The producer of an independent guerrilla film said his self-referential inspiration sat as an idea on his phone for nearly two years before he started shooting.
What finally spurred Joe Rule, a 19-year-old filmmaker from Nanaimo, and his production partner, Connor Nyhan, to start work on A Reel Heist was the move from Vancouver back to the Island. Rule had attended a documentary filmmaking program at Capilano University but moved to Victoria shortly thereafter specifically to make the feature-length film. The two were able to connect with a crew of volunteers to help them realize their vision.
A Reel Heist, branded as a comedy caper, tells the story about a group of young “no-budget” guerrilla filmmakers as they attempt to film a heist movie on their own dime.
“One day when they’re not on their A-game … they’re slightly hungover … they’re filming illegally at this mall without any permits and the mall manager catches them … and confiscates their SD card which contains their whole film,” Rule said, adding the characters are then forced to pull their own heist in order to get their heist film back from the antagonistic mall manager.
While the plot of A Reel Heist does not parallel Rule and his crew’s filming experience, he said some of the dynamics between the characters are drawn from personal experiences.
“I think we just wanted to tell a story about guerrilla filmmaking. We felt it was something that wasn’t heard about too much … with kind of a meta-twist,” the filmmaker said.
Although the film was predominantly shot in downtown Victoria, Nanaimo residents will recognize Country Club Centre as a main setting.
Also reflected in the caper is the budget of roughly $15,000 Rule and his crew used to create the film, all of which was out of pocket between himself and Nyham.
Besides pinching their pennies and relying on Victoria’s filmmaking community, one of the most significant challenges the filmmaker encountered came with his age.
“Being young people, and a cast of people who are around 20, it was difficult to get people to take you seriously … and realize that you’re not just goofing around,” he said.
Some of his own personal challenges included taking on a substantial share of the workload since they had few people to delegate tasks to.
“I was up till 4 a.m. every night, and then the next day too … It takes a toll on you,” he said.
A Reel Heist started filming in June 2022, and only just finished post-production in late May. The crew has submitted the film to several festivals in Canada and the United States, and are now in the agonizing “wait-and-see” stage. Rule said that in this stage, the film can’t be viewed until they’ve learned whether or not it has been accepted.
However, the website www.rulebookpictures.com/a-reel-heist will be updated with their progress, the filmmaker said.
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mandy.moraes@nanaimobulletin.com
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