White Rock-based producer and screenwriter Kraig Wenman is over the moon right now.

The feature screenplay veteran 乌鸦传媒� he乌鸦传媒檚 sold scores of them, including many for the Lifetime Movie Network and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channels 乌鸦传媒� recently learned his passion project, the true crime 乌鸦传媒榙ramedy乌鸦传媒�, Bandit, will debut in Cineplex movie theatres 乌鸦传媒� including Langley乌鸦传媒檚 Colossus 乌鸦传媒� on Sept. 23.

The theatrical window for the film will be joined by a host of online and cable streaming options, including Apple-TV, Prime Video, VUDU, Google Play, Microsoft, Spectrum, DirecTV, Comcast, Cox, Dish, Fios, Telus, Shaw, Rogers and Bell.

And, thanks to territory deals closed by Wenman and his production partners at the Cannes Film Festival in May, audiences will also be seeing it everywhere from the UK, France, Spain, Greece, Italy, Germany to Poland, the Baltic States, the Middle East, South Korea, Taiwan and South Africa.

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Starring Josh Duhamel, Elisha Cuthbert and Mel Gibson, Bandit is the real-life story of U.S.-born bank-robber Gilbert Galvan (played by Duhamel), who in the late 1980s won himself the title of Canada乌鸦传媒檚 乌鸦传媒渇lying bandit.乌鸦传媒�

Living under the alias of Robert Whiteman 乌鸦传媒� theoretically a successful courier of stocks and bonds 乌鸦传媒� the boyish and personable Galvan lived a comfortable middle-class existence in Pembroke, Ont. with a wife, Andrea (played by Cuthbert) who had no inkling of his real occupation.

Galvan, who loved to fly first-class out of Toronto on his 乌鸦传媒榖usiness trips乌鸦传媒�, always travelled with a little extra luggage 乌鸦传媒� two handguns and a multitude of easily-shed disguises.

After descending on some other Canadian city, the canny bandit would pull off one or two slickly-executed bank jobs before calmly boarding another jet for the return flight, with a briefcase now full of cash.

In a notably non-violent three-year career 乌鸦传媒� which included robbing banks in 15 cities 乌鸦传媒� Galvan was believed to have raked in a cool $2.3 million.

But his downfall began when he encountered charismatic strip club owner and jewel-fancier Tommy Craig (played by Gibson) who had a reputation as one of Ontario乌鸦传媒檚 biggest fences of stolen property.

Given the outrageousness of the true events, there乌鸦传媒檚 a comedic element to Bandit, Wenman said 乌鸦传媒� which places it in a similar territory to other true crime 乌鸦传媒榙ramedies乌鸦传媒� such as Blow and Catch Me If You Can.

Directed by Canadian Allan Ungar, and shot in the early summer of 2021, Bandit also reverses the usual film industry practice of Canadian locations filling in for the U.S. by having U.S. locations (in and around Thomasville, Ga.) fill in for urban and suburban Ontario.

Part of the reason for that is that it was easier to put together financing in the U.S. 乌鸦传媒� after the initial COVID lock-down 乌鸦传媒� than it was in Canada, Wenman told Peace Arch News.

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 been an adventure. We shot 21 days in Georgia, a day in Ottawa, then a day in Los Angeles and it乌鸦传媒檚 finally come all together. It乌鸦传媒檚 getting harder and harder to compete with studios for theatre (space), so we乌鸦传媒檙e stoked to get 100 screens in America and everywhere 乌鸦传媒榦n demand乌鸦传媒�.

乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檝e been on the phone with director Allan Ungar every day reviewing every shot, alternate take, and it乌鸦传媒檚 definitely been a labour of love to bring to the screen this true Canadian story that乌鸦传媒檚 actually set in a Canada for once!

Helping the production process was the fact that Ungar has a photographic memory, Wenman said.

乌鸦传媒淗e ended up knowing the script better than anyone, which helped us shoot 163 scenes, with 918 camera set ups/shots in just 21 days, not including the second unit camera department 乌鸦传媒� luckily our crews in Georgia, L.A., and Ottawa could work the long hours at lightning speed.

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 really they that deserve all the credit.乌鸦传媒�

But giving the film its 乌鸦传媒渉eart乌鸦传媒�, Wenman said, were the cast, who bonded as an effective team.

乌鸦传媒淛osh was not only suave, but hilarious at improv, which you will see in his performance. And Elisha, playing the heart, hope, and conscience of the film, really helped ground all the madness of the real life story. At the heart of the film, it乌鸦传媒檚 really a love story between Josh and Elisha with sayings and banter I stole from my own life.乌鸦传媒�

A last-minute addition to the cast was Nestor Carbonnel, who brings a lot of energy and professionalism to the role of Galvan乌鸦传媒檚 police officer nemesis, Wenman noted.

乌鸦传媒淗e乌鸦传媒檚 like Michael Jordan乌鸦传媒� you just give him the ball,乌鸦传媒� he said.

And Wenman said he really enjoyed working on set with Gibson, who brought a lot of his own experience as screenwriter and director to the project.

乌鸦传媒淗e could really add to the lines and rework them on the page with me. Like Josh乌鸦传媒檚 lines, for Mel we used the real-life dialogue of the real characters they were based on whenever we could. Like Mel saying, 乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檝e got a doctorate thesis in street乌鸦传媒� which is so 乌鸦传媒榞angster乌鸦传媒� 乌鸦传媒� and a completely real line.乌鸦传媒�

And the real Galvan, who ultimately served time for his crimes, wasn乌鸦传媒檛 far away from the project 乌鸦传媒� he actually appears in the background during several scenes in the movie, Wenman said.

After being introduced by Robert Knuckle, author of the book The Flying Bandit 乌鸦传媒� which, along with interviews by journalist Ed Arnold, became the basis of the screenplay 乌鸦传媒� Galvan and Wenman struck up a friendship almost immediately.

乌鸦传媒淗e乌鸦传媒檚 doing well, a free man, whom I speak with almost every day,乌鸦传媒� Wenman said.

乌鸦传媒淗e乌鸦传媒檚 excited to show people the insane story that he lived, and enjoys the notoriety. He乌鸦传媒檚 in the background during the bar scenes alongside yours truly.乌鸦传媒�

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 hard to think that it all started with a nine-year-old me hearing the urban legend about it in Ottawa,乌鸦传媒� added Wenman, who lived in the capital from kindergarten to Grade 6, while his late father, Bob, was serving in parliament as MP for Fraser Valley West.

乌鸦传媒淚 lived maybe 10 minutes from the real-life bandit there.乌鸦传媒�

Naturally it乌鸦传媒檚 very gratifying for Wenman to see the project, three years in the works, come to fruition 乌鸦传媒� and he plans to take a large group of friends to the first, 7 p.m., showing at Colossus on Sept. 23.

乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 an exciting time to see your dream come true, a small independent film with heart going up against the big guys, much like Galvan did against the 乌鸦传媒榖anksters,乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮�媒� he said.

And he has a message for aspiring filmmakers.

乌鸦传媒淓veryone will tell you it乌鸦传媒檚 impossible to pull something like this off,乌鸦传媒� he said.

乌鸦传媒淏ut anything worthwhile is never easy. And everything乌鸦传媒檚 impossible until it isn乌鸦传媒檛. Your dreams aren乌鸦传媒檛 going to follow you, so get out there, chase them down, tackle them, and slap them until they submit!乌鸦传媒�

alex.browne@peacearchnews.com
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