A workaholic photography professor is forced to produce new work while on sabbatical but finds himself alone and struggling. He is changed by a friendship with a young artist.
We've completed two thirds of the film with grants from The Saskatchewan Arts Board and the Saskatchewan Filmpool and we're seeking financial support to complete production. The trailer consists of footage we've already shot.
Our Passion for this Film
Getting old sucks. There's so much we let go of as we become ensconced in our careers and family lives. Many of us wake up one day and find that the joy and wonder from when we were young is gone. We envy youth without embracing it.
This film examines the middle-age attitude in our Western society. We're obsessed with home renovations, the latest bath fixtures, and vacuum cleaners. Why do we give up the passion and thirst for discovery from our youth? Our friends and music are largely from past decades. We're stuck in a rut with time passing faster and faster.
James Pittman is the poster child for everything we do wrong in middle age. He's so pleased with himself and his privileged life that he's unaware that he's no longer the artist he once was. His workaholic routine has given him tunnel vision that has shielded him from the fact his students hate him and he is isolated from his friends and his wife. He has become ignorant and closed-minded, the opposite of what he needs to be to thrive as an artist.
We want to examine the changes people go through as they age and critique the decisions they make that lead to declining happiness and an ever-narrower outlook on the world. We want to capture the audience's imagination, challenge them to look inward and dissect their own lives, and we want to entertain and make them laugh while doing it.
We're confident and excited that we're well on our way to making a great film. Your contribution will make The Sabbatical a reality!
Interview with Brian and James
Director Brian Stockton and actor James Whittingham discuss The Sabbatical. From December 30, 2014.
Meet the Filmmaker: Brian Stockton
When I began making films my ultimate goal was to make feature-length work. Early in my career I made a couple of ultra low-budget feature films but I developed a career focused on short films and have amassed a body of work in that form that I’m very proud of. I made progress toward a return to feature films in 2010 with a 48 minute film called My Dinner with Generation X. That film convinced me it was time to tackle long-form filmmaking once again. While largely a documentary, My Dinner with Generation X is an improvised film that contains fiction elements.
I also contributed to the I Heart Regina (2010) omnibus film, and that experience convinced me my next project would be a fictional feature involving actor James Whittingham, shot in an improvised style.
I have an MFA in film production from York University in Toronto, and was a director resident at Norman Jewison’s prestigious Canadian Film Centre. While attending the CFC I wrote and directed the multi-award winning short film, The Weight of the World.
I'm a film production instructor at the University of Regina, in Saskatchewan, Canada. I'm currently working on a series of autobiographical short films which have premiered to widespread critical acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival. This includes Saskatchewan Part 2 (That’s My Wonderful Town), which won the grand jury prize for best documentary at the Temecula Valley Film Festival in California.
The Story We Want to Finish Telling
James Pittman is drifting into middle age buoyed by his reputation from a fifteen-year-old best-selling street photography book. Although his students tend to hate him, he's pleased as punch with his career and his standing as a successful artist. However, everything changes when he's forced to take a one year sabbatical from the university. It couldn't have come at a worse time.
The university is facing budget cutbacks and James has to justify his cushy position with "research" in the form of a fresh new photography book. To make matters worse, his publisher breaks the news that books are on the way out and there may not even be a book. Without a successful new book, James's life will come crashing down.
Meanwhile, James's wife Jillian is on the verge of a major scientific breakthrough in reproductive medicine. She's about to get rid of the need for sperm and she has no time for James as she works around the clock. They barely see each other, only passing briefly as she rushes off to work each morning. When they do encounter each other, Jillian presses James to get a long-promised vasectomy that he is reluctant to have.
James tries to reignite his passion for photography but his art is suffering. He gets more bruises from physical confrontations on the street than usable photographs. His artistic mojo squashed, his friends busy rearing kids, he finds himself desperate and alone.
Lucy is a 23-year-old free-spirited artist who is struggling to put food in her stomach. She has little interest in pursuing the "normal life' that James has and is even indifferent to her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Shane, an young aspiring musician. Yet James and Lucy meet and manage to find common ground in their love of art. An unlikely friendship blossoms as Lucy begins to drive James to the many medical appointments he's been putting off to address his aging
, neglected body.
