De Seve Cinema
1400 De Maisoneuve West
Concordia, Library building
Montreal, QC

Maximus Film Productions presents "Crossing The Wake", the latest feature film by Ottawa filmmaker Max McGuire; screening in Montreal for an exclusive engagement December 7, after a sold out premiere in Ottawa.

Synopsis:

School's out, but the learning's just begun. A cottage party for a group of university grads turns into a weekend of love, lies, casual sex and crucial understanding. The future isn't the dream they once shared. The choices they make today will determine the lives they live tomorrow.

In September of 2004, Max McGuire and seven actors, armed with a micro crew, set out for the picturesque Thousand Islands on the St Lawrence River. They'd spend the next ten days there, shooting Max's latest feature film, "Crossing the Wake" at his family cottage (2 bedrooms divided by 13 people).

Max first blinked in the public spotlight when his film "Newton's Law " garnered him national press after he signed a distribution deal at the age of eighteen. Five long years later, the distributor had made little progress getting the movie screen time, motivating Max to start a new project. After a winter spent in Los Angeles (in 2004) where he was following up on contacts, Max came home with the idea for a new feature film. The story is semi-autobiographical, putting to use everything Max had available at his fingertips; a cottage on the St Lawrence River, a power boat with water-skis and a wakeboard, and an avid affinity for over-analyzing himself and his friends (courtesy of his Cystic Fibrosis which forces him to see things slightly differently then his peers).

It took four months to hammer out the story; Together Max and his co-writer Allison Cooper (daughter of Dick Cooper, from 70's rock band The Cooper Brothers) studied the template of the now classic film "The Big Chill" to better understand the structure needed to convey a small story centered around a theme (learning to get over your inhibitions) rather then a contrived Hollywood plot. The writers now un-apologetically refer to their film as an un-official prequel to "The Big Chill" - ten years earlier - with the twist being that Max's friends replace the original characters… The screenplay was completed days before principal photography, and casting moments later.

Casting was done through ACTRA under an independent production agreement. Max landed an experienced cast of up-and coming Canadian actors: Sarah Smyth, from the national TV series Naked Josh and the Hollywood feature film The Covenant, teamed up with director Max McGuire for a second time- "Newton's Law" incidentally was both of their first projects. Other notable cast mates are Montreal natives; James Berlingieri ( Shattered Glass), Sarah Crowder (Slashers), Andrea Sheldon (Gothika) and Derek Dugas (Undressed) along with Ottawa actors Jared Side (Undressed) and Greg Wilson (Newton's Law)

The screening will take place at 7:30 and 9:30 on December 7 2005, in the De Seve Cinema, located at 1400 De Maisoneuve West, in the Concordia Library building.

To contact Max, call 613-277-1354 or write at maxw...@gmail.com