St. John's filmmaker makes career leap to Los Angeles, Sundance festival
Producer Margot Hand moving from B.C. to California ahead of new film premiere
After 10 years making films while being based in Vancouver, producer Margot Hand knew it was time to move south.
Hand, originally from St. John's, has been making American movies for more than a decade, with her latest set to to premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. She told CBC's Here & Now she realized that making the move Stateside made sense, especially as she was hardly ever in Vancouver anyway.
"It's definitely an industry where if you're in L.A., it's a little bit easier. You're on a plane less, and it can be helpful," she said.
Her new movie, Brittany Runs a Marathon, beat a lot of competition — over 14,000 films submitted, she said — to get its premiere at Sundance, which starts in late January in Park City, Utah.
"Not only are we premiering there, we're also in competition, which is an even harder slot to get into, so it's exciting," she said.
"The movie deserves it. Everyone who worked on it is just thrilled."
Based on a true story
It's not the only new project Hand has been working on; she got married in August and recently gave birth to twins.
Brittany Runs a Marathon stars Jillian Bell of the TV series Workaholics, as well as the movies 22 Jump Street and Office Christmas Party.
Hand said it's a heartwarming and empowering female-driven movie based on a true story, of a woman in her late 20s struggling physically and emotionally.
"She just decides to get her life together by running the New York City Marathon, so she starts training and through that, obviously, finds herself and grows up and achieves her dream."
Hand joins a small community of Newfoundlanders carving out a niche in Hollywood, including actor Mark O'Brien and director Brad Peyton.
"I think Newfoundlanders have always been really good at finding each other all over the world, and there's also a lot of people who have shot in Newfoundland and love it," she said, pointing to actors like Jason Momoa and Taylor Kitsch who have become fans and advocates of the province.
She also credits a certain Broadway smash as helping raise her home province's profile in the entertainment industry.
"Come From Away has really changed people's understanding and perception of Newfoundland. I've met so many people — directors, talent — who've been, like, oh, from Come From Away! Newfoundland! So that's been really cool."