Playback Online
March 29 2018By Regan Reid
Geneva Film Co’s James Stewart may have found his next online hit.
The director and producer behind the 2015 animated stop-motion short film Foxed!, which garnered more than five million views on Facebook alone, released the web series Chateau Laurier on the social platform earlier this month.
The turn-of-the-20th-century drama, set in the historic Ottawa hotel, follows a budding romance between two restless young people. It stars Fiona Reid (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Kate Ross (Alias Grace), Luke Humphrey (Stratford’s Shakespeare in Love) and the late Bruce Gray (Traders), in his final role.
The series is produced and directed by Stewart, who co-created the series with co-writers and co-producers Kent Staines (Prom Queen) and Emily Weedon (15 Kinds of Casual Sex). It was produced with the assistance of BravoFACT.
Since launching on March 13, Chateau Laurier (3 x 3 minutes) has been viewed more than 1 million times, with each episode averaging more than 350,000 views and its Facebook page amassing more than 40,000 followers in its first week.
Stewart told Playback Daily that his success with Foxed! on Facebook led the production team to debut the series on the platform.
“Foxed! did really well on Vimeo with 100,000 views. But when we put it on Facebook, for free, it had more than 5 million views. I learned from that that the share-ability of Facebook is very, very easy,” he said, adding that he believes there’s less online trolling and a more positive community on Facebook than on other platforms like YouTube.
Stewart said after cast and crew shared the Facebook page with their respective friends, the series “took off.” While he doesn’t profess to know the inside workings of Facebook’s algorithm, Stewart noted that the shorter, three-minute format is ideal for Facebook in particular, as the episodes are easier to digest on mobile. In 2016, Facebook reported it had passed more than one billion mobile-only monthly users and more than one billion daily active mobile users.
For Stewart, the web series will ideally serve as an audience-builder for an eventual primetime drama, which the producers are looking to pitch to linear broadcasters and SVODs. “Being able to say [to a network or SVOD] that we already have 400,000 fans is amazing,” he said.
In the meantime, the producers are working to secure funding for more webisodes to continue the series.
Playback Online articleOttawa Citizen
March 28 2018A web series premiered in March based on Ottawa's Chateau Laurier Hotel.
Holly Menchetti, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: March 28, 2018 | Last Updated: March 29, 2018 11:58 AM EDT
A web miniseries based on Ottawa’s own Chateau Laurier premiered on Facebook in March and has so far attracted more than 45,000 followers. The three videos in the series combined have been viewed more than a million times.
The web series was filmed in Toronto, but is set at the Chateau Laurier hotel circa 1912. It is about an arranged marriage between two young people. Season 1 has three episodes— running about three minutes each — and is produced and directed by James Stewart, who grew up in the capital.
“I love dramatic storytelling and Ottawa, so it’s the perfect combination of the two,” Stewart said in a phone interview.
Stewart attended Carleton University for film studies and moved to Toronto after graduating.
“I started to work my way up,” said Stewart. Eventually, he began working with short films, commercials, animation, 3D projects and more.
The Chateau Laurier web series (which is can be viewed on the Chateau Laurier — The Web Series Facebook page) was inspired by Stewart’s upbringing in Ottawa. He’s always had an interest in the history of the city, but also with the hotel itself. He believes inside the Chateau Laurier, there are many stories waiting to be told, as well as many interesting guests and personalities who have visited the hotel.
“The Prime Minister, politicians and wealthy people stay at the Chateau Laurier,” he said. “There’s always intriguing drama going on in there.”
He says the feel of the show is somewhat similar to that of Downton Abbey and The Crown. The cast and crew paid a lot of attention to the costume, interior design, dialogue, hair and makeup throughout the filming in order to capture the atmosphere of the time period the show takes place in.
Stewart said he and his crew are excited about the response the web series —which was actually filmed in one day in 2016 — has so far received. He said he would love to continue the show and tell more stories from the Chateau Laurier.
The web series stars Fiona Reid, Kate Ross, Luke Humphrey, Kent Staines, Fraser Elsdon and the late Bruce Gray. Ken Staines and Emily Weedon are co-writers and co-producers.
Ottawa Citizen articleMarch 26 2018New Original Web Series CHATEAU LAURIER Makes Debut with 300,000 Views and 40,000 Followers in First Week
Stellar cast features Fiona Reid, Kate Ross, Luke Humphrey and the late Bruce Gray
Monday, March 26, 2018 (Toronto) – The first season of the new web series CHATEAU LAURIER made its debut with 300,000 views and 40,000 followers on Facebook in its first week, it was announced today by producer/director, James Stewart. Featuring a stellar Canadian cast, including Fiona Reid (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Kate Ross (Alias Grace), Luke Humphrey (Stratford’s Shakespeare in Love), and the late Bruce Gray (Traders) in his last role, the first season of the web series launched on March 13, 2018 with 3 episodes of 3 minutes each.
Beautiful Printed Fabrics Inspired by British Artists Launching in February 2018
February 13 2018February 12, 2018 (Toronto) – Annie Sloan is pleased to announce the launch of her new range of
beautiful printed fabrics that are inspired by British Art. Three new patterns – Dulcet, Piano and Tacit –
have been designed to complement and match the colours in Annie Sloan’s line of decorative paint,
Chalk Paint™. Alongside the prints, a new range of tickings has been launched, also featuring colours
from the Annie Sloan palette. Prints and tickings are suitable for curtains, blinds, soft furnishings and
general upholstery, and are made in the UK.
FIPRESCI award-winner has world premiere at TIFF
August 31 2017The Motive (El Autor), a thought-provoking comedy from Manuel Martin Cuenca (
Cannibal), has its world premiere as a Special Presentation at TIFF 2017
Searching for literary inspiration, an aspiring novelist stuck in a dead-end job as a notary in Seville, insinuates himself into the lives of his apartment-dwelling neighbours and attempts to instigate drama, in this comedic, thought-provoking, and self-aware meditation on art and authorial intent.
Trailer
