Caitlyn Sponheimer is an award winning, Vancouver based filmmaker who we spoke with in 2024 about her wonderful feature film Wild Goat Surf.
We caught up with Caitlyn in Cannes in May. She was there pitching her next movie. The Dishes.
HNMAG: Wild Goat Surf is now on Crave and CBC Gem.
Caitlyn Sponheimer: Yeah, it’s on CBC, it’s on Crave. Giant Pictures and Tribeca picked it up for the rest of the world. So you can find anywhere… on Amazon, iTunes, Kanopy, Tubi…
HNMAG: Is it Tubi Canada, Tubi US, or both?
Caitlyn Sponheimer:: Tubi states and other territories. In Canada it’s Crave and CBC to stream.
HNMAG: The best thing about Gem is that anyone who lives in Canada can watch it for free.
Caitlyn Sponheimer: Yes, there are no excuses. It think it’s playing on airlines as well.
HNMAG: What brought you to Cannes?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: The Director’s Guild of Canada (DGC), has a Cannes market delegation. It’s a new program. Hans, the national director, has pushed to have a bigger presence of filmmakers at the actual markets who can pitch their own projects. Artists can apply but it’s a very selective process. Once the delegates are chosen, there are several months of workshops to get your pitches together. It’s very supportive and they connect everyone. These market delegations The DGC begun are so successful, that they’re expanding to more major festivals and markets all over the world. Very cool for us directors!
HNMAG: That’s a smart approach to move from producers to directors because it can be more compelling for media and audiences in general.
Caitlyn Sponheimer: Yeah exactly, everyone wants to know what the stories are.
HNMAG: What are you pitching right now?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: It’s called The Dishes, it’s a character driven dark comedy about fine china. It satirizing grief.
HNMAG: Are there dishes that are being inherited?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: “Two cousins, Leon and Maggie, are fighting over their aunt Gail’s Blossomtime Fine China. They will go to any lengths to avoid their impending grief.” We often value material items over spiritual value. I have also found that comedy allows people to have more access to grief and sadness. Comedy becomes the lens that lets us into what the characters are going through.
HNMAG: Where is The Dishes set?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: In Vancouver.
HNMAG: Does place have anything to do with telling our own stories?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: Yes and that has shifted in a few years because all this stuff that is going on in the States, has strengthened my love of Canada. Even more than before.
HNMAG: Sure, that’s why Mark Carney became Prime Minister.
Caitlyn Sponheimer: We’re so lucky to be Canadian. I feel very grateful. It’s a privilege to be born in Canada. Canadian film is having a surgence right now. There have been some really cool indie films coming from Canada. I want to contribute to that. I want to show our land, respect it and respect the cultures we come from.
HNMAG: With so much turmoil from the US, Vancouver industry as a service centre is threatened. Do we pivot and make our own projects now?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: I love that idea and I agree one thousand percent as long as it functions within a certain framework. I have been trying to think of how to break out of that normal structure of funding lately… I’m here at Cannes with the DGC pitching The Dishes and we’re looking for international sales partners. Getting an artistic project made, as many filmmakers know, can take time.
HNMAG: Do you have a target for when to go to camera?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: We want to shoot next year. We still have a few more partners to bring in!
We have been focusing on having more productions set in Canada with our contributions to Hollywood North. Over the past three years, a lot has changed. There are more TV shows and movies that are set in Canada finding internatonal success. When we spoke with Caitlyn Sponheimer in December of 2024, that wasn’t the case. Wild Goat Surf happened to be set in Canada but that was not an agenda. The light at the end of the tunnel is shining through. We look forward to watching The Dishes once that feature comedy gets released. We are also optimistic that Caitlyn will be part of the wave of Canadian filmmakers who brings our stories to the rest of the planet in a thriving market.