Stefan Watson announced his resignation on Tuesday night, three days after Copper Finch Films confirmed that The Glass Orchard would play as a single 8-hour, 6-minute feature, with two intermissions. The Toronto-made drama is due to open on 20 November in 38 cinemas; its run time sets a Canadian commercial-screening record, according to the Montreal-based Screen Length Register.
Watson said he had agreed to a version almost two hours shorter and would not lend his name to what he called a “marathon imposed on the audience”. The production company says the final cut is complete and will not be shortened. Its release plans have not changed.
A record-length release
The film follows Mara Vellum, a fictional founder of a medical-testing start-up, from a polished product launch to the collapse of her business plans. Copper Finch says its CAD$31 million (about €20 million) production uses three linked chapters, filmed over 74 days in Toronto and Hamilton. The register puts the previous Canadian commercial feature record at 6 hours, 22 minutes.
At a Toronto press briefing on Wednesday, producer Ana L. Matías said the longer cut was assembled from scenes already filmed, not from a late addition. “We made a film with three acts that refuse to behave like separate films,” she said. “The audience can leave during the breaks, but we are selling one ticket because it is one story.”
I resigned because the version being sold is no longer the film I agreed to make.
Stefan Watson, director
The dispute surfaced after the company said ticket sales had reached CAD$1.4 million (about €900,000) for opening-week screenings, a figure it described as a record for a Canadian independent film before release. Watson says he learned the full runtime would be advertised only after the booking announcement. Matías said he was told of his decision to resign on Tuesday afternoon.
The argument over the cut
The Screen Length Register compiled its comparison from 2,600 Canadian theatrical releases dating to 1930, said researcher Lujza Sidor. It counts films released commercially, not gallery installations or works shown only at festivals. “There is no close entry in our catalogue,” Sidor said. “The next question is whether enough cinemas will keep the schedule intact.”
The practical demands are considerable: each screening needs nearly nine hours once the two 25-minute breaks are included, and cinemas must give up most of a day’s auditorium schedule. Copper Finch has arranged one start time daily at 12 venues and two starts on Saturdays at six others. The company says audience members may leave and re-enter during breaks.
A booking manager at one Toronto cinema, Isto Jauhiainen, said advance sales were strongest for weekend screenings, but the unusual length had forced staff to rebuild their timetable. “People are asking whether they can bring food and whether the seat reclines,” he said. “We have never sold a day like this as one film.”
Watson has not asked for his name to be removed from the credits, but his resignation means Copper Finch must now decide whether to describe him as the film’s director in its advertising. Matías said the company would keep his credit unchanged. The director plans to speak publicly about the cut on Friday, two weeks before the first audience sees it.
