Legal considerations re using real life, though deceased, people in a docu-drama film

R

Rob Newton

Member
Hi everyone

Long time student and appreciator of DVX User, now first time poster.

I live in a small town near Ottawa, Canada's capital. The town and surrounding area is reputed to be inhabited by many ghosts, several of whom are said to be the spirits of actual people who lived in the area. I'm exploring the feasibility of producing a docu-drama focused on several of these spirits. The "docu" component will tell the true stories of the known individuals' lives and/or will feature accounts by people who have seen, heard, smelled or otherwise experienced these spirits. The "drama" component will feature myself in fictional discussions with the spirits, portrayed by actors obviously, though who knows, maybe one or more of the real deals will show up during filming!

Three of these entities are believed to be the spirits of real people. It goes without saying that all of the people have passed on, the most recent in 1954. Two of the more prominent characters planned for the film did not have any offspring, though in one case there are surviving nieces, nephews and cousins. My question is what legal considerations would have to be addressed before proceeding further with the film. Also, aside from stating that the discussions are purely fictional, what other disclaimers would be required? I have a feeling that I'm going to be talking to a lawyer sooner or later, but anything that can minimize those billable hours would help. Your insights, recommendations and suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Rob Newton
www.newtonproductions.ca
http://www.youtube.com/user/NewtonRobertT?feature=guide
 
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Hi Rob, interesting project. I watched some of your previous docs, very good.

I'd come at this from the other end to find out if it's worth doing from a fiscal point of view because legal advice costs. And it looks like you'll have to pay for ancestry searches, criminal records, town history and actors etc.

Eg: is a local network interested etc or is this for your site and film festivals. Then there's the scripts, and how and what conclusions you're going to finish with. To many people, spirits have a comedic aspect.

Hopefully some of them are worth including, town dignitaries, personalities? And how did they pass on, accidental, murdered, death sentence etc.

Once you have all this info, you'll know how to brief a legal eagle, approach family descendants, whether they actually want to know about it,
appear in the credits etc. You might have to get legalised written permissions and be prepared if they want any compensation. HTH.

Cheers.
 
Due to fact I'm fairly new to Canada I am not really competent commenting on legal considerations. What I can say to you, and that is only if you're eager to read it, is that I had experience in shooting on similar location in my homeland (Croatia) and honestly, would never do so again. Story is rather disturbing, but in general, couple with two kids was staying at that 'haunted house' for a week, like a summer vacation stuff. After only 4 days, they moved out, didn't want their money returned and had months of very bad supernatural experiences afterwards ( I don't know how else to put this ). After that, I simply avoided the specific house. I was journalist at the time, and that was supposed to be just another story, but after what I heard from them, I'm very, very cautious when approaching stuff like that.

Sorry, I don't want to sound intrusive or tell you DON'T DO IT OMG. It's just that it was very strong experience, and while I wasn't the one who saw anything, folks with whom I've been working with have literally changed their lives after the event. 'Changed' means everything became a living hell for them after those 4 days. Stuff you see in horror movies, with a bit of a twist. With all this said, I hope you know what you're doing and have some knowledge about 'spiritual stuff' in general. I'm calling it 'spiritual stuff' to address the whole spectrum you're dealing with. Maybe nothing will happen. Maybe your story goes out great and those are just local legends without much impact.

Best of luck, sorry if I wasn't of much help. I guess I just want to 'warn' you to know possibilities of what you're dealing with. It may sound stupid, but hey, a random advice from a random guy on internet can't do you harm I gues...

EDIT: Sorry again (gee, I'm really becoming a Canadian...) If you want to know more, feel free to post here or PM me. I'll be glad to share my experience.
 
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Unless Canadian law is very strange, you cannot be sued for defaming a dead person, so that is one less thing to worry about. But if you so much as mention one alive person without their approval/permission, then hypothetically they might try to sue you - whether they'd actually succeed is another matter entirely, but you really don't want to be spending up large on legal fees even to defend against a frivolous/stupid lawsuit.

It's certainly worth sounding out the surviving relatives - they might be wildly enthusiastic about the whole thing. And if not, then at least you're forewarned.

Regardless of legal issues, I think you'd have a moral responsibility to be upfront in your final film (preferably in the opening titles) re the fictional nature of the ghostly 'interviews', if only to avoid misunderstandings from people who'd otherwise think you're claiming to be psychic or whatever. Seriously.
 
