A successful Alberta-born play taking on the heart-wrenching topic of sex trafficking has become a motion picture, and a familiar name is backing the project.
“She Has a Name” began as a play written by Andrew Kooman of Red Deer. It was highly successful, selling out at its premier in 2011 and eventually touring 13 cities across Canada. The next step was to take the film to the screen.
The powerful story of a lawyer posing as a john to build a legal case against a pimp, trafficking girls in Asia, caught the attention of Dean Kohut who is listed as an executive producer.
“I knew the people involved, and I saw the outcome of it and the purpose of what they are trying to solve,” said Kohut. “When people are running around with 10 and 12 year old kids, locking them up in container ships, it is pretty sad.”
He explains the whole project began when a story came to light in 2008 of a 20-foot container load of people being smuggled to Thailand. The conditions were stifling and in the end about 50 people died.
“I became a real believer of it and we are going to take it to the next level,” he said. “I think it is a strong story and I think it needs to be told.”
The film is complete and was shot in Red Deer as well as Thailand. Kohut and partner Lance Kadatz were the initial investors to help get the film project off the ground. Kohut also worked to get outside funding.
“The idea is to do good. Obviously, it is an investment and we would like to see some return on it, but, in the bigger scope of it, if we can make a difference and knock down some of those pipelines that is happening with those kids over there, that is one more kid saved,” said Kohut.
The film is produced by Unveil Studios, and features Giovanni Mocibob, who many will recognize from his long tenure with Rosebud Theatre.
The film was shown at a gala event in Red Deer to about 100 people and was well received. Kohut says currently they are working on distribution to get it into theatres. They will also be working on introducing it into festivals.
“We’re trying to get to that next level,” he said.
