MONTREAL ? If you were planning to make a biopic about the wives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Montreal might not be the first city you?d think of.
Betty and Coretta, which follows the two women as they cope after their husbands are assassinated, is set in various U.S. cities, notably New York and Atlanta. The producers were not planning on filming here at first; they were looking at a couple of American cities, including Pittsburgh, but when they started talking to Montreal filmmaker Yves Simoneau about directing, he suggested they give some thought to making the film in our town.
?I think Montreal was the right place to come shoot this film,? Simoneau said in a recent interview at his office in Mel?s Cit? du Cin?ma studios, just days before shooting began on Betty and Coretta. In particular, he cited the ability to find architecture that matches the various periods of time covered by the movie.
When the producers came to Simoneau, he told them: ?I love the idea of this project, the subject matter, but I would like you to consider Montreal. If you want me to look at the project, you should consider Montreal.?
He says he?s always trying to bring American films and TV projects to this city.
?Montreal was not on their (radar) at all,? said Simoneau. ?For a lot of producers and studios, they don?t even know Montreal.
?They think that the Earth stops after Toronto. Every film I?m being offered, I want to do it in Montreal. The problem is often related to the winter. There?s a good chunk of the year here where we can?t shoot outside.?
Betty and Coretta, which is being made for the Lifetime network in the U.S., stars Angela Bassett and Mary J. Blige, with Bassett playing Coretta Scott King and Blige playing Betty Shabazz, Malcolm X?s wife. Veteran actress Ruby Dee is also in the film.
Simoneau began his career making French-language movies here, most notably the thriller Pouvoir intime and the wrenching drama Les Fous de bassan.
But he decamped for Southern California in the early 1990s, spending more than a decade in L.A. directing American flicks, including the Emmy-winning HBO movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
While living and working in L.A., Simoneau brought a number of U.S. projects to shoot ?round these parts, including Nuremberg and 36 Hours to Die.
He?s still working overtime to bring the Americans here ? the difference is that he?s now doing his lobbying from our part of the world. He moved back here just over a decade ago, for personal reasons: He wanted his sons to grow up in his home province, en fran?ais.
?Los Angeles is an industrial city and the product is entertainment,? said Simoneau. ?When I moved there, I had to. I had reached the ceiling here. I was invited to shoot a movie there, and then after a year or two it was non-stop. That?s when I said (to my wife), ?We should consider moving (to L.A.).? I stayed 12, 13 years and it went like a train. I didn?t see the time go by. Then I realized I didn?t need to be there anymore. My name was established.?
His sons were 5 and 3 when he was thinking of moving back here. ?I wanted to give them a different experience than the one they were having over there. I wanted to give them a wider variety of experiences as kids. They were kind of becoming little Americans. I wanted them to be exposed to the French factor. I thought that was important. We spoke French at home in L.A. and they went to the lyc?e there, but everyone around them was English. I wanted them to see where I came from.?
Looking back, Simoneau feels good about the decision to head back to his home province.
?It?s funny, because I think I made the move to L.A. at the right time and I think I made the move back here at the right time.
?The main house is in the Eastern Townships, and it?s like paradise where we live. The American experience for me was very rich. I?ve learned so much over there. I met great people. So I have fond memories. The beauty of being around here is the four seasons. It gives you a timeline that you don?t have over there.
?Time disappears when you?re in L.A. That?s something I appreciate here.?
Is he even OK with the winter?
?I love winter. I?m from Quebec City. We were saying bye-bye to our house in December and saying hello again in March. There was a bank of snow covering the windows. Snow is part of my life. I missed it when I was down there.?
bkelly@montrealgazette.com
Twitter: @brendanshowbiz
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