THE SAME HOUSE
Canada, January 2008
22 min: 46 sec, Narrative
Screening at The Lovinger Theatre


The Same House is a short coming-of-age film that speaks to a generation for which growing up is optional. Lee is a young lady so desperately attached to her childhood memories and friends that she cannot and will not accept their life changes or her own. When, at 19, she is faced with her first unavoidable encounter with adulthood, she retreats to her family cottage dragging her two closest and oldest friends with her in a desperate, last ditch effort to resurrect childhood
adventures and purely innocent fun. Convinced this weekend away will confirm her opinion that maturity is unnecessary, she tries everything to ignore impending adulthood and encourage silly games. But present reality can only be pushed aside temporarily. Issues of marriage and career continue to tear Lee away from her careless winter wonderland and force her to make a decision about whether she too is ready for adulthood. If so, does it mean she must leave it all behind forever?

Credits
Producer: Sacha Baylin-Stern
Director, Writer: Holly Brace-Lavoie
Cinematographer: Ian LaGarde
Original Music/Composer: Graham Playford

Cast
Sarah Finn, Matthew Gagnon, Paul Johnston

DIRECTOR: Holly Brace-Lavoie has been making independent films in
Montreal since 2000. She was the winner of the Jet Films Award for Best
Writing and Directing in 2002 and one of the few Anglophone recipients of financial aid from the Société de développement des enterprises
culturelles (SODEC) and the Conseil des arts et des letters du québec
(CALQ). Her works are primarily short dramas, whose narratives examine some of the basic issues of humanity in everyday life. She is a graduate of the Film Production program at Concordia University’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema and the founder and elected president of the Quebec Cooperative Film Initiative. She continues to be an active, young voice in the Montreal cinematic
community.

Oh, and she loves hockey. Go habs go!

PRODUCER: Sacha Baylin-Stern is always up to something. Featured in Clin D’oeil Filles as one of the “coolest people to watch in 2008” you can bet he will be living up to the title. In addition to co- founding Cosmotropolos Films with writer/director (and high school pal)
Holly Brace-Lavoie, he does regular production work with Montreal-based NuFilms.

His upcoming projects include the short films Dernier Souffle, directed
by Martin-Phillippe Tremblay on the Cosmotropolis label and In the Market directed by Ben Steiger-Levine. His work for NuFilms has has made him the authority on production for bands throughout the province of quebec. With his artistic sensibilities, eye for talent and refusal to take ‘no’ for an answer, you can bet this isn’t the last you’ve seen of Sach.

ACTORS

Sarah Finn
Sara is an Ottawa-based performance artist. She has recently been nominated for Best Female Performance at the Rideau Awards for her
role as Jason in the Deluxe Hot Sauce production of Medea. She is a frequent Fringe performer, an ever- active member in the Ottawa
theatre community and still down-to-earth despite all the critical acclaim.

Matthew Gagnon
Matt describes himself as having “hobbit-like” features. Lucky him.
Those features helped to land him a spot in the cast of the Toronto musical production of the Lord of the Rings. Pursuing a creative writing degree at Concordia University, Matt has appeared on stage in productions of Our Town and Guys And Dolls. He's also been on the big screen, in A Different Loyalty (starring Sharon Stone) and the film adaptation of Mambo Italiano.

Paul Johnston
This auburn-haired thespian is also no stranger to the stage or the camera. Prior to The Same House, Paul appeared in Todd Haynes’ unconventional Bob Dylan bio-flick I’m not there, alongside
Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale and Heath Ledger among others. A graduate of Concordia University’s Theatre program, he performed in the Galafilm production The Great War as well as the Montreal Fringe Festival.