Records relating to “Iron Road”

Title: Records relating to “Iron Road”
Dates of Material:
1998–2009, predominant, 2001–2007
Extent:
1.08 m of textual records
45 digital video discs
2 photographs
Administrative history

Iron Road is a film depicting the building of the Canadian transcontinental railroad by Chinese immigrant labourers, centering on the relationship between one of the workers–a young girl disguised as a boy–and the son the of the railroad builder. It is a Canadian/Chinese co-production, and was shown as a two part series on CBC in August 2009. An edited version is also available as a feature film.

Scope and content

Series consists of records, 1998-2009, including correspondence, reports, photographs, manuscripts, printed material, and legal and financial records relating to Iron Road acquisition of rights, research, story/pitch/financing/development, script, casting, filming, editing and publicity

NOTE(S)
Language of material

Some material is in Chinese.

Subjects
  • Motion pictures—Production and direction
  • Motion pictures—Distribution
  • Motion picture producers and directors—Canada—Biography
BOX FILE TITLE YEAR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
2009.21
2009.21, Box 2
Opera Rights
25Chain of title agreements1998-2007
26Opera rights agreements1998-2007
27Option agreements2000-2007
28Options2001-2007
Research, 2001–2005
29Chinese people/culture
210Canadian railroads
2009.21, Box 3
31Railways of Canada: a pictorial history
32Winners and losers, gamblers all: memories of historic British Columbia
33Historical photographs/photocopies
34 Maps–China/British Columbia
35Chinese in Canada
36Chinese film business
37Locations–British Columbia
38Locations–China
Story Pitch/Financing/Development
39Telefilm Canada2000-2006
310First reading of “Iron Road: the Movie” at The Victory Café, Toronto2001
311Agreements among producers2001-2002
312 Story editor/consultant2001-2003
313Budget/Production2001-2003
314Director search2002
2009.21, Box 4
41William Wong (first Chinese co-producer)2002
42 CBC development phases and commitment2002-2006
43Character sketches – Relic and Little Tiger[ca. 2002]
44Canadian Television Fund2002-2006
45Financing plans2002-2003
46Early pitch material2003
47Promotional booklet material2003-2006
48Story summaries (English/Chinese)2003
49COGECO funding2003-2004
410Financing (includes Hallmark pitch)2003-2005
411 Albert Yeung (investor)2003-2006
412 Asian Union Film & Entertainment2003
413 Translation contracts2003-2005
414 Cost reports–Phase 12003
415 Development schedules2003
416 Cost reports–Phase 22003-2005
417 Cost reports–Phases 3–52006-2007
418 Mainland Productions (B.C. Producer)2004
419 Shaw Rocket Fund2005-2006
2009.21, Box 5
Scripts
51 Readers’ reports/memos re drafts/scene breakdowns/CBC issues2002-2006
52 Notes2002-2006
53 Part One – by Barry Pearson with Executive Producer’s Arnie Zipursky’s notes, Dec. 2003Dec. 2003
54 Part One–by Barry Pearson and Raymond Storey, Dec. 2005 (reprint)Dec. 2005
55 Part Two, Dec. 2005 (reprint)Dec. 2005
56 Part One (Chinese translation)–Barry Pearson and Raymond Storey, Jan. 2006jan. 2006
57 Part Two (Chinese translation, Jan. 2006Jan. 2006
58 Annotated draftApril, 2006
59 “The Movie”, Aug. 2006Aug. 2006
510 “The Miniseries Part I and II”–by Barry Pearson and Ray Storey, Aug. 2006Aug. 2006
511 Part Two–by Barry Pearson and Raymond Storey, Dec. 2006Dec. 2006
512 “Feature Draft”–by Barry Pearson and Raymond Storey, Jan. 2007Jan. 2007
513 Part One–by Barry Pearson and Raymond StoreyMarch, 2007
2009.21, Box 6
Casting, 2003–2007
61–4Commercial Chinese films used for casting research (16 dvds)
65 Casting–Male
66 Casting–Female
67 Casting–“Little Tiger”
68 Casting–O’Toole/Luke Macfarlane/Charlotte Sullivan/Ken Mitchell
69 Extras/Supporting
2009.21, Box 7
Filming, 2007
71 Script and revisions/one-liner/call sheets/crew list
72 Schedules
73 Storyboards
74 Production reports
75–7Rushes (digital video disks)
Editing
78–9Feature edits2008-2009
Publicity/Responses
710 Poster2001-2009
711 Press2002-2009
712 Film festivals2008-2009
713 Focus group responses2007-2009
2010.04
2010.04, Box 1
Opera Rights
17 Contracts with composer and librettist2000-2002
18 Memoranda of agreement2000-2006
Story Pitch/Financing/Development
113 Agreements2000-2002
114 Preliminary development2000-2003
115 Telefilm Canada/Canadian Television Fund, applications and funding2000-2003
116 Images2002
Scripts
117 Cards/readers reports/first draft2000-2002
Publicity/Responses
118 Promotional material

Photographs : col., November 2010
P1-2 Anne Tait accepting Gemini award for Sun Li  

Research
19 “A History Of The Overseas Chinese In Canada” by Li Tung-hai
110 Research
111–12Publications
2011.14
2011.14, Box 1
Publicity/Responses
17Congratulatory letters from Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney 2009