Oscar LeRoy will be in LeRoy this summer, as the town serves as the set of a short film.
Eric Peterson, the actor who played the irascible Oscar LeRoy on the long-running Canadian sitcom, "Corner Gas," will be playing a more villainous role in "Washed in the Blood," a revenge western, set to be filmed in the LeRoy area in September.
Choroid Entertainment of Toronto (owned by writer-director Maurey Loeffler, who hails from LeRoy originally) and Regina's Trilight Entertainment, made the announcement that the award-winning actor and playwright was to join their production on July 21.
The entire movie will be shot in and around LeRoy, where they will recreate rural Saskatchewan in 1961. In the film, Harry, an 80-year-old recluse, loses his only child to cancer and finally feels free to avenge the brutal rape and murder of his Métis wife 50 years before.
Peterson will play the role of the villain, Robert Logan.
Producers are also in talks with another prominent Canadian actor to play the story's protagonist, Harry Parker, and hope to make an announcement about that role soon.
In the meantime, they are pretty excited, it seems, to have Peterson, who was born and raised in Indian Head, on board.
"I am delighted and honoured to be working with Mr. Peterson, a fellow Saskatchewanite, on this project," said Loeffler. "Eric knows how valuable this kind of project is to a young career like mine, and is being very supportive. I can't wait to explore this character with him."
One of Canada's premier actors, Peterson has played a wide range of memorable roles, including Billy Bishop in "Billy Bishop Goes to War," on stage and on television, and lawyer Leon Rabinovitch on "Street Legal." He has also won five Gemini Awards, three Dora Awards, two Canadian Comedy awards, one Clarence Derwent award and the ACTRA award for excellence for his significant body of work and union activism.
Though Peterson now lives in Toronto, he still frequents his cottage in Saskatchewan's Qu'Appelle Valley.
As for the rest of the team, "Washed in the Blood" will be produced by the Trilight team and Toronto-based producer Adrianna Crifo. Los-Angeles-based Matt Handy of Creekview Film will serve as Executive Producer.
Loeffler noted that he is "so lucky to have such a great team on board" and is thrilled to be working with some familiar faces.
"I'm really looking forward to working with Kiarash Sadigh (cinematographer) and Douglas September (composer) again. It's great to work with friends who you have a natural shorthand with. Our work complements each other so well."
Loeffler's last project, "Pooka," won a Golden Sheaf Award for best drama at the 2011 Yorkton Film Festival, North America's longest running film festival.
"Washed in the Blood" stands as a major departure from "Pooka," a story about a teenage girl growing up in contemporary suburbia.
"I felt the need to come back to my wheelhouse with this film, but in reality, both films follow an isolated character making a drastic choice. The great thing about fringe characters is that they serve as the perfect tool to show an alternate perspective of society."
The film will be partially funded via Kickstarter, an arts-specific crowd-funding side. The all-or-nothing campaign to raise $30,000 in 40 days was kicked off July 15.
Kickstarter is an online initiative designed to allow a global audience to contribute an investment in the film in return for unique rewards.
For example, "Washed in the Blood" offers incentives ranging from a movie poster signed by cast and crew to exclusive tickets to a private premier screening with cast and crew.
As the contribution increases, so does the size of the reward.
But there is a catch. If the campaign's fiscal goal is not reached by the deadline, none of the pledges will be processed.
Loeffler is banking on this new and innovative social media/crowd-funding model to create new investment sources for independent film.
"Since film is such a collaborative art form, the communal nature of crowd-funding with social media paired with the LeRoy community involvement is a natural fit," he said.
Loeffler is very excited about the project and the fundraising campaign, Choroid reports.
"It's great to have a way to give back to your investors and involve the community in a project that is very close to my heart...and home!"
Shooting in LeRoy is just another communal aspect of this grassroots production, it was noted.
"We're really jumping off the deep end with Kickstarter, but I have every faith that the wide community of film supporters paired with social media to spread the word will allow us to reach our fiscal goal!"
The Kickstarter campaign behind the film runs from July 15 to August 22.
