In Memoriam - Cheers, Jim Murphy

Champion of Canadian film Jim Murphy passed away in Toronto recently. Jim was a lifelong film distributor, film fan, film fanatic, film encyclopedia and film teacher who loved film and filmmakers more than anything in the world. Shoes Full of Feet lovingly referred to the mentor as “Yoda”. Shoes first met Jim through the NSI Features First program, of which he was the head at the time. Through the NSI Jim shepherded Shoes’ flagship project “The Leftover Bandit” through development and pushed Shoes to improve on the project. Jim will be missed. But no Shoe will miss him more than Ben Berger.

Lot's More in 2004

Short film “The Clock is Ticking” continued its festival run by being selected to screen at the National Screen Institute’s all-Canadian FilmExchange in March. The Shoes Boys were there to enjoy this fabulous festival. And ‘Clock’ didn’t stop here in Winnipeg. In April, it screened at the Dawson City International Short Film Festival, in June at the Nickel Film Festival in St. John’s, NL, and in July at the first annual Canadian Filmmakers Festival, in Toronto.

In May, feature film “The Leftover Bandit” finished its first phase of development, successfully completing the NSI Features First program. Progress didn’t end there – Alexandra Raffé of Savi Media joined the ‘Bandit’ team as Executive Producer, and in September, the Harold Greenberg Fund furnished the project with development financing. In December, Al Magee was brought on board to story edit the screenplay.

The extensive post-production process on the seminal Shoes short “Safe” was finished by August, and the film was selected to screen right away at the Montreal World Film Festival, and at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Film. The buzz was hot, and the screenings sell out successes! Click here to see Storyboards for the film.

Shoes proved it still has the short film itch in September, when “For All the Marbles” was added to the slate. Penned by ‘Bandit’ writer Brian Hartigan, the short follows the Indiana Jones like exploits of a seven year-old boy in the schoolyard at recess.

Personal development continued too, with the Green Shoe participating in Judith Weston’s “Acting for Directors” workshop in Chicago in May, and the Blue Shoe attending the Phyllis Laing’s “Insider’s Edge on Producing” in June at the Summer Institute of Film and Television, in Ottawa.

What's so special about 2003

Short film project “The Clock is Ticking” was short listed for the OMDC Al Waxman Calling Card grant, but didn’t squeak by the pitch. Shoes went ahead and shot the film anyway, in March. The very next Calling Card round, the boys came back with “Safe” and this time they were successful in receiving the grant. “Safe” represented the first story idea conceived by all three Shoes together.

But next, Shoes discovered the talents of writer Brian Hartigan and optioned his feature screenplay “The Leftover Bandit.” With this screenplay, the three Shoes and Brian were accepted into the National Screen Institute’s Features First program, which involves an intensive eight months of development.

In the summer, a new Shoe was invited to the fold. Not to be mistaken with yellow snow the Yellow Shoe became the newest member of the Shoes Full of Feet team. His name: Robert Hyde. His mission: Business Management. In his first few months the piles of paper surrounding the ‘Head Office’ have disappeared. The company has become a well-oiled machine! Ready for any invoice or tax form the mailbox may hold!

In September, the three Shoes and Brian traveled to the Vancouver Film Festival with the NSI. Throughout the fall, development continued on ‘Bandit’ and the screenplay was re-drafted with the help of The Development House.

In October, ‘Clock’ was screened at the Bloor Cinema and at the Focus Niagara Film Festival.

“Safe” went into production at @Wallace Studios in December.

And the rest, as they say, is the future…

Then there was 2002

A year with no shooting proved to be too much for Shoes. Two new short films were shot digitally and completed early in the year. “Her Last Party” was written and directed by Blue and “Girl On The Side of The Road” was written and directed by Green

Work on “Mistletoe” continued, becoming ever more complex. A fabulous reading of the screenplay in December at The Characters in Toronto led to the attachment of Michelle Nolden as Megan, the female lead in the film.

The Shoes website went live.

2001: A Space Odyssey

By January, Ramona Barckert had completed the first draft of the feature project “Mistletoe”. Originally an idea by the Green Shoe, it took mere days for a draft to be finished. Development of this feature began immediately.

This was the year of corporate development. Shoes Full of Feet was incorporated in August. By the fall, the vision of the company had been put on paper: the business plan was completed.

The Y2K Bug

Red, Green and Blue graduated from Ryerson, and screened “No Man’s Land” and “Day of the Carp” to rave reviews. Both were accepted to the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival in Los Angeles, which led to Shoes’ first trip to the fabled city of movie magic. ‘Carp’ won best screenplay, and ‘NML’ went on to win the Norman Jewison filmmaker award later in the fall.

The real work commenced as Shoes Full of Feet began establishing itself in the industry and developing all the right relationships. Plans for the first feature were afoot…

Party Like its 1999

The stars aligned, and Red, Green and Blue Shoes were brought together. The three were at Ryerson University and had just completed their third year in film studies. Green had an idea to shoot a First World War trench drama for his fourth year project, and brought Red on board as producer. They decided to start a film company that could facilitate their final projects and treat the fourth year as their first year in the industry.

The scale of “No Man’s Land” required the services of Blue, who began as a production manager, but soon became producer and the third member of Shoes Full of Feet. “No Man’s Land” was shot in early September on location on a farm near Flesherton, Ontario. Two trenches were dug, and the crew lived on location, shooting night and day for six days.

“Day of the Carp” was shot in Toronto in November, becoming Shoes’ second short film

Conceptual-Fusion Design also completed the logo and branding designs for the company in 1999.