Telefilm announces Ottawa premiere of Gunless hosted by the Honourable James Moore

Paul Gross to attend the premiere

Montréal, April 21, 2010 – Telefilm Canada is announcing the Ottawa premiere of Gunless, directed by William Philips and starring Paul Gross, to be held on April 27 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. The film, presented to Members of Parliament, is being screened at the invitation of the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, in collaboration with Alliance Films, Brightlight Pictures, Rhombus Media, CBC, Corus Entertainment and Telefilm Canada. The screening will provide MPs with the opportunity to discover a high-quality Canadian film, at the initiative of the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

“A true Canadian comedy that pokes fun at the Hollywood Western genre, William Philips’s Gunless is sure to seduce audiences across the country,” said Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada. “And that is one of Telefilm’s key objectives: to support Canadian stories that resonate with audiences.”

When notorious American gunslinger, The Montana Kid, staggers into the tiny Canadian hamlet of Barclay’s Brush, life for the town’s 17 inhabitants is about to get exciting. The Kid immediately gets into an unfortunate altercation with Jack, the town’s surly blacksmith, which leads to the The Kid ‘calling him out’ for some good old frontier justice – a showdown. But in a place totally ill prepared to deal with a classic gun fight and without a single working pistol to be found, adhering to the code of the American Wild West may prove difficult.

Paul Gross stars in the lead role of The Montana Kid and Sienna Guillory his feisty and unlikely love interest. Joining Gross and Guillory in the movie are Tyler Mane as Jack the enigmatic blacksmith, Dustin Milligan as Corporal Jonathan Kent, a zealous junior North West Mounted Police officer, and Callum Keith Rennie plays Ben Cutler, a ruthless posse leader hunting down The Montana Kid. The village of Barclay’s Brush has been brought to life in an outlying desert area just outside Osoyoos, British Columbia.

Written and directed by William Philips, Gunless is produced by Niv Fichman of Rhombus Media and Stephen Hegyes and Shawn Williamson of Brightlight Pictures. The film received financial support from Telefilm Canada. Alliance Films is scheduled to release Gunless in theatres across Canada on April 30.

About Telefilm Canada
Telefilm Canada is a federal cultural agency dedicated to developing and promoting the Canadian audiovisual industry. Telefilm provides financial support to the private sector to create distinctively Canadian products that appeal to domestic and international audiences. Telefilm also administers the Canada Media Fund. Visit www.telefilm.ca.

About Alliance Films
Alliance Films is a leading distributor of motion pictures in Canada, with motion picture distribution operations in the United Kingdom and Spain.  The Company distributes filmed entertainment to theatres, on DVD, online and to television broadcasters. Alliance Films holds the Canadian distribution rights to the productions of leading independent studios, including CBS Films, Focus Features, The Weinstein Company, Overture Films, Apparition, The Film Department, A Bigger Boat, Grosvenor Park and Relativity Media. Visit www.alliancefilms.com.

About Brightlight Pictures
Brightlight Pictures develops, finances and produces independent feature films and television projects for the domestic and international marketplace. Company principals and producers, Stephen Hegyes and Shawn Williamson, have produced over 60 productions in the last 12 years and over 20 productions since the launch of the company in 2001, including White Noise, starring Michael Keaton, which has grossed more than $100 million since opening in January 2005. Brightlight has worked with such stars as Halle Berry, Justin Timberlake, Morgan Freeman, Al Pacino, Anne Hathaway, Ben Kingsley, Kevin Spacey and Nicholas Cage, among others. Credits include Canada/UK coproduction Fifty Dead Men Walking and upcoming feature No Clue, written by and starring Brent Butt.

About Rhombus Media
Rhombus Media is renowned the world over for its high-quality feature films, TV drama series and performing arts programmes. Since its inception in 1979, Rhombus has released over 200 productions that have been consistently acclaimed by critics and audiences around the world. Rhombus films have received literally hundreds of awards, including numerous Genies, Geminis, Golden Pragues and an Oscar. Some of the company’s more notable projects include The Red Violin, Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould, The Saddest Music in the World, September Songs, Beethoven’s Hair, Yo-Yo Ma: Inspired by Bach, Slings and Arrows, and most recently Fernando Meirelles’ Blindness, and Paul Gross’ Passchendaele.

About CBC
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster and one of its largest cultural institutions. The Corporation is a leader in reaching Canadians on new platforms and delivers a comprehensive range of radio, television, Internet, and satellite-based services. Deeply rooted in the regions, CBC/Radio-Canada is the only domestic broadcaster to offer diverse regional and cultural perspectives in English, French and eight Aboriginal languages.

About Corus Entertainment Inc.
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children’s book publishing and children’s animation. The company’s multimedia entertainment brands include YTV, Treehouse, Nickelodeon (Canada), W Network, CosmoTV, VIVA, Sundance Channel (Canada), Movie Central, HBO Canada, Nelvana, Kids Can Press and radio stations including CKNW, CFOX, CKOI, 98,5 FM, Q107 and 102.1 the Edge. Corus creates engaging branded entertainment experiences for its audiences across multiple platforms. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the Toronto (CJR.B) and New York (CJR) exchanges. Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.

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