Françis Choquette - Unit Manager
How long have you been with Isuma?
Since December, 2004. Only a few months.
How important is the community of Igloolik to the film?
It's important because all of the staff is from the community. Everything I need goes through the community. Most of the staff and qamutiks (sleds) come from the community.
What difficulties have you encountered?
The weather, transportation, and the punctuality of staff.
How the is the movie set in Igloolik different from ones in the South?
The difference is in the infrastructure. When I work in Montreal, it's on big films with a big crew. Each department has a head and it's much smaller here. The difference is that here, everybody gets involved, everyone gets the ideas. It's quite different from shooting in Montreal. And it's quite challenging because when I work with my team in Montreal, my assistants already know the job, so I don't need to talk much to them. Here I do more things, plan more things, and the people here don’t work the same way as in the typical Southern movie business.
Can you walk me through your typical day?
I’m at the office at 8am, make sure everyone's in. Then I check my schedule to see what's behind, what's priority. Right now, it's only preparation: paperwork and the usual until five. But then, when we start shooting, I'll be on set all the time to coordinate transport, coordinate actors, coordinate lunch, everything. For now it's just preparation, so it's a little bit easier. Eventually, the closer we get to shooting the busier we'll get. Busier due to delays and last minute requests.
What are your other projects?
(Laughing) I've stopped counting. Me, I've worked on small projects like French Canadian films, also I've done some big shoots like "The Day After Tomorrow", "Gothika", "Free Money" and there's a whole bunch. When people talk more about me, I work more. I have a very good crew in Montreal. I'm quite a bit in demand right now, I've had to refuse a lot of contracts in order to work up here because I wanted the challenge.
What are your future plans?
I was approached to shoot a movie of the week in Montreal in August, so when I finish here I'll get off the plane and start right away for an 8-week shoot. I still have to wait for confirmation, but there's a lot of projects, so I'm not worried about it.
