ABORT Magazine™

EXCLUSIVE: 21 and Under With…Director Michael Dowse, on GOON

February 24th, 2012 Filed under: 21 & Under With..., Exclusive!, Made In Canada by Editor in Chief

Photo: Handout (Alliance)

We’re here with Director Michael Dowse, Director of “It’s All Gone Pete Tong” and “Fubar”, among others. Michael is here with us today fresh off his most recent film GOON, here to talk to us about all things Hockey.

ABORTMagazine: Hi Michael, welcome to Vancouver. Have you spent much time here in your Canadian travels?

Michael Dowse: I grew up in Calgary, so I actually worked out here for nine months at one point in my life, and my sister went to UBC so I’ve spent a lot of time in Vancouver.

AM: Doing press for GOON has had you traveling all over Canada lately, I imagine?

MD: It’s just starting. We did the premiere in Winnipeg last night, and then we’ll do the one here. Then on Monday we’ll do a screening in Montreal, next Wednesday we’ll do the Toronto premiere, then Thursday we’ll do the New York premiere. So it’s pretty busy, but it’s fun. That’s why you make the films, to show them to people.

AM: How has the feedback for the film been so far?

MD: It’s been great. Since we’ve screened it at Toronto International Film Festival it’s been nothing but positive. I mean, not everyone loves the film, but most people do. It’s already come out theatrically in the United Kingdom and it’s done really well. I think it’s the highest grossing Canadian film ever in the UK. It’s cool in that it shows that the film can be enjoyed by people who aren’t hard core hockey fans.

AM: So what is the crux of the story for people who haven’t seen the film yet.

MD: Well, Doug sums it up in the first 10 minutes of the film where he says “Everybody’s got something but me.” And he finds his something, which is fighting. He’s got fist smarts. And not only does he find that, but he helps to inspire other people by showing that a guy who can barely skate can learn how to play hockey.

AM: My favourite part of the movie was the fact that the big game wasn’t for the championship, but was for the eighth and final playoff spot.

MD: Thank you. That was something we went back and forth on quite a bit. There was some talk of, “Let’s make it the second to last game is the game that gets them into the playoffs, and then the last game would be the first game of the seven-game series.” I thought we just needed something that was a bit more final. In terms of hockey, the chase for playoff spots is an exciting time! The Rangers – Philly game a couple of years ago is a good example.

AM: You sound like a big hockey fan.

MD: HUGE Habs fan. I live in Montreal now. Been there for 10 years. We’ve had a crazy season.

AM: How was the experience of working with Jay Baruchel and Evan Goldberg?

MD: Great – Jay is awesome! He’s a great guy. Sometimes when you meet someone in this business they put on airs, then the other shoe drops eventually. But Jay is as advertised. He’s a fantastic guy to collaborate with. Really open to other people’s ideas, yet really firm about his own ideas as you’d expect.

As for Evan, I got to know him through making this film. Evan’s motto is never stop writing. I gleamed a lot of stuff from him. He’s worked on a lot of bigger films where’s they’ve had a little bit more money and stuff to do. But you can take what he does and apply it to this film. Just about grinding out jokes and making it as funny as possible.

AM: How is the relationship between the directors and the writers usually on film sets?

MD: It depends. This was my first time having a screenwriter on set. I had Jay and his writing partner now Jesse Chabot around – not all the time, but they’d come in and out. But it was nice to have two kind of great guys that were always thinking of gags and jokes and lines. And they would send me little pieces of paper. Of 12 different options, I’d take like three and maybe one would work. With ours it was a really great relationship.

AM: Do you find there are many differences between the Canadian and American film industries?

MD: There are vast differences. It’s a great system up here in Canada and I think they’re about to get even better. The reality is that TeleFilm Canada is one of the last independent studios. I love the system in Canada. I think it’s been kidnapped for too long by people making non-commercial films that nobody in their right minds want to see. And what I want to be part of is make films that Canadian’s want to watch. That are entertaining, that are funny, that have good stories. That’s important. And it’s exciting times.

In the States, the trend is to go towards the micro-budget stuff. Thrillers that are under $3 million, the occasional $20 million R-rated comedy that comes out like Bridesmaids that does well. Or there are tent poles. The reality is that because of the economy, there’s a little more risk adverse. So there’s less work in America. But the flip-side is that there are more actors that are available to work in Canada.

AM: Speaking of actors available in Canada, how was having Seann William Scott be a part of Goon?

MD: Seann was amazing. He was involved very early in this project. He always loved the script, and super supportive of this thing. I think what people would be surprised by is the heart he shows in this film. Unfortunately he’s been a little bit pigeon-holed by his success in American Pie as Stifler. But with this film, I think he recognized the opportunity to play a completely different character. I think people will be surprised by the heart that this film has. He really carries this film on his back.

AM: Now that GOON is for your part, finished, what’s next for Michael Dowse?

MD: I’m doing a romantic comedy called The F-Word. It’s a great script, probably shooting it this summer in Toronto. Very completely different from Goon.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us today Michael, All the best. Goon opens in theatres Nationwide TODAY!

goonthemovie.ca

By Daniel Chai

Want to read our review on GOON? CLICK HERE

WANT MORE EXCLUSIVES? CLICK HERE

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