Grim (Film)

Official Poster by Kenzie Cameron

Mitch Murrant

H. Fritz Bishop

Kenzie Cameron

Donnie Antle

Tyrel Doran

*Grim* is a Canadian mockumentary film shot in Sydney, Nova Scotia, produced by Tar City Productions.

The film depicts the attempts of a hapless film crew to document the life of a notorious local legend and self proclaimed "criminal mastermind".

On March 3rd, 2018 at One Night Stand, it was announced that *Grim* would premiere on March 24th, 2018 at the Highland Arts Theatre. The premiere was preceded by a screening of Dylan MacDonald's *Of the Dead* after it won the 2017 Get Made contest.

## Cast

James Rudderham as Gordie

Tristan Baxter as G.G

Mitch Murrant as Grim

H. Fritz Bishop as Alastor Gwen

Kenzie Cameron as Ira Foster

Donnie Antle as Bertram Momberquette, Jr.

Tyrel Doran as Ashley Cormier

Michael MacNeil as Jimmy Rots

Tanner Leudy as Jamie Rots

Riley Hill as Turd

Deion Perfect as Romney Remnants

Jules Cameron as Rhonda Roundhouse

Jessica Nicole Hardy as Roxy Ricin

Sara Hamilton as Nadia Moxham

Keith Doom as Dave Grigger

Mitch Hines as Kit Johnston

Adam LeMoine as Ian Obscene

Shane Wilikie as Kurtis Murder

Stefane Samson as Grundy Gunthrie

Diana MacKinnon Furlong as Trudy, the Probation Officer

Dylan MacDonald as Casey Graves

James Munroe as Richard Beardsley

Nikolaos Tiniakos as Sarge

Aidan Munroe as Isaac

Eric Letcher as Jeff Fletcher

Jillian Ellsworth as Carrie Bridges

Brooklyn Campbell as Francene Worth

Dan Yakimachuk as Chester McNutt

Kyla Robinson as Max

Rachael Fougere as Gwen

Barbara Beaton as Waitress

Heidi Hummer as Bartender

Tristan Barlett as Waiter

Missy Lebans as Barista

Breah Higgins as Cashier

Johnny Hobo as herself

Olivia Stevens, Ally Parsons, Erin Bragg, Eli Quirk, and Anthony Nemis appeared as Bar Patrons

Shirley Rhymes, Jill Taylor, Colin O'Neill, Charmaine LeBlanc, Gary MacKinnon, Clayton MacDonnell, Shannon MacDonald, Patricia Gardiner-Pineau, Gabriel Doucette, Anthony Nemis, Dave Manning, Kyla Robinson, and Jill Hickey appeared as Cafe Patrons

## Crew

Director of Photography / Camera Operator: Kenzie Cameron

Audio Technician: Donnie Antle

Boom Mic Operator: Tyrel Doran

Production Managers: Breah Higgins, Sarah Hamilton, Eli Quirk, Tristan Baxter, and H. Fritz Bishop

Production Assistants: Ally Parsons, Erin Cochrane, Erin Bragg, Anthony Nemis, and Brooklyn Campbell

Costume Designers: Ally Parsons, James Rudderham, H. Fritz Bishop, and Tanner Leudy

Music Director: Dylan MacDonald

Original Score: Jules Cameron

Executive Producers: H. Fritz Bishop and Kenzie Cameron

## Production

The concept for the film was created by Fritz Bishop after wrapping production on *Bigsby*, the mockumentary format was inspired by the guerrilla style of Tar City's production process, work on the script began in January 2017 with a final draft of the script being written in late June after considerable revisions. Fritz has cited *Man Bites Dog*, a 1992 Belgian mockumentary film about a serial killer, as inspiring the concept for the film. The mockumentary format is also a popular genre for independent Canadian filmmakers, Fritz has noted that Bruce MacDonald's *Hardcore Logo* (1996) and Michael Dowse's *Fubar* (2002) were also two of his favourite films as a student.

Roles were written to accommodate the shared responsibilities of certain actors to appear and act as crew members, including Fritz Bishop and Kenzie Cameron, while James Rudderham, Tristan Baxter, and Mitch Murrant each had their roles specifically written for them. However, the role of "The Sound Guys" underwent many changes throughout the writing process, at one point consisting of a silent duo being cast as Martin Robinson and John Bury, who co-wrote and directed *Bigsby.* Donnie Antle was cast as "Sound Guy 1", the audio technician, while Tyrel Doran, who appeared as Davey in *Bigsby*, was cast as "Sound Guy 2", the boom mic operator.

