Spare Change

20085 min 46 secFilm: Animation, Fiction

Direction: Ryan LarkinLaurie Gordon

Production: Laurie Gordon (MusiVision)Marcy Page (National Film Board of Canada)David Verrall

Script: Ryan Larkin

Produced by MusiVision in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada, with a grant awarded by CTV's Bravo!FACT (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent).

In 2002, singer-songwriter Laurie Gordon approached animator Ryan Larkin to do some drawings for her band's video. The two became friends and, later, Larkin began to develop a series of ideas for a film, based on, in his own words, "comical experiences I've had during my many years as a 'panhandler' in Montreal." The film, Spare Change, was completed by Gordon and a team of dedicated young animators following Larkin's death in 2007.

Spare Change is a surreal journey through Larkin's own powerful and ultimately liberating imagination. A street beggar, Astral Pan (voiced by Larkin), takes us from the sidewalks of a wintry Montreal day to the gates of heaven and hell and back. The film features original works by Larkin, including character drawings, flip book animations from earlier in his career and several of Larkin's own paintings.

Subject categories


  • Psychology and Psychiatry > Individual in Society

Credits


writer
Ryan Larkin
initial direction
Ryan Larkin
design
Ryan Larkin
animation
Ryan Larkin
co-director
Laurie Gordon
design - collaboration
Éric Lepage
Yin Ko Lee
Tom Tassel
animation - collaboration
Éric Lepage
Yin Ko Lee
Tom Tassel
music
Chiwawa
sound design
Chiwawa
producer
Laurie Gordon
Marcy Page
executive producer
David Verrall
consulting producer
Craig Graham
infographics
Randall Finnerty
digital imaging - assistance
Sarah Marchand
digital imaging consultation
Susan Gourley
watercolours
Kristina Berey
voice
Ryan Larkin
Krassy Halatchev
Laurie Gordon
recording
Satellite Records Canada
re-recording
Geoffrey Mitchell
live-action cinematography
Ryan Larkin
online editing
Yannick Carrier
technical coordination
Julie Laperrière
marketing
Mia Desroches
administration
Gisèle Guilbault
production coordination
Marie-Christine Nadon