Humber brings the Reign
Humber’s first feature film continues to reign over award season.
Reign is Humber’s first ever feature film written by recent graduate of the Film and Television Production program Corey Misquita.
The film has gone on to have tremendous success after production, said program coordinator and executive producer of the film Eva Ziemsen.
Not only was Reign selected as the opening film for the Female Eye Film Festival in June of this year, said Ziemsen, but Misquita also took home the best emerging filmmaker award in the same week.
Reign depicts the turmoil that friendships face under social pressures. Two high school girls, Charlie and Brooke, find out that relationships aren’t as easy as they seem and sometimes there are consequences.
“The film continues to do well,” said Ziemsen, “It’s screening in L.A”. Reign made its international debut in Los Angeles on Oct. 16 at the La Femme International Film Festival.
In addition to the film and it’s writer being recognized, the supporting cast of Reign has been acknowledged. Both supporting actresses Corina Bizim and Kyal Legend have been nominated for Joey awards which appreciate Canadian actors under the age of 21. The awards will be handed out on Nov. 14 at the show in Vancouver.
Winning this award would be an accomplishment, as it would bring more publicity to the film, said Bizim who has been nominated once before but has yet to take it home.
The ‘mean girl’ of the film went on to say that Reign’s student run influence made it a unique film. “The fact that it was a female driven story and cast makes it unique, which is sad to admit but so true in this industry,” said Bizim.
While Reign was born of student creativity, Bizim also said that being a student herself, it relates to a student audience.
“I can’t speak to everyone’s experiences but I think everyone at some point has felt lost and struggled with their relationships growing up,” she said, “ And I hope that feeling is communicated in our performances.”
As for the film’s future, it seems that it will still have some reign.
As of now the producers are working towards partnering with a distributor like Netflix to make Reign available for the public to enjoy, said Ziemsen about the next steps for the film.
The film’s early beginnings go back to Misquita’s second year in the Film and Television Production program where she created a short film. From there, Ziemsen saw the potential and helped Misquita to flush out the script, create a step outline and put the wheels in motion to turn Reign into a feature film.
“Students were able to get key credits on a feature film at this level working with professional actors and being mentored by professional crew members,” she said, which gave them a role that they wouldn’t necessarily have right out of school.
Because of Reign’s success and the challenges and expenses of making it, the film program is re working how students produce content to allow them to secure similar jobs within the industry.
This year, the program will introduce filming sample scenes or trailers that will help give students a full package to present to the industry. Ziemsen says that, “They don’t just have a feature film script when they leave here, they have a full package which is very different from what most other programs teach.”
About the Author
Michelle Bedley Is a journalism student, avid reader and aspiring editorial writer.
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