News
Release: Politicians must punish
Canadian distributor of "Deadly"
Note regarding the Globe and Mail article
below (Karla's Investors Say They Want Cash). Peter Simpson of
Norstar Filmed Entertainment, who is identified in this item as the
Canadian representative of "Karla's" American producer,
previously tried to make another movie about the case. Simpson's
movie, based on the book Invisible Darkness, was roundly condemned
by politicians. Apparently, Simpson is still interested in trying to
cash in on these terrible crimes, as evidenced from his role in
"Karla". Read more about Invisible Darkness and Mr.
Simpson in this section, including a letter I wrote to him that provides
details on some of the funding he's received from government. Isn't
it nice to know that we, the taxpayer, give money to people like Simpson?
Valerie Smith, Toronto, Ontario May 10,
2007
Karla's investors say they want cash
May 10, 2021
Globe and Mail
By Simon Houpt
NEW YORK - A war of words has erupted
between the American producer and the Canadian distributor of Karla after
the controversial feature film about Karla Homolka failed to turn a profit
at the box office and had its DVD release delayed by more than a year
because of resistance from video distributors.
Michael Sellers, the chief executive
officer of Burbank-based MovieBank Studios and the film's producer,
accused Christal Films of Montreal this week of failing to share any of
the box-office earnings or even provide him an accounting of the film's
performance despite more than six months of queries.
"I need some ammunition to go to my
investors with," Sellers said.
"They haven't seen a penny from
Canada.
"Because of that, there's a growing
sense that I'm not pursuing their case aggressively enough, and there's a
lot of pressure building on me."
His Canadian representative, Peter Simpson
of Norstar Filmed Entertainment, who helped broker the deal, said he was
embarrassed he had vouched for Christal president Christian Larouche.
"I've gone from threatening to begging
to appealing to his better half - apparently he doesn't have one,"
said Simpson. According to figures provided to The Globe and Mail by
Christal, Karla took in about $600,000 during its eight-week Canadian
theatrical run, which began in January, 2006. The agreement between the
two companies calls for MovieBank to receive 10 per cent of the film's
gross receipts, which, after the theatres have taken their cut, works out
to about $30,000 to $40,000.
However, this week Christal's Larouche
insisted his company didn't owe MovieBank anything. "We spent money
to launch the picture," he said. "The film didn't do what it was
supposed to do on theatrical, so we cannot [pay MovieBank] until we
recoup."
Simpson says the company spent far too much
on advertising and distribution expenses.Given the title's toxic
reputation, Sellers said, "the perception at the time was that the
DVD was really where the money was." But the film's likelihood of
recoupment was seriously damaged after Christal scuttled plans for a DVD
release last summer. At the time, the company refused to offer an
explanation to the press. But in an e-mail to an expectant fan, a Christal
representative said Sellers had put the project on hold and, therefore,
the company's hands were tied.
In fact, e-mails recently obtained by The
Globe and Mail show that Sellers and Simpson were outraged that Christal
had nixed the DVD release, and were working furiously behind the scenes to
take back the non-theatrical rights in order to salvage some of the film's
potential earnings. But their phone calls, e-mails and other entreaties
failed entirely. Simpson said he was disappointed that several meeting he
had set up with Christal representatives at last September's Toronto Film
Festival were scheduled and cancelled. This week, Larouche said the
problem with the DVD release had been a wariness among Christal's video
distribution partners. "Nobody at that time wanted to touch it, so we
decided to let the situation cool a bit," he said. "We know a
lot of people want to see the movie."
He added that Christal will release the DVD
on its own this September.
Informed of the news, Sellers groused,
"Nice to learn that from the press."
His partner in the venture didn't mince
words given the fear within the film industry over piracy, distributors
commonly seek to release movies on DVD as soon as possible. "What's
with him releasing in September?" asks Simpson. "What kind of
idiot pretends he understands the business and lets piracy rip off every
dollar opportunity like that?"
The DVD came out last month in the U.S. and
can be easily ordered online. Like many other films, Karla is also
believed to be available for illegal downloading.
Simpson added that he believes Christal had
not fully attempted to capitalize on the film by selling it into other
markets such as broadcast or pay-TV.
Larouche did not return a call and an
e-mail seeking further comment.
Ever optimistic, Sellers said the delay in
the Canadian DVD release could have one potential upside: It would give
him time to prepare special features such as a roundtable of experts on
the Homolka case, as well as a producer's commentary, which he had
proposed to Christal last spring.
"One of the things I'm really itching
to do is take people on a guided tour of this movie," he said.
"I'd like to say, 'This is what we thought we were doing, this is
what we saw, this is what [the star Laura Prepon] was thinking when she
played this scene. This is how the filmmakers intended this scene to be
understood,' " he said. "That's another reason to try to get
back on track with these guys."
Karla flick sure to bring more pain
Film is pretty well done but don't expect anything new
January 11, 2021
Toronto Sun
By Alan Cairns
Misha Collins and Laura Prepon play Paul
Bernardo and Karla Homolka in the movie Karla. This scene didn�t make
the final cut. Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka's horrible creep show has
finally made it to Hollywood.
But don't expect a happy ending to the
movie Karla, a low-budget Ken and Barbie-gone-horribly-wrong shock flick
that will leave the secrecy of a California studio and come to a theatre
near you on Jan. 20.
Not even Hollywood can turn this sordid and
twisted tale into a winter heartwarmer.
I predict that some rather chilling
renditions of the rapes and deaths of victims Tammy Homolka, 15, Leslie
Mahaffy, 14, and Kristen French, 15, will likely have you throwing up your
overpriced popcorn.
The names of the young victims are changed
but those of us who lived through this will know exactly who they are.
Moviemaker Michael Sellers claims Karla is based on court transcripts from
Paul Bernardo's summer 1995 trial.
As someone who reported on the case for the
Toronto Sun and co-authored the book Deadly Innocence with former Sun
scribe Scott Burnside, I can tell you after watching a pre-release copy of
the movie in the newsroom yesterday that the assertion is largely true.
Sellers tries his best to capture the
essence of Bernardo and Homolka and often goes to extremes to make scenes
and props authentic. For example, Bernardo's champagne gold Nissan sports
car, the couple's Rottweiler puppy, Buddy, and the interior of the
couple's rented Port Dalhousie home are pretty much spot on.
But there are also truths that will really
hurt.
The sickening homemade movies that Justice
Patrick Lesage felt were too evil and depraved to show publicly in
courtroom 6-2 at 361 University Ave. 10 years ago will violently be
splashed across the silver screen.
While the brutal scenes and Bernardo's
scripting of his victims have been watered down, squeezed and compressed,
they remain stark and can only mean more hurt for the murdered girls'
parents.
And don't expect anything new from Karla.
The movie largely trots out the same old stuff that was plastered across
the front pages of daily newspapers and lead the nightly TV newscasts at
the time of Bernardo's trial and has since then been covered by at least
four major books.
BEAUTIFUL-YET-DEADLY
The movie portrays the cataclysmic events
that occurred between the couple's animal-like sex-at-first-sight meeting
in October 1987 and their sensational confrontation at Bernardo's 1995
trial.
Moviemaker Sellers tries to enter "the
facts" of the beautiful-yet-deadly couple's crimes through a
part-fact, part-fiction mind-bending session between Homolka and a
psychiatrist prior to her 2001 early release hearing.
Homolka is portrayed as part-vamp,
part-victim by actress Laura Prepon. As good an actress as Prepon is, she
is far too strong and assertive to play the morally and emotionally
lacking Homolka.
Prepon is also way too beautiful and sexy
in the role.
Misha Collins' scene-by-scene portrayal of
Bernardo is pretty much right on, although Bernardo's character
development is sadly lacking.
The ultimate outcome is a series of
fact-based highlights of sex, abuse, rape and murder sandwiched clumsily
between Homolka's explanation of events to the shrink.
There are also some startling errors and
omissions.
A major invention in the movie occurs when
the shrink tells Homolka that an FBI profiler, an RCMP supervisor and the
cops believe Paul Bernardo's claims that Homolka killed Kristen French.
The assertion -- that a captive Kristen
strangled herself after Homolka hit her with a mallet as she tried to
escape -- was in fact made by Bernardo's lawyer John Rosen during
Bernardo's trial.
CREATIVE LIBERTIES
Also made up was a TV news segment which
falsely puts Homolka on the run after Bernardo's arrest.
Oddly, the movie ends with Homolka speaking
as a narrator to the viewer.
Incredibly as it may seem, the movie fails
to make any reference of the fairytale-like wedding the couple had in
Niagara-on-the-Lake June 29, 1991.
It seems to me the horse-and-carriage,
tuxedo and gown, roast pheasant affair would be just perfect for
Hollywood. Also conspicuous by its absence is the Hawaiian honeymoon
departure only days later.
Perhaps the props and extras needed for the
wedding -- and the trip to Hawaii -- were beyond the budget?
But to be fair to Sellers, anyone would
have a tough time boiling years and years of sensational, shocking and
well-documented events down to an hour and a half or so of movie script.
Homolka film spurs global interest
December 7, 2020
Globe and Mail
By Gayle MacDonald
A firestorm of protest here over the
release of the film Karla -- a low-budget movie about Karla Homolka and
Paul Bernardo's schoolgirl-killing spree -- has apparently only whetted
the appetite of European distributors, who are snapping the movie up.
The film's producer, Michael Sellers of
Hollywood-based Quantum Entertainment, has sold Karla to 12 European
territories, where distributors have been impressed, he says, with his
movie's "artistic merits" as well as with Laura Prepon's
performance as Homolka.
Sources close to Sellers added yesterday
that Quantum is on the verge of finalizing a distribution deal in Canada,
which could be announced early next week. Sellers refused to comment, but
said that he has been speaking to a handful of distributors in Canada who
have expressed "strong interest." A deal will guarantee a new
round of debate about the merits of dramatizing the exploits of two of
this country's most loathed criminals.
The movie, which stars Prepon of That '70s
Show fame, and Misha Collins as Bernardo, has distribution deals in
Australia (Eagle Entertainment); in Belgium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg (Moviebank BVE); in Brazil (Alphaville Films); in Germany,
Switzerland and Austria (Falcom Media Group); and also in Norway, Sweden,
Finland and Denmark (where it will be released by CCV-AS).
"Our distributor in Germany, for
instance, is the same company that did Monster [Charlize Theron's
Oscar-winning turn as serial killer Aileen Wuornos]," says Sellers.
"Our film has the same kind of attributes as a film like Monster. And
there has been a positive reaction particularly to Laura's performance as
Homolka."
If a Canadian distribution deal is reached,
the film will likely hit theatres some time during the first half of 2006.
That will be a further blow to the families of the victims, who are
reeling from a Quebec Superior Court decision last week to remove all the
restrictions placed on Homolka since her release from jail last summer.
The government of Quebec will appeal that ruling.
In Karla, Homolka is apparently played as a
victim for most of the film. As Globe and Mail reporter Simon Houpt put it
recently: "I don't think that this is a portrayal that Karla Homolka
herself is going to have that much trouble with."
Sellers says he is fully aware of and
empathetic to the sensitivity of the subject matter for all Canadians.
"The film, I know, has a special set of circumstances in Canada. We
have to be respectful and careful around that. But if one takes Canada out
of the equation, the film has always held promise as one that would find
an audience. It was up to us to make sure we made it the right way."
Last fall, Karla was dropped from the
lineup of the Montreal World Film Festival after sponsors threatened to
withdraw support. Ironically, that controversy caught the attention of
many international distributors, who suddenly had a hook to market the
film.
