Genre Storytelling for Social Change.
With a mission to produce character-driven, thought-provoking genre films that reach diverse audiences through innovative and meaningful marketing, promotional and distribution initiatives, My Precious Pictures intends to inspire, entertain and connect people around the world.
In order to achieve this goal, MPP is committed to working with writers and directors who understand that a film can be both critically and commercially successful without compromising creatively.
When choosing projects, Rachelle follows the axiom: In order to inspire you must first educate; in order to educate you must first entertain.
As former president of Women in Film and Television Vancouver and having taught students of all ages, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds locally and abroad, president Rachelle Chartrand is committed to hiring diverse talent at all stages of development in front of and behind the camera and providing an environment of inclusion on set and in all areas MPP does business.
Rachelle Chartrand is an award-winning screenwriter, producer and past-president of Women in Film and Television Vancouver. Rachelle is president of My Precious Pictures as well as a cofounder and CEO of Ignite Worldwide Media, a new social-conscious media company with an innovative online audience engagement platform.
MPP has a few projects in development. First up is the Telefilm supported feature film CHAINED, a psychological crime thriller written and to be directed in the fall of 2019 by Titus Heckel. Awards and accolades achieved so far include being a semi-finalist in the 2018 Academy Nicholl’s Fellowship, as well as being a winner in the Telefilm sponsored JETS Program, an international coproduction and pitching competition held during the Berlin International Film Festival (2018). The project has also received Polish & Packaging funding from the Harold Greenberg Fund. Rachelle was also one of six producers from across Canada chosen to participate in the Producers Lab at the 2018 Whistler Film Festival.
In addition to her work in film and media, Rachelle is a published author. She has a Bachelor of Secondary Education with a major in physics and minor in math. She has an eclectic teaching career as well. In addition to teaching in the public school system, Rachelle has taught in South Korea and India, as well as an independent school for at-risk youth and young offenders in Burnaby, BC and a private education centre in Vancouver working primarily one-on-one with FASD, autistic and dyslexic students.
FEATURE FILMS
IN DEVELOPMENT
CHAINED
A coming-of-age crime thriller by award-winning writer/director Titus Heckel.
LOGLINE
An abused African American boy discovers and befriends a white criminal chained inside an abandoned warehouse, but after a violent betrayal the abused becomes the abuser, putting both their lives in peril.
With its masterfully crafted script that explores themes of breaking the cycle of abuse and masculinity, MPP is excited to share this profound, provocative story with the world and to create a conversation around these important issues.
Summary of Awards and Accomplishments to Date
- winner in the JETS Program, an international coproduction and pitching competition held during the Berlin International Film Festival (2018).
- semifinalist in the 2018 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, the most competitive and prestigious competition in the world (http://www.oscars.org/nicholl).
- received Polish & Packaging development funding from the highly competitive Harold Greenberg Fund (Bell Media - Canada’s largest broadcaster).
Titus Heckel (Writer/Director)
Titus is a multi-award-winning screenwriter having been a previous Quarterfinalist in the Nicholl Fellowship with his scripts CHAOS THEORY (2016) and HOLY SPIRITS (2014). Other feature and TV pilots have placed at the highest levels of the best competitions in the world including the Austin Film Festival screenplay competition and the LaunchPad Pilots competition.
His directorial debut, WITH CHILD (2014), which he also wrote, was nominated for both the Best World Showcase at the SoHo International Film Festival and the Flash Forward Award at the Busan International Film Festival and was shortlisted for Critics’ Week at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.
The Hollywood Reporter described it this way: “[It] displays a refreshing quirkiness bolstered by its clever screenplay, which features a multitude of funny one-liners.”
THE POWER HOUR: 60 Minutes to Change a View
An anthology of socially-themed genre short films.
The Power Formula
MILLENNIALS + FILM + BRANDS = SOCIAL CHANGE
By combining the three most influential ingredients of our era to act as a catalyst for meaningful, purposeful conversation and action, The Power Hour aims to be a springboard for real change.
The Power Plan
With award-winning writer/director, Titus Heckel, spearheading the creative side of the project, producer Rachelle Chartrand is teaming up with Vancouver's largest full-service marketing company to enlist purpose-driven brands to Executive Produce the films as well as to create a massive international audience engagement plan.
