Nominated again: Dan Hogg
Hot on the heels of being part of last year’s Leo Award-winning team for the UVic web series Freshman’s Wharf, Fine Arts digital media staffer and Department of Writing film production/screenwriting/cinematography specialist Daniel Hogg has also been nominated in this year’s Leo Awards. This time, Hogg is tapped in the “Best Screenwriting in a Short Drama” category for his own short film, Woodrow Without Evelyn.
Written and directed by Hogg, Woodrow Without Evelyn is a six-minute slice-of-lifer about an aging widower trying to celebrate his Christmas holiday traditions alone; while it’s tinged with sadness, there are definitely a few light-hearted moments (mostly thanks to Freshman’s Wharf star Simon Basch.)
The Leo Awards are an annual project of the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British Columbia and celebrate excellence in artistic achievement in B.C.’s film and television industry. Winners will be announced at the obligatory gala in Vancouver on May 26.
Going places: Hogg and Lutter
This latest nomination follows up the news that Hogg and Writing alum Jeremy Lutter were accepted as one of four teams in the 2012 National Screen Institute Drama Prize, an ambitious course that provides emerging filmmakers with training in the various stages of filmmaking—including $10,000 in cash support, over $20,000 in services and mentoring from established industry leaders while teams develop and produce a short film (up to 10 minutes).
Hogg and Lutter’s project is Floodplain, a short drama set in the Canadian Rockies about a young man who has to let go of his teenage sweetheart when she’s heading off to college. Floodplain is based on a short story by fellow Writing alum and rising literary star D. W. Wilson.
Just to further the Department of Writing connection and bring this post full-circle, Lutter and Writing alum Ben Rollo also collaborated on the award-winning short film Joanna Makes a Friend, which is now heading off to the Cannes Film Festival—and has also been nominated for eight Leo Awards, including “Best Performance by a Female in a Short Drama” for Dalila Bela (as Joanna).
One final Leo nomination worth noting: Department of Theatre grad Erin Karpluk is up for “Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series” for her lead role in the CBC series Being Erica.