18-year-old filmmaker's feature film to be shown at film festival in San Francisco

Subject: 18-year-old Canadian director to have feature film screened at Hollywood Underground Film Festival

Max McGuire was 18 years old in the summer of 1999, when he shot, directed and produced the feature film Newton’s Law. He began by graduating high school a year early, and he followed up by convincing his parents to let him cash in his college fund to buy a 16 mm film camera with which he would later shoot the film. The making of Newton’s Law was a long process. Max received a lot of help from the industry: The Canadian actor’s union (ACTRA) provided professional actors for a deferred payment, he then rounded up a small crew (6 people) and got them to volunteer their services in order to gain experience on a film set. Brockville City council donated fire, police and ambulance vehicles and services, all necessary for an indie-action film. Local businesses volunteered locations such as the 6-acre warehouse lot, where the bulk of the film was shot, and where the van was exploded.
Three years later, all the help has paid off, the film is complete and Max has signed a distribution deal with Iron Communications of Toronto. The public will now have a chance to see the movie. Newton’s Law is scheduled to close the Hollywood Underground Film Festival in San Francisco this October the 28, at 10 PM. The festival runs from October 24 to the 29, with numerous films being screened from around the world, along with nightly events and parties. Max will be attending the festival and is hoping for a “Canada Council for the Arts travel grant” to assist with the high costs of American travel.
Max overcame the usual obstacles of guerrilla filmmaking: time (a 15 day shoot) money (mostly his college fund, topped off by a Canada Council for the Arts completion grant) and experience (he had none). He completed his movie and got a distributor to take it on, both daunting tasks for a Canadian filmmaker. Above and beyond the normal problems associated with filmmaking, he overcame his personal obstacles. Max was only 18 years old, and he has Cystic Fibrosis, a terminal genetic disease that mainly affects the lungs, among most other organs. His disease was, and still is a motivating factor in the pursuit of his career.