Daron Letts
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Jan 06/06) - Versus Ivan is back. Yellowknife-born writer, director and producer Chris Gamble re-released his film on DVD last month.

This came almost exactly a year after the film's premiere at NACC. He is distributing the DVD through the Versus Ivan website.

Chris Gamble released his quirky film, Versus Ivan, on DVD last month. The release marked the anniversary of the film's Yellowknife premiere. - Image courtesy of Chris Gamble

Gamble intended to circulate the film -- shot entirely in Yellowknife -- through the Canadian festival circuit, but that plan stalled last spring.

The film received an enthusiastic response when it was screened at the Kingston Canadian film festival in March of last year, he said.

"We submitted it to other Canadian film festivals but we didn't seem to have a lot of success," he continued. "I don't know if it was a really competitive year or if our film just didn't stand up to others, but unfortunately, we didn't have the success we'd hoped for."

He continued with the DVD project as a commitment to prove that independent filmmaking in Yellowknife is viable artistically and financially, he said.

Versus Ivan's $86,000 budget was funded through the NWT Arts Council and the GNWT Business Development Fund, as well as with sponsorship from Canadian North and several investors.

Dargo and Associates provided goods and services during shooting and a lot of people who worked on the film deferred wages.

Gamble's brother and co-producer, Sam, estimated that about 300 of the DVD's have sold since the release a month ago.

Sam is speaking with a few stores in Yellowknife about carrying the DVD. It's already being stocked in some Toronto video stores.

The 90-minute film follows the downward spiral of a reclusive and obsessive-compulsive web programmer named Ivan.

Gamble trimmed about 10 minutes from the feature since it debuted in Yellowknife.

The deleted scenes are included in the special features section of the DVD along with a 110 photo slideshow, a behind the scenes featurette and blooper reels.

"When we were putting it together we really wanted to make it a fun DVD that didn't just end with the movie," he said. "So, it's filled with tons of special features."

Jonathan Pringle, the film's first assistant director, will hand-deliver DVD orders in Yellowknife.

Chris Gamble is now working on two new film projects that he plans to shoot in Yellowknife and Newmarket, Ont.