The Canadian film-distribution community is
sharply divided over Karla. Last summer, distributor Jeff Sackman urged in
an e-mail to 25 members of the Canadian Association of Film Distributors
and Exporters that "we remain united in our membership (and
community) that no one would pick this up." Others argued that it
should be left for filmgoers to decide whether or not to buy tickets.
"All I can say about Canada is that
we're not being completely ignored," said Sellers, adding that a
handful of distributors have expressed serious interest.
He is also negotiating with various
specialty distribution divisions of some of the major Hollywood studios.
If a deal is not struck, Sellers adds, his company will distribute the
movie on its own.
Families step aside on Homolka film - 'They are not the censor police' - Distribution in
Canada now likely
October 13, 2021
Toronto Star
By Rick Westhead, Business Reporter
The families of Kristen French and Leslie
Mahaffy won't try to block the release of Karla, a film about the slayings
of the teens, paving the way for the film's Canadian distribution.
"The families recognize that they are
not the censor police," Tim Danson, a lawyer for the French and
Mahaffy families, told the Toronto Star. "They understand that people
have a constitutional right to make a movie or write a book."
The Hollywood film company behind the
controversial movie, depicting the horrific murders by Paul Bernardo and
Karla Homolka, says it's close to signing a contract with a distributor
that would get the picture into Canadian theatres.
Quantum Entertainment president Michael
Sellers said in an interview yesterday that he is in final-stage
negotiations with a distributor in Montreal.
Sellers said the decision by the French and
Mahaffy families marks "another hurdle that's been overcome in
getting this movie made."
Danson said he attended a private screening
of Karla in a Toronto hotel suite two weeks ago. The lawyer said he raised
concerns that any nude scenes depicting the teenaged victims or visual
depictions of their murders may constitute child pornography.
Quantum agreed to remove several scenes -
including one eight-frame shot that depicted nudity, Danson said. A
director's cut is unlikely, Sellers said.
While the film won't feature nudity or
visual depictions of the murders of the teenaged girls, a DVD version to
be released next spring will likely include deleted scenes such as clips
of the movie version of Bernardo's trial and his relationship with Homolka,
Sellers said.
While Danson said that the French and
Mahaffy families, who have not seen the film, would prefer a movie wasn't
made about their daughters' kidnapping and murder, he declined to
elaborate on his views of the film after seeing it.
"My role is not to be a movie
critic," Danson said.
Although Sellers declined to name the
possible Canadian distributor, a film industry source said the likely
company would be Christal Films, a production and distribution company
created in 2001 by former Lions Gate Entertainment executive Christian
Larouche.
Sylvain Gagne, Christal's vice president of
distribution and marketing, confirmed the company is negotiating with
Quantum, although "nothing has been decided."
In convincing the French and Mahaffy
families not to try to block the film's release, Quantum has overcome a
significant roadblock.
Canada's major theatre chains had said that
they wouldn't consider showing the controversial movie unless Quantum
signed a contract with a Canadian distributor.
Even with a distribution agreement in
Canada, it's unclear what rating Karla might receive. Violent films
typically receive a "restricted" rating, which limits their
potential audience to those 18 years of age and older.
It's possible that Quantum could turn a
fortune off the movie even if it didn't appear on a single Canadian
screen.
Even without selling a single movie ticket
or DVD in Canada, Sellers said Karla might garner as much as $100 million
(U.S.) worth of revenue following its scheduled release after Christmas,
bolstered by a "best-case" estimate of $50 million in U.S.
ticket sales.
The movie is scheduled to be released after
Christmas, said Sellers, who also produced Fortunes of War, starring
Martin Sheen, and Goodbye America with James Brolin.
Karla was financed by a small group of
individual investors and could generate as much as $7 million in foreign
distribution rights in countries such as the U.K. and Australia and
another $30 million in DVD sales and rentals, Sellers said.
It might also generate income from sales to
pay television companies like HBO or Showtime in the U.S. An industry
source said Quantum is also negotiating a deal for U.S. distribution with
companies including Vancouver's Lions Gate Entertainment and Sony
Pictures.
Karla, which stars Laura Prepon of the TV
comedy, That `70s Show, was made for about $5 million, less than one-tenth
the budget of some of today's large-scale Hollywood blockbusters, Sellers
said.
Watching 'Karla': It's not flash and trash
An unfinished copy of the controversial movie is sombre,
restrained even
August 17, 2021
Globe and Mail
By Simon Houpt
E-mail Simon Houpt Read Bio Latest Columns
New York � Karla Homolka herself may not object much to the new
true-crime drama about her and Paul Bernardo that a Los Angeles-based
producer is currently fighting to bring into Canada.
An unfinished cut of Karla presents Homolka
as a physically and psychologically battered woman who is so afraid of
losing her boyfriend-then-husband that she willingly if not willfully
accedes to his increasingly depraved demands. Only when she finds herself
perilously close to becoming another of Bernardo's murder victims does
Homolka flee their home and turn state's evidence.
A copy of the film, which is still a
work-in-progress lacking a music soundtrack and a final mix of the
dialogue, was obtained yesterday by The Globe and Mail from the film's
producer.
Karla unfolds as a series of flashbacks
that spin out of a fictionalized version of a psychiatric assessment that
took place in 2000, during a bid by Homolka for parole after she had
served only eight years of her 12-year sentence. It notes that, after that
request for parole failed, Homolka did not again submit to any voluntary
psychiatric assessments.
The film strives for a dissonance between
its portrayal of Homolka-as-victim during the period that Bernardo was on
his killing and raping spree, and the psychiatric evaluation many years
later, during which Homolka is a calm and controlled woman spinning her
self-justifying and self-delusional version of the murderous events that
led to her incarceration. And while Laura Prepon is convincing as both
battered victim and spinner, the inherently emotional nature of watching a
woman who is utterly lacking in self-esteem submit herself to the whims of
a sadist may prompt more sympathy for Homolka than the filmmakers intend.
Most of the time in the film, Homolka is a
mere witness to Bernardo's horrifying assaults, standing by guiltily,
either unwilling or unable to do anything to stop them.
Still, the film subtly notes that, when
faced with the horrifying consequences of her actions, Homolka is
concerned only with self-preservation. Moments after she learns of the
death of her sister Tammy, even as she is wiping away tears, she quietly
asks Bernardo where he'd put the videotape he made of the incident. Later
on, as she broaches the possibility of turning Bernardo in to the
authorities, she asks a lawyer, "If I help, can you get me
immunity?"
But Karla may as well be called Karla and
Paul, for its focus is on the criminally dysfunctional development of
their violent, abusive relationship. It traces the couple from their first
meeting in the bar of a Toronto hotel, where the 18-year-old,
ponytail-wearing Homolka is attending a veterinary conference, to the last
moments they see each other, as they face off at Bernardo's trial, where
he is convicted of 12 counts of rape and two counts of murder for the
deaths of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French.
The film makes clear that, while profoundly
unhealthy, the couple's embrace of the dark side began in earnest only
when Homolka drugged her sister Tammy and presented her to Bernardo in a
perverted attempt to please the boyfriend she feared she was losing. After
Tammy's accidental death, Bernardo uses Homolka's guilt to force her to
accept his increasingly brazen criminal behaviour.
At one point, before he abducts Leslie
Mahaffy (here called Leah McCarthy), Homolka confronts Bernardo when he
drags himself home early one morning. "I just raped a girl," he
tells her. She responds by desperately clinging to Bernardo, kissing him
and telling him that she just wants to make him happy.
Later, he becomes laughably cavalier about
his extracurricular activities. Grabbing some nylon stockings for a
disguise as he heads out the door one night, leaving Homolka home alone,
he says, "I'm going out with some friends. Taking these, just in
case."
Those concerned about exploitation and
gratuitous titillation may be relieved to know that the film, which has
the feel of a movie-of-the-week, is sombre and directed with restraint.
The production qualities are professional and polished. Nudity is all but
absent, and the murders and rapes take place largely off-screen. French
and Mahaffy are given pseudonyms. Indeed, the only woman abused at length
on screen is Homolka herself, who in the film's final act submits to
prolonged sexual humiliation at Bernardo's hands.
The film will likely prompt wildly
disparate responses from Canadian and American audiences. Canadians may
find even common moments creepy, as when Misha Collins sits down next to
Prepon, turns on a charming smile and says, "Hi. I'm Paul
Bernardo."
But for a film that centres on a
psychiatric evaluation, Karla is void of most of the psychological insight
and answers about motivation that audiences might desire. In the final
minutes, the psychiatrist and Homolka share a brief rueful moment after
she has recounted a one-night affair she had with a man after leaving
Bernardo. "Why, Karla?" asks the psychiatrist. "Why
not?" she replies, giving an answer that may just symbolize her
entire approach to life.
Karla showings defended
Boycott of controversial film would resemble fatwa,
distributor suggests
August 15, 2021
Globe and Mail
By Simon Houpt
New York � The Canadian film distribution
community is sharply dividing over Karla, as the controversial drama about
Karla Homolka nears completion and the film's Los Angeles-based producer
steps up his attempts to find a route to a Canadian audience in the wake
of the film's first positive review.
In an e-mail to 25 members of the Canadian
Association of Film Distributors and Exporters, Jeff Sackman says that he
is "sickened by the daily press mentions of the film called Karla. It
suggests that there are discussions with a number of distributors. I hope
we remain united in our membership (and community) that no one would pick
this up."
Sackman noted that his company, ThinkFilm,
currently has The Aristocrats in distribution, a comedy documentary that
proudly features some of the most scatological and offensive language ever
heard in mainstream cinemas. The Aristocrats is itself subject to a ban by
the 3,500-theatre chain AMC Theatres in the U.S. "I see no irony in
this," he wrote.
But not all of the e-mail's recipients
agree with Sackman. "It's not my role or anybody else's role to
decide what should be seen by people or not," said Hussain Amarshi,
the president of Mongrel Media.
"Once we go on that path, it's not
that far away from the fatwa of Khomeini against The Satanic Verses."
Amarshi said Mongrel Media, which
specializes in foreign films, would be unlikely to pick up Karla,
"but I would defend the right of any distributor or anybody to be
able to present this film, because all distributors have presented or
distributed films that are considered to be controversial to other
people."
He noted that Hindu extremists tried to
stop the filming of Water, a movie to be distributed by Mongrel that will
open next month's Toronto International Film Festival.
On the weekend, Karla received its first
review from a journalist who had obtained a bootleg copy of the film from
someone at the Montreal Film Festival. The film was slated to premiere at
the festival at the end of the month but was uninvited two weeks ago when
sponsors threatened to pull their support.
Offering cautious praise in a re- view
posted on the CBC website, Matthew Hays wrote that Karla could be read
superficially as a tale of "a battered wife who could not escape the
clutches of her violent, wildly manipulative mate." But the film,
which unfolds as a series of flashbacks that spring out of fictional
encounters between Homolka and a psychiatrist who seeks to understand her
motivations, suggests Homolka may be an unreliable narrator. Further, Hays
says that, as the title character, "Laura Prepon delivers a
performance so measured and intelligent that it forces us to continually
question Homolka's credibility as a victim."
Michael Sellers, the film's producer, noted
that the review and the support of a couple of key members of the Canadian
film community who have seen the movie suggested that, "in spite of
all the efforts to paint the film as sleaze and exploitation," people
are concluding the film is "quality work by intelligent filmmakers.
"As an American, based on my experience in my country, I'm just a
little surprised at the willingness to vehemently call for a boycott and
block access to a film without the courtesy of a viewing," Sellers
added, speaking from the editing suite in Los Angeles where he is working
on a final mix of the film.
"Having said that, I want to
acknowledge and be respectful of the emotions and passions that are a part
of this whole situation, and it's clear to me that [Sackman] was writing
from some deep conviction."
