We are proud to announce that Canada’s legendary band “Trooper” likes Leave Them Laughing and we love their music!  Carla Zilbersmith, the hero of our film, had already rocked out to Trooper in high school. One of Trooper’s songs accompanies one of the film’s most beautiful, vibrant scenes. [...]]]>

Spring has sprung..
It’s high time for some fun…..

We are proud to announce that Canada’s legendary band “Trooper” likes Leave Them Laughing and we love their music!  Carla Zilbersmith, the hero of our film, had already rocked out to Trooper in high school. One of Trooper’s songs accompanies one of the film’s most beautiful, vibrant scenes. Can you guess which song it might be?  Many great prizes, including 2 VIP/meet and greet the band at a future concert and meet and greet Academy Award-winning director John Zaritsky at the World Premiere of Leave Them Laughing at Hot Docs in Toronto on May 6/8 or at a future screening of the film.
 
A bit about Trooper:
Millions of records, a couple dozen hits, sold-out coliseums across Canada, a Juno Award (Canada’s Grammy) for Band of the Year. The Vancouver Sun called them “Canadian rock heroes of the first order … the best performing band in Canada.”
The great reviews continue. In 2009, Peter Assaff of the Northern Light hailed Ra McGuire and Brian Smith as “the Canadian version of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards” and Joel Rubinoff of The Record wrote: ” … this frolicking, rollicking showcase for McGuire’s soaring pop melodies and whimsical wordplay is arguably one of the biggest Canadian bands of all time.”
They’ve backed up a who’s who of Rock including Aerosmith, AC/DC, Steppenwolf, Alice Cooper, ZZ Top, Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Beck, REO, Styx, and many others.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Trooper has become a Canadian legend.
For more about Trooper and to research Trooper’s albums and songs, please visit www.trooper.com. You can even have a brief listen and check out future concert details.
 
The rules are simple:
Tell us the title of the Trooper song that’s included in the film. Please include your reason for choosing this particular song. You may enter more than once and feel free to comment on other entries as well. Don’t forget to tell us which grand prize you’d prefer. Both will be awarded as well as a number of additional prizes! Winners will be chosen at random from correct entries. Please note that everyone who has seen the film and knows which song it is is excluded from this contest. (We know who you are!)
 
Grand Prizes:
2 VIP tickets to a future Trooper concert including meet and greet the band
2 VIP tickets to the World Premiere at Hot Docs in Toronto on May 6 or 8 (or a future screening) including meet and greet Academy Award-winning director John Zaritsky.
(Prizes are for tickets only and exclude travel and accommodation. Prizes are not exchangeable for cash.)
 
Additional Prizes:
1 Trooper T shirt
1 Trooper Hot Shots (Greatest Hits) CD
1 autographed band photo
1 autographed copy of John Zaritsky’s recent Gemini Award winning film “The Wild Horse Redemption”
 
Increase your chances of winning one of the additional prizes by becoming a fan of Trooper on Trooper’s facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/trooperband
 
and by becoming a fan of Leave Them Laughing on the film’s facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/leavethemlaughing

Need some help figuring out which great Trooper song is in the film?
We’ll be giving clues along the way right here, so check back often.
 
1st clue:
This song is played at weddings and funerals alike.

2nd clue:
Lyrics were written sitting on a big log on Kitsilano Beach

3rd clue:
The song is great to dance to (but not the slow smoochy kind).

4th clue:
The song was released as a single.

5th clue: This still of Carla, the hero of Leave Them Laughing, was shot during the glorious scene that is accompanied by the Trooper song in question. Carla’s expression says it all!

Carla Zilbersmith having a blast!

Last clue: :
“And the sun is shining, in this rainy city.” (Hope we didn’t give it away, did we?)

Post your entries as a comment below.
 
Contest closes on April 25. We will announce the winners and post the entire glorious scene right here on April 26!
 
Let the games begin and have fun!

As Leave Them Laughing is entering the final stages of [...]]]>

Producer Montana Berg just returned from a week at MIPCOM, one of the largest film markets in the world that takes place once a year in Cannes, France. Over 12,000 industry professionals from 103 countries, including more than 4,000 buyers, invaded the Croisette for the cross-platform, cross-cultural media event.

As Leave Them Laughing is entering the final stages of post-production,  the goal of the trip was to raise lots of awareness for the film around the globe. Montana managed to speak with over 100 TV and Theatrical distributors/network executives and journalists from North America, Europe, Australia and Asia.  The reactions of most folks, when they heard that Leave Them Laughing is a ‘musical comedy about dying,’ included those of positive curiosity and genuine interest.  Everyone who watched the trailer enjoyed the humor and there has been a keen interest in the opportunity to screen a copy of the rough cut.

Montana is particularly proud of the fact that she was welcomed to MIPCOM with a short writeup in the MIPCOM news magazine which published one issue on each of the four MIPCOM days. The article said the following:

Montana Berg is at MIPCOM for the first time to drum up interest in Leave Them Laughing, which she describes as “a musical comedy movie about dying.”

Although Berg herself is a first-time producer, she has put together an experienced team, headed by Academy Award-winning director John Zaritsky (Just Another Missing Kid). Leave Them Laughing, a Point Grey Pictures/MagicalFlute Films production, tells the true story of comic Carla Zilbersmith, who is suffering from a  fatal disease, but has vowed to keep people laughing to the end.

“Coming to MIPCOM has been a real eye-opener,” Berg said. “We are getting a lot of interest in Leave Them Laughing, which is partly down to the strength of the story and partly down to the calibre of the production team.”

Only about a hundred+ projects and/or people were recognized in the MIPCOM news and we are proud that Leave Them Laughing was amongst them!