PRODUCTION:Vile Vigilance (Short Film)

LOCATION: Toronto

EMPLOYER: New History Films

DURATION: 1 Week, starts Nov 1, 2007

DIRECTOR: Graeme D. Brown.

SOURCES:
This is a highly controversial subject involving one of Ontario's darkest moments in history, and Ryerson film students are setting out to recreate the times in which the murders occurred (1880s).

There are disputes among historians and the general public concerning the act or means of portraying history through film, which is a topic explored thoroughly in our documentary titled 'Historiophoty', which includes a variety of talented actors, and an interview with well-known historian Natalie Zemon-Davis.

SYNOPSIS: "On Feb 4th 1880 a Vigilance Committee planned and murdered five members of a Lucan, Ontario, family. The crime, clever in its inception and ruthless in its execution, left a lone witness alive. Clay Robertson, a Toronto Globe reporter, races to find the boy witness before the committee completes its task." NOTE: Due to drastsic changes in the script, actors who auditioned for 'Vile Vigilance' a year ago should audition again.

APPLY TO: Jonathan Hodgson. ( vilevigilance.casting@hotmail.com )

2 BREAKDOWNS:

1. Male / 25-30 yrs. / White. CLAY ROBERTSON is a 28-year-old Toronto Globe reporter stationed in London Ontario in 1880. As an assignment reporter Clay’s occupation requires that he travel to local municipalities to cover breaking stories. Thriving on the investigative aspects of his job, Clay detests the standard story, and approaches each assignment with disdain for his superiors. This city boy sticks out in the small town of Lucan, Ontario. His approach to investigative reporting is foreign to the Lucan locals, a big fish out of water in a small pond.

2. Male / 25-30 yrs. / White. THOMAS RYDER, at thirty, is the oldest son of the Biddulph Ryder family. His hatred for the Donnelly family has led him to organize a rogue faction of the local Vigilance committee. As the strong arm of the Vigilance Committee, Ryder has orchestrated the murder of the Donnelly family, whom he believed has caused mayhem and violence in his community. The perfect crime has hit a snag when a witness, Johnny O’Conner, is left alive. Ryder strives to remedy his mistake by eliminating the lone witness, therefore ensuring his and his family’s innocence.