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17 West Productions Independent Film Toronto

17 West Productions is about to get a big boost in the coming months.

You might say that things appear to be quiet these days.  Today, I’d like to explain why.

Updates have been few throughout the summer but that doesn’t mean we aren’t working hard behind the scenes

Everything will make sense before 2010 wraps up.

Essentially, we are gearing up for a ‘relaunch‘ of sorts this winter with a ton of updates on the way.

It will begin with:

17west.ca

A complete redesign is in the works and construction got underway a few weeks ago. Preliminary designs are looking sweet and I can’t wait to show off our flagship site’s new look.  I’m pretty excited as the current design is well over 2 years old.

Those who have been keeping track on this blog have probably noticed that I began migrating all of the articles and features from 17west.ca to The Athletic Nerd.  The blog will serve as the central source of information for 17 West’s projects.

The new design incorporates the blog everywhere so you’ll always be up to date on our latest films.

The new look features a brighter and cleaner design with better graphics and a lot more functionality.

However, the redesign doesn’t stop there…

17 West Productions

Our Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages are also scheduled for upgrades to reflect the new look of 17west.ca.

One network.  One style.  Tons of work.

Why the redesign?

New movies!

The new design is due to go live around the same time we announce our next short film.  For now, I’ll simply call it Eric Gamache’s dark tale.

We are hard at work developing the script and getting pitch materials together for the impending search for funds.  The new film is truly going to raise the bar for us.  Eric is a talented director and the material we are working on has us both pumped to move forward.

What else?

I’m also hoping to unleash the first trailer for The Climb, our latest short film we shot back in May.  Post production will continue into the winter and I’m hoping to have the film completed and ready to go in Spring 2011.  Why so long?  I’m handling all the post myself.  (Basically what I’m saying is, I have a lot to do.)

However, I still plan to have a trailer and possibly a clip or two ready for the relaunch of the site.

In the mean time,  check out the poster we unveiled a few weeks back.  Thoughts?

The Climb Short Film 17 West Productions

We will also be upping our coverage of Strings.  A project we are co-producing in Sudbury, Ontario. Strings has been quiet lately but I assure you it’s on the way and we’re all excited and eager to proceed with the music/love story.

We are also beginning to develop our future projects to keep this momentum going once every thing launches in a few months.

To summarize, we are coming back in a big way!

Looking for updates?

Keep checking The Athletic Nerd for complete coverage on each of these projects.  You’ll find all the details here with daily updates and original features.  I’m also preparing for the Nerd’s 1 year anniversary with an entire week of posts dedicated to the milestone.  I’ll also be previewing what you can expect as the site evolves in the future.

Back to work.

The Athletic Nerd Movies Screenwriting Independent Film Blog

17 West Productions Toronto

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The Athletic Nerd Independent Filmmaking Television Technology

The Athletic Nerd turns 1 in less than a month!

I’ve been busy planning some new content for that week but for now, I thought I’d look back at an action packed first year.

This blog originally began as ‘After Then & Before Now’.  A blog about my production company 17 West Productions.  It wasn’t long before I realized I had much more to say and the site evolved to become The Athletic Nerd.  A movies, screenwriting and independent film blog.

Slowly, the site established an identity with various regular features and content.

Features like:

Most recently, the site introduced Movies That Changed Everything.  A series devoted to films that inspired my filmmaking aspirations.

Over the course of the last year, I’ve also spent a great deal of time enhancing each of the categories I write about.  You’ll find a ton of posts in topics like:

Recently, I added an Interviews section with several planned in the coming months. 

More independent film.  More movies. 

I’m addicted to the entire process and it’s honestly been a blast to write about. 

In addition to all of that, The Athletic Nerd still remains focused on 17 West’s films and the filmmaking process.  On this site, you can find out all about our films and upcoming projects.

  1. Playing Through
  2. The Climb
  3. Strings

Not to mention Reviews, Technology and much much more.  If you’re an aspiring filmmaker or a film fan then hopefully The Athletic Nerd has something for you.

It’s definitely been a productive year and I’m looking forward to evolving this blog even further in the future. 

Basically, I’ve got big plans for this site that include continually updating with new and original content daily.

In the coming months, I’m going to be shifting my focus towards screenwriting in order to finish up some projects and prepare for some ambitious scripts I want to tackle next.  I’m also editing our latest short film, The Climb in addition to several new features and content for this blog.

It’s going to be a busy year.

Have any ideas for posts?  Want to contribute to The Athletic Nerd? Toss me an email: jason@17west.ca

So dear reader, explore and let me know what you like (and dislike) about the site.  I’m always up for suggestions and look forward to making this a better site.

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Producing Short Films

17 West is currently developing a few short films in different stages of production.

Some have completed screenplays already while others are awaiting funding.

Recently, I spent some time up north at a cottage with my family.  While I was there, I couldn’t stop thinking about one of our new projects that’s still in it’s infancy.

The thriller takes place on an island so small you could throw a rock from one end to the other.

Scouting Locations for a short film

We’re keeping the details secret until I finish the screenplay but that didn’t stop my imagination from racing as I found myself on a boat surrounded by tiny islands.

My family rented a pontoon boat and as I sat there, beer in hand, it occurred to me that some of the islands around me might be perfect for our new short film.

READ: A Screenwriter’s holiday isn’t really a holiday at all is it?

So I borrowed my sister’s camera and snapped about two dozen images of the beautiful scenery.

These images immediately got forwarded to Producer/Director Eric.  Now we have some pics to look at while we continue to develop the story.

You never know when you’re going to come across something useful like a contact or location.

Scouting Locations Short Film

It’s important to bank as much information as possible when it comes to locations. So I made sure to write down addresses and phone numbers just in case we need to return someday.

Whether we use the location or not, it’s nice to know something suitable exists.

It’s also nice to have new images to Photoshop and enhance.

17 West Productions Location Scout Short Film

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17 West Productions Independent Film Toronto

Back at it!

The Climb is currently in post production and Strings is coming along up in Sudbury, Ontario. (More on that in the coming weeks.)

What’s next?

Eric and I got together recently to answer that very question.

We’ve been developing 2 shorts for a while now.  I finished the screenplay to the first a while back and after a few more revisions, we should be ready to move on to budgets and logistics.

The second short film is based on an idea Eric has had in his head for years.  Now we are working out the details of the story together and it’s almost ready to be scripted.  I’m looking forward to delivering a script he’ll be excited about.

This latest round of meetings has centered around the future of our production company and where we want to be in the next few years.  So we also talked about finances and plans to promote our existing films like Playing Through.

It’s fantastic to sit around talking movies again.

We now have a plan that goes back to the original 17 West Formula.

I write.  Eric Directs.

Beyond that, we also went over plans for The Climb’s release as well as future web site updates and features.

There really is a lot to be excited about.

Back to work!  Tons to do.

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17 West Productions Independent Film Toronto

Here is the first poster for 17 West’s newest short film, The Climb.

The low budget short film was shot in Toronto and is currently in post production.

The story centers on Cameron and Destiny and their struggles on the streets. While Destiny lost all hope long ago, Cameron holds to his belief that he will find a way to change things.

It was written and directed by Jason McKinnon, produced by Eric Gamache and stars Michael Clarke and Alyssa LaPlume.

You can catch up on the film’s pre production here.

Learn more about The Climb’s 3 day shoot here.

Complete details on the production here.

Check out the film’s official page here.

The Climb Short Film 17 West Productions

Photo by Michel Savoie

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