Sackman recently tried to have the Canadian
Association of Film Distributors and Exporters, a lobby group, take an
official position against the film, but he abandoned the effort when some
other members disagreed.
The e-mail was an expression of personal
frustration. Reached over the weekend for comment, Sack- man initially
demurred, saying he resented the amount of press cover- age already heaped
on both the film and Homolka herself. "I personally wish the media
would not be covering this issue, because it's giving credibility to a
film that probably doesn't deserve it, based on the producer's track
record," he said. "This guy's exploiting the Canadian me- dia,
which generates an emotional response in me on behalf of the people whose
lives were affected by this criminal, and they can't read the newspaper
without this reminder."
He added that even a rave review couldn't
change his position, and that he has "made it a personal mis- sion to
convince others that it is not worth exploiting this particular film,
regardless of whether it has any commercial or artistic merit."
Others who are unconnected to the film are
also trying to capitalize on its extraordinary prerelease press coverage.
Yesterday morning, a Toronto businessman issued a call for support of
Karla. Stuart Weinstein, who says he is developing a reality television
show and a feature film about entrepreneur- ship despite the fact that he
has no media experience, said the at- tempts by politicians to quash the
distribution of Karla served as "a perfect example of how
entrepreneurship is stifled in Canada."
Private screening eyed for Karla film
August 13, 2021
Toronto Star
By Martin Knelman
Just as the furor over Karla Homolka's
release begins to subside, here comes the sequel. This time the uproar
concerns not Homolka herself but the movie Karla and its premiere � or
lack of one.
Now the L.A. producer plans to bring his
movie to Toronto next month for a by-invitation-only screening during the
Toronto International Film Festival, the Star has learned.
That's in the wake of a debacle involving
the Montreal Film Festival, whose boss Serge Losique cancelled Karla's
Aug. 28 screening, caving in to Air Canada, which threatened to withdraw
its festival sponsorship.
"Film buyers from all over the world
come to the Toronto festival," Michael Sellers explained in a phone
interview yesterday, "and that certainly provides a good opportunity
to put our film in front of foreign buyers."
Maybe, but the Toronto festival, which
screened two versions of the movie and declined to select it, will not be
inviting Sellers to walk down the red carpet or providing any kind of
welcome mat at all.
Among the fierce opponents lined up against
Sellers are not only Air Canada CEO Robert Milton, Premier Dalton McGuinty,
and the families of murder victims Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, but
also powerful forces in the Canadian film industry.
A few days ago, Jeff Sackman, CEO of the
Toronto-based distribution firm ThinkFilm, sent an email to fellow
distributors urging them to pass on Karla.
"I hope we remain united in our
membership (and community) that no one would pick this up," Sackman
argued. He describes Sellers as "a third-rate so-called producer at
best."
But as Sellers points out � and Sackman
himself admits � Sackman, like Air Canada and the Premier of Ontario,
are making certain presumptions without having seen the film. That puts
Sellers in the position of being targeted for the cultural equivalent of a
lynching.
The mob is not interested in hearing what
Sellers has to say, but they might be surprised if they did. In
conversation, Sellers emerges as articulate and extremely serious.
"Sackman is coming from a place of
deep passion and emotion," says Sellers, "but he hasn't seen
this film, and I think it's unfair to deny even the possibility that it
might be something more than tawdry exploitation. When people see the
film, I think a lot of people will conclude that we have approached this
material with intelligence on every level. We were guided by the ambition
to provide the same kind of insight as Downfall (about Hitler) and Monster
(about serial killer Aileen Wuornos)."
A few ironies about Sackman's role as
leader of the opposition:
He was the executive producer of American
Psycho, a movie based on Paul Bernardo's favourite book.
ThinkFilm is currently distributing The
Aristocrats, which is being hailed and reviled for its shocking and
offensive language, leading the giant AMC chain to blackball it.
ThinkFilm spent months trying to acquire
DVD rights to Vlad, a low-budget horror film directed by Sellers, after it
won prizes at two film festivals.
At the moment, Sellers seems to be
seriously outnumbered by his foes, but he does have one significant ally
on this side of the border. To help launch his movie in Canada, Sellers
has enlisted the support of Toronto producer Peter Simpson, a recent Genie
lifetime achievement award winner.
Simpson owns the rights to Invisible
Darkness, the book by Stephen Williams about the horrific story of
Bernardo, Homolka and their victims. A few years ago, Simpson was planning
a movie version starring Jason Priestley, but was unable to get a
satisfactory script.
It was Simpson who approached the Montreal
festival. After Losique bowed to Air Canada, one option was for the
producers to screen the film privately in Montreal during the festival.
Losique begged them not to.
Sellers insists the movie does not glorify
Karla. "I was interested in the psychological process by which Karla
went from a schoolgirl with no criminal record to the woman who a few
years later helped Bernardo first capture, then kill, Kristen French. What
happened on that journey? What took her from one step to another?"
Asked about the rights of the victims and
the pain of their families, Sellers replies: "I have three daughters,
age 14, 16 and 17. I can imagine, with great emotional intensity, what it
would be like to lose a daughter in this manner."
What people do not realize, he says, is
what the tape transcripts on public record demonstrate about the victims.
"They reveal extraordinary character
and heroism on the part of these two girls. Leslie Mahaffy stayed calm,
and in her worst moments, reached out to her family. ... She accepted her
fate with grace and equanimity that is a startling affirmation of her
humanity and courage. It is no disgrace to reveal her poignant, loving
character in a film.
"For her part, Kristen French tried to
match wits with Paul. She tried to out-think him, and when that failed,
she looked him in the eye and actually said, `There are some things worth
dying for.' If I were her father, and a movie memorialized the moment when
my daughter found the courage to look her captor in the eye and say that,
I would not only want that movie to be made � I would make it."
Uproar helping promote Karla film, producer says
Fest refusal seen to raise larger issues
More forceful marketing considered
August 5, 2021
Toronto Star
By Keith Leslie, Canadian Press
The producer of a film about notorious
killers Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo vowed yesterday to step up his
efforts to have the movie screened in Canada, one day after the
cancellation of a scheduled screening in Montreal.
The decision by the Montreal World Film
Festival to cancel the debut of the movie Karla came as a
``disappointment, but it's not a devastating disappointment," said
producer Michael Sellers.
"It, for the first time, has kind of
pushed us to begin being a bit more assertive about the rights of the
filmmakers. They're really making it harder for the film to have a life in
Canada."
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty had been
urging people to boycott the movie, which tells the story of Canada's most
notorious couple and the brutal killings of schoolgirls Kristen French and
Leslie Mahaffy.
McGuinty congratulated the Montreal film
festival organizers yesterday for cancelling the screening set for later
this month.
"These crimes were searing events in
the life of this province," McGuinty said. "I have not
understood how people would want to profit from that."
Sellers said he knows Air Canada, a sponsor
of the Montreal festival, did not want its logo to be posted during the
screening of Karla, and he believes the airline was among those sponsors
pressuring the festival to drop the movie.
It shouldn't be up to corporations or
governments to determine which films Canadians can see, he said.
"It does raise rather interesting
questions about free speech, artistic expression (and) government, and
corporate control over access to art," Sellers said. "No one's
being tied up in a chair and being forced to watch this film."
Sellers said his company will review what
he said has been a ``very careful and measured approach" to promoting
the movie in Canada, and perhaps take a more aggressive stance in the
marketing of the film.
"This is starting to elevate itself to
the level of an injustice against the rights of artistic expression,"
he said. "We need to work hard to make sure (Karla) does get a chance
in Canada."
Sellers also said the uproar generated by
the film in Canada has raised the film's profile.
"I've had two other film festivals and
two or three distributors call already this morning, so the news value of
this and the controversy may in the end be positive," he said.
"It's attracting international attention."
The film is set for release this fall. It
stars Laura Prepon, best known for playing Donna on TV's That '70s Show.
Montreal film festival pulls Homolka film
August 4, 2021
By Tu Thanh Ha
Globe and Mail
Montreal � Bowing to sponsors such as Air
Canada, the Montreal World Film Festival has dropped plans to play host to
the premiere of the Hollywood movie about sex killers Karla Homolka and
Paul Bernardo.
"Half a dozen sponsors were going to
pull their money," said a source who had spoken to festival president
Serge Losique.
In a statement released yesterday,
organizers cited "the discomfort expressed by clients of its
sponsors" as a reason for dropping the film Karla.
As late as four days ago, an Air Canada
executive was stating bluntly that the carrier was going to cancel its
support.
Duncan Dee, a senior vice-president at Air
Canada, was answering a query from Marsha Boulton, the wife of Stephen
Williams, author of two books about the Homolka-Bernardo case.
"Air Canada informed the [Montreal
World Film Festival] last week that it is cancelling its sponsorship of
the event as a result of the festival's decision to screen Karla,"
Mr. Dee e-mailed Ms. Boulton on July 31.
A copy of the e-mail was made public by Mr.
Williams yesterday.
By yesterday, an Air Canada official was
saying that the company was looking forward to seeing the festival's
eventual lineup.
"We are taking steps to dissociate
ourselves from the screening of this movie," spokeswoman Isabelle
Arthur said. "We'll see what will be in the [final] program."
Mr. Losique didn't answer when The Globe
and Mail called, just hours before the announcement, to ask about the
prospect of losing sponsors.
He is expected to unveil the final lineup
next Tuesday.
Yesterday, his decision shocked some who
saw it as a setback for artistic freedoms.
"I was hoping the people lobbying
against the movie would see the folly of their way. This is a very
dangerous precedent for the film business," said Peter Simpson, CEO
of Norstar Filmed Entertainment Inc., the middleman who put Mr. Losique in
touch with the producers of Karla.
"This is appalling. It's
outrageous," Mr. Williams said. "[Mr. Losique] went out on a
limb and announced this with fanfare but he doesn't have the courage of
his convictions."
It was good news, however, for Tim Danson,
lawyer for the families of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, the Ontario
schoolgirls raped, tortured and murdered by Ms. Homolka and Mr. Bernardo.
"It's nice to see in this day and age
that, even in the movie industry, prudence, good judgment and common sense
prevail," he said.
"This is the way free speech is
supposed to work. Nobody had to legislate. Nobody had to pass a law. It's
public opinion coming to bear."
Other sponsors contacted yesterday, such as
Visa and Kodak, said they had supported the festival's right to pick its
content.
The festival runs from Aug. 26 to Sept. 5.
Montreal film festival exploiting memory of Homolka's victims: Danson
July 26, 2021
Canadian Press
By Greg Bonnell
TORONTO (CP) - The Montreal World Film
Festival is exploiting the memory of Karla Homolka's schoolgirl victims by
screening a controversial Hollywood movie chronicling her crimes, the
lawyer for the victims' families said Tuesday.
"We see this as being extremely
exploitive and sensational," said Tim Danson of the festival's
decision to host the international debut of the film Karla. "I think
that is to exploit my clients' misery for (the festival's) own personal
end. This is not the kind of film that you would normally anticipate to be
at a film festival."
The festival organizers were told of
Danson's comments, but did not respond.
Karla, set for release this fall,
chronicles the ominous courtship of Homolka and Bernardo and the notorious
deeds their union ultimately produced - the brutal murders of Ontario
teens Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.
The film, originally titled Deadly, has
encountered vocal opposition in Ontario from the public and politicians
alike with numerous calls for a boycott.
On Monday, it was announced Karla would
make its premiere in Montreal sometime during the festival which runs Aug.
26 to Sept. 5.
"This is nothing more than an
orchestrated and calculated attempt to give unique publicity to the
Montreal Film Festival," said Danson, who couldn't rule out legal
action to block the film's debut.
