Dawgs Playing Poker is an absurd feature-length comedy about a crime of opportunity.
The film, with Sudbury native actor Shawn Reynolds and director Glen McDonald, shows at SilverCity Cinemas at 4 p.m. on Sept. 18.
Follow a colourful cast of characters as they chase each other through a night of kidnapping, forced inebriation, dancing in clubs, bar brawling, first dates and loves realized, helium explosions, electrocutions and hilarious sudden deaths.
A pulsating, youthful, and absurd farce, it moves at a pace driven by the sounds of rave, lounge, acid-jazz and punk rock music.
A world of vibrant primary colours serves as a backdrop to a zany cast of characters, creating an over-all comic book appearance.
Northern Life reporter Judi Koski spoke with Shawn Reynolds about his life and about his first feature film, Dawgs Playing Poker.
Q. I understand you're one of our own?
A. I'm from New Sudbury and lived there until I graduated
from Laurentian University. I live in downtown Toronto with one
of my brothers but have spent time in New York, L.A. and
London.
Q. Is this your real name or stage name?
A. Stage name is the same, Shawn Reynolds.
Q. When did you become an actor?
A.I was part of the French immersion program at Carl Nesbitt
and Lasalle and really gravitated to dramatic arts. I had seen
a performance of Once Upon a Mattress at Lasalle and decided
then and there that I had to be part of that world.
Q. Where did you get your training and how long have you
been involved in the film industry?
A. I've been doing this for about 10 years. I did a summer
program in London, England and also HB studios in New York. I
did take one acting class at Laurentian while studying physical
and health education. I was also part of the Sudbury Fringe
Festival one season and produced and starred in a short film
for Channel 7 called Trench.
Q. Where has your acting career taken you?
A. Most recently I performed as a reporter on MVP: The Secret
Lives of Hockey Wives. I was in Cologne, Germany to be part of
the film One Way with Universal Pictures. Michael Clark Duncan
from The Green Mile was one of my co-stars. I did a nice little
docu-drama for Discovery called Moby Dick the True Story. I had
to get knocked into Lake Ontario in March for one of the
scenes. It was colder than Lake Ramsey. I have since had to do
two other films where I had to get into very cold water for the
character. I'm the go-to-guy for cold water scenes.
I've done a short film with Atom Egoyan and performed with
Loran Cardinal from Corner Gas when I participated in Women in
the Directors Chair last year. I played Christopher Robin in
Winnie the Pooh at Stage West and Christopher Wren in the
Mousetrap; the longest running show in North America.
Q. Tell me about your film, Dawgs Playing Poker.
A. The film is 74 minutes long. It is filmed in and around
Toronto. Glen wrote the film and we decided to produce it
together. We had just finished producing a play together and
had a ton of fun and decided to bring as much of that cast back
together as possible for this project. Almost all of the cast
are close friends which made shooting the projects a very
enjoyable.
The film is a comedic heist film about four guys who steal a
safe from a warehouse. It follows them as they're getting
chased around the city. The tag line for the film is
They're as dumb as they look. It's in the vein of films
like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and A Fish Called
Wanda. It's a really crazy and absurd film.
The film was recently shown in Seattle. Here is the trailer to
Dawgs Playing Poker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6gGoeW99Yo
.
Q. Other than yourself, who is in the cast of Dawgs Playing
Poker?
A. Anne Marie Scheffler, Catherine Black, Dave Tompa, and Dave
Roche.
Q. Is there anything else you would like to talk about?
A. I'm so excited to have this film in Sudbury. It feels
like a homecoming to me. I used to go to Cinéfest when I was
younger and for my film to be shown in my hometown with all my
family is so amazing.
