A Drumheller man, who has found success in front of the camera and on stage as an actor, is now looking at creating his own project.
     Derek Losoncy has spent more than two decades in the performing arts, starting as an actor and then branching out into directing and producing. This includes work on the stage, in film and web content.         While he took a short break from the industry, last year he came charging back, championing the Revenge of William Turney.
     Losoncy has written and is producing the project, and has brought on another Drumheller face Jason Wan Lim to direct. In fact is was Wan Lim who helped to coax Losoncy back into the industry.
    “I have always wanted to write and I have a lot of great stories in my head, Losoncy tells “the Mail”.
    The Revenge of William Turney tells the story of the son of a prostitute who is taken in by a Chinese family in Victoria in the 1850’s, after his mother passes away. He becomes best friends with Lee Chang. This is right at the same time as the Campbell River Gold Rush.
    The odd combination of the orphaned son of a prostitute and Chinese man at that time and place in history, put them on the fringes of society and the two wind up getting involved in some shady ventures.
    “As the world evolves, he (Turney) is a good in for the family to get into other markets, unfortunately, they step on the wrong people’s toes and a bit of a gang war breaks out and they are forced to flee Victoria,” explains Losoncy.   
    They make their way to the Nakusp Region at the beginning of a potential silver rush.
     While it is not a true story, it is based in a time and place in Canadian history.
    “Within the tale there is some of that, bringing in historical characters, but it is a fictional piece,” he said.
    The ultimate goal for Losoncy is to create a nine-episode limited series. He applied to Telus Storyhive to help attain some financing and was able to shoot a teaser for the competition, however, they were unsuccessful in their bid. He says they are committed to the project and looking for backing to shoot a pilot.  
    This is not the only project Derek is working on as he expands his creative career.    
    “The Revenge of William Turney is one project we are working on and we are going to continue to pursue it, but I am working on a few other as well and try to get them off the ground. It is an industry of rejection, but, but life goes on.”
    He says the industry is fertile with more outlets such as Netflix investing in content.
    “It is really starting to trend back to where the artists are really going to have more clout because there are so many different providers and they are all now competing for content.     
    It gives people an opportunity like myself to get into the business because they are actively looking for new people, not just to create the content, but to be part of the system and help mentor and grow,” he said.

    This week The Salvation Army is working to spread awareness of the solvable problem of hunger.
    September 18 - 22 is Hunger Awareness Week. This is a national campaign by Food Banks Canada to shed light on a very real, but often-invisible issue of hunger.
    “It spreads awareness of who actually goes hungry, it’s not just the homeless,” explains Jenessa McAuley, Community and Family Services worker at The Salvation Army in Drumheller. “How people can help and share facts is really important, and we are looking for participation.”
    She says there is a wide cross-section of users of The Salvation Army’s food bank and services.
    “I always say that poverty doesn’t discriminate, so we have children, families, seniors ,people with disabilities,” she said. “So this week is about getting out the message that these are people who use the food bank and experience hunger”.
    To mark the week McAuley says they are holding some events to raise awareness. On Monday, they had a display at The Salvation Army Thrift Store and there are some awareness activities today (Wednesday, September 20) at Sally’s Social Café over the lunch hour at the Knox United Church.
    On Friday, September 22, they are encouraging people to skip a meal and then donate the equivalent to the food bank.
    For more on Hunger Awareness Week activities, go to www.drumsa.org.