"If we conclude that this film
portrays (French and Mahaffy) in a way that offends the girls' dignity and
memory and sense of honour, then we will consider that to be a violation
of civil law," he said.
"That could lead to an
injunction."
The families have been assured by the
film's producer, Michael Sellers, that an exclusive screening would be
arranged for them in Toronto and that some of the film's more explicit
scenes have already been edited out.
"The problem is, I only have his word
on that. I have to see it," said Danson.
The recent re-branding of the film from
Deadly to Karla has been defended by Sellers, who argues the name Karla
holds little emotional sway outside Ontario.
Danson wasn't buying that argument Tuesday.
"My sense is now that the name Karla
Homolka has now been reported widely in the United States. The change of
the name from Deadly to Karla (was done) to tap into that new
awareness," said Danson, who appeared on numerous American news
programs following Homolka's July 4 release.
"(The case) has received some pretty
wide publicity and I suspect they're taking advantage of that."
The film's website suggests the story is
somewhat sympathetic to Homolka, portrayed by Laura Prepon, who plays
Donna on That '70s Show.
"In the end, the viewer is left to
ponder their sympathy for Karla, to ask how much she too is a victim of
Paul," reads the plot synopsis. It further describes Homolka, who is
believed to be living in Montreal, as "conflicted by her conscience
but still unable to escape" Bernardo's grasp.
The producers, who are still seeking a
distributor for the film, based their movie on court transcripts.
Karla film to debut in Quebec - U.S. producers choose new title
Montreal film fest to get first look
July 26, 2021
Toronto Star (CP)
MONTREAL�An American film about the horrific sex slayings committed by
Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka has been renamed and will make its debut
next month at the Montreal World Film Festival.
Once titled Deadly, the controversial film
has officially changed its name to Karla, producer Michael Sellers said
yesterday.
Sellers denied capitalizing on the
notoriety of Homolka, who was released from prison earlier this month
after serving 12 years for manslaughter in the deaths of two Ontario
schoolgirls.
Sellers said he wanted a less sensational
title.
"I know that in Toronto the word
`Karla' just by itself is not a value-neutral word," he said from Los
Angeles.
"It's a word that there maybe has a
lot of emotion attached to it.
"To the global market, it's just a
name. That is what we'd like to be the starting point for the movie."
The film has prompted a call for a boycott
by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and protests from the families of
victims Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French.
It will be screened between Aug. 26 and
Sept. 5 at the Montreal festival.
The $5 million film was directed by Joel
Bender and stars Laura Prepon (That '70s Show) as Homolka and Misha
Collins (24, Girl Interrupted) as Bernardo.
Serge Losique, head of the festival, said
showing the film does not signify any sympathy for Homolka's criminal
behaviour.
"I hope people are intelligent enough
to understand that the biggest criminals in history have been brought to
the big screen," Losique said in an interview.
"It's a sensitive subject, yes, but
the crimes happened nearly 15 years ago."
Deadly film may not be shown here
May 25, 2021
Burlington Post
By Jason Misner
The producer of a controversial U.S. movie
depicting the relationship of convicted killers Paul Bernardo and Karla
Homolka says he is hoping an agreement about donating film proceeds to
charity can be reached with the victims' families should the controversial
movie, Deadly, be released in Ontario. Michael Sellers, producer and
writer of Deadly, told the Post from his Los Angeles office Tuesday that
he plans to speak with Tim Danson, the lawyer representing the families of
slain schoolgirls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy. Sellers said he will
suggest donating a majority of the film's proceeds to a charity the
families are comfortable with -- "something that memorializes the
victims in a good way."
Deadly - which won't be ready for full U.S.
release until September or October -- has about six weeks of editing left
before the film is finished, Sellers said.
By mid-next month, he said he plans to show
a copy of the film to Danson, at which time he expects to talk about
considering giving a portion of the film's box office proceeds generated
in Ontario to a worthwhile charity.
"It really has to generate funds for
charity," Sellers said. "I'm not talking about a small
percentage of profits, I'm talking about the majority of the money taken
at the box office."
Homolka and Bernardo stood trial for the
deaths of French and Mahaffy in the early '90s. Bernardo was convicted of
two counts of first-degree murder, handed a life sentence and subsequently
declared a dangerous offender. Homolka was given a 12-year sentence for
manslaughter in exchange for testifying against her husband.
As Sellers completes Deadly, Burlington
Tory MPP Cam Jackson has introduced a private member's bill that would
allow the French and Mahaffy families to sue the makers and distributors
of Deadly for emotional distress.
Jackson's Bill 202 has already received
first reading and could be passed as early as mid-June, depending on how
quickly all provincial parties respond to the proposed legislation.
The politician, who has crusaded for
victims' rights in the past, said the idea of the bill -- which he noted
is supported by the families -- is not to censor the movie, but to make
the makers and distributors accountable for the emotional turmoil the film
might cause.
Jackson said the bill would
"augment" the existing legislation Bill 210 called the Ontario
Victims' Bill of Rights -- which he introduced a decade ago -- that
prohibits criminals from profiting from their crimes by retelling them.
Bill 202 is not intended to ban the film in
Ontario, but is about protecting a person's right not to be re-victimized,
he said.
"We cannot stop production of the
film," Jackson said. "This has nothing to do with censorship.
The film can appear anywhere it wants in North America, but if it does
appear in Ontario the distribution company and movie theatre chain could
be the subject of a suit. They have the right to decide if they wish to
take the movie in the first place.
"Do I find it offensive? Absolutely.
There is a price to pay for profiting from this much grief."
The Deadly Web site -- which also displays
a series of print media stories about the movie -- states that "every
scene of the film was derived from events transcribed in court testimony
using police reports, interviews between Homolka and her psychiatrist, and
videotape of the crimes shot by the perpetrators themselves."
On the Web site, Sellers states his reasons
for making the movie.
"As an artist and filmmaker, I became
convinced that creating such a film was a worthy endeavor. In the end, I
made the judgment that the material could be fashioned into an
intelligent, provocative and powerful film.
"Moreover, I came to feel that aside
from issues of deeper artistic merit, the film will, in fact, have a
tangible positive impact by conveying, in a very urgent way, the need for
vigilance and alertness against the kind of predatory behaviour that Paul
and Karla personify."
He added that, "I also made a
commitment to myself to do nothing to dishonour the memory of the
victims."
Sellers, careful with his words, said in an
interview that while he thinks the proposed legislation could have some
merit, he worried about the potential impact on freedom of speech.
"It's an interesting concept," he
said. "We are doing everything we can to be genuinely sensitive to
the victims' families' situation but to create a law like that, at this
point, obviously is a cause for concern and raise questions about free
speech which others can address better than I can."
Sellers said while he's still debating
whether to pursue showing the film in Ontario, ultimately, if the bill
becomes law, he said it would likely "kind of seal the deal" for
the film.
"It may not be possible to release it
all," he noted.
If that happens, Sellers stressed the movie
doesn't live or die by being shown in this province, and that it can still
survive outside the Ontario marketplace.
"Ontario represents a certain upside
that is difficult to ignore."
There is no Canadian distributor secured
yet, said Sellers, but noted one has shown "strong interest" but
wants to see the finished product first.
Jackson said the showing of the movie will
do nothing to help the Mahaffy and French families continue their
difficult recovery from the deaths of their children.
"Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French
died brutally for the private pleasure of Bernardo and Homolka and there
are many in this province who believe that they didn't die for the rest of
the public's entertainment. I recognize how much grief the family goes
through everyday. There's nothing private about this for these
families."
The bill is in the hands of all three party
house leaders, and it has been presented to Ontario Premier Dalton
McGuinty.
"There has been absolutely no
dismissal of this bill," Jackson said, adding he consulted with
layers who have advised him the bill is not unconstitutional.
This isn't the first time the families have
dealt with entertainment outlets wanting to tell the Bernardo/Homolka
story. The Jerry Springer tabloid TV talk show wanted to interview Homolka
from jail in 2002, but was denied by Corrections Canada.
OntARIO MPP trying to block Bernardo movie
May 20, 2021
CTV.ca
An Ontario MPP is trying to block the release of Deadly, a new
Hollywood-made movie about Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka in his
province.
Cam Jackson's private member's bill, Bill
202, would allow family members of the victims to sue the distribution
company or a theatre company for emotional distress from the film.
Jackson says it's not a matter of
censorship; it's about protecting family members from being victimized all
over again.
"The principle in law is that you
can't re-victimize families that have already been victimized by a
crime," Jackson explained to Canada AM.
"This, in a sense, says that you can
go and sue someone who specifically wants to profit from your pain and
your suffering as a family."
Deadly is slated to be released in the
United States later this year but could be out in Canada first. Reports
suggest the movie could be in Ontario theatres around the same time
Homolka is released from prison, on July 5.
Jackson says the producers of the film have
already violated the rights of the victims' families before the movie has
even been released, just by naming the victims.
"What the producers are cleverly
trying to do is actually use footage, go back to the scenes of the crime,
to use the proper names. The fact of it is that you can't do that --
unless you have the permission of the family or you're willing to risk a
lawsuit."
He notes that one of Bernardo and Homolka's
rape victims who survived the attack was able to retain her anonymity by
being called "Jane Doe" in all court documents. But Kristen
French and Leslie Mahaffy, who were killed, were not afforded the same
privilege.
"When you die, the state takes away
your voice. And we're trying to give them a voice to say that they do not
want this to happen," Jackson says.
He says the film is filled with images that
reenact the crimes and he doesn't believe that anyone in Ontario should be
looking at those pictures.
"These are horrendous images that
re-victimize families, and what for? For the purpose of profit to exploit
people's grief. Those two children died for the private pleasure of Paul
Bernardo and Karla Homolka -- not for the pleasure of everybody else in
Ontario to witness."
The MPP, who represents the riding of
Burlington, sponsored another bill meant to protect the French and Mahaffy
families back in 1994. That bill became the Victims' Right to Proceeds of
Crime Act and prohibits criminals from profiting from their crimes by
retelling them.
The bill has meant that Bernardo and
Homolka have not been allowed to sell movie rights or book rights to their
story. Any profit they make in their lifetime will be seized by the state
and go to provide services for victims.
The producers of Deadly have offered to
have some of their profits go to charity. Jackson dismisses the offer.
"You have to look at this and try to
imagine the extraordinary pain that families go through, especially on a
crime this severe and this public," he says.
Movie profits Deadly
May 19, 2021
Toronto Sun
By Alan Findlay
BURLINGTON MPP Cam Jackson is proposing a
new law enabling victims of crimes to sue movie-makers.
His private member's bill, introduced
yesterday, would make film companies liable for emotional distress caused
to crime victims and their families in Ontario if their crime is
reenacted.
"Its purpose is to say to a
distribution company that if you wish to come to Ontario and make a profit
from retelling this story in its most graphic and horrific details, there
will be a cost associated with that," Jackson said.
"It's not about censorship; it's about
saying in Ontario we're not prepared to allow our families to be
revictimized."
The bill is unlikely to pass before a new
movie about Homolka and Paul Bernardo, called Deadly, is released later
this year.
The producer of the film has proposed
donating some of the movie's proceeds to charity.
NEW BILL ENABLES VICTIMS TO SEEK DAMAGES FROM HOMOLKA FILM
May 18, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(TORONTO) Today in the Legislature,
Burlington MPP Cam Jackson tabled his Private Member's Bill 202 that, if
passed, would make the producer (or distributor) of the film,
"Deadly," (about murderers Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka)
liable for the emotional distress caused to the families of their victims
in Ontario.