In the scene introducing Jimmy Rots, the original script included the character of "Mrs. Rots", the mother of Jimmy and Jamie. The role was cast to be played by Debbie Murrant, the mother of Mitch Murrant. However, when she was unable to make the shoot on the day of filming, her lines were quickly rewritten and absorbed into Michael MacNeil's characterization of Jimmy.

Most actors who portrayed unscripted or background characters were permitted to name their own characters, including the majority of the on-screen film crew with the exception of "Sound Guy 2" who was named Ashley Cormier as a tribute to local musicians, Ashley MacIsaac and J.P. Cormier, the latter of whom lived in the same town as Fritz during his early teenage years.

A considerable portion of dialogue as well as a handful of scenes were completely improvised by the cast and crew. The scene in which Dave Grigger and the Grave Diggers discover their guitarist passed out in the bathroom before replacing him with Turd was created by Adam LeMoine, who portrayed Ian Obscene, the band's drummer.

In relation to the "Hoboverse" timeline, Fritz has asserted that *Grim* takes place a few years before the events of *Bigsby*. A few characters, like Grundy Gunthrie (Stefane Samson), Ian Obscene (Adam LeMoine), and Johnny Hobo even reprise their roles from *Bigsby.*

Principal filming began on Friday, July 21st, 2017 at The Tarbox and wrapped on August 5th at The Upstairs Club in Downtown Sydney.

On October 4th, 2017, Tar City released a short entitled *Turd & Jamie* to promote the film, in which Riley Hill and Tanner Leudy reprised their respective roles from *Grim*.

On January 23rd, 2018, Fritz announced that they had completed post-production on the film.

On March 3rd, 2018, Tar City hosted an event, One Night Stand, in which they screened the entrants of the 2017 Get Made Contest with the winner being screened at the premiere of *Grim*. Dylan MacDonald's *Of the Dead* won by unanimous decision between judge and audiences votes.

On March 22nd, 2018, Fritz announced via an Instagram post that *Grim* uses the word "fuck" 542 times, averaging 5.76 "fucks" per minute, thus making it unofficially third in the world for "most uses of the term fuck in a movie", beating Martin Scorsese's *The* *Wolf of Wall Street*.

## Sequel

Much like *Bigsby*, the cast and crew have discussed the possibility of a sequel since wrapping production on the film. Cast members Tanner Leudy, Michael MacNeil, and Riley Hill have expressed interest in the idea of a sequel that focused on Jamie, Jimmy, and Turd in the same mockumentary format which takes place after the events of *Grim* and would follow their band, "Puss", as they tour Cape Breton*.* Fritz has stated that Grundy Gunthrie would most likely serve as at least one of the primary antagonists in the film, tentatively titled *A Rots Family Christmas,* though there are no definite plans to film the sequel in the near future.

## Soundtrack

The original score for the film was recorded by Jules Cameron and previewed during the March 15, 2018 edition of her show, "Beanz", on Caper Radio CJBU 107.3FM.

1. "Dawn of the Dread" (Instrumental)
2. "Goodbye My Friend, My Chapter is Over"
3. "Where are the Cigarettes?"
4. "Going for a Drive" (Bonus Track)

Other songs that appeared in the film and trailers were chosen by Fritz and music director, Dylan MacDonald.

1. "Unannoymous Alcoholics" by Keith Doom and the Wrecking Crew
2. "Texas Instruments" by Keith Doom and the Wrecking Crew
3. "Total Expendable" by Keith Doom and the Wrecking Crew
4. "NASACar Racing" by Keith Doom and the Wrecking Crew
5. "Meat Salad" by The Meat Sweats
6. "Unleash the Moose" by The Meat Sweats
7. "Beware the Bacon" by The Meat Sweats
8. "Hook, Line, and Thinker" by The Camper Vans
9. "Am I Cool Yet?" by Turpentine
10. "Ty-Runts" by The Slow and The Courteous
11. "Behind Gary Lazer Eyes" by Cap Gun
12. "Planning My Funeral" by Cap Gun

Adam LeMoine also wrote and performed "Piss Drinker" for the film.

## External Links

Grim Official Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnWa51PAzZY

Grim Official Soundtrack by Jules Cameron: soundcloud.com/dryboner-music/sets/grim-official-soundtrack

Tar City Official website: tarcity.ca/