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theproduction
| In November 1998, Gary Burns put together an idea based on a long time gripe of his: the "plus 15" walkway system of his hometown's city centre. Built 15 feet above the streets (hence the name), the walkways interconnect many of the downtown's buildings. "The unfortunate result of this ever-expanding system is that these walkways have sucked the life out of the downtown core," says Burns. "I imagined a film where the main characters inhabit this architectural anomaly: a metaphor of sorts for modernism gone wrong." |
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Once he hooked up with writer friend James Martin, the two of them started tossing the idea around and eventually developed a story about a group of office workers who are in on a bet to see who can last the longest without going outside. On day 24 of the bet, while running errands for the retirement party of the founder of their firm, the bet unfolds. Over the course of the lunch hour they become variously sex obsessed, suicidal, self-doubting and short of breath.
Burns wanted to explore the idea of these people trapped inside an environment that was designed to help them be more comfortable. "The film really questions why we're working where we're working. Is this where you want to spend the rest of your life?"
Producer, Shirley Vercruysse, was looking for her first feature film project when she was introduced to Gary Burns by independent producer, John Dippong (Dirty). It was February of 1999 when Vercruysse saw the first draft of waydowntown. "It was a great read, it made me laugh out loud," says Vercruysse. "It was funny and it was classic Gary Burns; smart and witty, a comedy with attitude and a natural follow up to The Suburbanators and Kitchen Party. On the practical side, I could see us getting it off the ground quickly." |
| The project came together at lightening speed. By April, Odeon Films had come on as the Canadian distributor and by the end of July funding was almost fully in place. "Everyone who read it had a similar reaction to mine," says Shirley. "There was a real enthusiasm for getting it made." By the middle of October shooting had begun.
The experience of waydowntown has been "wonderfully interesting" for Vercruysse and a great way to leap into feature filmmaking. "Working with Gary has been great. Creatively he has a very clear vision of what he wants, yet he's open to discussion and works closely with his team." |
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