For the first time, Bill 202 would define
the revictimization of crime victims through the commercial,
cinematographic or video recounting of the crimes as constituting
emotional distress for which civil remedies would be available. Jackson's
bill supplements his previous legislation, including the historic Ontario
Victims' Bill of Rights. Jackson's work was instrumental in creating the
Ontario Office for Victims of Crime, the first of its kind in Canada.
Jackson's Proceeds of Crime Bill 210 (1994)
ensures that financial rewards paid to criminals for the sale of their
accounts of their crimes are seized and used for services for victims of
crime and their families. Although very rare for private member's
legislation, Bill 210 passed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Reading in the Ontario
Legislature, all on December 8th, 1994. It received Royal Assent the very
next day, December 9th, 1994. In June 1993, Jackson was successful in
convincing the federal government to block the importation of "serial
killer trading cards" that graphically depict Ontario victims of
violent crime. Jackson's current bill will also cover such offensive
products.
Jackson's latest Bill 202 has drawn
wide-ranging support that is understandable given the importance and
timeliness of his unique initiative. "Cam has once again devised an
important tactical measure to protect crime victims and I salute and
support his initiative to protect crime victims from commercial
exploitation. - The Hon. Dan McTeague MP (Pickering- Scarborough East).
"This Bill goes a long way to taking
the profit out of revictimizing crime victims in Ontario. It also
introduces some much needed accountability for the Victim Justice Fund so
that the moneys supposedly dedicated to helping victims aren't squandered
or left to sit in some bureaucratic bank account." - Scott Newark -
Former Vice-Chair and Special Counsel, Office for Victims of Crime.
"This has nothing to do with freedom
of expression. It has everything to do with the right not to profit from
that expression and for victims' families not to have to relive the horror
of their ongoing pain." - Priscilla de Villiers - Founder of CAVEAT
and Co-Chair of the Office of Victims of Crime, 1997-2004.
Jackson has written to Premier McGuinty to
seek his support to ensure timely passage of Bill 202 before the
Legislature adjourns in mid-June. As his letter notes, "The Bill
provides a specific remedy for crime victims facing an unimaginable
prospect of re-victimization for profit. We can take effective action to
prevent this if we stand together and do what's clearly right."
- 30 -
References: Cam Jackson, MPP
416-325-5362 / 905-639-7924
18 May 2021
The Honourable Dalton McGuinty, MPP
Premier of Ontario
Room 281, Legislative Building
Queen's Park,
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
Dear Premier,
Re: Victims' Bill of Rights Amendment Act
(Crime Redepiction), 2005
Today I tabled the above private member's
bill on behalf of victims of crime and I write to ask for your earnest
support for its speedy passage into law.
The Bill amends the Victims' Bill of
Rights, 1995, to allow victims of a prescribed crime to recover damages
for emotional distress from a person or body that produces, distributes or
otherwise makes available to the public, whether or not for profit, any
visual or audible product that redepicts in any way the circumstances of
the crime of the circumstances leading up to it, except in two cases.
The two exceptions are the cases where the
product is made available to the public for the purpose of the
administration of justice or where the product depicts a crime that took
place more than 50 years before the product was made available to the
public. The regulations made under the Act can provide for a longer time
period in that second case.
The Bill also amends the Act to require the
Attorney General to prepare and submit to the Legislative Assembly an
annual report on the operation of the victims' justice fund account.
Premier, this bill, if passed into law,
would make the producer or distributor of the film "Deadly,"
which is, as you know, about the murderers Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka,
liable for the emotional distress caused to the families of their victims
in Ontario.
This Bill provides a specific remedy for
crime victims facing an unimaginable prospect of revictimization for
profit. We can take effective action to prevent this if we stand together
in the House and do what is clearly right.
I am writing on behalf of the French and
Mahaffy families whose children were the victims of Bernardo and Homolka
to ask you to allow speedy passage of this legislation into law.
It is to be hoped that you, Premier, will
accept this legislation in the same non-partisan spirit that my private
member's Bill 210 was by then Premier Bob Rae. I enclose for you a copy of
the Bill that I am sure you will recall as a fellow Member of the
Legislature in 1994.
Bill 210, "An Act to provide for the
payment of money awarded in civil law suits to victims of crime,"
(the "received enthusiastic, all-party support in the Legislature and
passed 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reading in one day, on December 8, 1994. It
received Royal Assent the very next day, on December 9th, 1994. Premier
Rae enacted it into law on May 1st, 1995.
As you can see, Bill 210 deals with the
recovery, by a victim of crime, of money awarded to the victim in a law
suit against an accused or convicted person. Its purpose is to ensure that
any money that the accused or convicted person (or a related person)
receives relating to the crime is first used to satisfy awards to victims.
Premier, on behalf of the French and
Mahaffy families, I implore you to do what is in your executive power to
allow for quickest possible passage of my new bill into law. It has the
full support of the Leader of the Official Opposition, John Tory and I
have also written to Howard Hampton, the Leader of the Third Party.
Please feel free to call on me directly at
any time should you or the Attorney General have any questions or comments
concerning what I know you will agree is a very important and
time-sensitive matter.
Yours sincerely,
Cam Jackson, MPP Burlington
CC enclosure
Producer agrees to delay Homolka film
May 25, 2021
Toronto Star
By Greg Bonnell, Canadian Press
A Hollywood movie chronicling the crimes of
Karla Homolka likely won't hit Canadian theatres until fall to avoid the
emotional outcry surrounding the schoolgirl killer's release from prison
this summer, the film's producer said Tuesday.
Michael Sellers said a special Toronto
pre-screening of Deadly, which was originally planned for late June, might
also be pushed back so it doesn't coincide with the July 5 expiry of
Homolka's 12-year prison sentence.
"As I watch that news coverage coming
out of (Canada), it's all Karla, all the time," Sellers said from his
Los Angeles office.
"I don't want to be a part of that
circus, I don't think we should be. I don't think it's the right
thing."
Deadly tells the story of Homolka's
ill-fated union with Paul Bernardo, a coupling that ultimately claimed the
lives of Ontario schoolgirls Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, along with
Homolka's younger sister, Tammy.
Laura Prepon, who plays Donna on TV's That
70s Show, portrays Homolka as a "woman conflicted by her conscience
but unable to escape" the grasp of Bernardo, who's played by Misha
Collins, the film's website says.
Homolka was sentenced in 1993 to 12 years
in prison in exchange for testimony against her husband, in which she
portrayed herself as an unwitting victim. But caustic videotapes
documenting the rape and torture of their victims later appeared to expose
her as a willing participant in the crimes.
Critics branded her plea bargain a
"deal with the devil."
Bernardo was convicted of two counts of
first-degree murder, handed a life sentence and subsequently declared a
dangerous offender.
News of the grisly events horrified
Canadians, a fact that both supporters and critics of Sellers's film have
used to argue their cases both for and against its release.
Sellers had offered lawyer Tim Danson, who
represents the French and Mahaffy families, the chance to view the film in
advance of its release, but Sellers said he's considering waiting until
after July 4 � the day Homolka is expected to go free.
"I'm contemplating the possibility of
delaying that screening until after she gets out," he said.
"Karla coming out must be difficult
for (the families). Having to deal with this (screening) at the same time
as dealing with that ... I just feel like we shouldn't do it unless we
really have a need to."
His production company, Quantum
Entertainment, plans a September or October release for Deadly. It would
take "a major Canadian distributor banging on my door" to put
the film into theatres before then, he said.
"I'm almost to the point of saying if
a distributor came to us and said they wanted to distribute it in July or
August, I would say no."
The growing media spotlight on Homolka,
who's serving out her final days at the Joliette Institution near
Montreal, is sure to mean Canadians will again be forced to endure the
horrific details of her crimes.
Next week, Ontario Crown lawyers will
travel to Quebec in an effort to convince a provincial court judge to
impose restrictions on Homolka under the Criminal Code.
That extraordinary request, if granted,
would see the 35-year-old submit to a range of conditions including a
curfew, regular meetings with police and rules regarding her
acquaintances.
Families not interested in Homolka film charity plan
May 12, 2021
St. Catharines Standard
By Karena Walter
Local News - The families of Karla Homolka�s
victims won�t support a plan to give Ontario box office profits from a
film about the killer to charity because they don�t want Deadly playing
in the province in the first place.
�They would prefer it not be shown in
Ontario and that there be no profits coming out of Ontario and therefore
no money for any charity,� Tim Danson, lawyer for the families of
Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, said Wednesday.
But whether they would agree to charitable
proceeds from openings in other areas or from a video release hasn�t
been decided.
Homolka is coming to the end of a 12-year
sentence for manslaughter in connection with the deaths of French and
Mahaffy.
Deadly looks at the meeting of Homolka and
her ex-husband Paul Bernardo, now serving a life sentence, and how the
pairing resulted in murders.
The independent movie, which its Hollywood
producer hopes to distribute by fall, has caused plenty of controversy in
Ontario. Premier Dalton McGuinty urged Ontarians to boycott the film if it
is released and the province says it will be watching closely to make sure
it doesn�t violate any publication bans.
Film producer Michael Sellers said this
week he has always intended to donate some of the proceeds of the film to
charity and he was further prompted by a McMaster university student and
her friend who wrote to him.
At Danson�s request, Sellers is meeting
with him in Toronto in a few weeks for an advance screening of the movie.
The two have been in talks about concerns
the families have has about the film.
Danson said, in fairness to Sellers, the
producer has been very responsive to concerns.
He�s not so responsive that he�s not
going to make the movie, Danson said, but that wasn�t something they
could legally stop him from doing.
�As a matter of law, he�s entitled to
do the movie. We�re entitled to not see it and not support it, but we
can�t stop it unless he crosses a certain line,� Danson said.
That line, where free speech ends and the
families� privacy begins, is what the two sides have been discussing.
Danson said Sellers voluntarily agreed to
edit the film in response to the families� concerns. He expects scenes
of rape, sexual assault or nudity of the victims won�t be in the film.
As well, the names of French and Mahaffy
were changed at the families� request.
�We certainly made it very clear that we
felt it was entirely inappropriate to use their names and we wouldn�t
accept it,� Danson said. �Then they kind of changed the names a little
bit but it was pretty clear and now I think they�ve changed them
completely.�
While an offer to use profits from the
movie�s release in Ontario for charity may be a moot point for the
families, using proceeds from other releases such as videos or in other
geographical locations may be given second thought if suggested.
�The jury�s still out on that,�
Danson said.
He said it�s a complicated issue and the
families are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
On the one hand, Danson said, by engaging
Sellers the way they are, it�s given him publicity and one could argue
the families are assisting in promoting the movie.
On the other hand, regardless of what they
do, the fact the movie exists is going to generate its own publicity and
they have to protect the memory and dignity of the victims.
�Had we not engaged him, that wouldn�t
have happened,� Danson said. �So you�re making the best of a bad
situation.�
Homolka film: Will it pack the theatres?
May 11, 2021
St. Catharines Standard
By Grant LaFleche
Local News - Taken on its surface, there is
something unremarkable about the trailer for the film Deadly.
Even the image of a teenaged girl, bound
and blindfolded, isn�t enough to distinguish the film from the legions
of thrillers and crime movies on the market.
But if you know the case well, if you know
what comes next, that image � which flickers across the screen in the
blink of an eye � is unnerving. It�s a little like peeping at
something unsavoury you know you�re not supposed to see.
Whether the trailer for the movie about
schoolgirl killers Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka will titillate the
curious or repulse the righteous might not matter.
The film doesn�t have a distributor in
Canada or the United States. And without a 20th Century Fox to put the
movie in theatres coast to coast, Deadly could just quietly vanish into
cinematic limbo.
�Independent films always face an uphill
battle,� Deadly producer Michael Sellers said in an interview from Los
Angeles.
Officially, the film�s opening date is
listed only as �coming soon� because without a distributor, no release
date can be set.