Once completed, audiences will be able to view the films online, individually or as part of the collective, and will be invited to discuss and debate the issues with the producers, filmmakers and brands involved with the project as well as create and activate plans of action.
These conversations will officially take place on a new interactive platform called THE STORY CLOUD, in addition to the usual social media and traditional media outlets.
The Power Films
From over 70 submissions from around the world, the selection committee has chosen nine finalists with the goal of producing a one-hour program.
GIVE MY LOVE TO ROSE by Michael Sieve (Shreveport, LA)
HELPING TO FORGET by Scott Nelson (Lake Geneva, WI)
THE INDELIBLE MAN by Kris Southerton (Vancouver, BC)
THE KITCHEN FLOOR by Rebecca Field (Vancouver, BC)
LADY JUSTICE by David Gonzalez (Barcelona, Spain)
NEWMERICO by Matthew Leigh (Vancouver, BC)
SAM JUAN ELS by Oliver Rankin (Vancouver, BC)
THANATOS by Jesse Charles Cowell (Vancouver, BC)
UGLY PROFILE by Martin Cox (Las Vegas, NV)
The Power Brands
If you are a brand that understands the power of storytelling and seeks to create and engage audiences, in particular, socially-minded millennials, in a meaningful conversation about the issues that matter most to them, please contact us to learn more. We need you!
CO-PRODUCTIONS
DOWNLOADED
A hybrid live-action/game-engine interactive virtual reality narrative!
Premise
Inspired by the classic sci-fi film Tron and the recent Netflix series, Altered Carbon on the concept of digitizing the human mind to allow consciousness to be simulated by an algorithm, the virtual reality short film Downloaded explores that very premise.
You, the viewer and your partner Lisa (Tiera Skovbye of Riverdale & Once Upon a Time) have built a machine known as the Atomizerator, but something has gone horribly wrong with the science experiment.
The digitization process has evaporated your body and transported your consciousness inside the computer, leaving you trapped and looking out to the outside world. Working together with Lisa, you must figure out how to reverse the process and go back to the real world. But beware-your actions hold the key to your escape and how Lisa will help you. So tread carefully, or you may not make it out alive.
Downloaded is an immersive combination of cinematic live action with photo-realistic real-time game engine graphics, in a headset based VR experience that gives every viewer a different narrative experience, depending on their actions.
The Team
One of the first-ever VR narrative films, Downloaded is written and directed by Vancouver based VFX veteran, Ollie Rankin, known for his VFX work on The Lord of the Rings and Matrix franchises as well as Alice: Through the Looking Glass and The Good Doctor.
The producing team of Ivan Hayden and Rachelle Chartrand along with executive producer Nancy Basi, Executive Director of Vancouver’s Film and Media Centre at the Vancouver Economic Commission, are dedicated to having Downloaded act as a showcase for Vancouver’s virtual reality, gaming, film and visual effects industries.
Investor Testimonial
First-in investor and collaborator Daniel Japiassu of YDreams Global explains why he believes Downloaded is the perfect showcase for virtual reality and an ideal investment in the future of Vancouver’s immersive industries:
“This project represents perfectly how Virtual Reality can be a revolutionary media for storytelling. By supporting this initiative we wanted to show that YDreams Global is part of this new movement of creative interactive narratives that allows the public to live an experience, not just watch it. We hope to work in many other projects with the brilliant team responsible for "Downloaded". Our plan is to offer the same format to our clients, as a powerful alternative for their brand´s marketing strategy.”
In the News
One of the first interactive VR narratives, Downloaded, is already creating a buzz. Here are links to recent media coverage:
https://www.bcbusiness.ca/BCB-Roundup-wine-cannabis-movie-magic-and-no-vacancy-in-Vancouver
https://www.vancourier.com/entertainment/putting-the-vr-in-yvr-1.23401775
http://msinthebiz.com/2018/08/31/spotlight-interview-nancy-basi-executive-producer-of-downloaded/
Come Experience the Experience!
Downloaded is presently in post-production, but if you are in Vancouver, we will be showing a teaser at the VR/AR Global Summit on Sept 21-22, 2018. Swing by the YDreams Global booth at Parq casino Friday or Saturday to see it for yourself!