www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, April 22, 2016 | 22 John Bkila Sub-Editor jbkila@oakvillebeaver.com Oakville hospital legacy site acts as set for new short film The Oakville Trafalgar Hospital may have moved, but its legacy site found new life recently as it was the set for the filming of a short film. Last week (April 10-14), Oakville-based North Film Co. shot its 30-minute short, The Meaning of Life, with a Gemini Award-winning cast and crew. It included Canadian Juno nominee Tyler Shaw, who is making his acting debut in the film. "We chose to shoot in Oakville because it has a lot of character, unique spaces and highly-skilled talent," said director Cat Hostick. The 25-year-old co-founder of North Film Co. credited her selection of Oakville for production to the efforts of Ward 5 Town and Regional Councillor Jeff Knoll, who was also the volunteer associate producer for the short film. "Jeff Knoll was a major source of support and enthusiasm for bringing our film production company to here, and we hope to build its reputation as a great location to shoot feature films." Hostick co-founded North Film Co. in 2015 with her partner and director of photography Russ De Jong -- the pair have produced more Artscene "Connected to your Community" than 15 projects this past year. The Meaning of Life was shot exclusively at the Oakville hospital's now-closed and strippeddown legacy site with a cast and crew of 40 people. Based on a true story, The Meaning of Life follows the talented and starving musician Finn Faber (played by Shaw), who gets a temporary job at a hospital entertaining sick children as a therapeutic clown, Pilot Pete. The hospital assigns him to meet nine-yearold Sophia Hill (played by Sadie Munroe) once a week where he eventually learns being assigned to the youngster is more than a coincidence, stated a media release. The short film will be submitted to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and Sundance Film Festival later this year. It also features: Gemini Award winners Jean Yoon, Dan Lett and Sergio Di Zio (from TV's Flashpoint), Cara Ricketts (from the TV adaptation of The Book of Negroes), and Krista Morin (of Oscar-winning film Spotlight). Musician Marc Pettigrew returns to Oakville, where he was raised, tomorrow (Saturday) night to Pic-a-deli Restaurant for the release of his latest CD, Honest Hearts. At left, Pettigrew is pictured performing at Moonshine Café in 2013 after recovering from a double-lung transplant surgery in September 2012. | Oakville Beaver file photo Pettigrew returns to Oakville for CD release party Marc Pettigrew is returning to his hometown of Oakville tomorrow (Saturday) for a CD release party. Raised in Oakville and now living in Burlington, Pettigrew studied piano as a child and then learned to play the guitar on his own during the 60s. Playing in R&B bands during his high school years in Oakville, he continued in the semi-professional entertaining world for the next 35 years and started writing his own songs during the 80s. A genetic lung disease would force Pettigrew to quit what he loved after four decades of performing, but not forever. At age 62, he received a double-lung transplant in September 2012. Since then, he's released two CDs, Second Wind and his most-recent Honest Hearts. Most recently, he travelled to Mexico's Barra de Navidad for a gig and headed to Nashville and played at its famous Bluebird Café on April 11. The Honest Hearts CD Release Party will be held at Pic-a-deli Restaurant, 670 Fourth Line, at 8 p.m., with special guest Neil McNaughton. There is no cover charge and the event is open to the public. For more information on Pettigrew, visit www.marcpettigrew.com. The now-closed and stripped-down Oakville hospital's legacy site was the set for a new short film by locally-based North Film Co. It's titled, The Meaning of Life, and stars Juno nominee Tyler Shaw, who is making his acting debut in the film. | supplied photos by Nicholas Murray, courtesy North Film Co.