“I feel lucky doing this here,” says Verona film director

Craig Bakay | Jun 16, 2021

It’s almost 2 p.m. on a hot and sunny Saturday in Verona. The cast and crew of the movie named for the hamlet are just wrapping up shooting for the day.

“We have about 40 people involved in the production,” said Maeve Kern, producer. “We usually have 30-35 people on set.

“That’s a lot of covid tests.”

There are actually 18 speaking parts in the film, she said. Some of those, along with crew, come from the Queen’s film and media department and Kern wanted to acknowledge the help that the production has received from the department, along with Alex Jansen and the Kingston Film Office.

Most of the others involved, however, have connections with the Ryerson University film programs, including Kern and the movie’s writer/director Sebastian Back.

“Sebastian and I were in the same graduating class,” she said.

So, what’s a big city film crew doing in sleepy little Verona for a summer filming schedule.

Back actually grew up in the area (Hartington) with mom and dad (Christine and Domenic) and grandmother Hannah. He went to Prince Charles Public School and then Loughborough Public School before leaving for the big city in 2007.

One day, in Germany, he started writing this little screenplay, about a girl and her girlfriend, her parents and it just sort of naturally was set in Verona.

The official blurb about the film goes like this: “Four dreamy summer days shifting between Camila’s deteriorating relationship with her girlfriend, her mother’s wanderlust and her father’s reckoning with his traumatic past.

Back said it’s Camila’s story.

“It’s a slice of life drama but yes, it is a love story, but more of a tragic love story,” he said. “Like Romeo and Juliet but you know what, I didn’t realize Romeo and Juliet was set in Verona (Italy) until after we started shooting.

But it wouldn’t have mattered if he did.

“Verona (Ontario) was the first and only option for shooting this,” he said. “This is where I wrote the screenplay for.”

For the lead, Camila, Back cast Scarborough and York University grad actress Kat Kahn.

“We’ve been friends for awhile,” Back said.

After admitting to “100 per cent culture shock” in coming to Verona from Toronto, as well as a lot of excitement, Kahn said they’ve all been living in a little bubble and “we all have the same sense of humour.

“And everybody trusts each other.”

Back said that’s the atmosphere he’s been striving for.

“I’m open to feedback from the cast and crew,” he said. “Of course every day has new challenges, but that’s to be expected.

“This is new to all of us and you gotta let the team perform.”

He said that even extends to the reception they’ve been given from the community.

“I was sure how people would feel about having us here,” he said. “But the community has been very welcoming, supporting. People wave and are quiet when we film and the stores have been happy to have us shoot in their store.

“I’m really happy,” he said. “I feel lucky doing this here.”

Saturday was the 12th of 18 shooting days in the area. After that, they’ll be off to post production with a target date of fall, 2022 before Verona starts showing up in festivals.

He said they’re looking at a 70-80 minute run time.

Verona is being produced through a first-film grant from Telefilm Canada.