Llewellyn Maddock Parry (October 5, 1905 - May 13, 1993) was a Canadian film producer, commonly credited as the "father" of the film industry in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

.Denny Boyd, "Father of B.C. film left behind some of city's brightest lights". ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'', May 31, 1993. He was a two-time

Canadian Film Award The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

winner, receiving a special award at the

9th Canadian Film Awards The 9th Canadian Film Awards were held on June 15, 1957 to honour achievements in Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . pp. 37-39. The ceremony ...

in 1957 "for his distinguished leadership in the development of a Canadian film industry", and winning a competitive award at the

11th Canadian Film Awards The 11th Canadian Film Awards were held on June 5, 1959 to honour achievements in Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. . pp. 45-47. The ceremony w ...

in 1959 as producer of ''

The Tall Country ''The Tall Country'' is a Canadian short documentary film, directed by Osmond Borradaile and released in 1958."Centennial Film, 'Tall Country' Tops". ''Vancouver Sun'', May 7, 1958. Commissioned by the Government of British Columbia to commemorate ...

'', that year's winner for Best Theatrical Short Film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards''.

Stoddart Publishing Stoddart Publishing was a Canadian book publisher and distributor, owned by Jack Stoddart, which ceased operations in 2002.UncreditedBook giant Stoddart files for creditor protection CBC News, May 1, 2002. Retrieved 2016-01-15. History General ...

, 2000. . pp. 45-47. Born and raised in

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

to immigrant parents from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, Parry worked as a tinsmith and a sign designer, while pursuing interests in theatre as a hobby, in the 1920s and 1930s. He first entered the film industry during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when a rapid staffing expansion at his then-employer, Neon Products of Western Canada, necessitated the production of industrial

training film A training film is a form of educational film – a short subject documentary movie, that provides an introduction to a topic. Both narrative documentary and dramatisation styles may be used, sometimes both in the same production. While most ...

s. In 1944 he left Neon Products to join the fledgling Vancouver Motion Pictures as a production manager, but declined to transfer to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

when that company moved; instead, he purchased VMP's now-vacant studio and established his first production company, Trans-Canada Films. In 1946 he produced his first general-interest documentary film, ''Vancouver Diamond Jubilee'', for the municipal anniversary of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. In 1948 he sold Trans-Canada Films to new owners who transformed it into a film processing company, and purchased North American Productions, a company which he renamed Lew Parry Film Productions.R. A. Francis, "A west coast movie maker hits his stride". ''

Canadian Business ''Canadian Business'' is the longest-publishing business magazine based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and founded in 1927. The print edition terminated in the end of 2016. Beginning in January 2017, the magazine was published online only. In Octob ...

'', August 1955. The company made a few theatrical films, most notably the documentaries ''Prelude to Kitimat'' and ''The Tall Country'', but specialized primarily in instructional and informational documentary films for government and corporate clients; however, nearly all of the next generation of British Columbia filmmakers, who were able to start making feature films, got their first experience in the film industry working for Parry Productions. Parry was also one of the founders of the British Columbia Motion Picture Association and

Telefilm Canada Telefilm Canada is a Crown corporation reporting to Canada's federal government through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in V ...

. In his final years before retiring from the film industry, Parry ran the internal film unit at

BC Hydro The British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority, operating as BC Hydro, is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia. It is the main electricity distributor, serving more than 4 million customers in most areas, with the excep ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parry, Lew 1905 births 1993 deaths Canadian documentary film producers Canadian people of Welsh descent Canadian people of English descent People from Lethbridge People from Vancouver Canadian Screen Award winners Film producers from Alberta Film producers from British Columbia Canadian film production company founders