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Arts News: Changes afoot for Festivals Events & Animation

Planning is under way for the 2012 Festival Events & Animation (FE&A) program and — surprise, surprise! — RMOW staff has learned a few lessons from last year's program.
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Planning is under way for the 2012 Festival Events & Animation (FE&A) program and — surprise, surprise! — RMOW staff has learned a few lessons from last year's program.

In a report to council Tuesday evening (March 6), Jan Jansen, general manager of resort experience, explained some of the lessons that will help the planning for 2012 — and planning topped the list.

"It's no surprise, we need more time to plan," Jansen said.

He also explained that the program needs more funds invested in marketing; that no single program will attract visitors, but that "layers of experience" are needed to create an attractive cultural landscape; and that all cultural products and programs are meant to support the central Whistler experience of sport recreation.

Mayor Nancy Wilhelm-Morden complimented staff's work on the report, saying, "There was a lot of commentary (on FE&A) and through the (2011 election) campaign , and what we were looking for was a balance between bureaucracy on the one hand and flexibility, nimbleness and expertise on the other. I think this plan will work. I personally see it as a work in progress."

Council voted to establish an FE&A oversight committee, as well as a Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) oversight committee that will provide quarterly reports and increase the involvement of Tourism Whistler and the Hotel Association of Whistler in its decision-making processes. Both committees will report directly to the council finance and audit committee.

The FE&A oversight committee will include a representative from both the RMOW and Tourism Whistler along with a member-at-large chairperson. It will oversee a FE&A working group that will provide input into program development, and will include representatives from the Whistler Arts Council, Tourism Whistler, the Whistler Museum and Archives, Whistler Blackcomb and other stakeholders in the community.

Last year's $2.6 million FE&A program, which included the Whistler Presents free concert series throughout the summer, was funded through the Resort Municipality Initiative funds (RMI). Jansen said that the RMOW is proceeding with the 2012 program with the belief that they will receive the same amount as last year.

Council also voted unanimously to direct staff to submit another application to the Government of Canada Department of Canadian Heritage (PCH) Canada Cultural Spaces Fund (CCSF) requesting funds to assist in the renovation of the Rainbow Theatre, and to commit to the $338,000 of RMI funds already set aside in the 2011 and 2012 budgets for the project.

As previously reported, the RMOW had previously applied to PCH for the CCSF grant on behalf of the Whistler Film Festival (WFF) but was denied under the assumption that the provincial and municipal governments weren't chipping in enough for the project, and because the project did not meet CCSF requirements.

In a Committee of the Whole meeting on Feb. 21, WFF executive director Shauna Hardy Mishaw asked that the RMOW increase support for the festival from $50,000 annually in RMI funds to $300,000. In a letter to council on Tuesday, she asked that a decision be made on this contribution by March 15.

When asked when a decision will be reached regarding the contribution, Jansen said that the RMI oversight committee will now handle the WFF's request and said it's unlikely that a decision will be made by the requested deadline.

WAC calls for submissions

The 2012 edition of our beloved ArtWalk is now in its beginning phases. Plans are being made. Details are being etched out. Hands are being shook, or shaken depending on how serious you are about your grammar.

Now, the Whistler Arts Council (WAC) is calling on artists to submit their work for this year's annual event, which will be held from July 1 to Aug. 31. Sea to Sky artists who work in visual art, photography, fibre arts, pottery, multi-media, jewelry and sculpture are encouraged to apply online at artswhistler.com.

Applications are also being accepted from local businesses interested in participating this year as a host gallery. Venues in Whistler Village, Upper Village, Creekside and Function Junction are encouraged to apply. Deadline for all applications is on Sunday, April 1.

Many people think that here in Canada we don't have much of our own culture. The truth is that we do, but living upstairs from one of the world's largest exporters of (mostly shitty) culture, our stories are often lost amidst the clamour.

This is why everyone should head to the Squamish Garibaldi 5 this weekend to check out Goon, a Canadian-made comedy about the life and hard times of a minor league hockey enforcer.

Seann William Scott (Role Models, Final Destination, Stifler) stars as an underachieving nightclub bouncer touched by the "Fist of God." His only real skill, other than being earnest, is the ability to knock people out. These talents land him a gig with the Halifax Highlanders protecting their hard-partying superstar Xavier Laflamme (C.R.A.Z.Y's Marc-Andre Grondin) who has never played to his potential since receiving a brutal hit by league tough-guy Ross Rhea (Liev Schreiber). Comedy, romance and jockstrap humour ensues.

Goon is a high-quality lowbrow film about a likeable idiot, but it succeeds because it's so smartly made. Writers Jay Baruchel (actor: Knocked up, The Trotsky) and Evan Goldberg (Superbad) wisely populate their script with unique takes on archetypical characters and underplay their love story (the Achilles' heel of any sports comedy). Relationship scenes with the excellent Alison Pill don't wallow in sap the way American romance often does and there is a lot to be said for a character who professes her feelings with, "You make me want to stop sleeping with a bunch of guys."

Director Michael Dowse (both Fubars, It's All Gone Pete Tong) scores again and Liev Schreiber wins MVP for adding what can only be described as "hubristic denouement" to a punch-'em-up hockey comedy that's truly a Cup contender (and does the legacy of SlapShot proud). Interestingly, the Goon promo poster was deemed "too vulgar" by the pansies in Toronto, who petitioned city hall to tear them all down. Ha, no wonder the Leafs suck so much.

Speaking of sucking, John Carter, Hollywood's latest massively expensive CGI blockbuster epic opens Friday in both Whistler and Squam-town. It's about a human soldier fighting amongst aliens on a far-off planet (Mars) and falling in love with a hot princess.

If that sounds like an Avatar rip-off it's because John Carter, although based on an old novel, does borrow liberally from the world's highest grossing movie, as well as almost every other successful sci-fi flick of the past 30 years. Regardless, John Carter looks like a mess, not to mention that it's Disney and rated PG-13. One trustworthy critic compared it to carrying six steaming scoops of wet crap on a flimsy paper plate through a room full of psychotic monkeys, trying not to spill and failing miserably. I can't beat that, but you can bet I'm skipping John Carter.

The download of the week is the Kony 2012 movie, a half-hour call to action in which people around the world attempt to put an end to the reign of Joseph Kony, a tyrannical African warlord who has been raping, mutilating and enslaving young children for over 20 years.

Check out www.kony2012.com or Google "Kony 2012" and watch the 30-minute video dedicated to raising awareness and pressuring policy makers to bring Kony down. There are others who question the true spirit of the Kony 2012 movement and there is an example of that here.

http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com.nyud.net.