Star-studded film shot in Mississauga could become TV series

At just 12.5 minutes, Holo succeeds in both giving the viewer a satisfying payoff and leaving them wanting just a little bit more.

It doesn’t wrap up so neatly that you’re not left wondering if there’s a bigger story to tell, and that’s one reason why Mississauga filmmaker Alexander DeSouza is hopeful that the tight, dark and intense sci-fi short will anchor a potential eight-episode miniseries. 

Shane West, left and Morgan Kohan, right

“People flew in [to Mississauga] and we shot it over four days and we’ve had good feedback,” DeSouza tells INsauga.com. 

The film, set in the future, stars Morgan Kohan (Sullivan’s Crossing) as Claire, a woman seeking closure following the death of her abusive ex-husband. A company called Looking Glass offers Claire the opportunity to–with the use of an actor and some very advanced technology–have one last ‘face-to-face’ meeting with her late partner, Jared (played by Shane West, who starred alongside Mandy Moore in A Walk to Remember in the early aughts). 

Filmmaker Alexander DeSouza

The film also stars Zelda Williams (an actor, director and the daughter of late actor and comedian Robin Williams), Beth Hornby and Tony Nappo.

DeSouza, who shot much of the film at Masterkey Culture in Mississauga, said he became interested in the concept after finding the screenplay, written by Alexander Hernandez-Maxwell, on the now-defunct screenwriting website Coverfly. 

“He [Maxwell] had worked with Shane West. I saw the script and thought it was an interesting premise. I was looking for a science fiction project,” DeSouza says. 

DeSouza connected with Maxwell on Instagram, and the two creatives immediately hit it off. Over several years, they fleshed out the project over Zoom and eventually raised enough money to shoot the short/proof of concept, enticing West and Williams to take on roles. 

“Maxwell knew Shane because they worked on a previous project. I had a meeting with Shane and he knew Zelda because they’re good friends in real life. They’ve never worked together, so one of the selling factors for Zelda was she could work with Shane and she was really keen on that,” he says. 

DeSouza says Holo is about to make its way onto the festival circuit and that he hopes it will screen at some bigger festivals–think Sundance in Utah and Fantasia in Montreal–in the coming year.

“We’re playing a waiting game at the moment, but people who have seen it really loved it,” he says. 

The project is a culmination of years of practice and training for the filmmaker who grew up in Mississauga and attended St. Francis of Xavier High School before moving on to study at York University in Toronto. 

DeSouza says his love of film began in elementary school and that he would make videos in place of essays, some of which “spiralled into short films.” In high school, he enrolled in a communications and technology program. 

“In Grade 11, my teacher said, ‘You can turn this into a career, I think you have a shot.’” 

Since graduating, he’s directed commercials and videos and other shorts, but this project is one that’s been shaping up to go further–especially since it has a mix of national and international talent behind it. 

“Zelda came to Mississauga and that blew up the project in terms of getting more visibility on it. West came down. The rest of the cast is Canadian. We have a lot of local talent as well,” he says, adding that Kohan flew in from Halifax to shoot the film. 

That said, this isn’t the first show he’s pitched to bigger networks and while he can’t reveal who’s interested, he says feedback has been positive and the cast has committed to take on roles in any future mini-series. 

“Everyone is confirmed to participate in the full show,” he says. 

He also says he hopes to shoot the series locally if he gets the go-ahead. 

“We want to shoot in Mississauga; we want to shoot it here and utilize our resources. We want to be that next project.”