�We are looking toward a fall release,
perhaps in October, after the summer blockbusters are over and before the
Christmas movies, unless something drastic changes before then,� Sellers
said. �But that seems to me to be very, very unlikely.�
Even if Sellers does find a distributor
that can put the film in theatres across the United States and Canada,
there is no guarantee it will become a blockbuster.
University of Toronto cinema professor Bart
Testa said there might be enough interest in Ontario to give the film a
decent opening weekend, but there will be little interest in the United
States.
�After (the opening weekend), I suspect
it will disappear very quickly and end up where it belongs, behind the
counter at the local corner store.�
Testa said Sellers� company, Quantum
Entertainment, mainly produces direct-to-video titles such as Children of
the Living Dead and Nightmare Boulevard.
Deadly might have remained equally
anonymous if not for the attention of Canada�s news media, Testa said.
The film is not generating nearly as much
interest in the U.S., where the names Bernardo and Homolka are not nearly
as infamous.
Chicago Sun-Times movie critic Roger Ebert
said in an e-mail, �I have not heard of the film.�
Based on Quantum�s past productions,
Testa said he isn�t expecting much from the movie.
�It wouldn�t disrespect B-movies by
calling this a B-movie,� he said. �If you had a filmmaker like
Bernardo Bertolucci doing the film, you would get a meaningful exploration
of it. There would be merit to that.
�But this is just going to exploit the
story for the sake of making a movie,� he said. �And I think that the
filmmakers will be so worried about censorship that it won�t even be
titillating. I expect it will be a very bland film.�
Yet Sellers and Deadly director Joel Bender
insist the movie is not mere exploitation of the story.
The movie is an exploration of how Homolka
�went from a normal person to a participant in these horrible, horrible
crimes,� Bender said.
Nevertheless, he said, they tried to be
sensitive to the feelings of the French and Mahaffy families.
Although Tammy Homolka � Karla�s
younger sister and the first girl killed by the pair � is named, the
names of their other victims, Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, are never
used.
�Even the killings themselves are not
exactly as they happened,� said Bender.
�You won�t see the actual killing at
all. The camera angles are such the murders happen off camera.�
The film also faces a challenge that has
nothing to do with the subject matter or production company.
True crime movies are hard sells, says
Ebert.
�Movies based on true crime are not
usually as successful as completely fictional crime movies, maybe because
the fictions can be more sensational,� he said in his e-mail. �Yet
some of the best movies I�ve seen have been inspired by true crimes,
including In Cold Blood and Monster.�
Murder flick may be blacked out in parts of Ontario
Producer says he's 'not comfortable' screening Homolka,
Bernardo film in victims' communities
May 6, 2021
The Halifax Herald
By Nicole MacIntyre (Canadian Press)
HAMILTON - The makers of a film about Karla
Homolka and Paul Bernardo plan to donate a portion of the proceeds to
charity or to restrict screenings in Ontario.
Producer Michael Sellers said he's willing
to black out Deadly in areas deeply affected the horrific crimes,
including St. Catharines and Toronto.
"I'm not comfortable with putting the
movie out normally in Ontario," he said Thursday from his Los Angeles
office.
Sellers said he's also willing to have open
screenings of the movie and give the majority of local proceeds to
charity.
He plans to consult with the families of
victims Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy to decide which option is best,
"black it out or earn a million for charity?"
Sellers says a charitable donation was
always in the works but he was inspired by e-mails from two women who
challenged him to do something good out of a movie many fear will reopen
painful wounds.
"If you are truly making this film
because you feel it is a valuable story to tell, that society can learn
and benefit from, then put your money where your mouth is," McMaster
student Kelly Peterson wrote to Sellers in March.
"Donate all or a portion of the
proceeds of this film to victims' services, or set up a scholarship in the
name of the girls that were victimized by these two monsters."
Sellers wrote back immediately and asked
for help in finding the appropriate charity.
Peterson and her friend Michelle Berelowitz
are now working to set up a fund in the victims' memory.
"We want something positive to come
out of it," said Berelowitz.
Planning is at an early stage and still
needs the input of the victims' families, she said.
Tim Danson, the lawyer for the French and
Mahaffy families, could not be reached for comment on Thursday.
Sellers has already extended an invitation
to Danson to preview the movie before it is released later this summer or
fall.
The film won't be done until the end of
June, Sellers said.
A distributor will then decide when and
where the movie is released.
The movie has sparked outrage from some
Ontario residents who are horrified Hollywood is trying to make millions
from the agonizing deaths of two schoolgirls.
Unable to ban the movie under current law,
senior politicians have urged people to boycott the film.
Attorney General Michael Bryant has also
warned Sellers and his colleagues at Quantum Entertainment could face
legal action if the film breaks a publication ban imposed on the evidence
heard at trial.
Homolka is set to be free in less than two
months.
Ontario will take its bid to limit her
freedoms when she's released from Joliette Institution, north of Montreal,
before a Quebec judge on June 2.
Homolka's father Karel revealed this week
that his daughter does not plan to return home to St. Catharines.
She is planning to live in the
Notre-Dame-de-Grace area of Montreal, he said.
The focus on her release and controversy of
the movie has created a prime market for Deadly's release, noted Sellers.
While local audiences might be horrified by
the content, he noted it's similar to other true crime movies such as
Monster, the tale of serial killer Aileen Wuornos.
"Everywhere else in the world it's
just another movie."
Homolka film will be pre-screened in Toronto Families' lawyer
requested viewing
MPPs worried about court ban
May 4, 2021
Toronto Star
By Greg Bonnell, Canadian Press
An exclusive viewing of a Hollywood film
chronicling the depraved crimes of Karla Homolka is being offered to
interested parties in Toronto in advance of a potential Canadian summer
release.
The controversial film Deadly could come to
Canada just as the teen girl killer is released from prison, a move
motivated in large part by sensational media coverage negating the need
for a long publicity campaign.
"We're going to provide an opportunity
to screen it in advance," said Michael Sellers, producer of Deadly.
"I will come up to Toronto with a print."
That extraordinary move is in response to a
request to view the film from Tim Danson, the lawyer for the families of
slain girls Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.
"He won't be the only set of eyes that
can watch it," Sellers said from his Los Angeles office.
"There will be some other people,
independent-type people, whether it be some media or other concerned
citizens in Canada I've been in communication with, who I've offered an
opportunity to see it."
Danson hasn't yet responded to the offer to
view the film, Sellers said.
The Ontario Government cautioned yesterday
that Sellers and his colleagues at Quantum Entertainment could face legal
action if the film breaks a publication ban imposed on evidence heard at
trial.
"If they break the publication ban and
enter Ontario, they will face the laws of Ontario," said Attorney
General Michael Bryant. "The evidence involved in the publication ban
is remarkably painful to the victims and many Ontarians."
While Bryant confirmed someone from the
Crown's office would view the film to judge whether it's in breach, it
wasn't clear if that person would be invited to the June screening.
Bryant was not willing to detail what
evidence, if included in the movie, would violate the ban, saying to do so
would, in effect, break the ban.
Deadly chronicles the ill-fated union of
Homolka and Paul Bernardo, a coupling that ultimately led to the rape and
torture deaths of French and Mahaffy.
Bernardo was convicted of two counts of
first-degree murder, handed a life sentence and subsequently declared a
dangerous offender.
Homolka secured a 12-year sentence in
exchange for testifying against her husband. Critics who branded the plea
bargain a "deal with the devil" were emboldened following the
release of videotapes documenting the couple's crimes.
Homolka's prison term expires July 5, but
her freedom could be granted as early as June 23 under Corrections Canada
guidelines.
The film's website suggests the story is
somewhat sympathetic to Homolka, portrayed by Laura Prepon, who plays
Donna on That '70s Show.
"The film is essentially ready for
distribution at the end of June," Sellers said.
hollywood homolka film stirs debate
April 10, 2021
Canadian Press
By Greg Bonnell
TORONTO -- An ill-fated union of lovers.
The macabre musings of seemingly ordinary suburban folk. Grisly murders
that shock a nation.
Storylines like these populate Canadian
cinemas nightly -- that's entertainment.
Throw in the names Karla Homolka and Paul
Bernardo, call the film Deadly and an emotional outcry ensues from
politicians and the public alike.
Condemnations of a Hollywood feature
dramatizing the crimes of Canada's most most infamous and reviled couple
have been harsh and numerous.
Filmmaker Michael Sellers says he's
received "tons" of email from Canadians upset he is delving into
the story.
But the sentiment fuelling that protest is
somewhat of an enigma.
Is it concern for the sensibilities of the
families of the two slain schoolgirls at the centre of this horrific tale?
Or do explorations of humanity's dark side become simply intolerable when
viewed through the lens of true crime?
"People who do these things are real
human beings," Sellers, producer of Deadly, said from his Los Angeles
office.
"When you de-monsterize them, and at
the same time show the reality of how it happened, it's very scary to
people."
Deadly, set for release this fall,
chronicles the ominous courtship of Homolka and Bernardo and the notorious
deeds their union ultimately produced -- the brutal murders of Kristen
French and Leslie Mahaffy.
The victims' families are gravely concerned
about the script, which is woven from court transcripts detailing the
torture and rape of the teens.
"Obviously we're not going to get what
we want, which is simply to trash the movie and not go forward with
it," said Tim Danson, lawyer for the French and Mahaffy families.
Still, Danson has discussed the film's
content with Sellers and both are hopeful some common ground can be found.
"He seemed to be willing to work with
us, that it wasn't his intent to violate the girls in the way that we most
feared, which is simulating what's in the transcript in terms of being
raped and tortured -- those awful things," said Danson.
However, the film's very existence evokes
strong emotions.
"I guess you can make the argument
that they have a right to make the movie," said Steve Sullivan of the
Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime.
"Just because you have the right to do
it doesn't make it the right thing to do."
Politicians in Ontario, where the grisly
crimes occurred, have declared a boycott of sorts against the film, urging
the public to ignore it upon release.
Sullivan fears those well-meaning words may
have the opposite effect and that people will be drawn to Deadly out of
morbid curiosity.
The film's profile is also likely to be
raised by the fact that Homolka is portrayed by Laura Prepon, who plays
Donna on That 70's Show, and by all the media attention it's getting in
Canada.
True crime stories have always enjoyed a
sizeable audience, from Truman Capote's In Cold Blood to Charlize Theron's
Oscar-winning turn as serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Monster.
Despite the public's appetite for such
fare, filmgoers should consider the larger ramifications of making a movie
about Homolka and Bernardo, said Sullivan.
"You have to weigh what the impact is
going to be on the people whose lives were most touched by this," he
said.
"I'm not sure this movie is intended
to give us a better understanding of what happened as much as it is to
make a dollar."
Of the numerous missives directed at his
company Quantum Entertainment, Sellers says one in particular stands out.
"The rationale given was, 'This
(crime) changed the way (Canada) thought about ourselves and we don't want
to go back there. We don't want to revisit that experience, it's very
painful."'
That only fuelled Sellers's interest in the
project.
"There is something very deep going on
there. No other producers that we know, that have been involved in other
(true crime) films, have been involved in this kind of problem."
Exploring the underbelly of humanity is an
artistic endeavour fraught with peril.
"If on the one hand you dehumanize
such figures, you're implying something almost otherworldly about people
who are responsible for grave crimes," said Charlie Keil, an
associate professor of cinema studies at the University of Toronto.
"On the other hand, if you humanize
them, you're saying on some level they're just like you and me. I think
that's equally disturbing to people."
Whatever side the filmmaker falls on,
there's going to be criticism.
The central question -- how can people
commit such atrocious acts -- is one artists and filmmakers have a right
to explore, said Keil.
