Nearly three years ago, about the time I started interviewing actors, I began to scrutinize every cast and crew list for potential interview material. In the case of Jason Bourque, I had already noticed one or two of his Lifetime projects, and I remember reaching out to him about his upcoming films. He directed me towards the very sweet film (that now is streaming on Hallmark Movies Now) entitled Heart Felt, and so began my quest to discover as many films by Jason as possible. About a year ago, I reached out to Jason for an interview, and then I promptly became so busy that I shelved this one for a while. In light of Halloween (look up his thriller Black Fly if you dare) and his first Hallmark film (The Chronicle Mysteries), I decided it was high time to share this phenomenal and kind talent with my readers!
RH: Jason, thank you so much for making time for me this week. Wow, this interview has been a long time in coming, and I’m honored to chat with you.
JB: Thank you, Ruth, it’s great to be able to chat with you too. Thanks as always for reaching out and for your support.
Until I was researching you, I had forgotten that you directed my friend, Sebastian Spence, in two movies of his that I have reviewed–Crash Site and Stonados.
Crash Site was a very low-budget film. We filmed that one in twelve days with one camera and virtually no money. There were times the script was not my absolute favorite, but Sebastian was awesome to work with.
That was one of the first films I saw Sebastian in and one of the first of his I reviewed. It may not have been my favorite film of his, but it honestly turned out pretty well, in my opinion.
That always seems to happen. All of these films end up being fun when you’re working with great people. Charisma Carpenter was also fun to work with too. Interestingly enough, that particular company seems to do a kind of multiple choice kind of thing when it comes to scripts. It’s either a plane crash, car crash, or something like that, and then the couples are chased by a cougar or some other wild animal in the forest.
With Rich Ravanello
Now, I know you are also such a huge Rick Ravanello fan, and that is fantastic.
Oh, yeah, it was because he and Sebastian did a movie together, and that’s kind of how Rick came on my radar.
Well, that’s great.
Jason, how did you decide to pursue a career in show business?
Well, I’ve always been a storyteller. Even when I was a kid, I would always put together my own comic books, and I was always writing. My first movie was called Dead Skin. It was a zombie movie, and I made it with all the local kids in the neighborhood when I was fourteen. And after Dead Skin, it was followed by a bunch of others that I made on my own. I was using whatever resources I had available. This was back in the late 80’s/early 90’s.
Then I ended up getting a job in the video store. This was back in New Brunswick. Then when I moved to B.C., I got a job at That’s Entertainment in Victoria. I started putting these movies on the shelf. There was a cult section, which was a great fit for some of these crazy videos that I would make. I would rent them out. And of course, people thought they sucked because they were being done by an eighteen-year-old kid. But again, I was doing whatever I could to keep that storytelling coming.
From there, I got into music videos after I graduated from Vancouver Film School. I had done some shorts in 16mm back when film was a big deal. My first movie was back in 2002 after I’d done a ton of music videos and commercials. That first movie was called Maximum Surge. And that triggered my first disaster movie, Wildfire 7, starring Tracey Gold from Growing Pains. I had a lot of fun making it. Ultimately, not the best movie, but I was very happy with what I did with the script. But from that movie, a lot more came my way. And to this day, I still love doing disaster movies.
Wildfire 7 Photo by Katie Yu
My passion projects tend to take a lot longer, much like Black Fly and Drone. I wrote Black Fly back in 1996, and I finally filmed it in 2014.
Wow! I hadn’t realized it took that long!
Yeah, it was the first script I ever wrote. I had a teacher who was teaching script writing. And he told me to write what I knew. Black Fly is loosely inspired by my neighbor back in New Brunswick who was a serial killer.
That one is on my list to watch, but I have to pick the right moment to watch it. I watch thrillers, but sometimes I get stretched and challenged by what I watch, and I want to make sure I am in the right mindset to watch something like that.
With Matt & Dakota Black Fly
I would call Black Fly a psychological drama. It’s about two siblings. It’s beautifully acted by Matthew MacCaull–I know you’re familiar with his work–and Dakota Daulby. They both won awards with it, and it truly is done well. And because of Black Fly, I was able to get Sean Bean in Drone. He was a big fan of Black Fly. So Black Fly was one of those movies that was made to open doors, which it did. And because of this film, it helped trigger a lot of other movies.
