What happens when you combine the buddy comedy energy of Wayne’s World and the far-fetched action and adventure of Harold and Kumar and set it against the backdrop of one of Vancouver’s most notorious neighbourhoods?
You get East Van Rich, a new indie movie directed by Dale Bredeson meant to celebrate the unconventional thinking, boundary-pushing, and passion of the people that live in the area.
“I feel like East Van has shaped me as a person which has helped shape my career,” he tells V.I.A. over the phone.
Bredeson moved to the neighbourhood from small town Alberta and calls East Van his second home.
“As my career has grown and my job has gotten more stressful, I think the chilled nature of East Van has made me more down to earth,” he says.
Growing up in Wetaskiwin, Bredeson “yearned for culture” which he found in East Van. He says he encountered diverse types of people giving themselves permission to make art and express themselves.
“I feel like [East Van culture] is a sense of inclusivity, creativity, anarchy–it’s do-it-yourself, be who you are,” he explains, adding that there is a lot of love between people in the community.
“Lift as you climb and don’t leave no one behind,” he says, noting it's a quote from a local reggae show. “What I really want to celebrate is people doing it for themselves and doing it for each other. Being weird and unique and loving every flaw.”
East Van Rich is currently crowdfunding to help get the project off the ground with a goal of $15,000 to $30,000 (similar to the budget of Clerks back in 1994).
The title refers to the phenomenon that if you have enough money to pay for a full tank of gas, food, and rent but you’re left without a penny to your name after, you’re "East Van rich."
Bredeson has Assistant Director credits for films such as Fantastic Four, Tron Legacy, and The Hurt Locker and television shows like A Million Little Things, Van Helsing, Battlestar Galactica, Supernatural and Riverdale.
The plot of the movie
Once fully funded, the 90-minute film will follow two loveable failure-to-launch 20-somethings born and bred in East Van.
When a military duffle bag containing an alien rocket falls off a truck during typical Vancouver bridge traffic, the pieces end up scattered across East Van and fall into the hands of our heroes.
They see the discovery as an opportunity to strike it rich and try to find the other pieces, but they’re not the only ones on the hunt.
“It’s an Odyssey of oddities,” describes Bredeson. There’s even a hot air balloon involved.
“East Van Rich brings together 70’s/80’s gritty indie cinematography and real-world street feel with a couple of inglorious idiots right in the heart of the action,” reads the crowdfunding page, which also compares the movie to the likes of Repo Man (1984) and The Warriors (1979).
“Think Bill and Ted in Escape From New York crossed with Trailer Park Boys in Judgement Night, with a few shakes of Pineapple Express for good measure,” it says.
A trailer narrated by Tommy Chong, one-half of the Vancouver-founded stoner comedy duo Cheech and Chong, is out now to tease the concept.
The crowdfunding
Initial funding will be put toward equipment. Since the film is meant to be hyper-realistic, Bredeson says that they don’t have a lot of need for set dressing and decoration. Instead, the investment in steady cam, proper sound, and proper post-production is what’s needed to take the movie to the next level.
If the project reaches its stretch goal of $30,000, the hope is to include celebrity cameos which the director hopes will also incentivize people to see the film.
And of course, the money will help to take care of the cast and crew, who Bredeson says are already giving a lot of their time to the project and still need to make rent.
“We don’t want to take advantage of anyone,” he says.
In addition to monetary contributions, East Van Rich is looking for “in-kind support” which could include location rentals, donating equipment, and product placement from local businesses.
“We want East Van to be a part of this movie,” says Bredeson.
In exchange, different contributions will receive different thank yous ranging from social media shout-outs to associate producer credits on IMDb to being in the background of a scene.
