Three Chilliwack men had more than just a "brush with celebrity" this year when they got to work closely with an American actor and director.
Graham Fortin, who was born and raised in Chilliwack, is the co-editor of 'Longlegs,' a Neon film starring Nicolas Cage. Before it was released, people were calling it the most disturbing horror film of the year. It was written and directed by Osgood (Oz) Perkins.
"Working on Longlegs was a dream come true," Fortin said. "Getting to work with Osgood Perkins was the best. I learned a lot about storytelling from him and my favourite moments were just being able to nerd out about movies in the edit suite with him."
Fortin graduated from Chilliwack Senior Secondary School in 2005. After graduation, he moved to Burnaby to attend film school and moved to Vancouver shortly after. He is a film and television editor and currently works at Vancouver-based film production company Oddfellows Entertainment Inc.
Two Chilliwack drummers travelled to Los Angeles in the fall to help American actor John Stamos perfect a drum solo for a Beach Boys concert. Brandon Toews and Dylan Weightman collaborated with the famous actor and musician as he prepared for an upcoming performance.
Stamos, lovingly known as Uncle Jesse from sitcom Full House, has been playing with the Beach Boys for 40 years. He said he wanted to rediscover his love of drumming and needed help with a new solo, so he contacted Drumeo, an Abbotsford-based music school where Toews is the content director and Weightman the vice president.
But it wasn't just a drum lesson, they also turned it into a 25-minute documentary.
Toews worked one-on-one with Stamos on the drums, helping him break down what makes a great solo, while Weightman brought the film to life.
“This was an absolute dream project collaborating with John Stamos to tell the story of evolving his Beach Boys drum solo in tribute of (late Foo Fighters drummer) Taylor Hawkins," Weightman wrote on social media.
As far as Stamos' performance, Toews said he "crushed it."
"John's a beast, man. What an incredible solo and, as a teacher, how cool to see your student go up there and just destroy a drum solo like that," Toews said. "Well done, John. You're an animal."
