Why Horror? doc given Canadian Screen Awards nod

One would not expect a genre documentary, produced by Royal Canadian Air Farce comedian, Don Ferguson, to be nominated for a Canadian Screen Award.

But Why Horror? the point-of-view film that investigates why people love the spooky side of cinema was given the nod for Best TV Documentary, Jan. 19.

For the face of Why Horror?, Tal Zimerman, the fact that his colleagues Rob Lindsay of High Park and Nicolas Kleiman of Littly Italy were nominated “speaks to the craft and not the subject matter”.

The Wychwood resident pitched the idea of investigating why people from around the world enjoy horror to Don Ferguson Productions in 2014. He had previously worked with Ferguson on the web series, Comedy Bar.

Lindsay and Kleiman were eager to work on the project with Zimerman.

“We always wanted to do something that people who didn’t necessarily speak the language and codes of horror could understand and relate to,” he says in a February phone interview.

Why Horror? toured around the world, and earned the most feedback once aired on the U.S. network, Showtime.

“That’s pretty huge. It’s a big station and a lot of people saw it,” he says. “We saw a lot of new interactions on social media — just people chiming in to say they liked it, or they didn’t like it but we definitely saw a spike.”

The hard work for everyone, netting interviews with horror heavyweights like Eli Roth, George A. Romero and John Carpenter, paid off.

“(I’m) definitely excited. Mostly excited for Rob and Nick,” Zimerman says. “It’s really nice to see something recognized outside of certain genre circles.

“Those guys worked hard to understand and be honest with a genre that they’re not quite as intimate with as I am.”

The Canadian Screen Awards for television and digital media take place March 8–9 at the Westin Harbour Castle.