That year and the year after, I did a ton of Lifetime movies. And I always have a blast doing those.
Oh, my DVR is typically full of Lifetime movies, and if you are the director, I make it a point to watch it. I think one of my more recent favorites I saw of yours was Are You My Daughter?
Oh, yes, that one did quite well. Stephanie Bennett won a Leo Award for that one.
Woman On the Run
Oh, and I also love Woman On the Run.
Oh, that was a really fun one. I love working with Sarah Butler. And Josh Byer, who is in it, is also an artist. I push his artwork as much as I can on Twitter. I’m a huge fan of his work, and we’ve been friends forever. I put him in everything I can. I’ve known him since 2000. He was the bad guy in that one. He’s also in Drone, Black Fly, Counterfeiting in Suburbia, Are You My Daughter? In fact, he plays a detective in Love To Kill. He’s kind of like a young DeNiro with a New York accent in that one. I like using a lot of the same actors whenever I can. Like Josh, Matt, Lindsay Maxwell, who was also in Heart Felt. And then in Woman on the Run, she plays a wonderful psychopath. There’s a lot of amazing cast, as you know, in Vancouver. It just makes it a pleasure to be working with them.
Photo by Katie Yu
I still have not watched Drone. Another on my list to watch. But I did get my mom to watch Love To Kill. I watched it first, and then I said she had to watch it too.
That was my first Lifetime movie back in 2007/2008. It was another low-budget film–under a million–and we filmed it in twelve days. But I had a blast working with Rick on that one.
That is one that Lifetime loves to replay pretty regularly. And really, it’s a pretty good one. And for a change, Rick is not a bad guy in that one. In almost every other Lifetime movie, he plays a bad guy.
Yeah, he’s played a few. Now, I will tell you in Medinah, he’s not a bad guy.
That’s my understanding. I sincerely hope that one will make its way to the U.S. at some point.
That was one that I again had such a blast working on it. And I had no idea he was on the show until you mentioned it.
in Qatar
Yes, I remember that. I knew Rick was going to Qatar, and then when you said you were, I was like, “They have to be working on the same show.”
Right now, Medinah is in post-production. There are seven episodes per season, and those are all filmed. At the Comic-Con in San Diego two summers ago, we were able to air our pretty decent cut of the first episode. It had the wonderful sound effects and special effects, and I was happy to be there with the fans watching it with them. My understanding is they are negotiating with various parties to have it broadcast and to see if Netflix would pick it up or some service like that. It’s all up in the air at the moment. I have a lot of faith in it. I think it’s an awesome show and groundbreaking. I think we’re gonna knock it out of the ballpark.
I think when Rick first started talking about it, he seemed to think Netflix would pick it up. Or maybe he just assumed. But then I guess sometimes those negotiations can take a while. I’m curious. When you were signed on to do Medinah, had you gone to the Middle East before?
Darwin’s Brave New World
I love doing international projects, and I did a project on Darwin {Darwin’s Brave New World} that gave me the opportunity to shoot in half a dozen countries. And then Drone, we shot in India, and before that, I did a mockumentary in India called Bird Co. Media. So I was very familiar with international travel, but I had never been to the Middle East before filming Medinah.
Medinah
So it was my first experience in Qatar which was pretty awesome. I mean deep desert shooting, awesome landscapes, wonderful crew. We had over twenty different countries working on it. From like an Iraqi pop star to a Palestinian actor who worked with Spielberg. It was a wonderful mix. And I think the fact that we were able to do something that incorporated actors from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UK, Canada, America–I think that’s pretty awesome, especially considering the state of the world today. I think it’s wonderful that we could do something involving so many different countries and so much creativity.
Medinah
Qatar itself is amazing because so much is being built into it, and the architecture is incredible. And yet at the same time, it feels like you’re on the set of Hunger Games. The buildings are so unique. We were so well taken care of, and so the overall experience was pretty good. I had a Hungarian AD team that took care of me. My DOP, Toby Moore, did Mr. Selfridge, Death In Paradise, and other few pretty big series. He’s British, so there’s all that international flavor. Lots of awesome personalities, and we had no issues with working conditions. And the big thing now is that we’re all hoping for a second season. But negotiations have to go forward with this first season. I’m hopeful that we’ll know pretty soon if maybe this goes to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, or whatever. There are so many different venues out there to get it to the public nowadays. It’s much more different than it was, say ten years ago.
