NLIS 4
January 28, 2002
(Tourism, Culture and Recreation)


Minister looking forward to the next installments of Random Passage

Kevin Aylward, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, announced today that he is pleased with the debut of Random Passage on CBC Sunday evening.

"It was a joy to see such memorable characters as Mary Bundle, Ned Andrews and Lavinia Andrews come to life on the small screen last night," said Minister Aylward. "What makes this mini-series so special is that so many actors from this province contributed their talents to this film. I am anxiously looking forward to the next three installments."

Random Passage is a Irish-Canadian co-production based on the books "Random Passage" and "Waiting for Time" by award-winning Newfoundland author Bernice Morgan. It involves some of the same people who created Boys of St. Vincent, including director John N. Smith and writer Des Walsh.

Tourism Marketing has purchased a broadcast sponsorship position with CBC for airing tourism ads during the mini-series, as well as opening and closing billboards to promote Newfoundland and Labrador to the rest of the country.

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, including the Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation, contributed $2.6 million to the production.

The last year has been an exceptional one for the film industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Shipping News, based on the Pulitzer Prize winning-novel of the same name by E. Annie Proulx, has enjoyed overwhelming success in the box office and the awards circuit. It was nominated for two Golden Globe nominations including Best Actor for Kevin Spacey. Rare Birds, starring Oscar winner William Hurt, was also filmed in this province and is due out in theatres Friday, February 1 to much anticipation. It has already received some positive early reviews.

Random Passage will air again in three, two-hour installments on CBC January 28 and February 3 and 4. The mini-series has already aired in Ireland and is scheduled to air in Iceland, Russia, the Middle East, Norway, Sweden and Spain.

Media contact: Catherina Kennedy, Communications, (709) 729-0928.

2002 01 28                         12:35 p.m.


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