Post by Okwes on Jul 10, 2006 16:05:22 GMT -5
Native comedy Moose TV is different kind of animal
Updated Wed. Jul. 5 2006 9:05 AM ET
Canadian Press
www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060705/moose_tv_06\
0705/20060705?hub=Entertainment&s_name=
<http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060705/moose_tv_0\
60705/20060705?hub=Entertainment&s_name=>
MONTREAL -- Moose TV is a different kind of animal.
For one thing, it's a situation comedy with a sense of
humour provided by aboriginal creators and actors,
something producer Ernest Webb says is a rarity.
"I think it's time," said Webb, a Quebec Cree who also
helped create the show which will begin an
eight-episode run on Showcase early next year.
"Native people are some of the biggest jokers around.
If you go to a family gathering or wherever, you
always hear laughter."
Moose TV is acted by a galaxy of aboriginal stars
including Adam Beach (Windtalkers and Clint Eastwood's
upcoming Flags of our Fathers); Nathaniel Arcand (Da
Vinci's City Hall, Pathfinder); Jennifer Podemski (One
Dead Indian, Degrassi: The Next Generation) and
Michelle Latimer (This is Wonderland, Naked Josh).
The show tells the story of George Keeshig, played by
Beach, who returns to his hometown of Moose in
northern Quebec after 10 hard years in Toronto.
An "ideas" man, he decides to reopen the community's
abandoned TV station with his pal Clifford (Arcand)
and the hijinks ensue as the locals line up to pitch
programs such as Me and My Beaver.
Beach said George is one of the most dynamic
characters he's ever played.
"He carries himself with this energy of 'let's create'
so it's just non-stop for this guy to go, go, go," the
Ashern, Man., native said in an interview during a
break in filming near Montreal.
"It's something I'm not used to because the energy is
so high. I give so much credit to the comedic actors
that work out there because it's a different medium
compared to drama."
Moose TV is not a far-fetched idea, Beach noted. He
had heard of one native community that hooked their
TVs up to a single video camera set up in a garage.
People provided their own shows by turning up to chat
or read books aloud.
Webb and his wife originally came up with the idea for
Moose TV about six years ago but their production
company, Rezolution Pictures, has concentrated mainly
on social issue documentaries before this.
"We feel like we're breaking new ground here," he
said, although some of the comedy is taken from
traditional comedic fodder such as the buddy comedy,
father-son clashes, and girl trouble.
Webb said he sees Moose TV as "a natural progression
for native people in the entertainment business."
He pointed out that Canadians most often see
aboriginals grappling with social problems in dark
dramas, some based on true stories.
"The other stories did need to be told," Webb said,
although he described the foray into comedy as "a very
refreshing change."
Arcand, who said he bases some of his character
Clifford on Webb and scriptwriter Paul Quarrington,
agrees.
"It's a totally different experience," he said.
"This is a breath of fresh air for me in the way that
I don't have to play a screaming warrior on a horse
trying to scalp a white man or the belligerent young
native man in the contemporary age raising his fist to
the government.
"It's nice to step away and not think about those
kinds of things and do something that doesn't have
anything to do with anything but just life and the
situations of a TV station."
Beach said Canada has been pretty good about
introducing aboriginal characters in its TV shows and
movies - "Americans, whoo, gotta work on them" - and
he thinks television is ready for an aboriginal
comedy.
"We as native people are part of everything in
society. We're bankers now, we're lawyers, we're
political figures. Now we just need to take our
identity in our own hands and portray it in cinema or
on television."
Webb said he has proudly added a few touches from his
own James Bay area hometown of Chisasibi, Que., to the
show, such as the design of the teepees and local
expressions.
"Hopefully the people will be able to see that and
say, 'hey, that comes from us here'."
Updated Wed. Jul. 5 2006 9:05 AM ET
Canadian Press
www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060705/moose_tv_06\
0705/20060705?hub=Entertainment&s_name=
<http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060705/moose_tv_0\
60705/20060705?hub=Entertainment&s_name=>
MONTREAL -- Moose TV is a different kind of animal.
For one thing, it's a situation comedy with a sense of
humour provided by aboriginal creators and actors,
something producer Ernest Webb says is a rarity.
"I think it's time," said Webb, a Quebec Cree who also
helped create the show which will begin an
eight-episode run on Showcase early next year.
"Native people are some of the biggest jokers around.
If you go to a family gathering or wherever, you
always hear laughter."
Moose TV is acted by a galaxy of aboriginal stars
including Adam Beach (Windtalkers and Clint Eastwood's
upcoming Flags of our Fathers); Nathaniel Arcand (Da
Vinci's City Hall, Pathfinder); Jennifer Podemski (One
Dead Indian, Degrassi: The Next Generation) and
Michelle Latimer (This is Wonderland, Naked Josh).
The show tells the story of George Keeshig, played by
Beach, who returns to his hometown of Moose in
northern Quebec after 10 hard years in Toronto.
An "ideas" man, he decides to reopen the community's
abandoned TV station with his pal Clifford (Arcand)
and the hijinks ensue as the locals line up to pitch
programs such as Me and My Beaver.
Beach said George is one of the most dynamic
characters he's ever played.
"He carries himself with this energy of 'let's create'
so it's just non-stop for this guy to go, go, go," the
Ashern, Man., native said in an interview during a
break in filming near Montreal.
"It's something I'm not used to because the energy is
so high. I give so much credit to the comedic actors
that work out there because it's a different medium
compared to drama."
Moose TV is not a far-fetched idea, Beach noted. He
had heard of one native community that hooked their
TVs up to a single video camera set up in a garage.
People provided their own shows by turning up to chat
or read books aloud.
Webb and his wife originally came up with the idea for
Moose TV about six years ago but their production
company, Rezolution Pictures, has concentrated mainly
on social issue documentaries before this.
"We feel like we're breaking new ground here," he
said, although some of the comedy is taken from
traditional comedic fodder such as the buddy comedy,
father-son clashes, and girl trouble.
Webb said he sees Moose TV as "a natural progression
for native people in the entertainment business."
He pointed out that Canadians most often see
aboriginals grappling with social problems in dark
dramas, some based on true stories.
"The other stories did need to be told," Webb said,
although he described the foray into comedy as "a very
refreshing change."
Arcand, who said he bases some of his character
Clifford on Webb and scriptwriter Paul Quarrington,
agrees.
"It's a totally different experience," he said.
"This is a breath of fresh air for me in the way that
I don't have to play a screaming warrior on a horse
trying to scalp a white man or the belligerent young
native man in the contemporary age raising his fist to
the government.
"It's nice to step away and not think about those
kinds of things and do something that doesn't have
anything to do with anything but just life and the
situations of a TV station."
Beach said Canada has been pretty good about
introducing aboriginal characters in its TV shows and
movies - "Americans, whoo, gotta work on them" - and
he thinks television is ready for an aboriginal
comedy.
"We as native people are part of everything in
society. We're bankers now, we're lawyers, we're
political figures. Now we just need to take our
identity in our own hands and portray it in cinema or
on television."
Webb said he has proudly added a few touches from his
own James Bay area hometown of Chisasibi, Que., to the
show, such as the design of the teepees and local
expressions.
"Hopefully the people will be able to see that and
say, 'hey, that comes from us here'."