Hello Destroyer is scoring big.
The hockey-based story was filmed largely in Prince George, including a crowd scene inside CN Centre depicting some of the script's on-ice action.
The filming was done in March of last year and it was released to the public in September in grand fashion. Its debut was at the famed Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) where one reviewer opined "Without question. This isn't just one of the best Canadian films of the year. It's one of the best of the past decade."
The film was directed by Kevan Funk.
Its stars include Jared Abrahamson (he is also the star of locally shot movie Never Steady, Never Still now in post-production), Kurt Max Runte, Ben Cotton, Paul McGillion, Sara Canning, Ian Tracey and many others.
The story concerns a young hockey enforcer who inflicts a serious injury on an opponent, then has a difficult time coping with the aftermath.
Those around him also stumble to be supportive.
Co-producer Daniel Domachowski told The Citizen it has been a wildly successful run for Hello Destroyer and it hasn't even had its Prince George showing, yet.
The film was picked up for distribution by Northern Banner Releasing and those plans are still in the works.
There will be a limited tour, first, thanks to the evaluators at TIFF. They were picked as one of the festival's Top 10 Canadian Films of 2016. That tour got underway this week and will present in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax.
"The Vancouver Film Critics Circle nominated us for eight awards and we ended up with Best Canadian Film, Best B.C. Film, Best Actor (Abrahamson), Best Supporting Actor (Runte) and Best Director (Funk)," Domachowski said.
The other nominations were for Best Supporting Actor (Joe Dion Buffalo), Best Screenplay (Funk), and Best First Film by a Canadian Director (Funk).
"We just got nominated for four awards at the Canadian Screen Awards which is Canada's Oscars," Domachowski said. "The nominations again are for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writer and Best Actor (Abrahamson)."
The top trophy for the British Columbia film industry, one of the world's cinematic hotspots, is the Leo Awards.
The deadline for nominations is Feb. 1 for the next Leo fete, and Hello Destroyer stands a strong chance at some of those categories, too, based on their success so far.
Domachowski said there have been additional spinoffs that are measured differently than Top 10 lists and award nominations. Abrahamson, for example, signed a representation offer from talent agency WMA, and he landed a key roll in the new Netflix hit series Travellers.
International film festivals are now interested in having Hello Destroyer on their screens and, said Domachowski, "we are also working on a screening in P.G. so stay tuned."
He urged local fans of the film to follow their latest news on the Hello Destroyer page on Facebook.
