Role 01
Runner
Seawall · Vancouver
CastCast · Vancouver
Jason
Our runner for the seawall shots of the Vancouver montage.
Bonjour, Formula 1.
We wanted to show you
how we see it.
01
Director’s Statement
I am a proud Canadian, and my lived experience is the whole country. Born in Calgary, raised in Vancouver, forged my career in Montreal, and now raising three children whose mother tongue is French. I love the many faces of this country because I have lived them. And I have never liked the cookie-cutter version of how it gets portrayed. We are a continent-sized people of incredible diversity and texture, and we achieve great things.
My film shows Canada the way Canadians see it. True to each place and each identity. Fast, specific, and built on things Canadians recognise instantly at a gut level. The tone is confident, poetic and explosive all at once. Strong, with some swagger. Made to live perfectly with the tone of Formula 1. Precision and power. Beauty and force.
This is about adding fuel to northern pride and ramping up the energy of a world-class race on Canadian soil, at the same time.
Storyboard*
03
Script
Voice-over Script
The film is written for two voices that never overlap, one English and male, one French and female, framed by Pierre Houde on the radio. The master is the bilingual cut. The English and French versions isolate each language.
04
Casting
Director’s Recommendations
Picks from the casting sessions, in the order the cities appear in the film. Notes are in the director’s own words.
Vancouver
Frame 11 · 1 role
SkyTrain, seawall runners, a bike off a wet jump, rain on a technical shell, Chinatown neon.
CastCalgary
Frame 14 · 3 roles
Saddledome hyperlapse, FPV through the Peace Bridge, a boot maker’s hands, a fly fisherman in the Bow, a cowboy line dancing, Treaty 7 regalia in motion, a pumpjack at golden hour.
Role 02
Cowboy Businessman
Calgary
Director’s strong recco
Silas Oghenochuko Iyuke
- He moves with the right mix of swagger and confidence that will look very cool in a suit and cowboy hat.
- His take of shaking hands directly with the camera is a great idea. His smile in cowboy hat and leaning into the camera will cut great.
- He is my only recco right now because I want the role of the “Cowboy Businessman” to ideally be a black man, which is a cool, unexpected casting.
Role 03
Boot Craftswoman
Calgary
Director’s recco
Sherri Anne Keleher
- She has a great nice former cowgirl look, and she’s got some muscles which make it believable that she knows ranching.
- Her braids are a GREAT look.
Back-up
Erika Hau
- Her hair up and expression help to make her look like she really knows what she’s doing.
- Auditioned with authority, felt like she really works with her hands (no dainty feeling).
- Could pass as First Nations, which is a bonus.
Role 04
Line Dancing Cowboy
Calgary
Director’s recco
Jesse Drwiega
- Best dancer, safest bet. But he’s really, really skinny, so I want to avoid the nerdy vibe.
- I will shoot him in a way that minimizes his skinniness.
- Here is a pic from his IG where his jacket bulks him up a bit.
Self-tapes for internal review only.
05
The Studio
Ideal Studio Space
Black-box soundstage for the F1 studio sequences
A high-ceiling, blacked-out stage with enough room to place the car centrally, suspend a large soft toplight, run restrained red accent practicals, and move camera 360 degrees around the vehicle.
Requirements
- 5,000–8,000 sq ft
- 18–24 ft clear height
- overhead rigging grid
- full blackout
- drive-in access
- dark concrete floor
- 3-phase power
- haze permitted
- quiet for playback + VO
- camera circulation around car
06
Voice Talent
Radio voice +
live crowd shot
Pierre Houde
English
Keanu Reeves (TBC)
French
To be confirmed
07
Sound Design
Sound Design - Cities
The cities stay natural. Textural. Each quick montage is punctuated by the sounds that are actually in the frame: street banter, the buzz of a neon sign, the grind of a streetcar. The sounds are clear and punchy and do the work of telling you where you are before the picture finishes explaining it.
Sound Design - Race Footage
Sound is so much of what F1 actually is that holding back would be the mistake. Engines, downshifts, tire squeal, period broadcast commentary, crowd. Layered hard and mixed loud. It does something the picture can’t do alone. The intensity makes the footage feel faster and the cuts feel sharper, and it triggers race day excitement right away
08
Music
Music Direction
The edit is not uniform. It runs hard in bursts, then opens into long held moments where the poetry needs to be the focus. The music needs to work with that. Electronic motifs whose structure already matches that is a strong match: a repeating structure that holds through intense moments. Canadian Artists and styles that align: Kaytranada, groove with air in it. Caribou but slowed down, patient risers that never drop. Rezz, dark mid-tempo, a Canadian answer to Apashe. A-Trak, for remix energy. These are the types of Canadian originated sounds that will be our sandbox.
