone

READ MORE: Canadian Screen Awards Moves To Gender-Neutral Acting Categories

While Canada’s film and TV industry has been criticized for its lack of diversity both on and off the screen, Virgo says he’s encouraged to see racialized voices lead this year’s CSA nominations, including Anthony Shim’s Korean family drama “Riceboy Sleeps” and CBC’s “The Porter”, the first Canadian drama series from an all-Black creative team.

“When I started out there was there weren’t a lot of us making film and television,” Virgo says. “There were some, but they weren’t where the numbers are now. And this year, in 2023, to see the list of nominees at the CSAs and the diverse faces, it’s heartening. It’s says to me that the ecosystem in Canada that is making film and television is recognizing this work. We’ve come some ways from when I started.”

Ultimately, Virgo says, seeing BIPOC-led productions get recognition reflects “the diversity of the country.” He says he aims to do the same whenever he’s casting for a project, adding that’s he’s currently working on a Netflix thriller called “The Madness”.

“Whenever I work on a show, and what was important for me on ‘Brother’, was to have the crew reflect the faces that I see when I take the subway every day,” he says. “That’s what we’re trying to do.”

THE 2022 CMPA INDIESCREEN AWARDS WINNERS!

Damon D’Oliveira takes home the Established Producer Award. Sara Blake, Magali Gillon-Krizaj, Tyler Hagan named recipients of the Kevin Tierney Emerging Producer Award

“The Indiescreen Awards are an opportunity to reflect on the remarkable talent, creativity, and spirit found in our domestic production sector and to celebrate the hardworking producers who bring Canadian stories to the screen,” said the CMPA’s President and CEO Reynolds Mastin. “Congratulations to the winners, who continue to exemplify the excellence of Canada’s feature film producers.”

Nominees in both categories were selected among the applicants by two national juries, each consisting of five industry leaders, and chaired by the previous year’s Indiescreen Award winners.

The CMPA thanks the 2022 jury members for their time and commitment.

Established Producer Award Jury:

• Anand Ramayya – (Jury Chair and 2021 Established Producer Award winner)

  1. Andrew Murphy

  2. Tina Keeper

  3. Michael Fukushima

  4. Tara Woodbury

Kevin Tierney Emerging Producer Award Jury:

• Kate Kroll & Rylan Friday – (Jury Chairs and 2021 Established Producer Award winners)

  1. Sharon McGowan

  2. Eric Bizzarri

  3. Kelly McCormack

  4. Baljit Sangray

The 17th annual Indiescreen Awards took place at the Whistler Film Festival at a ceremony on December 2, 2022. For over 16 years, the Indiescreen Awards has recognized producers whose vision and entrepreneurship demonstrate a commitment and passion for producing Canadian feature films. This year, two Indiescreen Awards were presented and prize amounts were were doubled:

– The Established Producer Award ($20,000), recognizing a producer’s filmmaking accomplishments over the course of their career to date
– The Kevin Tierney Emerging Producer Award ($10,000), established in 2016, celebrating an up-and-coming “one-to-watch” in feature film production

‘Brother,’ ‘Black Ice’ Producers to Fasttrack Basketball-Themed Crime Drama Series ‘The Count’ This Fall

By Jennie Punter

Stoked by raves and strong receptions to their world-premiering Toronto festival films, “Brother” producers Damon D’Oliveira and Clement Virgo, “Black Ice” producer Vinay Virmani, and “Alice, Darling” producer Noah Segal are warming up a new basketball-themed crime series, “The Count,” for this fall’s marketplace, Variety has learned.

A modern spin on French author Alexandre Dumas’ classic 19th-century novel of wrongful imprisonment “The Count of Monte Cristo,” the TV drama will bounce between Toronto’s basketball milieu and Haiti’s cultural mélange as it follows the transformation of a Haitian basketball player facing a life sentence for murder into to justice-seeking saboteur.

D’Oliveira and Virgo under their Conquering Lion Pictures company, The Good Karma Company’s chief content officer Virmani, and Elevation Pictures co-president Segal have signed on as executive producers on the series.

Virgo, who wrote and directed the Lamar Johnson-starring “Brother,” and Hubert Davis, director of the revelatory hockey documentary “Black Ice,” are set to direct “The Count, which starts pre-production in 2023.

Virgo’s “Brother” is his adaptation of David Chariandy’s award-winning novel, which explores manhood, ambition, family love and loss in a Scarborough housing complex. Virgo’s extensive TV credits include the series adaptation of Lawrence Hill’s novel “The Book of Negroes” (CBC, BET) and episodes of “Billions” and “Empire.” He and D’Oliveira are developing an adaptation of Esi Edugyan’s jazz-themed novel “Half-Blood Blues” with CBC through their company.

