Cloverdale Reporter News from Cloverdale, British Columbia, Canada • A26

White Rock-based producer and screenwriter Kraig Wen- man is over the moon, now that his passion project, the true-crime Bandit, debuted in Cineplex movie the- atres on Sept. 23. The theatrical window for the film will be joined by a host of online and cable streaming options. And, thanks to territory deals closed by Wenman and his production partners at the Cannes Film Festival in May, audiences will also be seeing it around the globe. Starring Josh Duhamel, Eli- sha Cuthbert and Mel Gibson, Bandit is the real-life story of U.S.-born bank-robber Gilbert Galvan (played by Duhamel), who in the late 1980s won him- self the title of Living under the alias of Robert Whiteman theoret- ically a successful courier of stocks and bonds the boyish and personable Galvan lived a comfortable middle-class exis- tence in Pembroke, Ont.

with a wife, Andrea (played by Cuth- bert) who had no inkling of his real occupation. Galvan, who loved to fly first-class out of Toronto on his always travelled with a little extra luggage two handguns and a multitude of easily-shed disguises. After descending on some other Canadian city, the canny bandit would pull off one or two slickly-executed bank jobs before calmly boarding another jet for the return flight, with a briefcase now full of cash. In a notably non-violent three-year career, Galvan was believed to have raked in a cool $2.3 million. But his downfall began when he encountered charismatic strip club owner and jewel-fan- cier Tommy Craig (played by Gibson).

Given the outrageousness of the true events, a come- dic element to Bandit, Wenman said which places it in a simi- lar territory to other true-crime such as Blow and Catch Me If You Can. Directed by Canadian Allan Ungar, and shot in the early summer of 2021, Bandit also reverses the usual film industry practice of Canadian locations filling in for the U.S. by having U.S. locations (in and around Thomasville, Ga.) fill in for urban and suburban Ontario. Wenman said it was easier to put together financing in the U.S.

after the initial COVID lock-down than it was in Canada. been an adventure. We shot 21 days in Georgia, a day in Ottawa, then a day in Los Angeles and finally come all together. getting harder and harder to compete with studios for theatre (space), so stoked to get 100 screens in America and everywhere been on the phone with director Allan Ungar every day reviewing every shot, alternate take, and definitely been a labour of love to bring to the screen this true Canadian story actually set in a Canada for Helping the production pro- cess was the fact that Ungar has a photographic memory, Wenman said. ended up knowing the script better than anyone, which helped us shoot 163 scenes, with 918 camera set in just 21 days, not including the sec- ond unit camera department luckily our crews in Georgia, L.A., and Ottawa could work the long hours at lightning speed.

really they that de- serve all the Cloverdale Reporter www.cloverdalereporter.comA26 Thursday, September 29, 2022 Becoming a carrier is an excellent way for children to learn life skills or for retirees and other adults to stay active. For an online application form please visit: bit.ly/cloverdalereporter The Cloverdale Reporter is Hiring Newspaper Carriers. Cloverdale Reporter 604.575.5344 Skytrain to Newton Housing for Middle Class Investing in Infrastructure Crime Bandit set for local opening in Langley Project a labour of love for local screenwriter Kraig Wenman Alex Browne Black Press Media Writer-producer Kraig Wenman stands on a set representing a Canadian bank for the film (Contributed photo).