Lucy confounds James. She's smart, educated, and an exceptional painter but she doesn't conform to James's expectations. She's hungry and unemployed yet she doesn't seem to have a care in the world.
The two have fun taking pictures, gorging on fast food, cooking, and smoking up. James's emotional and intellectual connection to Lucy invigorates him and he ponders a new start in life. Without his wife in the picture James is conflicted in how he feels about Lucy, especially when he forgets he's old enough to be her father.
Lucy inspires and impassions James but she also shatters his image of himself as an artist. Everything he thought he was, he realizes he is not. He has to decide if he wants to start his life again or return to the wife he never stopped loving.
Audio Featurette
Actor James Whittingham talks about the downward spiral his character takes in The Sabbatical and how one of his favorite songs relates to the theme of this film. More audio and video features will be posted throughout the campaign!
Going Forward
Since we planned on shooting the film in all four seasons, we filmed the first two thirds of the film with a 20K arts grant in the summer but planned on raising funds to finish the production. Basically, everyone working on the film got an honorarium of $100 per day. Some second unit shooting was done in the fall with a small group of people volunteering their time.
We need support to pay for a few more days more with the cast and full crew this winter and several days in the spring. Some wardrobe, props and equipment will need to be purchased or rented, as well as basic catering and craft service for our personnel. If we were to raise more than needed, we'd attempt to start a rough cut of the film. Some of our equipment is supplied by the University of Regina where Brian Stockton teaches in the Department of Film. The Saskatchewan Filmpool Co-operative is also supporting The Sabbatical with equipment and a small amount of funding.
If we don't reach our goal, we'll do our best to finish the film with the funds we've raised, perhaps with a scaled down crew. On the off chance we exceed our goal, we would put that money into making the film even better with a larger crew, better locations and spend more time shooting what we have left. Regardless of how much we raise, all funds will go to making The Sabbatical the best film possible so that our supporters can be proud of their investment.
The Cast
James Whittingham is an multi-award-winning comic actor whose career has spanned all corners of the media universe from local television (The James and Kevin Show) to CBC Radio, to national television (CBC’s Just for Laughs) and to the internet where he has garnered 15 million views on his two YouTube channels. James recently starred in the acclaimed feature film I Heart Regina and in the web series Gunderson.
Laura Abramsen's career is exploding this year with her appearance in three feature films in the last half of 2013 alone. Two of those feature films see the talented twenty year-old Ottawa-native in leading roles. Both Whittingham and Abramsen will be appearing in the Cinecoup horror-comedy feature Wolf Cop, opening in Cineplex theatres across Canada in summer, 2014.
The supporting cast includes Bernadette Mullen Green (video featurette) who plays James's impossibly-busy scientist wife, Jillian. Her research in reproductive medicine just may get rid of the need for men. (It's a real thing, we hired a science consultant!) The hilarious Mike Gill (video featurette) plays Lucy's boyfriend Shane who fancies himself a musician.
Your Support Finishes this Film
Our next block of shooting is the winter section of the film and it starts as soon as possible. Our primary winter exterior scene involves James and Lucy going tobogganing. It's a key scene in the film because the pair are at their closest, letting go and having fun.
Another key scene we will shoot involves James helping Lucy's boyfriend Shane move in with her. James is tormented by the child-like Shane and doesn't understand what his intelligent young friend Lucy sees in him. James's meeting with Shane's parents is awkward because they're his age.
Several days of filming will complete the film in the spring.
How We Will Use The Funds
We've demonstrated that we can successfully produce the first 2/3rds of the film with our small arts grant of $20,000. Invest in us and we will use your funds to finish shooting the last 1/3 of the film. We need funding for the following:
- Honorariums to our small production crew of 10 people or so
- Honorariums for the additional days for the cast
- Pay for some additional props and wardrobe
- Pay for catering and craft service for the cast and crew
- Rent additional production equipment as needed
- Office expenses leading up to post-production
We intend to apply for a grant to finish post production. Failing that we would do a second Indiegogo campaign next summer.
Join The Sabbatical Team!
Help us spread the word of this film. Please use the Indiegogo share tools! We'll be updating you throughout our campaign. This is our first campaign so we'd appreciate your feedback. Thanks for your support!
The Sabbatical illustration by Dakota McFadzean: http://blog.dakotamcfadzean.com.