PRODUCTION

PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY began on May 16, 2005 in two rustic cabins in Squamish, BC.

Despite torrential downpours and a carpenter ant infestation, shooting under Smith’s direction went smoothly and the film wrapped 12 days later. A rough cut was completed shortly thereafter as the film went into a lightning-fast post-production schedule.

The film has gone from the start of principal photography to its world premiere in the Toronto International Film Festival in less than 4 months. What’s more, it is a startling piece of work that heralds the official arrival of The Whatever Institute (Dryborough, Elgstrand, Smith) on the Canadian film scene.

Story

THE CABIN MOVIE is a darkly comic look at the nature of desire, the value of monogamy, and the definition of sexuality when a group of friends travel to a secluded cabin in an attempt to revitalize their lives through bizarre games of
sexual dysfunction.

Katherine, an unemployed housewife who hasn’t had sex in a year is intent on getting some with or without her repressed husband Mark’s involvement. Jason, a happy-go-lucky cool guy, has shown up without his long-term girlfriend, but with Ginny, a party girl he met the previous weekend. Ken and Maria, a stable common-law couple, are caught in the middle somewhere between discovery and sexual panic as they try to keep things on track while wrestling with issues of their own.

By the end of the night, all their relationships will be called into question and pushed to the breaking point.

HISTORY

THE CABIN MOVIE is the first feature length collaboration of the award winning team of Dylan Akio Smith, Kris Elgstrand and Brad Drybrorough, whose short film, MAN FEEL PAIN won the Bravo!FACT Short Cuts Canada Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, 2004, and won additional awards at the Northwest Film and Video Festival in Portland, Oregon and the Whistler Film Festival. In May 2005, it received two Leo Awards for Best Short Screenplay and Best Actor. Man Feel Pain has also screened at Slamdance, Nashville, the Commonwealth Film Festival and Cinequest. Following the success of MAN FEEL PAIN, Smith, Elgstrand, and Dryborough were eager for their next challenge. In January 2005, the team gave themselves no more than five months to write, plan, and shoot a feature film. They also gave themselves the additional challenge of a 10 day shooting schedule on a $10, 000 shooting budget.

VANCOUVER COMPANY Hybrid Films headed by Producer Rob Riley, acquired and financed THE CABIN MOVIE. Hybrid’s short films have shown at several international film festivals including Vancouver, Montreal, Whistler, Edmonton, and Santa Barbara. The Cabin Movie is Hybrid’s first feature film, and Hybrid has several other feature films in development. Karen Powell joined the team as executive producer, and her feature film credits include HARD CORE LOGO, KITCHEN PARTY, TAILLIGHTS FADE, VARIOUS POSITIONS and ON THE CORNER.

THE WHATEVER INSTITUTE first came together as a team of filmmakers in 2003 when Brad Dryborough, Kris Elgstrand, and Dylan Akio Smith, collaborated on IMETACANINE for Vancouver’s legendary Reel Fast 48 Hour Film Festival. The film, starring Dryborough, written by Elgstrand and directed by Smith, went on to win Best Film at the festival.