#FIRSTLOOK: DOCUMENTARY “DON’T COME UPSTAIRS” NOW IN PRODUCTION

Award-winning producer Alona Metzer (Backspot, Learn to Swim) and Canadian Screen Award-winning director and producer Joe Kicak (Detention Adventure) have announced production is underway on the feature-length documentary DON’T COME UPSTAIRS by first-time director and Degrassi: The Next Generation star, Mike Lobel. DON’T COME UPSTAIRS searches for answers to a long-held family secret, while navigating themes of generational trauma, the resilience of family, and the transformative power of confronting one’s truth. Filming is taking place throughout Toronto and will wrap mid-October.

“For our entire lives, my siblings, my mother, and I have kept a secret that, if anyone were to find out, could endanger my whole family. We hid it from the outside world. We hid it from each other,” said Mike Lobel. “For fear of tearing the family apart, we’ve never spoken a word to anyone about this. Until now.”

The documentary uncovers the secret Mike Lobel’s father hid from him and his siblings for thirty years. Through old home videos and interviews with family members, the film takes viewers on a quest for the truth about their father’s dangerous choices.

By turning the lens inward, DON’T COME UPSTAIRS explores the emotional toll exacted on each member and delves into the motivations behind their father’s double life, their mother’s involvement, and the family’s search for redemption and healing. Co-written by Mika Collins and Mike Lobel, the film is produced by Alona Metzer (Good Pal Productions) and Joe Kicak (Brain Upside Down Films). It is commissioned by the CBC, with the support of the Canada Media Fund and produced with the participation of Rogers Documentary Fund. Game Theory will distribute the film in Canada. US and international rights are available.

About Good Pal Productions

Good Pal Productions creates film & TV that lives at the intersection of art and entertainment. As collaborative producers, Good Pal champions daring, unique and authentic voices that break through.

Good Pal is there through the best of the best, the worst of the worst and we always tell it like it is. That’s our secret sauce for thriving collaborations.

Founded by two-time Indiescreen Emerging Producer Award nominee and TIFF Talent Accelerator alum, Alona Metzer, Good Pal Productions is a full-service production company based in Toronto. Metzer is known for her features Backspot (TIFF ‘23, SXSW ‘24) starring Evan Rachel Wood and Devery Jacobs, and Learn to Swim (TIFF ‘21) which sold to Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing.

About Joe Kicak

Joe Kicak is a two-time Canadian Screen Award winner and Writers Guild of Canada nominee. Kicak gained international recognition as the creator/showrunner/director of the hit TV show DETENTION ADVENTURE (CBC, HBO Max), a co-viewing adventure series which ran for three seasons. The youth series garnered a record-breaking 15 Canadian Screen Award nominations for its final season.

Joe is currently developing a genre-blending anthology thriller series, THE RETREAT, alongside his partner, Karen Kicak (WORKIN’ MOMS).

About Mike Lobel

Mike Lobel is a director, picture editor, and composer with two decades of experience in the film and TV industry. He first gained recognition as an actor, notably playing “Jay Hogart” on Degrassi: The Next Generation and “DJ” on Really Me.

A Banff Centre for the Arts music residency alum, Lobel has composed original scores for numerous films and co-founded the indie-pop band Boys Who Say No and synth-pop group Future Peers. As a director and editor, his work includes documentaries, TV series, and music videos, with his editing on Detention Adventure earning him a 2023 Canadian Screen Award nomination.