Behind the scenes: Drinkwater director Stephen Campanelli dishes on Penticton-shot film starring Eric McCormack
The proudly Canadian project by Clint Eastwood’s most trusted “camera eye” opens the 2022 Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth
Stephen Campanelli (left) and Eric McCormack on the set of Drinkwater. Photo courtesy Stephen Campanelli.
Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth presents Drinkwater from April 3 to 13. The film opens the festival on April 3 at 4 pm at the Roundhouse Community Centre, followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker and the opening night party.
ICE HOCKEY, TIM Hortons, Nardwaur, and Eric McCormack: these are among the national treasures captured in Drinkwater. Director Stephen Campanelli’s heart-warming film opens the 2022 Reel 2 Real International Film Festival for Youth.
Set and filmed in Penticton, the production features an all-Canadian cast and tells the coming-of-age story of Mike Drinkwater, played by Daniel Doheny (Adventures in Public School). A wholesome tale of family ties and teenage-hood, Drinkwater celebrates the country’s culture, history, and, in Campanelli’s words, “all kinds of craziness”.
“A lot of films that get shot here aren’t about Canada, so it's kind of nice that we get to show Canada for Canada,” Campanelli says in an interview with Stir over Zoom. “We wanted to kind of make fun of ourselves in that way. All those little things in the movie that you caught, you know, it's just a little tribute to our home country.”
Drinkwater marks the fifth film under Campanelli’s directing portfolio, but he has been in the film industry for over three decades. Originally from Montreal, he has earned international recognition as a movie cameraman, having worked in Los Angeles for 25 years and become the most trusted “camera eye” of famed Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood, his childhood idol. Campanelli is credited with being a technical trailblazer, the first to combine "A" camera operating and steadicam, which unlocked a brand-new filmmaking perspective that drew the attention of Eastwood and many other top directors. Among the films he has worked on are Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, American Sniper, and Letters From Iwo Jima, to name a few.
“It's been a blessing to be under him [Eastwood] all these years learning directing skills, and he's such an amazing director and amazing man,” says Campanelli, who also helmed the camera for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. “So I learned everything from him and other great directors that I worked with over the years. I kind of just absorbed it all.”
While the winner of a Society of Camera Operators’ Lifetime Achievement Award has earned great success in that role, Campanelli says his true love lies with directing. His breakthrough came with the 2017 release of Indian Horse, a movie adaptation of Ojibway writer Richard Wagamese’s novel that tells the survival story of an Indigneous boy in residential school. It went on to win more than 15 international film festival awards.
“It was such a heavy, powerful film,” Campanelli says. “I was so proud of it and to be part of history. And then getting to make Drinkwater was just a complete opposite — just a fun, silly movie where we get to have a good time. I just love working with stories; it just makes me happy. And that's all I want to do is just kind of keep on directing.”
Eric McCormack in Drinkwater.
Having travelled the globe for his work, Campanelli says directing movies that centre their production and story within his home country comes with a sense of pride. There still exists a stigma, he says, that Canadian films are generally not up to par with their international competitors.
“I wanted to really change that, I wanted Canadian films to look good and sound good,” Campanelli says. “I obviously worked on some really big American films as a cameraman and it's been a real treat, but coming home to Canada just feels right and good. I just love it here.”
Drinkwater is dusted with iconic national symbols, inside jokes, and the day-to-day quirks of being a Canadian teen. Among the impressive cast that includes Louriza Tronco, McCormack is the most well-known Canadian name; Campanelli says the Will & Grace actor jumped on board without hesitation when he first read and fell in love with the script. Filming took place over a mere 16 days during the pandemic with a lean production budget. Campanelli says that despite the challenges, they all made the best of what was a “wacky and crazy” shooting process.
It’s all to offer viewers a chance to escape the real world for a while and have a laugh and to share a little bit of warmth that Canadians are known for.
“Everyday was a blessing,” Campanelli says. “We just had such a good time. We all worked very hard but still managed to just laugh and enjoy each other's company during COVID times.
“Everyone knew we were making a film with some heart and soul to it,” he adds. “I think that’s what drove everybody more than money. It was just like, ‘Yeah, we're making a fun project. And, you know, I’m proud to show it.’ I want viewers to just go, ‘Yeah, we're Canadian, we’re proud of it. We have our bumps in the road, we’re not perfect, but we do have a good sense of humour.”
Stephen Campanelli (left) and Eric McCormack on the set of Drinkwater. Photo courtesy Stephen Campanelli.
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