Production Notes
"Ernie [Ernest Webb] and I had the idea about six years ago to do a native comedy," explains Catherine Bainbridge, Executive Producer of MOOSE TV and co-founder of Rezolution Pictures Int'l. Bainbridge and Webb, co-creators and Executive Producers of MOOSE TV, had a wealth of experience producing documentaries and dramas about serious issues effecting native communities but little experience in producing a comedy series. "We're always into trying new things, trying to see what the possibilities are," explains Webb, adding that Bainbridge's background in acting and comedy made the project a natural extension of their collective experience.
Webb and Bainbridge, and Producers Christina Fon and Linda Ludwick bring a richness of personal and professional experience to the project from their own history. They also share a commitment to revealing a lighter side of contemporary Native culture. "We'd like Canada to know so much more about native people than they do, and showing another side to Native people was something really important to us," explains Bainbridge. "We were able to go along that road towards comedy and drama and away from documentary because we met Christina, who came from and knew that world, and who knew how to make that kind of thing happen."
Fon has worked with Webb and Bainbridge for the past five years, and has another ten years of experience under her belt. "I've never been in an environment that was so open to creativity," she says, explaining that things fell quickly into place in a process that usually entails years of toil before a TV series sees the light. "The idea came about a long time ago, but the actual process from writing the scripts to the production actually happened quite fast. I think that's because each and every one of us have our strengths, and we really support each other and help each other flourish."
The producers got their break when the CBC fell in love with MOOSE TV and funded a one-off episode that was aired on the CBC in the summer of 2004 under the umbrella of the Trans Canada Comedy Trail. The one-off that was written and directed by Ed McDonald starred Adam Beach as George Keeshig and Nathaniel Arcand as Clifford Mathew. To Rezolution Pictures' delight, the series was picked up by Showcase. "Showcase loved it, they were right into it," says Bainbridge. "CBC liked it as well but they weren't prepared to move right away, they wanted to put it into longer development. Showcase said, 'Let's go'. So we did, and it just took off like that."
Team MOOSE
To produce this landmark Native comedy series - the first of its kind - Rezolution Pictures gathered a team that included Director Tim Southam and novelist/scriptwriter Paul Quarrington to serve as Executive Story Editor. Though MOOSE TV is a comedy, the producers didn't want the characters to be superficial or stereotypical, and they wanted those working on the series to have a deep understanding, affection and interest in Native culture, even if they weren't Native themselves.
Southam, who directed the dramatic series One Dead Indian, leapt at the chance to get involved in the project and came on board while the series was still in development. He said that directing One Dead Indian opened his mind to aboriginal issues and culture. "I knew coming out of that film that I'd only got a piece of a very complex story, and that I should try to get a few more pieces. For me, that means just looking for good subject matter. You just keep your eyes open for subject matter inside good scripts, inside a certain theme." He found exactly what he was looking for in MOOSE TV. "When the producers of Moose TV called I thought, 'well this is perfect," explains Southam who viewed it as an opportunity to both explore comedy and another side of contemporary Native culture.
Southam came on board around the same time as Quarrington, who had previously written for the successful series Due South. The producers feel that Quarrington brought the characters in the series a richness and life. "One of the great things about Paul Quarrington is that he's able to take all these characters and develop them and give them depth even though it's a comedy, because he's a novelist," explains Fon. "Our development process was long, but I think it was worth the time that it took because it really created well-rounded characters that hopefully everyone will be able to identify with. They're not surface characters." Bainbridge agrees, "The comedy comes out of deep characters, it's not situational only, it comes from the oddities of being human."
Southam was also excited to be working with Quarrington. "Paul Quarrington is one of the finest writers of humorous prose in the world, and justly regarded as such. So to be able to have scripts that read like one of his best books means you're off to the races, it means you're already talking about something that's as good or better than anything that's been written."
"I consider the first job of a director is reading well, reading really, really well," continues Southam. "And the second job is to cast really, really well. Those are my two main jobs: to read really well and cast really well." The cast of MOOSE TV includes the world's best Native actors. And, to make Southam's job even easier actors Adam Beach and Nathaniel Arcand had remained committed to the project after the initial one-off for CBC. "They made me feel wanted and part of the family," explains Arcand who passed over opportunities for bigger projects to keep good his commitment to Rezolution Picture. Beach's motivation was simple, "I liked the concept…the scripts were funny."
"Paul has done a great job with the scripts," agrees Arcand. "He found the characters, who we were as people. He put us and I'm sure he put a little bit of himself, and a couple other people that are part of the production, into those roles and made about four people into one character in that way."
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