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(Two children examine their pet mouse in The Quarry.)
York faculty and alumni have played a major role in the Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) Al Waxman Calling Card''s four short films, which will premier today at 10pm on Showcase Television on "The Showcase Revue". The films, which feature some of Canada’s best up-and-coming producers and directors, are The Quarry, You Might Be the Youngest, Countdown and AWOL.
York faculty and alumni involved are as follows.
The Quarry (scene from the film, right) is written by Prof. Marie Rickard, Department of Film & Video, Faculty of Fine Arts, directed by Svjetlana Jaklenec (BFA ‘00) and produced by Tom Strnad (BFA ‘00). Boris Mojsovski (BFA ‘00) directed the photography and Bill Halliday (BFA ‘00) composed the music. The film tells the story of a troubled, young boy in a small rural Northern Ontario community who has stumbled across a terrible family secret, but cannot communicate it to anyone except in his own coded language. Strnad’s debut feature film, Three and a Half, opened Feb. 21 in Toronto. 
You Might Be the Youngest (scenes left and below) is written by Joseph Kay (LLB ‘97) and produced by Corey Marr (graduated from the joint York-Seneca Program in Creative Advertising ‘96). In the film, the past comes alive for Will Sheffer as he and his sister, Sarah, endure a tense limousine ride to their father’s funeral. The film explores a single moment in a man’s life after which nothing will be the same.
Now entering its sixth year, the OMDC Al Waxman Calling Card program provides an opportunity for emerging Ontario producers and directors to create short film with which to hone their skills, demonstrate their abilities and prove their readiness to make commercial-length products.
"This outstanding collection of shorts shows that Canadian drama is alive and well," says Laura Michalchyshyn, senior vice-president of programming for Showcase Television.