On the 107th anniversary of Vimy Ridge, Executive Producer Peter Williamson is pleased to announce that production has begun on the supernatural WWI web series pilot, Ghosts Have Warm Hands, starring newcomers Conor Murphy and Mitchell James Page, along with Jason Dubeau, Adam Lemieux, Laurence Captan (Mission Unexplained, Winterbourne: A Horror Anthology), and Casey Fleming (Lido TV). Based on the memoir of the same name from Canadian WWI soldier and novelist, Will R. Bird, this is the inaugural project from Williamson’s production company, Pale Gleams.
Ghosts Have Warm Hands is directed by Peter Williamson (For King & Empire-Canada’s Soldiers in WWI, Greatest Tank Battles, Searching for Vimy’s Lost Soldiers) from a screenplay by John Whitcher (Storming Juno, Gulp!, Codsucker Bay), and produced by Leanne Brennan (Sunshine Slayings, An Eclectic Christmas, Searching for Vimy’s Lost Soldiers, Science Max: Experiments at Large). Whitcher also co-produced, with Tim Gillies serving as historical consultant.
Will Bird, a soldier in The Black Watch of Canada, experienced two years of hell on the Western Front during WWI. He wrote about these true-life events in his memoirs, Ghosts Have Warm Hands.
The Ghosts Have Warm Hands pilot was filmed at Immersion Room, a virtual production studio in Toronto. “This is the first time Will Bird’s work has been adapted to film. Using virtual production technology allowed us to bring the desolation of the landscape following the 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge to life in a way that would not have been possible using traditional production methods,” said Williamson.
“Pale Gleams came to us with an ambitious dream to bring incredible production value to an indie narrative. Virtual production saved on travel and hard-landscaping, while still shooting “on-location”. With the control Immersion Room developed into the tech, our artists were able to transport the talent into the trenches with a dynamically triggered digital flare gun that travelled across the CG scene synched with normal studio lighting. Pale Gleams’ skilled crew used moments like this to capture some of the most beautiful and powerful imagery I’ve seen come out of an LED volume,” said Tanya Stemberger, Co-CEO Immersion Room.
The pilot episode is set on Vimy Ridge, immediately after the 1917 battle, where Corporal Will R. Bird’s experiences in the trenches are not only physical, but also ethereal. After a night spent guarding the front lines, Bird is exhausted. Two soldiers offer to share their bivouac with Bird, which he accepts. Soon after, a warm hand on his shoulder wakes him. Bird recognizes his brother, Corporal Stephen Bird, who had died earlier in the war, and follows him out of the bivouac. The next morning, Bird discovers what would have happened to him if he had stayed to spend the night with the others.
On the anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, one of Canada’s most significant military victories, Pale Gleams is honoured to dramatize one of the most powerful memoirs ever written about the First World War. Classic stories find a modern stage. Now for the first time, audiences can enjoy Will Bird’s moving tales of war dramatized on screen.
Director of Photography on the project was Adam Crosby (Miss Persona, Violation), production design by Melissa Bessey (Chateau Laurier).
Ghosts Have Warm Hands is funded by Pale Gleams Inc. Presented by The King & Empire Foundation- advancing knowledge about the history of Canada. With thanks to: The Great War Society; Immersion Room and Norm Christie, CEF Books.
ABOUT PALE GLEAMS
Pale Gleams Inc. An independent media company founded by multi-CSA winning producer Peter Williamson.
ABOUT WILL BIRD
Will R. Bird was born in 1891 in East Mapleton, Nova Scotia. After losing his brother Stephen Carmen Bird to a German mine explosion in October 1915, he enlisted in the Canadian Army in 1916. He saw action at Vimy, Passchendaele, Amiens, Arras and Cambrai. After returning home, Will raised his family in Nova Scotia. He named his only son Stephen Stanley Bird, in honour of his brother killed in action. In 1930, he published a memoir about his wartime experiences entitled AND WE GO ON (later reprinted as GHOSTS HAVE WARM HANDS). When the Second World War began, his son Stephen rushed to enlist. Will believed his writings about the war served as a motivation for Stephen’s decision. Stephen Stanley Bird served with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and was selected to be one of 34 officers to lead the regiment onshore at Juno Beach on 6 June 1944. Stephen survived the D-Day invasions, but was killed during the Canadian battle for Caen, on 8 July 1944. Losing his only son caused Will grief, which showed in his novels and writing. Will Bird passed away in 1984, 40 years after his son.
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