Inside the Making of Movies at Habethy Films
Beyond the Frame · August 2026 · Habethy Film ProductionsFrom the Producers’ ChairAsk most Canadians whether we have a spy agency and you'll get a shrug. The real answer is stranger than yes or no. We run signals intelligence. CSIS collects foreign intelligence - but Parliament wrote it into law in 1984 that it could only do so within Canada. What this country has not built publicly is a service that runs human sources abroad: no CIA, no MI6, no Australian ASIS. Whether it should is being argued in Ottawa right now, seriously, for the first time in a generation. Which is odd, because we were there at the beginning. The man who co-founded the company that has made every Bond film (Harry Saltzman of EON Productions) was from Sherbrooke. The spymaster Ian Fleming reported to during the war was from Winnipeg. The school where the Allies taught sabotage and clandestine wireless was in Whitby, Ontario. Present at the creation. Eighty years without a spy story of our own. That's the gap this film is being made in, and you're going to watch it happen from the inside. - Helena & Anthony First Look · The Quiet CanadiansThis is the first poster for The Quiet Canadians. Here's what the last few months have actually looked like: Having coffee with people who've done this work in Canadian intelligence, including the special operations side - several are coming on as consultants, and those conversations have already changed the script and pointed us at locations we didn't know existed. This is the part of the movie business nobody films. It's mostly driving, email, and being told "No" by people who are perfectly nice about it. It's also the best job either of us has ever had. Reply to this email. Tell us what you think of the poster, what you want to see more of, or what you're wondering about the project. Ten Years Ago This Month - 13 Miles Production BeginsIn August 2016 we shot the first scenes of 13 Miles in Penticton: Jovi Burke at the actual swim start of the Challenge Penticton, Jovi and Jeff Gonek in the real transition area, on a real race day where we got the benefit of 2000 background performers. We shot it documentary-style to minimize the crew footprint and allow for the race to be unimpeded by our presence. That became the film's style. Leo Awards 2026Two of our shorts were nominated at this year's Leo Awards. Unfrayed for Best Costume Design, Short Drama - Paula Negritto. Pickled Rabbit for Best Make-Up, Short Drama - Emersen Ziffle, Andy Le, Grace Shore and Lindsay Newton. Short films are how you find out who you want to keep working with. On both of these, the answer was yes. Thank you to both crews. The Blue Box — La Caja Azul · Watch on Amazon PrimeThe Blue Box (La Caja Azul), directed by Martín Hodara, starring Gustavo Bassani and Luisana Lopilato. Habethy Films is one of the producing partners, alongside The Mediapro Studio, Infinity Hill, and IP4. A wealthy, solitary man meets a woman through a dating app. As they get closer, an anonymous message warns him she isn't who she says she is. Spanish-language, 84 minutes. Off The LotKen Kabatoff and Anthony host Off the Lot — sixty episodes now with the directors, producers, and crew who actually get films made. How they financed them, what went wrong, what they'd do differently. Never listened? Start with Daren Smith, who has built something rare: a genuinely independent, genuinely profitable filmmaking career. If you only ever hear one episode, that's the one. Recent: — Ep 59 — Are movie theatres actually making a comeback? — Ep 58 — Mayumi Yoshida on making Akashi, and getting Telefilm to change its rules. The Greenlight ReportSeparately from all this, Anthony writes The Greenlight Report - deals, financing, and the money mechanics behind how independent films actually get made. Aimed at those who are producing films, those who are interested in becoming investors or sponsors, or those just interested in the business side of the industry. The latest is called "I was thirteen when this started." It's about voice, and the argument is that nobody has ever funded a script - they fund a person with something to say. It's an honest answer about why we're making this particular film. We don't say this often enough: we're not only interested in showing you films... we're interested in making them with people. Habethy takes on production and development work, co-productions, and collaborations. If you're working on something and want to talk, reply to this email. END CREDITS /Thank you for reading this month's edition. We hope you enjoyed the updates on our work and found something useful that will continue to inspire your own work and life. Made with Canadians, by Canadians, for Canadians. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and share this newsletter with friends! If you received this newsletter from a friend and would like to subscribe, click here. Remember, you can read our blog, follow our news, check out our films and get in touch on our website. Until next month ... stay inspired!
|
