Melanie Oates

Broadcast Date – October 21, 2020

What a treat it was to connect with today’s guest – a truly talented force in the East Coast film industry. Born on the Island of Newfoundland she grew up in the small fishing town called Fermuese located right along the Irish Loop, but these days it’s in St.John’s that she hangs her hat – or rather all her hats! From Costume Designer to Writer, Director, and producer – just have a look through her IMDb page and you’ll see her name listed on plenty of great projects for the big and small screen.

Now, I met Melanie for the first time – just last September when I had the honour of moderating a Directors Guild of Canada panel at FIN THE ATLANTIC FILM FESTIVAL here in Halifax – Melanie was one of the young directors on the panel which took place just prior to her very first feature-length film BODY & BONES making it’s World Premiere. It was an exciting time to be sure of it – and now I’m pleased to say after wowing the crossed at that festival and many more across North America – BODY & BONES has just been released for your digital viewing pleasure and theatrically at Mount Pearl Cineplex too!

Filmed in Witless Bay and in the city of St. John’s, BODY & BONES is an emotional coming-of-age journey that follows a young woman named Tess who’s stuck in a small town under the care of her mother’s boyfriend after her mother’s passing. Withdrawn from her life, the one thing that comforts Tess is the music of Danny Sharpe a local musician who left town twenty years ago and who mysteriously shows up in her kitchen one morning. (you’ll have to watch the movie to see how that shakes down.) It’s a layered film that somehow floats between the dark and light the hopeless and the hopeful. So we’ll talk about all of that and so much more – including the casting notes on her award-winning star NL’s Joel Thomas Hynes and the film’s captivating lead Kelly Van der Berg. Naturally, we’ll dish on the beautiful backdrop of Newfoundland and the parallels between film and filmmaker. Plus we’ll start with first things first, play a fun round of insights in ten and play some stellar tunes from the BODY & BONES soundtrack too. So with all that ahead we best get to it – here’s my conversation with the one and only Melanie Oates. (you’ll find the player at the bottom of the post)

Follow Melanie Oates on Instagram @mel.anie.oates and check her out on @imdb

Get your copy of BODY & BONES on iTunes here and follow the film on Instagram @bodyandbonesfilm

We played some great songs on this episode and they’re all available on iTunes. Just click on the title to get your own copy – “Bad Boy” by Joel Thomas Hynes, “Red Song” by Hey Rosetta! and “Oh Yeah” by Great Big Sea