I know what you mean. Sometimes timing can happen so fast and before you know it, the streaming service is carrying the show. And it’s good for the regular networks as well because they have real competition from these streaming services. Networks are even starting to cut back on commercials
Yes, it is very much changing, and luckily Ahmed {Al Baker}, the showrunner and creator of Medinah, he’s really up on a lot of the new technology and these new ways or distributing. I suspect that we’ll see a lot of really interesting new ways of getting other stories of Medinah out, whether it’s through graphic novels or online comic books. They’re very smart people, so I expect it’s gonna go big.
I know last year it looked like you had a lot of good press at the Comic-Con.
It was wonderful. It was like a reunion being able to hang out with Rick and some of the wonderful cast like Eric {Roberts} and Natasha {Henstridge}. And it was pretty insane at Comic-Con having one hundred thirty thousand people in that one little area of San Diego. But it was my first time being there.
I ended up sneaking away to the Sharknado 5 panel. They had Fabio playing the Pope, which was quite interesting. Since it was Sharknado 5, they were doing whatever they could to push buttons. They throw everything but the kitchen sink in those movies. So I got to check out a couple panels, but for the most part, I was there for Medinah and to give my support for the show. In the ballroom, we premiered the first episode, which was directed by Wayne Rose. I directed the third and fourth episode. And we had four thousand people there. That’s a good turnout in that ballroom.
Science fiction is something you’re really passionate about, I know that.
Yeah, I like science fiction. I also like Lifetime movies and thrillers–they’re awesome. But ever since I’ve been a kid, I have loved sci-fi. I also love the supernatural, the thrillers, and the horror films as well. I don’t get the opportunity to play in that sandbox too often, but it’s definitely something I’m looking at pursuing. A lot of the projects I have in development are either sci-fi or supernatural thrillers. And up here in Vancouver, it’s a sci-fi town. And it’s also a superhero town. Those styles stay pretty busy between Arrow and Flash and Legends of Tomorrow and all those CW shows. It’s pretty insane here at the moment, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Which is good for us.
So your movie Drone. How can people watch that?
Drone
Our sales agent is through Myriad Pictures and the distribution is through Screen Media. They opened it in theaters on ten screens just to feel it out. That was on Memorial Day weekend last year. So the first review we got was the New York Times. We were able to create a big splash that weekend. And then when iTunes picked it up, it was the number one indie film and number two thriller. We moved up the ladder pretty quick. And then because of this film, I was able to go to the Traverse City Film Festival, which is Michael Moore’s film festival. I got to hang out with the likes of Leonard Maltin and Guildford Godfrey. Have you been to Traverse City?
No, I have not.
Honestly, it’s the best-kept secret in the U.S. It is the most amazing, beautiful, basically tourist town. It’s on Lake Michigan. When I told the border guard I was going there, he totally lit up and said it was the best-kept secret and that’s where he vacations. The theater where we were while in Traverse City was voted, I think, as one of the ten best places to see a movie. The State Theater is so fantastic. It’s probably the best film festival I’ve been to.
Please tell us about the development process of Counterfeiting in Suburbia and why you chose to put it on Netflix instead of a network like Lifetime. Are there any special behind-the-scenes moments from filming that?
Counterfeiting in Suburbia was written by the incredibly talented Paul Birkett. I’ve co-written a few scripts with Paul and directed a few he’s written on his own. When I first read the script I totally connected to the material. I loved the fact it was based around an art department in high school, and I took print-making in university. The idea of students using an intaglio printing press to counterfeit money was AWESOME.
Woman On the Run
I lucked out with the cast. I’m always looking for opportunities to collaborate with Matthew MacCaull (again!) and I had two killer actors, Larissa Albuquerque and Kayla Wallace, knock it out of the ballpark–they had wonderful chemistry as the two teens pulling off the counterfeiting. Sarah Butler, who I loved working with on Woman on The Run (also written by Paul), rounded off the cast.
Executive Producer Tim Johnson got excellent feedback from Netflix and they snapped it up, but it could have gone to Lifetime. It was very successful, spawning a sequel Hotwired in Suburbia, which I just shot in Ottawa. I had lots of favourite moments making this one, but the highlight for me was the escape from the mall; we had a few stunts.