"Of course, some people are going to
hate the answers."
Cineplex places hurdle in front of Bernardo film
Requires `tasteful' marketing plan
Ontario theatres expect backlash
By Rick Westhead, Business Reporter
Toronto Star
April 8, 2021
Canada's major theatre chains say they won't consider showing the
controversial movie depicting the horrific murders by Paul Bernardo and
Karla Homolka unless the producers sign a contract with a Canadian
distributor.
But the Hollywood production company behind
Deadly says it didn't plan to sell the movie here and expects to make a
fortune regardless; indeed, the producers say their interest lies in
making "as much money as possible."
"In general, we require to work with a
top film distributor who has a tastefully prepared marketing plan,"
said Pat Marshall, a spokesperson for Cineplex Galaxy LP, which along with
Famous Players controls a combined 1,500 movie screens across Canada.
If the filmmaker does sign an agreement
here, the government would assign it a rating and the chain bookers would
then consider whether there is an audience for it.
"Our role isn't to censor film
product," she said, noting the backlash to Deadly is "very
Ontario-specific."
If the movie were to be released in Canada,
theatres would likely face boycotts and pickets at a minimum.
But Quantum Entertainment, the production
company that is in the final stages of producing the film, says it will
make tens of millions of dollars regardless, even if it never appears in a
Canadian theatre.
Even without selling a single movie ticket
or DVD in Canada, an official involved with production says Deadly stands
to garner nearly $100 million worth of revenue following its release this
fall, bolstered by a "best- case" estimate of $50 million in
U.S. ticket sales.
"I have a fiduciary responsibility to
our investors to try to make as much money as possible from this
picture," said Quantum Entertainment president Michael Sellers.
"It's not like we planned to milk
Canada," said Sellers, who also produced Fortunes of War, starring
Martin Sheen, and Goodbye America with James Brolin. "We never
planned to sell the movie there in the first place."
Sellers, who said Deadly was financed by a
small group of individual investors, added that the movie might garner as
much as $7 million in foreign distribution rights in countries such as the
U.K. and Australia and another $30 million in DVD sales and rentals.
It might also generate income from sales to
pay television companies like HBO or Showtime in the U.S.
"We think this is a good film,"
Sellers said. "Homolka and Bernardo are both attractive and at first,
it seems like Paul is the one in control and then later it looks like
maybe she's the one driving the bus. It's a compelling story."
While activists want to stop theatres from
showing the movie, which is based on Bernardo and Homolka's kidnapping and
murder of teenagers Kristin French and Leslie Mahaffy, the hype that has
engulfed the project may backfire and could ultimately broaden the film's
prospective audience.
U.S. conservatives, for instance, fought
last year to stop theatres from showing filmmaker Michael Moore's
Fahrenheit 9/11. The campaign to stop Moore's film from being shown
backfired miserably. The movie generated $23.9 million (U.S.) in ticket
sales in its opening weekend, setting a record for a feature-length
documentary.
"Controversy amounts to free
publicity," said Jason Squire, a former studio executive with United
Artists, now a film professor at the University of Southern California.
"The more controversy, the less you have to spend on your advertising
budget."
Deadly, which stars Laura Prepon of the TV
comedy, That 70's Show, was made for about $5 million, less than one-tenth
the budget of some of today's large-scale Hollywood blockbusters, Sellers
said.
Quantum will open negotiations in the next
few weeks with distribution companies such as Sony Pictures Classics,
Focus Films and Warner Bros. Studios, Sellers said. The movie is scheduled
to be released this September.
"I think there should be an appetite
for this movie," Sellers said. "It's not like it's the first
true-crime movie made. In fact, this is probably one of the top 10
true-crime stories that hasn't been on screen yet."
DEJ Productions in Hollywood might be
interested in distributing Deadly, an official said. It recently
distributed the movie Dahmer, the story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer,
who was convicted of 17 murders in 1991 and sentenced to 957 years in
prison. Dahmer was made for about $250,000 yet garnered about $1.5 million
worth of revenue for DEJ Productions, said Angela Palmieri, a company
official.
"The horror genre in general has been
on an upswing," she said.
"Look at the success of movies like
The Ring 2, Saw and Amityville Horror. The appetite has increased."
If a large distribution company passes on
the Bernardo-Homolka film, Sellers said Quantum would probably arrange
with individual theatre owners to show the movie.
Bernardo pic meant to be a Monster
L.A. producer defends his film as an art-house work,
not exploitation
By Simon Houpt
Globe and Mail
Tuesday, April 5, 2021 Page R1
E-mail Simon Houpt Read Bio Latest Columns
NEW YORK -- The producer of a controversial feature film about Karla
Homolka and Paul Bernardo says the movie represents a shift in strategy
for his small independent film company away from its past as a maker and
distributor of B-movie genre pictures and into the more respectable niche
of art-house films with Oscar potential.
"This is a move on our part to try and
reposition ourselves upward a little bit," said Michael Sellers, the
Los Angeles-based producer of Deadly. Sellers's company Quantum
Entertainment is a small player in Hollywood, specializing in films made
for under $5-million that frequently go straight to video.
"Deadly represents our evolution as
filmmakers," said Sellers in a telephone interview. "We've been
moving a little bit away from the mainstream genre approach and moving
more into the realm of the well-made smaller film with a more artistic
orientation, and something that has a little bit more provocativeness, or
a little bit more of what you could genuinely consider to be artistic
content."
Sellers sees Deadly, with its lead
character of Karla Homolka played by Laura Prepon (That '70s Show) as a
character study akin to Monster, the film based on the true story of
prostitute and serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Her battered past led her to
torture and murder men. Charlize Theron won an Oscar last year for her
portrayal of Wuornos.
Founded in 1996, Quantum both produces its
own fare and distributes pictures made by other producers, including the
Corbin Bernsen stalker pic Nightmare Boulevard, and Spin, Shoot & Run,
which a description on the Quantum website says is, "a quirky
thriller" about "a tempestuous beauty on the run carrying a baby
in one hand and a gun in the other."
Sellers says the company's intentions are
better expressed by the films it has produced like Goodbye America, which
a Variety critic said would find an audience among viewers, "who long
for genre pics that pack intelligence, not just firepower."
Deadly began as a straight genre film.
Inspired by the financial success of the 2002 docudrama feature Dahmer,
about the serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer, and the 2003
straight-to-video thriller Gacy, Quantum's director of distribution Pamela
Vlastas had been itching to make a true-crime film. In January, 2004, she
and Sellers were approached by Joel Bender, an editor on one of their
previous productions, with the Homolka story. "He'd had his eye on it
for years," said Sellers. "For people who follow true-crime
stuff, the story is pretty well known. I'd say it's in the top 10, if not
the top five, of well-known true-crime stories that are out there."
After Sellers and Bender worked up a script
and sent it out into the Hollywood casting community, Prepon immediately
expressed interest in
the lead role. Tess Harper, who was nominated for a
best-supporting-actress Oscar for her role in Crimes of the Heart, came on
shortly thereafter.
The film shot for three weeks in Los
Angeles last summer. Only once it was in the editing suite did the
producers realize "the film had great potential," but it would
need more work. They scheduled another week of
shooting in December, which Sellers says, "really brought the film to
a level where we felt like we had something substantial.
Rather than a true-crime focus on the
police trying to catch a killer, Deadly is "the story of these people
and how it happened, and why, with an emphasis on trying to achieve some
level of understanding about the psychological processes that take place
in a situation like that."
The film unfolds through a series of
flashbacks framed by a fictional rendition of a psychiatric review that
Homolka underwent in 2001. "It's Karla, eight years later, trying to
rationalize and explain what she did," said Sellers.
But while Sellers makes comparisons with
Monster, Deadly does not attempt to absolve Homolka of responsibility.
"Our standard has been different," Sellers says, referring to
the fact that Monster was fiction based on a true story. "We didn't
change the story to make it fit the dramatic model. There are no made-up
scenes in the movie.
"I'm sure there will be people who
criticize us and say it's too sympathetic, but there are others who will
say, we're going to have a hard time watching this movie because we don't
care about [Homolka] after a while."
The film is scheduled for completion in
June and Quantum is projecting a fall release in the United States, likely
no earlier than October. While the company does not yet have a deal for
distribution in Canada, there are no laws preventing its release and
Sellers says the recent flap over the film, including calls by Ontario
Premier Dalton McGuinty and provincial Consumer and Business Services
Minister Jim Watson for Ontarians to boycott the movie, has prompted
expressions of interest from a number of Canadian distributors.
Boycott of Bernardo film urged
Ontario powerless to stop Deadly from being shown
Families of victims may be allowed to preview movie
March 24, 2021
Toronto Star
By Philip Mascoll and Robert Benzie
The lawyer representing the families of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French
will likely be allowed to preview a copy of a movie that recounts their
killings, the filmmaker says.
"I am favourably inclined to sign an
agreement that would let him (lawyer Tim Danson) see an advance
copy," producer Michael Sellers said from his Los Angeles office last
night, where he is currently editing Deadly, the film based on the crimes
of Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.
Sellers went on to say that after a long
telephone conference with Danson earlier yesterday, while he made no
commitment to additional changes in the movie, he felt that he and the
lawyer were "about 30 seconds apart" in their concerns.
Sellers said he had instructed the editors
who were now putting the film together to make a version that meets the
families' criteria that will be viewed alongside the version he envisages.
The families' concerns were nudity, sexual
activity with the girls and depictions of torture, he said.
"There's about 30 seconds in the movie
that doesn't fit their parameters as they described it to us."
Sellers said he has to talk to his
attorneys and there will have to be research into Canadian law and Ontario
law before the final determination on allowing Danson an advance copy.
"I am favourably inclined to sign an
agreement that would let him see an advance copy. I am hoping that once
they get to see the totality of what we have, their fears will be
lessened."
There was also some concern expressed that
releasing the movie would contravene the child pornography laws in Canada.
Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, were 15 and 14 respectively when they
died.
Danson said he had a lengthy,
"realistic" discussion with Sellers earlier yesterday.
"There is a line between artistic
content and free speech" that the families don't want crossed, the
lawyer said.
"The families would rather that there
be no film, because they see it as highly exploitive and violating their
daughters."
Danson said the concerns he expressed were
not about the right to do movies, but about content.
"The families will never support it
(the making of the movie) but he wanted the families' okay of the
sensitive areas."
At Queen's Park yesterday, Consumer and
Business Services Minister Jim Watson said Ontarians should boycott the
"despicable" film.
"My hope is that distributors in the
province of Ontario and in Canada will shun this film and not try to make
a quick buck out of a very disturbing part of our history," Watson
said. "We have to think of the families of these two young women who
were killed by Bernardo."
Because the province is no longer allowed
to censor films after a court ruling, Watson said the government is
powerless to stop Deadly from being shown here.
"Under the Charter there is the
ability for people to distribute films. Our only condition is if it is in
breach of the Criminal Code, if it's considered obscene, the police can
lay charges and that way the film can be stopped from distribution,"
he said.
The film does not yet have a distributor
and Sellers said Tuesday that it is unlikely to be released until
September or October - after Homolka finishes her 12-year prison sentence
in June. Bernardo, declared a dangerous offender, is serving a life
sentence with no chance of parole.
Deadly should never be seen here, Watson
said.
"I'd like to keep it out because I
think it's a despicable film.
"Most Ontarians don't want to go and
see and this. If it does get distributed, my hope is that the vast
majority of Ontarians will turn their back on this kind of a film that is
basically recreating a very horrible and tragic situation," he said.
Premier Dalton McGuinty echoed Watson's
sentiments, saying the project is "an unfortunate development."
"I don't think that legally we can
prevent that movie from being shown in the province of Ontario," he
said.
