Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/408004
17 R silver screens and snowy slopes Stroll from movie to movie as all screenings for the Whistler Film Fest will be located in the heart of the picturesque mountain village, all within a 10-minute walking distance of each other. HOLIDAY 2014 | PHOTO (ORPHAN BLACK) SPACE has several other directing credits, including more episodic television and TV movies. Last year, his feature film directorial debut won two awards at the Whistler Film Festival. Featuring Richard Dreyfuss and Tatiana Maslany, Cas & Dylan took home the Audience Award for Best Feature Film and, for Maslany (star of the sci-fi series Orphan Black), the Best Actor Award. Naturally, Priestley attended last year's festival. "I had a really wonderful experience. To me, Whistler is a very special place." e actor was raised on the North Shore and grew up skiing at the resort. "I spent a lot of time in that village as a young man. So when they [the Whistler Film Festival Society] approached me I was very happy to do what- ever I could." ough he spends most of his time in Los Angeles, Priestley's other interests keep him active in his home province. For one, he is a partner and board member of Black Hills Estate Winery in Oliver – but he's quick to point out that he's no ambassador for B.C. wine. "e amount of wine that comes out of the Okanagan, there's not enough to satisfy B.C. and Alberta. I don't need to be running around California saying 'Try these wines!' To be in America banging the drum for British Columbia wines doesn't make any sense. Nobody can get them anyway." Where his ambassadorship does make sense though is with the Whistler Film Festival. Still a relatively small affair, it has room to grow. "Twenty years ago, people were looking at the Sundance Film Festival and asking, 'How big can it be?'" Priestley says. "At that festival, they come up against the same thing they do in Whistler. ey have a limited number of theatres as well. And the people who run it just get creative about theatre space and places to show films. ey show them outdoors and do inter- esting things, the same things they do up in Whistler. As long as you get a creative group of people together to come up with solutions, you can do that." Likewise, Canadian filmmakers are becoming more inventive working around the limitations facing them. "We work with less because there's less than a tenth of the population up here than in the U.S., and we're not going to have all that money to throw at things," says Priestley. "As time goes on, we're figuring out we can't compete with even the $150-million movies. We're just figuring out what our niche is and what we can do within our budgets and time constraints, and we need to make movies within those param- eters. at seems to be what everybody's doing now. And making those kinds of mov- ies seems to be working really well." whistlerfilmfestival.com ■ Favourite Canadian TV show "SCTV was the one I watched most growing up. I've since worked with a lot of the cast members, which has been a great honour for me." Favourite Canadian TV shows as a kid "The Friendly Giant, and, of course, The Beachcomb- ers, Mr. Dressup... all the classics." Favourite current Canadian TV shows "I love Orphan Black. I love Tatiana [Maslany]. I've also been watching a lot of Rookie Blue on Air Canada flights... I know all those guys on that cast." Jason Priestley at the Whistler Film Festival kickoff party in Vancouver with founder Shauna Hardy Mishaw and development and sponsorship manager Leah Primeau "any festival like whistler's that showcases canadian talent and canadian films is incredibly important and something that needs to be supported" for Maslany (star of the sci-fi series Black), the Best Actor Award. Favourite Canadian TV show "SCTV most growing up. I've since worked with a lot of the cast members, which Favourite Canadian TV Festival. Still a relatively small affair, it has whistlerfilmfestival.com Favourite Canadian TV shows as a kid "The Friendly Giant, "The Friendly Giant, "The Friendly Giant and, of course, The Beachcomb- ers, Mr. Dressup... all the classics." Favourite current Canadian TV shows "I love Orphan Black. I love Orphan Black. I love Orphan Black Tatiana [Maslany]. I've also been watching a lot of Rookie Blue Air Canada flights... I know all those guys on that cast." Favourite Canadian TV shows as a kid "The Friendly Giant with founder Shauna Hardy Mishaw The 14th Annual Whistler Film Festival Dec. 3 to 7