Hallmark fans are going to be so happy that you got to direct your first Hallmark movie, The Chronicle Mysteries. How did that come about? What were the highlights of that experience?
The Chronicle Mysteries
That was a blast. I was pitched along with a number of local Hallmark directors and Alison Sweeney decided to give me a shot. She’s incredible. Alison is the co-creator, exec producer and star. It’s her series. We hit it off creatively, and she was a fan of my indie work like Drone starring Sean Bean. It was interesting. I actually got the job because I had never done a Hallmark before and she wanted the movie to be a little more “outside the box.” We pushed the envelope stylistically a bit on that one – heavier on the mood and thriller aspects and we went very cinematic with it. The Chronicle Mysteries was ambitious with quite a few more action beats than one would expect in a Hallmark movie, which all added to the fun. Alison did her own stunts and there’s one in particular everyone will be talking about.
Since The Chronicle Mysteries is slated to be a series of films, do you have any idea whether you will get to direct anymore?
It’s hard to say. I loved the experience, the crew, and the script, but there’s always so many factors at play including scheduling. Honestly, I just feel blessed knowing I was given the opportunity to direct the first one which helps shape the entire series. Feedback on what we accomplished was excellent. If I could, I would love to direct all of them 🙂
Photo by Kailey Schwerman
I notice you have a lot of projects in development. Please tell us about any you that you would like to and are able to.
As an indie filmmaker and a creative, I’m always juggling multiple projects and collaborating with other writers and directors. I also live and breathe filmmaking and since I love what I do, it’s never really been work to me. So yeah, lots in development!
Trapline is getting very close. It’s a wilderness thriller that I’m in love with and we’re attaching incredible talent. I also have a few scripts out there getting lots of buzz, and I’m attached to several features. I’ll hopefully have some big announcements in the next few weeks. In the meantime, I’ve been squeezing in lots of coffee meetings with younger filmmakers who are trying to get projects off the ground. I’ve always been an open book in regards to my filmmaking experiences. In today’s market, pulling off an indie feature is a minor miracle–the more knowledge sharing the better.
In the past few years, I have had the opportunity of coming in contact with a plethora of impeccably gifted directors who possess all the requisite skills to boost the level of the production value of any project they have the opportunity to direct. I am consistently in awe of directors like Jason, who continue to not only raise the bar on their current and upcoming projects, but they are committed to giving back to the film community by helping those who seek out their expertise. Jason is one who realizes that although he cannot be immortal in the physical sense, by training promising, young filmmakers, he is ensuring that his legacy will be abiding and positive. Additionally, I appreciate his loyalty to those actors with whom he has worked on a variety of projects, and as I believe I told him at one time, if I see his name in the credits, I am confident that this will be a high-quality film. Moreover, his humility and willingness to highlight those in his cast and crew as opposed to seeking self-adulation are attributes I thoroughly appreciate and readily discover amongst those in the Vancouver film/television community. It pleases me to no end to witness the prowess and far-reaching vision I continue to witness in Jason’s magnificent career, and I am honored to be able to introduce him to my readers today.
Even though I know that many networks are currently showing and/or preparing to show Christmas programming in anticipation of the December holidays, I would invite you still to check out some of Jason’s work, including Black Fly (it would be a perfect Halloween movie), and many of his other Lifetime and SyFy movies if you are so inclined. I know that Hallmark viewers are anxiously awaiting the premiere of The Chronicle Mysteries. In fact, it enthralls me to realize that Jason’s exemplary direction will be the driving force for the initial movie in this series, and I greatly anticipate seeing this in March of 2019. In conjunction with this research and expectancy, I would invite all my readers to check out Jason’s links below and consider following him where applicable. No matter what genre you may prefer, no doubt Jason has directed and/or has written something for you to savor, and I am thrilled to see Hallmark finally bringing Jason on in an official capacity. Although no one can see the future, no matter what films and shows may be down the pipeline for Jason, I will continue to support him in any way that I can, and I hope that my readers will join me in this crusade to support the work of exquisitely talented and immensely kind people like Jason. He is a keeper, no doubt, and I can hardly wait to see what is next on the agenda for him!
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