“I’m thrilled to be working on the adaptation of this literary masterpiece,” said Virgo, who signed with WME earlier this month. “Adapting ‘The Count’ to a contemporary setting opens up the classic story for a whole new generation.”

“Crime thrillers, like basketball, are popular around the world,” commented executive producers D’Oliveira, Segal and Virmani. “This combustive combo will play well for audiences, both young and old.”

Elevation’s Segal added that he and his fellow exec producers firmed up their commitment to “The Count” this week, and that their recent successes in Toronto convinced them to fast track it: “We are looking forward to bringing this series to buyers this fall.”

Elevation Pictures is a leading Canadian distributor and production company. Recent projects include Anna Kendrick-starring “Alice, Darling,” which was shot in Ontario, and Brandon Cronenberg’s “Infinity Pool.”

Ten buzzy films at the Toronto International Film Festival this year

By Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press

TORONTO — The stars are once again migrating north for the Toronto International Film Festival, which organizers say is set to return to its pre-pandemic glory days when it begins next week.

With a slate of roughly 200 features, the options range from the indie arthouse to Oscar bait to big-budget crowd pleasers.

Brother

Clement Virgo’s adaptation of David Chariandy’s award-winning novel about two Trinidadian-Canadian brothers growing up in Scarborough, Ont., is one of the buzziest Canadian titles at the festival this year. Set in the 1990s hip hop scene, the film is a stunning portrait of Toronto’s eastern borough, says TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey.

Brother brings Scarborough to the world

Lamar Johnson and Kiana Madeira take us back in time to experience Black struggle and joy

BY RADHEYAN SIMONPILLAI

Brother, Toronto’s answer to movies like Boyz N The Hood and Moonlight, opens with two siblings daring to climb a hydro tower. It’s a symbolic and emotionally loaded sequence that recurs throughout the movie, featuring two Black boys at a site of danger trying to rise above it all. And it hits especially hard for anyone from Scarborough, where David Chariandy’s novel and Clement Virgo’s movie adaptation is set.

The hydro corridor is the east end’s connective tissue, an intimate space cutting across the geographic range and class and ethnic diversity from the Rouge to Wexford Park. It’s about as elemental a representation of Scarborough as you can get.

And it wasn’t even shot in Scarborough.

To read the rest of the article, click the link below…

Clement Virgo's film adaptation of David Chariandy's Canada Reads novel Brother to premiere at TIFF 2022

Director Clement Virgo's film adaptation of Canadian writer David Chariandy's novel Brother will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

TIFF 2022 will run for 11 days between Sept. 8-18.

Set in Scarborough, Ont., in the 1990s, Chariandy's award-winning 2017 novel is a coming-of-age story that follows Francis and Michael, two brothers of Trinidadian origin, as they come up against the prejudices and low expectations that confront them. A mystery unfolds when escalating tensions set off a series of events which changes the course of the brothers' lives forever.

Virgo's film stars Canadian actor Lamar Johnson and U.K. actor Aaron Pierre, as well as Kiana Madeira and Marsha Stephanie Blake. It was produced by Virgo and Damon D'Oliveira, and will be distributed in Canada by Elevation Pictures.

Brother was championed on Canada Reads 2019 by Canadian actor, author and advocate Lisa Ray.

The novel won the 2017 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, the 2018 Toronto Book Award and the 2018 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize. It was also longlisted for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

"I wanted to capture what Scarborough was really like for a child in the early 1990s, particularly a child with a Black mother and a South Asian father growing up at that particular time," Chariandy told CBC Books in 2017.

"These stories are often overlooked and ignored," he added. "I wanted to capture this narrative, one of resilience, creativity, tenderness and love."

Born in Scarborough and now based in Vancouver, Chariandy is the author of three books, including Brother, the award-winning 2007 novel Soucouyant and the 2018 nonfiction work I've Been Meaning to Tell You: A Letter to My Daughter. He is currently a professor in the department of English at Simon Fraser University, teaching literature and creative writing.

Virgo, one of Canada's leading film directors, is known for his acclaimed feature films — including Rude, Poor Boy's Game and Love Come Down — and his TV directing credits include The Wire, Billions, American Crime, Empire, and Greenleaf, on which he served as director and executive producer with Oprah Winfrey.

In 2015 he directed, co-wrote, and executive produced the miniseries adaptation of Lawrence Hill's award-winning novel The Book of Negroes (which won Canada Reads in 2009), which debuted to record-breaking numbers on the CBC and BET in the U.S. and was nominated for two U.S. Critics Choice Television Awards and shortlisted for a Peabody Award.

"I feel a deeply personal connection to David Chariandy's novel, Brother, and the characters who populate that world," Virgo said in a news release in 2021.

