Denzel Washington‘s newest film Fences is garnering critical praise, but a lot of people may not know its production has a Lloydminster connection.
Wells Asset Management president and CEO Dale Wells and his team of financiers have been involved with the film industry for six years, but got their first taste of the big time with the red carpet in New York with Fences.
“That was fun. For a small town Saskatchewan boy, I was pretty impressed and Paramount, I’ll give them credit, put on a good show, it was exciting,” Wells said.
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The venture began with an initial partnership with Canadian company Bron Studios, which was were looking for a more strategic way of financing projects with more return and less risk.
“Once they’ve got the nuts and bolts of the movie deal worked out, they come back to myself and say ‘are you interested’ and that’s where we do the financing for the movie,” Wells said.
The film is based on a Pulitzer Prize winning-play and stars two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington, who also directed the film.
“Fences was a studio movie with Paramount, which was a big deal for us within the movie industry and it was a really good deal from a financial standpoint,” Wells said.
Through financing films, Wells said people are still surprised to find out he works out of the Border City, instead of a bigger centre.
“If you’re in the background, someone like myself, I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time, met good people and it’s been a good ride. It’s been enjoyable,” Wells said.
Fences has already garnered numerous award nominations and has given Wells and his team a lot of new and exciting opportunities.
“We’ve got some good films, I’m hoping to make some announcements in January and February about some films that we’re involved with that are coming up. They’re very big, very big projects,” Wells said.
WATCH: Denzel Washington On ‘Fences’
However, Wells said he’s proud of working locally and thinks it gives others a glimpse at options outside of Hollywood.
“It’s opened up some huge opportunities for us, but this is my home, this is where I’ll stay,” he said.
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