Creating a Musical: The Process & Partnership

Guests: Corey Payette & Julie McIsaac

Co-screenwriters and co-lyricists Corey Payette and Julie McIsaac discuss their process of creation and partnership for Les Filles du Roi; from the starting research, to premiering it on stage, to further developing the story for the big screen.

Acting from Stage to Screen

Guests: Raes Calvert & Merewyn Comeau

Actors Raes Calvert (Jean-Baptiste) and Merewyn Comeau (Fille/Chorus) are two of the original cast members who took part in the stage production of Les Filles du Roi and reprised their roles for the film. In this conversation the pair recall the early days of working with the trilingual material, the challenges of adapting your work from stage to screen, and the many anecdotes from shooting a movie outdoors in period costumes!

Cinematography & Editing

Guests: Christian Díaz Durán, Ian Mrozewski, & Parham Banafsheh

To visually translate the stage production onto the big screen, the team behind the lens looked for inspiration in the known tropes of musical films, whilst still adding ingenuity to how they approached the unique storytelling of Les Filles du Roi. With topics like visually crafting a nod to the theatrical origins of the piece and how music informed the pace and composition of every sequence, this is an in-depth conversation with Cinematographers Ian Mrozewski and Parham Banafsheh, and Film Editor Christian Díaz Durán.

Language and Song: Acting in a Movie Musical

Guests: Claire Johnstone & Sean Patrick Sonier

Actors Claire Johnstone (Marjolaine Savoie) and Sean Patrick Sonier (Clarke) share their experience portraying characters audiences root against; how does an actor prepare to play a villain? Plus, they share anecdotes from the set, their process to prepare for a trilingual musical, and their opinions on their characters’ actions and its consequences.

Story Through Song: Making the Music

Guest: Corey Payette

An in-depth conversation into the musical identity of Les Filles du Roi. Composer and co-lyricist Corey Payette takes us through the process of crafting the songs for the musical: from the early motifs that informed the direction of the piece, to the significance of instruments used in the songs.

The lives of a Mohawk girl and her brother are forever disrupted after they forge an unlikely relationship with a Frenchwoman whose dream of a new life is more complicated than she could have imagined.

  • Capitol Theatre | Nelson, BC | Feb 04, 2025

  • Indigenous: North American Film Festival | Stuttgart, Germany | Feb 14, 2025

  • Caravan Farm Theatre | Armstrong, BC | June 2025 dates TBD [OPENING FILM]

Upcoming Screenings

Past Screenings

Awards & Nominations

AWARD WINNER at the Wild Rivers Film Festival

  • Best Musical 2024

AWARD WINNER at the Leo Awards

  • Best Motion Picture

    Best Direction - Corey Payette

  • Best Editing - Christian Díaz Durán

  • Best Musical Score - Corey Payette & Julie McIsaac - WINNER

  • Best Production Design - Anna Shearing - WINNER

  • Best Costume Design - Alaia Hamer & Marshall McMahen

  • Best Lead Performance - Kaitlyn Yott

  • Best Lead Performance - Julie McIsaac

AWARD WINNER at the Flathead Lake International Cinemafest:

  • Best Picture (Feature) - Les Filles Du Roi - WINNER

  • Best Director - Corey Payette - WINNER

  • Best Actress - Julie McIsaac

  • Best Actor - Raes Calvert

  • Best Original Score - Corey Payette and Julie McIsaac - WINNER

AWARD WINNER at the Hamilton Film Festival:

  • Best Music - Corey Payette and Julie McIsaac - WINNER

AWARD WINNER at the Reelworld Film Festival:

  • Outstanding Feature Film Writer - Corey Payette and Julie McIsaac - WINNER

Nominated at the Bridges International Film Festival:

  • Best Cinematography - Ian Mrozewski and Parham Banafsheh

  • Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Raes Calvert

  • Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Chelsea Rose

  • Best Set and Costume Design - Anna Shearing

  • Best Original Score - Corey Payette

“Corey Payette’s “Les Filles du Roi” blossoms from stage to screen”

-The Georgia Straight

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Photo Credits: Les Filles du Roi, a musical film by Corey Payette, screenplay adapted by Corey Payette & Julie McIsaac. Directed by Corey Payette, Production Design by Anna Shearing, Directors of Photography Ian Mrozewski & Parham Banafsheh. Produced by Urban Ink, Raven Theatre, and The Cultch. Actors: Kaitlyn Yott, Raes Calvert, Julie McIsaac, Lisa Goebel, Synthia Yusuf, Chelsea Rose, Merewyn Comeau, Calla Adubofour-poku