Burnaby filmmaker Fred Swindells, of Annoying Moose Entertainment Inc., is just weeks away from releasing his first movie on DVD.
The Husband Chair is the first feature film for Swindells, who this summer won fourth place and tied for first place at two separate film festivals in the United States.
Most of the scenes are at well-known locations in New Westminster, which is where the film was shot in summer, 2011.
The three main locations were DeDutch Pannekoek House and Copp's Shoes, as well as Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam.
The plot involves a young couple who decide to visit an old shoe store before it gets torn down to make way for a condo development.
The boyfriend thinks the shoe store would be a romantic spot to propose, but before he can get down on one knee, the store owner has a heart attack, which throws off the young man's carefully choreographed proposal.
"Basically, the whole idea is that we all make plans, but you never know just what the future holds," Swindells said. "And you have to stay flexible and play the cards that God deals you."
Swindells actually had to take his own advice in making the film, with all the challenges and changes that came about throughout filming and during post-production in the last year.
While the original script called for a 115-minute feature, the final movie is just under 40 minutes because of funding setbacks.
"It became clear very quickly that I didn't have enough of a budget to shoot the entire length of it," he said, but noted this did not hamper the quality or structure of the story, which turned out to be better than he had originally anticipated.
"And the fact that I'm about to have it distributed is kind of neat."
He raised the capital for the project to fund a $40,000 budget, and wrote, directed and produced the film himself.
When he is not writing, directing or producing films, Swindells works at a privately owned biology lab in Burnaby.
He said he would love to become a professional filmmaker, but the core of his passion for filmmaking comes from writing the scripts, and he is happiest when putting his ideas on paper.
"I've got about half a dozen sketches of movies in mind that I would like to do," he said.
His best advice for other fledgling filmmakers is to relentlessly pursue any passion that is a true calling.
"Just keep doing what you love doing," he said. "And if, for some reason, it feels like it's become a job, that it's a pain, well, then you're doing it wrong."
The finished release of The Husband Chair with director's commentary and DVD extras will be released within the next few weeks.
For more information or to order the DVD, visit www.facebook.com/ TheHusbandChair.