His production company, Conquering Lion Pictures, acquired the film rights to Brother in 2018 along with co-producers Hawkeye Pictures, with Virgo writing and directing the adaptation.

Toronto Film Festival to World Premiere Clement Virgo’s ‘Brother’

The mystery drama stars Lamar Johnson and Aaron Pierre and will bow at TIFF's 47th edition.

BY ETAN VLESSING

Clement Virgo’s Brother is set to have its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, organizers said on Wednesday.

Adapted for the screen by Virgo from David Chariandy’s novel of the same name, Brother is the story of Francis and Michael, sons of Caribbean immigrants maturing into young men amid Toronto’s 1990s hip-hop scene. A mystery unfolds when escalating tensions set off a series of events that changes the course of the brothers’ lives forever.

Brother stars Lamar Johnson (The Hate U Give), Aaron Pierre (Old), Kiana Madeira (Fear Street) and Marsha Stephanie Blake (When They See Us). The film is produced by Virgo and longtime business partner Damon D’Oliveira of Conquering Lion Pictures, along with Aeschylus Poulos and Sonya Di Rienzo of Hawkeye Pictures.

Executive producers are Aaron L. Gilbert and Steven Thibault of Bron and Laurie May and Noah Segal of Elevation Pictures. The film will be distributed in Canada by Elevation Pictures, and Bron Releasing will handle foreign sales.

Toronto returns in September for a 47th edition that will be in-person, with Hollywood stars on red carpets for tentpole attractions and fans cheering outdoors and in theaters after two years of disruption from the pandemic.

TIFF earlier announced that Netflix’s follow-up to Rian Johnson’s 2019 movie Knives Out, which stars Daniel Craig, will also have its world premiere in Toronto.

‘Brother’: Lamar Johnson, Aaron Pierre, Marsha Stephanie Blake & Kiana Madeira Starring In Canadian Drama; Bron Handling Sales

Rising actors Lamar Johnson (The Hate U Give), Aaron Pierre (The Underground Railroad), Marsha Stephanie Blake (When They See Us) and Kiana Madeira (Fear Street Trilogy) have been set to star in feature drama Brother, which is filming in and around Toronto.

Written and directed by Clement Virgo (Greenleaf) and based on David Chariandy’s novel, Brother is set against Toronto’s early hip hop scene. The film charts the story of Francis and Michael, sons of Caribbean immigrants, who are maturing into young men during the sweltering summer of 1991. Escalating tensions set off a series of events that change the course of the brothers’ lives forever.

Producing are Virgo and Damon D’Oliveira of Conquering Lion Pictures, along with Aeschylus Poulos and Sonya Di Rienzo of Hawkeye Pictures.

The pic will be distributed in Canada by Elevation Pictures. Foreign sales will be handled by Bron Releasing. Filming will run through October 26. A theatrical release is planned for fall 2022.

Executive producers are Aaron L. Gilbert and Steven Thibault of Bron and Laurie May and Noah Segal of Elevation Pictures.

Cinematography is by Guy Godfree (Maudie) with production design by Jason Clarke (The Book of Negroes), costume design by Hanna Puley, and editing by Kye Meechan (The Book of Negroes).

The movie is being made with the participation of Telefilm Canada, the Canada Media Fund, Ontario Creates and the Shaw Rocket Fund and in association with Bell Media’s Crave and CBC Films.

Veteran director Virgo is best known for directing and co-writing six part miniseries The Book of Negroes, which won 12 Canadian Screen Awards and was nominated for two U.S. Critics Choice TV Awards. His credits also include American Crime, The Wire and OWN drama Greenleaf, on which he was exec-producer and director of the first season.

Said Virgo: “I feel a deeply personal connection to David Chariandy’s novel, Brother, and the characters who populate that world. Lamar Johnson, Aaron Pierre, Marsha Stephanie Blake, and Kiana Madeira are the ideal cast to convey the essence of each of these characters and bring out their internal lives to share with audiences.”

The producers added: “Clement Virgo, one of Canada’s foremost auteur directors, has a profound resonance with this material. We cannot imagine anyone better suited to translate the beauty of Chariandy’s underlying novel onto the big screen.”

Said May and Segal of Elevation Pictures: “We are thrilled to be partnered with Clement, Damon, and the Hawkeye Pictures team to bring this seminal and important Canadian story to Canadian audiences. This is a moving story of love, loss and family reflected in a community whose stories must be represented.”

Lamar Johnson is repped by WME, Management 360 and Jackoway Austen Tyerman. Aaron Pierre is repped by CAA, Hamilton Hodell and Anonymous Content. Marsha Stephanie Blake is repped by Carolyn Govers, Trevor Adley of Anonymous Content and attorney Lucy Popkin.