Hi everyone

Thanks to all for your thoughtful and helpful responses.

@ Allan - Thank you for the kind words on our previous docs. (My wife Sharon and I are co-producers). Great thoughts re the backgrounds of the ghosts including how the passed on. As you'll see below, we already have a fair bit of information on some, though not all of the ghosts.

@ Mile - I'd say you're already a true Canadian! I appreciate you're sharing your unsettling experiences. From all I've heard, most of the ghosts who who be featured in the film are known to be benign in nature, though one of them has been described as mysterious and a bit sullen.

@ clang - There are certainly some strange Canadian laws, but I suspect that in this instance you're correct in surmising that any relevant laws would be in line with other countries. That's encouraging. We'll certainly make it clear that the conversations, and our interpretations of the personalities of the ghosts are 100% fictional. We will also be very cautious to avoid anything that could be considered defamatory. We intend the tone of the film to be positive and in parts humourous. You also make some excellent points about our responsibilities. We certainly will not be making any claims to be psychics and the film will definitely not be exploitive in any way. (I really dislike those lame TV shows.) Nor will it be a blood and gore horror film. In my opinion that style has been done to death (no pun intended).


Re what we intend to do with the film, here's some relevant background. Almonte (my home town) is part of a larger amalgamated community called Mississippi Mills. The working title of the proposed film is "The Ghosts of Mississippi Mills". It's an interesting place. People are passionate about anything Almonte. Last December we released the first of a two part documentary on the history of Almonte from its inception in the early 1820s to the 1950s. There was a time when it was one of the largest mill towns in Canada with 12 mills operating simultaneously. We had two successful public screening and sold several hundred copies of the DVD and Blu-ray. The revenues from those initiatives alone was enough to make proceeding with part two, which is now in production, with an eye to release this coming fall. It will pick up where the first left off in the 1950s and bring it right up to the present.

When we have both films ready, each of which is a broadcast friendly 88 minutes, we will approach Rogers Cable who have already broadcast one of our other docs on the 122 year history of the now defunct Central Canada Exhibition in Ottawa several times. We will then pitch these films to other broadcast entities and consider entering one or both in some film festivals.

We intend to follow a similar path with The Ghosts of Mississippi Mills (GOMM). We've been throwing out teasers about GOMM and the response has been very enthusiastic. It could well be the most successful of the three Almonte cenrtic films.

Having grown up in Almonte (current population ~5,000), I have known many of the key players, such as the current mayor, several previous mayors (some of whom are in the two Almonte docs, several councillors and many other citizens, prominent and otherwise, in the community. Many of these people have appeared in the first doc and/or will be in the second. (Can't beat that small town mojo!) Included among the interviewees are two nieces and a nephew of one of the "ghosts" whose name was Archie, who will be featured in GOMM. Interestingly none of them believe that his ghost exists. However, I have also been in the house where Archie resided when he was living and where he reputedly still does. Several people swear to his existence.

Another interesting fact is that three movies have been produced in this house. It's quite a spectacular old mansion. One movie was a very decent Canadian film called "Les Portes Tournant", another was a made for TV film starring Torrie Spelling, and the third was another Canadian production, though I forget its title off hand. In each case there were some "incidents" during the filming.

I have also been in two of the other locations where two of the other prospective spirit characters are reputed to reside. One of these is an old grist mill that was restored in the 1930s as a summer home and studio by a then world renowned sculptor named Robert Tait McKenzie, who was born in Almonte. He was best friends with another Almonte native, James Naismith who was the inventor of the game of basketball. The mill has been made into a museum - the Mill of Kintail. It is his wife Ethel who is said to still reside in the Mill. I have visited the Museum often and have spoken with the curator who has experienced things herself. She has given us permission to film in the Museum.

We're okay to go with Archie's three local relatives, though there are more distantly related family members out there whom we haven't connected with. We haven't been able to identify any relatives of the McKenzies. If there are any, they are more likely to be in the U.S., probably in the Philadelphia area.

Again, thanks all for your input. I'm certainly open to more suggestions and advice.

If we do go ahead with the project, you will be able to follow it on the two websites in my post and on a third - www.almonteheritageonfilm.com - which is a dedicated site for our Almonte related films.

Cheers.
 
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