Deadly stars Misha Collins as Bernardo and
Laura Prepon, who plays Donna on TV's That 70's Show, as Holmolka.
Shun film on killers: Preem
Hollywood depiction of Bernardo-Homolka set for later
this year
Thu, March 24, 2021
Toronto Sun
By Alan Findlay, Queen's Park Bureau
PREMIER DALTON McGuinty is asking people to
snub a new movie depicting the story of schoolgirl killers Paul Bernardo
and Karla Homolka if and when it comes to Ontario. McGuinty doubted the
province can legally prevent the American movie, titled Deadly, from being
shown in Ontario later this year, and called it "an unfortunate
development for people to choose to capitalize on a terrible and horrific
tragedy."
"I certainly will not be viewing that
movie, and I guess my advice and my encouragement to Ontarians is that
they would do the same," he told reporters outside his Queen's Park
office yesterday.
Consumer and Business Services Minister Jim
Watson also encouraged people to stay away in droves.
"I think most Ontarians don't want to
see this," said Watson.
NO DISTRIBUTOR
He pointed out that the film, set for
release in September at the earliest, still has no Canadian distributor
lined up.
"If it does get distributed, my hope
is the vast majority of Ontarians will turn their back on this type of
film that is basically recreating a very horrible and tragic situation.
You have to think of the families," Watson said.
The movie's website suggests Homolka, whose
12-year sentence ends this June, could be viewed in a sympathetic light by
the audience in what will be an ambiguous portrayal.
Watson said the province can't prevent
films from coming to Ontario unless they actually breach the Criminal
Code.
Tim Danson, the lawyer for the families of
slain teens Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, said the movie could
contain child pornography if it attempts to recreate the girls' final
hours as recorded on videotape by the couple.
Danson said the families worked hard to
achieve the closure of destroying the videotapes and other evidence.
They did it so that they wouldn't somehow
resurface despite a court publication ban.
"We're now going to have a Hollywood
production that simulates what we've destroyed?" said Danson.
"It's very, very painful for the
families."
One picture on the movie's website shows
the exposed back of a blindfolded girl as the actor playing Bernardo
videotapes her from the front.
Lawyer demands advance viewing of Bernardo-Homolka movie
Globe and Mail (Canadian Press)
March 23, 2021
Toronto - A lawyer representing the
families of two slain Ontario schoolgirls has demanded an advance
screening of a new Hollywood movie about Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka
to determine whether he will try to block its release.
"We have very serious concerns about
the film because transcripts (the producers) have... include what went on
inside the house (and) what was on the videotapes and it's very disturbing
information," said Tim Danson.
The film, entitled Deadly and slated for
release this fall, chronicles the ill-fated courtship and subsequent
criminal life of Canada's most notorious couple - a union that ultimately
led to the murders of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.
"We're aware they've hired two
actresses to play the roles of French and Mahaffy and that they intend to
simulate what occurred inside the Bernardo-Homolka home," said Danson.
"On that basis, we have requested an advance viewing of the
tape."
Danson said he is "very, very
concerned" the film's depiction of those gruesome events could be
construed as child pornography.
"The fact that it's simulated is no
defence - if that information is true, we will use every method we can to
stop this."
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty called for
a boycott of sorts against the movie on Wednesday.
"I certainly will not be viewing that
movie, and my advice and encouragement to Ontarians is that they would do
the same," said McGuinty. "It's an unfortunate development for
people to choose to capitalize on a terrible and horrific tragedy."
The province has no legal power to prevent
the film being shown in Ontario, conceded McGuinty.
But if the film makes its way into the
province, the Ontario Film Review Board can forward it to police if it
feels the Criminal Code has been breached.
The film's website suggests the story is
somewhat sympathetic to Homolka, portrayed by Laura Prepon - who plays
Donna on That 70s Show.
"In the end, the viewer is left to
ponder their sympathy for Karla, to ask how much she too is a victim of
Paul," reads the plot synopsis. It further describes Homolka, who
will be released from prison this July, as "conflicted by her
conscience but still unable to escape" Bernardo's grasp.
Danson said he's been unsuccessful so far
in obtaining an advance viewing of Deadly from its U.S. producers.
"If they're not prepared to satisfy us
that they're not, for example, simulating rapes of children, then I will
be in contact with the appropriate people in the United States to see what
kind of legal recourse we can do," he said.
"We have no choice but to think the
worst and we'll have to act accordingly - it's what we don't know that is
causing concern."
The film's producer, Michael Sellers, says
he's keenly aware of those concerns.
"I... made a commitment to myself to
do nothing to dishonour the memory of the victims," Sellers says in a
statement posted on the film's website. "All of the people involved
in creating the film have gone through similar soul-searching."
The producers based the film on court
transcripts, information that was subject to a media ban in Canada.
"I guess someone took the view that
they were part of the public record and were entitled to it - I've read
those transcripts and it's very, very disturbing stuff," said Danson.
Several items of hard evidence from the
trials, such as videotapes and photographs, were later destroyed, but
trial transcripts were preserved.
"We didn't destroy the transcripts
because we have to be mindful of the fact that Paul Bernardo - even though
it's theoretical - will be entitled to parole reviews in the future,"
said Danson.
The French and Mahaffy families are
concerned the film could violate their daughters' memories.
"When we destroyed the videotapes and
other sensitive material - (the families) really did believe they had
purged this evil - that their daughters were now free from further
violation," said Danson.
"The thought of a Hollywood production
simulating what had happened to their daughters is something that's
excruciating and incomprehensible to them."
Even if the film was picked up by a major
distributor or distributed independently by Sellers's Quantum
Entertainment, it would be unlikely to make it to a theatre before
September or October.
Quantum has no distribution arm in Canada.
Bernardo movie to be released when Homolka is
CTV.ca News Staff
March 23, 2021
Producers of a movie about notorious sex
killer Paul Bernardo and his wife Karla Homolka will tie the film's
release to her release from prison this summer.
And that has Tim Danson, lawyer for the
families of two girls killed by Bernardo, feeling wary.
"I, personally would have much rather
had this come out before she gets out," Danson told CTV News Toronto
on Tuesday. "It feels a little ... frankly, it makes me uneasy."
The movie is called Deadly, and stars Laura
Prepon from That 70s Show as Karla and Misha Collins as Bernardo.
The still images available on the film's
website show Homolka and Bernardo kidnapping a victim at knifepoint. They
also show Bernardo and Homolka in bed together, Homolka with black eyes
and Bernardo being arrested.
Danson says according to information he's
received, some of the terrible things that were done to his clients
Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy will be recreated on screen.
"That is very, very disturbing, and I
haven't decided yet whether or not it's legal," he says.
CTV News Toronto's Paul Bliss says the
movie's writers used actual transcripts from the trial of Bernardo to help
create the movie's script.
Producer Michael Sellers says in a message
on the film's website that one goal of his film is to promote
"predator awareness.
"I also made a commitment to myself to
do nothing to dishonor the memory of the victims," he says.
Danson wanted to see the movie before it's
released, but Sellers said it's too late to make major changes to the
film.
However, Sellers says he wasn't planning
for the film to be distributed in Canada, adding he can't stop people from
uploading the film onto the Internet for people to view.
Sellers also says he couldn't prevent a
larger distribution company like Miramax, as one example, from buying the
rights to the movie and releasing it in Canada.
Background
Homolka began her 12-year sentence after
pleading guilty to two charges of manslaughter in 1993.
She is scheduled to be released on July 5.
Authorities are trying to put as many
conditions on her release as possible. They fear she may still be a danger
to the public.
Bernardo began his crime career as the
Scarborough rapist, and was suspected in the sexual assaults of at least
14 women in the late 1980s.
Homolka and Bernardo met in 1987 and were
engaged in 1989.
The first death attributed to them was
Karla's sister Tammy, who was drugged by Karla so she could be used as a
sexual treat by Paul. Tammy choked on her own vomit and died.
Leslie Mahaffy, 14, was kidnapped by
Bernardo and Homolka about two weeks before the couple's wedding in late
June 1991.
Kristen French, 15, was kidnapped in April
1992.
Videotapes of the two victims' time in
captivity were made by their captors. Those tapes were eventually
destroyed when their usefulness as evidence reached an end.
In 1993, Homolka left Bernardo after he
beat her with a flashlight. She filed charges. This led to his arrest.
While she pleaded guilty, Bernardo went to
trial in 1995. Karla was a witness against him.
Besides being convicted on murder and other
charges, Bernardo was declared a dangerous offender in October 1995,
making it likely he'll never be released from prison.
The case has been the object of books by
Ontario author Stephen Williams: Invisible Darkness and Karla: A Pact with
the Devil.
There were plans by another movie producer
to make a film based on Invisible Darkness, but they never came to
fruition.
Bernardo film's release held until fall
Mar. 23, 2005. 01:00 AM
Toronto Star
By Philip Mascoll
The release of a controversial film based
on the murders committed by Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka has been
delayed until fall, the producer says.
Deadly, which had been slated for a spring
release, won't even be shown to distributors until well after Homolka
finishes serving her 12-year prison term in June, Michael Sellers said
from Los Angeles last night.
Production problems and an additional week
of shooting in December put the film, which was scheduled to take 10 to 13
weeks to complete, into its 29th week of production, Sellers said.
Speculation that the film had been delayed
so its release date would coincide with Homolka's release from prison
began with an independent website and was untrue, Sellers said.
The families of Kristen French and Leslie
Mahaffy and those of the couple's other victims were foremost in his mind,
he said.
"We are trying to get it right. We are
aware of all the sensibilities and are trying to be responsible," he
said.
Sellers said that even if the film was
picked up by a major distributor or distributed independently by his
Quantum Entertainment, it would be unlikely to see a theatre before
September or October. His company has no distribution arm in Canada.
Laura Prepon, Donna on That 70s Show, plays
Homolka, and Misha Collins portrays Bernardo. Joel Bender is the director.
Sellers said the film's script was based on
court transcripts and other evidence aired at the trial.
true horror
Cable Pulse 24
March 23, 2021
Will one of southern Ontario's darkest
skeletons of the past soon be exhumed to entertain popcorn munching
movie-goers?
"Deadly" a Hollywood production
chronicling the Paul Bernardo/Karla Homolka schoolgirl sex killings could
be out by the fall, amidst a storm of controversy and local backlash.
The sinister duo were responsible for the
murders of teens Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy.
Tim Danson, who represents both of the
victim's families is fighting to halt the film's release. He, like many
others, believes the film is exploitative and will further compound the
families' suffering.
"We're aware they have copies of the
transcript of what is on the videotapes," he said, referring to the
infamous sex tapes the twisted couple made before killing their victims.
"And it's our understanding that they intend to do scenes of what
went on in the house and what was on those videotapes.
"We will certainly use all legal
remedies to prevent the film coming out here in Canada. However if it's
played in the United States and they put it on the Internet . I mean it's
going to be very, very difficult."
Retired detective Bruce Smollett questions
the integrity of the filmmakers. He was the lead Toronto lawman on the
infamous case at the time.
"There's always the piranhas in the
ocean that want to come out and make money off the misery of other
people," he said. "I'm very disappointed."
Norstar Entertainment proposed making the
film based on the book "Invisible Darkness" a couple of years
ago. But Telefilm Ontario pulled out their $7 million and the Ontario
government refused to give tax credits because of the backlash.
It goes without saying that finding a local
distributor will be difficult.
"I'm very disappointed if they do get
a film distributor up here that's willing to show this movie,"
Smollett added. "To me no good can come of it."
The movie was due out this summer, but has
been delayed by production woes. That means it will likely hit theatres
well after the release of Homolka, scheduled for July. |