Canada has many talented actors, writers, directors, producers, and other content creators. To help our industry grow, we would like to introduce you to some of those talented folks who have managed to capture that magic on screen.
This week we spoke with Vancouver, writer, producer, director, and performer Caitlyn Sponheimer.
Caitlyn received Leo nominations for her feature film, Wild Goat Surf for best screenwriter and director.
You can read Shaun Lang’s review of the movie from Hollywood North.
Here is our conversation.
HNMAG: Where did you grow up?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: I grew up in Calgary and stayed there until I was 18. Then I went to Sanford Meisner’s school in New York, the Neighborhood Playhouse.
HNMAG: Were you interested in acting as a child?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: I wanted to be a lot of different things. The first job I wanted to have was a Princess, then a veterinarian, then an astronaut, then I told my friend that I wanted to be an astronaut and she fully laughed in my face. Then I thought, I better not do that. There were a lot of things that I wanted to be. At twelve or thirteen, I saw Pirates of the Caribbean and that movie inspired me. I became obsessed with it. That helped me gain interest in acting a lot.
HNMAG: How does an aspiring performer from Calgary get accepted into the Neighborhood Playhouse?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: I was applying to a lot of schools and people in the industry put my focus on that school. There was a process but it wasn’t too insane to get into the first year. For the second year, it’s by invitation only and they take twenty-five percent of the first-year students. It was lovely that I got asked back and the Playhouse was a great experience.
HNMAG: Did you come back to act in Canada?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: I ended up going to Toronto. I got an agent and I was there for a while. Then I booked my first lead in a feature film. It was called April in Autumn. I also worked on that as a story consultant. After that, I realized that I could make my own stuff.
HNMAG: April in Autumn was set in Toronto. Did that influence your decision to set movies in Canada?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: It didn’t. It highlighted parts of Toronto in a very nice way. In terms of Wild Goat Surf, I wasn’t affected in any way by feeling that I had to discuss any kind of Canadian culture or landscapes. I never had an impetus to include something because it was Canadian. With Wild Goat Surf, the Okanagan comes from a very personal place in my own life.
HNMAG: You moved to Montreal after Toronto. Did you already speak French?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: I went to French Immersion. I have a bilingual certificate from Alberta. I can speak French. That’s still different than being bilingual in Quebec. I speak French but it’s more like a six-year-old.
HNMAG: Why did you move there?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: I never loved Toronto as a city. My best friend is from Montreal and she was leaving Toronto at the time and going home. I wasn’t happy with my Toronto agent. I had a lot of other friends moving to Montreal as well. It felt like the right thing to do. It ended up being an amazing thing. I booked a lot of work. I was mentored by amazing Quebecois filmmakers and I made my first short films. The city’s art culture aligned with my values.
HNMAG: How did you start making your first feature?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: I was writing the script for another director and it was very different. Once it was clear that I would direct it, it changed as I was writing from a different viewpoint. Wild Goat Surf got a lot better when it became more personal. Every summer as a kid, I’d travel with my family to Penticton. The motorhome in the film belongs to my parents. That’s the same one from my childhood. The campgrounds were amazing places where we would spend our entire summers. It was really important to capture that motorhome and Penticton on screen. No matter what happens, I’ll always have that on screen. One of the campgrounds was sold and turned into condos. I’m worried that will happen to all my favorite childhood memories.
HNMAG: Where did the title come from?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: Goat was the lead girl’s name and I wanted to get her character into the title. Those words worked together.
HNMAG: The Rolling Stones had an album in 1973 called Goat Head’s Soup.
Caitlyn Sponheimer: That’s funny. It wasn’t something that I was thinking about.
HNMAG: What is happening now with how to see the movie?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: We already had a pre-sale with Crave. You can rent or buy it on all the streaming services. It will be on Crave in the Fall.
HNMAG: Are you working on anything else right now?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: I signed with Wallop in Vancouver for Commercial directing. My next feature is ready. We are just securing funding and attaching some cast. It’s a bigger project. I also produced an independent movie called Thanks to the Hard Work of the Elephants. It’s about troubled youth. It’s based on a true story but the names were changed.
HNMAG: You directed, wrote, produced, and performed in Wild Goat Surf. How did others help you deliver that vision?
Caitlyn Sponheimer: Joseph Schweers is an amazing cinematographer. He captures the beauty of the Okanagan so beautifully. Cayne McKenzie did the score and that was really cool. He did two full scores. We had some back and forth and eventually went back to the original organ which became Goat’s call to the ocean. I’m really proud of Cayne’s work on that. Kayleigh Choiniere did a sick job with the costumes. It seemed so effortless how she brought back the 2003 era. Sarah Trudelle won the Leo for best editor and she is so talented. The script is very different from the final cut.
Caitlyn Sponheimer is very creative and prolific.
She wears a lot of hats and can draw from a varied background. Even though she doesn’t have a strong desire to focus on Canadian stories, she is not afraid to stick to her truth. Hopefully, Wild Goat Surf will lead to more authentic Canadian movies that will show the rest of the world what we have to offer.
We need more people like Caitlyn Sponheimer who are obsessively dedicated to capturing, authentic and personal experiences.