Patterson’s Wager
Available to watch throughout the world on various VOD platforms, including Tubi, Plex, Prime Video, and Apple TV.
synopsis
One moment Charles (Fred Ewanuick) is alone in his living room, the next moment there’s rain and thunder and lightning, then a branch suddenly materializes out of nowhere and crashes to the floor in front of him. Then it all just disappears, just like that, leaving no trace behind.
Before he’s able to process the bizarre event, it starts raining outside, only this time for real. Then there’s a huge crack of thunder, and a real bolt of lightning suddenly shoots down and hits a real tree across the street and a real branch breaks off and falls to the ground.
Is Charles losing his mind? Was it all just a really strong case of déjà vu, as Audrey (Chelah Horsdal), his girlfriend, later suggests? Or could it be that maybe, just maybe, he’s developed the unpredictable ability to see two minutes into the future?
CAST
Fred Ewanuik (Charles)
Chelah Horsdal (Audrey)
Alex Zahara (Otter’s Dad)
Michelle Creber (Otter)
Anne Openshaw (Otter’s Mum)
Garry Chalk (Otter’s Grandpa)
principal crew
writer, director, producer, and editor
O. Corbin Saleken
co-producer and casting
Alex Zahara
directors of photography
Nelson Talbot, Graham Talbot
production designer
Rebecca Sjonger
costume designer
Nataliya Fedulova
location sound mixer
Anton Thomas
key hair and makeup
Joyce Tu
computer effects artist
Kial Natale
production manager
Mackenzie Warner
first assistant director
Natasha Wehn, Hayley Gauvin
script supervisor
Petra Sevcik
digital imaging technician
Lisa Pham Flowers
production information
Patterson’s Wager is the first feature film by O. Corbin Saleken. In addition to writing, directing, producing, and editing (both picture and sound) the film, Corbin also funded the entire project himself.
The low budget brought with it some challenges, to be sure, but through a mixture of creativity, perseverance, and old-fashioned good manners (ie, being polite to the people from whom you’re requesting something), a solution was eventually found to every problem that arose.
To illustrate just one of the many production hurdles that was successfully overcome, a key location in the script was a casino. Gaining access to a casino is difficult for even big-budget studio productions, so the idea that a low budget, independent movie might somehow be permitted to film in such an establishment seemed far-fetched. But, given that the script involved someone who could see two minutes into the future, there was just no way around the fact that certain scenes had to be set in a casino.
At first, the filmmakers toyed with the idea of faking it. If they rented some tables and slot machines and put them in a sound stage and shot it in such a way, maybe they could get away with it. Ultimately, though, they knew this wouldn’t work. This was a key set piece in the movie, and anything less than an actual casino would be unconvincing. They had no choice but to try and convince someone to let them use the real deal.
Miraculously, Chances Casino in nearby Squamish permitted the production to film in their facilities during their off hours for a very affordable price. After persuading several extras to come out on a Monday night and populate the set until 4 AM, after trucking in a roulette table and three blackjack tables (because this particular casino only had gaming machines), and after obtaining permission from all of the gaming machine manufacturers to actually show their products on screen, they managed to get all of the gambling footage for which the script called.
Ultimately, the production – which involved 19 locations, three time periods, and 20-plus speaking parts – finished on schedule and even slightly under budget. The film was shot over 12 ½ days in July of 2013, and it is truly a testament to the generosity of the Vancouver filmmaking community – the crew was all volunteer, while the actors, rental houses and post-facilities offered their services for greatly reduced fees – that Patterson’s Wager was fully realized without ever having to compromise the ambitions of the story