Michael Greyeyes, Carmen Moore, Alex Rice & Michelle Thrush Wrap Shoot On ‘Birth Of A Family’
EXCLUSIVE: Michael Greyeyes (Rutherford Falls), Carmen Moore (The Flash), Alex Rice (Twilight Saga) and Michelle Thrush (Blackstone) are leading Birth Of A Family, the scripted feature debut of Tasha Hubbard, adapted from her 2017 Hot Docs project of the same name.
Experimental Forest Films and January Media are behind the Canadian production which has recently wrapped after shooting on location in Golden, British Columbia, Banff, Alberta and Calgary, Alberta over 21 days. Pic was co-written by Emil Sher alongside Hubbard.
The film tells the story of four Cree siblings, Connie, Marianne, Gwen, and Anthony, separated as babies through Canada’s notorious Sixties Scoop, which saw indigenous children taken from their homes to be adopted by white families. Excited and curious, but also scared and afraid of rejection, they agree to meet for the first time over a holiday weekend in the mountains of Banff.
Pic is produced by Tyler Hagan of Experimental Forrest Films and Julia Rosenberg of January Media. The film’s associate producers are Brittany Ryan and Amanda Gauvin Allen. Betty Ann Adam served as executive producer on the project.
The film was financed by Telefilm Canada, the Indigenous Screen Office, Canada Media Fund, Creative BC and Ontario Creates. The film’s broadcast partners include Crave (Bell Media), CBC and APTN. Mongrel Media will distribute the film in Canada and it is slated for release in 2025.
“I am deeply grateful for the enormously talented people who came together to make our film a reality,” said Tasha Hubbard, co-writer/director. “The story has lived in my head since I made the original documentary, and to have the opportunity to make my first drama with this particular story of reconnection and belonging is beyond rewarding.”
“When the original documentary was just an idea, I approached Tasha with it. I have been amazed and delighted with all that she, and now producers Julia Rosenberg and Tyler Hagan, have done with the concept,” added Betty Ann Adam, executive producer and subject of the source documentary. “I am gratified that my family’s experience has inspired this new, fictionalized version of Birth Of A Family. I’m heartened by the tremendous sensitivity and respect they’ve brought to all elements of its production.”
