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Producer extraordinaire >> Arnie Gelbart works with Montreal's major talent, and puts out by MATTHEW HAYS
Gelbart's Garden association caps a couple of highly successful years for the veteran producer, writer and director. Last year's Lilies, co-produced with Toronto's Triptych Media and based on the Michel Marc Bouchard play, earned an unprecedented 14 Genie nominations, winning four, including the Best Picture Genie. This year Gelbart and Triptych again find themselves in the winner's circle, having produced the esoteric feature The Hanging Garden by first-time Nova Scotia director Fitzgerald. It has gathered 11 nominations, including Best Picture. "When I met Thom, it was clear there was something special about him," recalls Gelbart of their first meeting. "He's a cool customer. And I thought the script was really outstanding." Gelbart has made a career out of working on unusual projects with offbeat auteurs. His resume reads like a who's-who of the arthouse set. In 1972, he assistant-directed the classic Luis Buñuel Oscar-winner The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (Gelbart describes Buñuel as "a man of simple tastes, entirely unpretentious"). He assistant-directed and associate-produced Sweet Movie, directed by the subversive filmmaking demigod Dusan Makavejev (W.R. Mysteries of the Organism), later co-writing the screenplay for Montenegro, Makavejev's biggest commercial success. Gelbart has also made forays into documentary production, including the highly controversial Gemini-Award-winning The Valour and the Horror and Climate for Murder, the CBC documentary made about the rash of anti-gay murders in Montreal during the late '80s and early '90s. Though Gelbart was born in Brussels, Belgium, he's been based in Montreal since he was seven. After much travelling and working on international film shoots, Gelbart resettled in Montreal and cofounded his Galafilm production company in 1990. "I thought a production company was a good idea as I wanted to direct and write my own work. But being a producer's pretty all-consuming." Now Gelbart is one of the most prominent producers in the country, helping to foster Canadian talent on minimal budgets. Both Lilies and The Hanging Garden are co-productions between provinces, allowing the filmmakers to best utilize each province's film funding bodies. "We're trying to produce good quality films for very little money. We got the minimum funding from institutions for The Hanging Garden--we did it on $1.6 million--which is very little money for a feature." Though Garden was shot outside of Halifax, Gelbart notes a good deal of Quebec talent was involved. The dedicated crew, he says, helped to keep costs low and make the final product look so slick. Gelbart says cinematographer Daniel Jobin's work was amazing (Jobin also shot Lilies). "Daniel is able to find rapid solutions to complicated problems." Gelbart says despite numerous successes, culling funds for a new movie remains a challenge. "Oh no, this is Canada. You're always on the same starting line as everyone else. There's very little credit given to track record in this country. As for any boost the Lilies Genie might have had, we already had The Hanging Garden in the can when we won for Lilies." While Gelbart has worked in TV as well as film, currently producing the hour-long Tale of Tika (written by Michel Marc Bouchard and featuring Lilies star Brent Carver) for the CBC, Gelbart argues film is the medium with real longevity. "TV is ephemeral. It's films that last. The bottom line is, more time and thought is put into a feature film than a TV drama." And though he acknowledges the quality of recent TV productions by Canadian filmmakers (think Bruce McDonald and Clement Virgo), Gelbart argues a national reputation cannot be built on TV alone. "The reason those two filmmakers are on TV is because Mike Harris decimated the OFDC. If you're a filmmaker in Ontario right now, you're in a pickle. "It would be a terrible mistake to rely solely on TV. We know about Australia because of their films, not because of their television. Film has a long shelf life and an afterlife on TV and video." Finally, it's worth noting Gelbart is straight. Not because he advertises his sexual orientation, but because his recent taste in productions could lead one to suspect he might lean the other way. There was Climate for Murder, about homophobia, gay director John Greyson's Lilies and now queer Thom Fitzgerald's The Hanging Garden. "There's no politics involved," says Gelbart. "If the stories are good, that's why I'm interested. The question is: is the work worthwhile? It's a joining of artistic temperament and taste." The Hanging Garden opens in Montreal in January. The Genies airs on Bravo! on Sunday, Dec. 14. Tale of Tika will air on CBC in the spring
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"I know he would have been delighted with this decision, the film is definitely in his spirit," says Montreal producer Arnie Gelbart, responding to the news that the director of his latest co-production, The Hanging Garden, has been awarded the coveted Claude Jutra Genie Award. The honour is doubly sweet for the seasoned Gelbart, and points to the wealth of his experience--as well as backing director Thom Fitzgerald's Garden, a massive hit on the fest circuit this season, Gelbart worked with Jutra on several films years ago.