Once Upon a
Pandemic
An award-winning short festival film
by writer/director Ryan Northcott
Once Upon a
Trailer
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Once Upon a Pandemic
A heartwarming and heartbreaking film from Writer/Director Ryan Northcott and MEDIAPOP Films. An Official Selection of the 2020 Edmonton International Film Festival, Oakville Film Festival, Canada Shorts Film Festival Award of Excellence, Winnipeg Real to Reel Festival, and Front Range International Film Festival.
Cast & Creator
Madeleine is a new comer to film and television, but has an authentic sensibility as a child actor. She recently appeared in “Under the Banner of Heaven” on Disney+ and is a proud member of the the Calgary Stampede Young Canadians.
She is the daughter of actor/filmmaker Ryan Northcott and made her first official appearance on film in “Once Upon a Pandemic”.
Kristin Booth is a Canadian actor based in Toronto. In 2008 she made a breakthrough with two performances, as a desperate crack whore in “This Beautiful City” and a comic turn as part of an ensemble cast of “Young People F**king”, for which she was given the Genie Award for best supporting actress. Starting in 2014, she appears in the Hallmark original movie series Signed, Sealed, Delivered as Shane McInerney, a techie postal employee. Most recently she completed her role as Marlene Truscott in “Marlene” and appears in “Working Moms”.
Ryan Northcott is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and writer. Some of Northcott’s most recognizable roles over the 20+ year career includes the young rookie Stevie Weeks in “Mystery, Alaska” and the kind-hearted Beach Boy Carl Wilson in the Emmy Nominated mini-series “The Beach Boys: An American Family”
He recently appeared in a slew of roles in TV and Film including, “Let Him Go”, “Marlene” where he plays real life investigative journalist Julian Sher, “They Who Surround Us”, “Jasmine Road” and of course, proudly playing the role of “Mitch Wheeler” in the APTN show “Tribal”.
Northcott lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and has one daughter, Madeleine, who hopes to follow in his footsteps. Ryan still plays hockey as often as he can, is a nominal drummer, and is a mainstay in the Alberta film community as performer and filmmaker.
About the Film
“Once Upon a Pandemic” is the heartwarming and heartbreaking story of a young girl Maddie, self-isolated in her home during a global pandemic while her Mom is in strict quarantine away from the family. Maddie leans on her Dad for guidance, but finds that he can’t always be there for her, so she learns to cope with a heartbreaking twist with the resiliency only a child has.
Ryan wrote the screenplay one morning while in self-isolation, touching on the new reality that parents are navigating – teacher, entertainer, psychologist – all while trying to maintain a level of strength in a world turned upside down. What struck him was the strength and resilience that our children have exhibited, more specifically how well his daughter Maddie has handled such change.
Left to their own devices, what would a child do in a situation like the one faced during a global pandemic?