By Chris Strikes
It’s been a while since my last update in the news section and there’s been a LOT that’s happened!
On February 17th (just under a three weeks ago), CBC Short Docs released Callowgrove Entertainment’s latest film PATTY vs. PATTY through CBC Gem for viewers in Canada and CBC’s YouTube channel for viewers outside of Canada.
PATTY vs. PATTY is a short documentary on Toronto's bizarre Patty Wars in 1985, when the city's patty vendors refused to change the name of their beloved snack in the face of hefty fines, and made international headlines along the way.
The film combines patty maker Michael Davidson’s personal anecdotes (who became the face of the Patty Wars) intertwined with archive footage and scripted re-enactments based on the anecdotes and archives.
Though I wrote and directed the film, my company Callowgrove Entertainment partnered with Third Culture Media headed by Kate Fraser and Maya Annik Bedward to co-produce the film. This successful partnership allowed for the creation of a film that has now gone viral.
In the 19 days since its release PATTY vs. PATTY has generated 400,000 views on YouTube and though we do not have the numbers of views for CBC Gem, we can only imagine a significantly high number of views on their platform too. The aim is to achieve over 12 million views, which would make our film the highest viewed CBC Short Docs film.
PATTY vs. PATTY was also covered by NOW Toronto, and I was also lucky enough to do interviews with the Jamaican Gleaner’s podcast Impacting Jamaica, CBC Metro Morning and the Jim Richards Show on Newstalk 1010.
Also, you can check out my director’s statement here on CBC Docs where I delve in deeper about the creation of the film.
I would like to give a very warm heartfelt thank you to everyone who worked on PATTY vs. PATTY, thank you to the CBC Short Docs team, thank you to all of you who have watched liked and shared the film, thank you to the Jamaican Canadian Association and thank you to Pam's Roti Shop.
Most of all, thank you to Michael Davidson and all the patty bakers and vendors out there!
Watch PATTY vs. PATTY on CBC Gem.
Watch PATTY vs. PATTY on YouTube.