{"id":90546,"date":"2017-02-21T03:05:12","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T08:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=90546"},"modified":"2017-02-21T03:05:12","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T08:05:12","slug":"canadian-producer-finds-oscar-nod-through-netflix-doc-helmed-by-ava-duvernay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/02\/21\/canadian-producer-finds-oscar-nod-through-netflix-doc-helmed-by-ava-duvernay\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian producer finds Oscar nod through Netflix doc helmed by Ava DuVernay"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Howard<\/a>
Howard Barish wasn’t thinking about an invite to the Oscars when upstart filmmaker Ava DuVernay stepped into his Los Angeles office about a decade ago. (Photo: Victoria BC Today\/Twitter<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TORONTO\u2014Howard Barish wasn’t thinking about an invite to the Oscars when upstart filmmaker Ava DuVernay stepped into his Los Angeles office about a decade ago.<\/p>\n

The Winnipeg-born producer was happily managing his own company making TV network ad campaigns when DuVernay knocked on his door with a pitch to invest in her as a director.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe’s one of the most intelligent, articulate and passionate people I’ve ever met,\u201d Barish says.<\/p>\n

\u201cEventually there was just no way I could say no.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three feature films into their partnership, they’re heading to the Academy Awards on Sunday with a shared nomination in the documentary feature category for Netflix’s \u201c13th.\u201d It’s Barish’s first Oscar nod and DuVernay’s second time in contention, after \u201cSelma\u201d competed for best picture.<\/p>\n

A graduate of York University’s film program, Barish later learned about the Canadian entertainment industry under influential leaders such as Alliance Communications co-founder Robert Lantos.<\/p>\n

He worked as assistant director on Canadian TV favourites like \u201cThe Edison Twins\u201d and \u201cNight Heat\u201d before setting up shop in Hollywood with his production company Kandoo Films.<\/p>\n

When DuVernay first walked into his office, she was a publicist with a good reputation around town. But she wasn’t shy about her ambition to make her own movies.<\/p>\n

Barish agreed to give her access to his studio equipment in exchange for a producer role on her 2010 debut \u201cI Will Follow\u201d and the 2012 film \u201cMiddle of Nowhere,\u201d which won the director award at the Sundance Film Festival.<\/p>\n

Next for DuVernay was the game-changing \u201cSelma,\u201d which made her the talk of Hollywood.<\/p>\n

But while Marvel was circling her with an offer to adapt superhero franchise \u201cBlack Panther\u201d for the big screen, DuVernay was intrigued by a much smaller proposal from Netflix to direct a documentary. What made the streaming service’s bid more interesting was a promise that she could focus on whatever topic she wanted.<\/p>\n

She told Barish she wanted to examine the 13th amendment to the U.S. constitution. Its abolishment of slavery came with one exception \u2014 it didn’t include people convicted of a crime.<\/p>\n

Barish says the film’s topic resonated with him, even as a Caucasian Jew who grew up in Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me it didn’t matter what colour, creed, shape, size you are. Oppression is oppression,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a horrific story that has continued from the 1800s to today. It needed to be told.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the set of \u201c13th,\u201d Barish’s role as producer extended beyond the usual responsibility of managing the film’s budget. When they needed him, he’d grab a second camera to shoot impassioned interviews with the likes of activist Angela Davis and politician Newt Gingrich.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was there for every shoot day,\u201d he says. \u201cIt’s a logistics job and a creative job combined together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working with DuVernay has encouraged Barish to help other new filmmakers.<\/p>\n

His production company has two projects near completion with first-time directors behind the camera. He hopes to get another four small indie films rolling in the coming years.<\/p>\n

Even if \u201c13th\u201d doesn’t win the Oscar, Barish says the film is already generating attention from viewers across the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get a dozen calls a day from universities and groups across the country all wanting to screen the film,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I hope for this film is it incites change.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TORONTO\u2014Howard Barish wasn’t thinking about an invite to the Oscars when upstart filmmaker Ava DuVernay stepped into his Los Angeles …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":90547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[15530,15529],"class_list":["post-90546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ava-duvernay","tag-howard-barish","mauthors-david-friend","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}