Trepassey singer-songwriter Lorne Warr is tackling his third short film.
By Mark Squibb
Lorne Warr of Trepassey was amongst those recently named a recipient of ArtsNL’s grant program for professional artists.
Warr is getting some $6,720 to help complete his film, Allie Alicorn, which he wrote last fall.
“The Arts NL grant is fantastic,” said Warr. “I have applications out for more funding, but once you get that grant it sort of anchors the film. You know you’re going to make the film at that point… This kick starts the project. You’ve got enough money now that you know you’re able to make the film.”
Warr said the film will be a 10-to-12-minute short centered around a young girl with autism. The film is autobiographical and reflective of the both the joys and trials he and Genevieve McCorquodale have had raising their autistic daughter Lili.
“It’s a film about our understanding of how she thinks and how she behaves,’” said Warr. “I wanted to make a film about her abilities and what she has. And she has an incredible imagination, this fantastic imagination, she’s writing stories all the time and making up stories all the time… And so I wanted to try and capture that — what it’s like to be autistic in this world, where she doesn’t always fit in, but she has this almost superpower of being able to see things and imagine things.”
Warr is waiting to hear back from another possible funder to know exactly what sort of budget he’ll have for the film. “I know the minimum budget, because I have the Arts NL grant, but the budget could get larger, hopefully,” he said.
With a budget in place, Warr will begin the process of securing a producer and cast for the film. He expects to shoot it in St. John's either in the spring or early summer and hopes to complete post-production by the fall to have the film ready to hit the festival circuits. He will also score the film himself.
Warr said he would like to invite members of the autism community to participate, although those details haven’t been worked out yet.
Meanwhile, Warr has followed a number of artistic endeavours during his life. At an early age he developed both an interest in music and in writing.
“I thought I would be either a musician or a writer, and I ended up being both at different times,” said Warr, whose father Alan Warr was also a writer.
“I remember growing up you would hear the click-click-click of the typewriter,” said Warr. “He would be off in his room writing. And mom would say, ‘Don’t disturb your father, he’s writing now.’ So, the thought of being a writer seemed completely normal and natural to me, because my dad did that.”
Warr spent 15 years touring Western Canada, first with the band The Streels and later as a solo artist. He has also written a number of dramas and comedies for radio, some of which have been adapted for the stage.
Warr got his start in the film industry writing film scores and scripts and doing voice over work, and released his directorial debut, Where There’s Tea There’s Hope, in 2019.
He released his second film, Look, in 2022.
He expects Allie Alicorn to be longer and larger than his previous works.
“Each film I do is a little bit more elaborate than the last,” said Warr. “Each time you want to try and stretch yourself as a filmmaker, make things a little more complicated, a little harder.”
All told, the provincial government funded 107 projects to the tune of $1.36 million.
