ROSEMARY HOUSE
Rosemary House formed Rock Island Productions in 1994; since then the company and Ms. House have made 22 films, earning a solid reputation for quality dramatic films, both shorts and features, as well as documentary productions related to the arts, science and the environment. The company’s most recent films are the feature film Hold Fast, adapted by House from the celebrated Canadian novel by Kevin Major, directed by Justin Simms and distributed by E-One Entertainment, the documentary Puffin Patrol, produced for CBC’s Nature of Things and the interactive story project Hungry Month of March, produced by Rock Island and The National Film Board of Canada. Rock Island is developing Auntie Vigilantes as an original comedy series with colleague Mary Sexton as well as the feature film Portuguese Boy, slated for production in 2017.
Rosemary House made Rufus Guinchard, about the legendary NL fiddler, and her award-winning short When Women Are Crazy in 1990. Since then she’s made over 20 films including the feature film comedy Violet, starring Mary Walsh and produced by partner Mary Sexton and Hospital City, about life and death at the HSC in St. John's. Bloomsday Cabaret, a feature doc about music in the novels of James Joyce was nominated for a Best Production Gemini. Christopher House, Ahead of the Curve, about Toronto Dance Theatre’s modern dance maestro (and Rosemary’s brother) was nominated for two Geminis, as was the arts doc Ron Hynes the Irish Tour. National Film Board favourites include Rain, Drizzle and Fog, about her beloved hometown of St. John’s and Salvation, about life on the streets in Toronto. Salvation was nominated for the Donald Brittain Documentary Award. She wrote and produced the feature Hold Fast, in 2013. Based on Kevin Major’s novel and directed by Justin Simms, it opened to great reviews in theatres across the country. She wrote and produced Puffin Patrol, in 2014 for CBC’s Nature of Things. She wrote, directed, produced and edited The Hungry Month of March in 2015, a series of 16 short films produced with the National Film Board of Canada. She’s currently writing a new feature, Portuguese Boy, about a playboy Portuguese football star who discovers his real mother is a Newfoundlander, and is developing the television series Auntie Vigilantes with partner Mary Sexton.