A hard battle is won through perseverance.
That’s the tag line in the soon to be released short film Canadian Ice Hockey Ninja and one director Austin Davidson and producer Gavin Boutet have learned through their experience making it.
The duo have spent the last year and a half working on the spoof of classic late ‘70s early ‘80s budget kung fu films, proving that determination and hard work wins in the end.
“We kind of created a monster because we have never made a film before and had no idea what we were doing,” Boutet said. “It cost us very little money to make.
“It was all about effort, the idea and completing it.”
It is an appropriate theme for the film as post-production work took much longer than both initially expected.
“It is a story about vengeance, perseverance and following through,” Davidson added.
Filming of the 32-minute film began in February 2010 after Boutet and Davidson had the brilliant idea of combining ninjas and hockey together.
“It has grown substantially from the initial idea,” Boutet said. “It was fun for us to kill some time, but it’s caught on and had a snowball effect.”
Filmed with a point and shoot camera and featuring local characters and locations, they hope the story has broad appeal.
The main character Trio McThreeo is played by Davidson while Boutet is cast as one of the villains, Chester Rockwell.
The main villain Doctor Melvin Freezen is played by Rhys Freisen and the ninja master Chief Chow Mein is played by Al Girard.
With Canadian Ice Hockey Ninja’s budget falling under $100 and no experience, the pair are inspired to continue making films.
Canadian Ice Hockey Ninja premieres at the Canmore Hotel on Tuesday (Sept. 27) at 8 p.m. It will be preceded by the short film White Man Can’t Krunk.
Donations will be accepted at the door to raise funds for a broader release of the film and entering it into film festivals.
