Halifax’s Vandal Doughnuts gets into the movie game
Posted Nov 23, 2020 09:35:00 AM.
A new movie is playing at…a doughnut shop near you.
Halifax's Vandal Doughnuts has teamed up with a film distribution company to peddle a motion picture alongside its doughy product.
The co-owner of Vandal says he was pleasantly surprised when Michael Boyuk from Toronto-based filmswelike called with an idea to stream a new movie on the doughnut shop's website.
“It was definitely not something that I expected,” said Vandal's Ezra Edelstein, “But when he called and told us about the movie, it made perfect sense. We're all things doughnuts, and the movie's all things doughnuts.”
The movie in question is an award winning film called The Donut King. Directed by Alice Gu, the movie follows the rise and fall of Ted Ngoy, a Cambodian refugee who escaped genocide and overcame poverty to build a life for himself by building an unlikely empire of donut shops in the United States.
However, with cinemas having been shuttered for months due to COVID-19 and attendance way down at existing multiplexes, Boyuk says filmswelike decided to think outside the box in order to distribute the SXSW-winning documentary. In addition, the company wanted to lend a hand to other struggling small independent businesses across Canada.
“We're a tiny company of three people,” said Boyuk of filmswelike. “So for us, we want to support mom-and-pop small shops, doughnuts or whoever that might be.”
As such, the distribution company teamed up with several doughnut stores in Canada – including Vandal Doughnuts in Halifax – to showcase the film and split the proceeds.
While Edelstein says he doesn't expect to make much money off the film, he just hopes it adds some fun during tough times and inspires other fellow small business owners to think of similar ideas to generate income or awareness during the second wave of the pandemic.
The Donut King is available to stream through Vandal Doughnuts social media platforms until Dec. 31.
