Indigenous Stars Lead New Drama Skins Game Into Production
Skins Game, the dramatic feature debut from filmmaker Jon B. Elliott, has officially gone to camera in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The film includes a standout Indigenous cast at the center of its story about identity, culture, friendship, and belonging.
Written by Justin Neal, it follows two young Indigenous men whose lives cross inside a downtown Vancouver jail. Their meeting sets the stage for a cross-border journey that takes them from British Columbia to New Mexico.
The project is being filmed across several locations in the province, including Vancouver, North Vancouver, Mission, Langley, Surrey, Kamloops, and Merritt.
A Strong Indigenous Cast
The movie unites established Indigenous performers from film and television, with Forrest Goodluck leading the cast alongside Phillip Forest Lewitski, Carmen Moore, Taylor Kinequon, Joel D. Montgrand, and William Belleau.
Goodluck is known for The Revenant, The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands, and How to Blow Up a Pipeline. Lewitski has appeared in Die My Love and Bones Of Crows, while Moore has credits including Meadowlarks and The Flash.
The ensemble features Kinequon from In the Blink of an Eye, Montgrand from True Detective and Belleau, who appeared in Killers Of The Flower Moon.
Matthew Alan Taylor, known for Bon Cop, Bad Cop, and Jen Oleksiuk of DC Legends of Tomorrow also round out the cast.
Two Lives Collide Behind Bars
Jesse is a white-passing mixed-race Coast Salish college student who has become distant from his culture. He ends up in jail after a drunken altercation.
Russell arrives under very different circumstances. A political activist and graffiti artist from New Mexico, he is arrested after painting a politically charged mural.
After their release, the unlikely pair begins a road trip across the border toward New Mexico. Their journey takes them through hostile territory, forcing both men to face personal struggles while examining their identities and relationships with their communities.
Behind the Production
- Title:Skins Game
- Director: Jon B. Elliott
- Writer: Justin Neal
- Production Companies: Vandal Productions and Pass Through Productions
- Director of Photography: Kaayla Whachell
- Canadian Distributor: Photon Films
- Filming Locations: Vancouver, North Vancouver, Mission, Langley, Surrey, Kamloops, and Merritt
- TIFF Market: Producer Jessie Anthony will shop the film in Toronto
- Support: Telefilm Canada, Creative BC, Canada Arts Council, and Photon Films
Elliott, whose previous work includes The Knowing and Amplify, directs the project from Neal’s screenplay. Cole Vandale and Jessie Anthony serve as producers, with Anthony known for Brother, I Cry and Vandale for Terror/Forming.
Executive producers include Patti Poskitt of Oystercatcher Films Inc., along with Neal, Elliott, Mark Slone, Sardé Hardie, Goodluck, and Lewitski. Whachell, whose credits include Portraits From a Fire, serves as director of photography.
Anthony will also represent the production at the TIFF Market in Toronto, where she will shop the project on behalf of Vandal Productions and Pass Through Productions.
With production now underway, Skins Game is shaping up as a character-driven road drama about two men from very different backgrounds.
What do you think about Skins Game’s story of friendship, identity, and culture? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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