The Orpheum Theatre hosted a screening of Mother of All Shows on Sunday, with the star and co-director in attendance.

The writer, director and star Melissa D'Agostino said the film was inspired by her past but was exaggerated and remixed to make the story more cohesive and the scenes more impactful. They were also dissected into smaller sketches to make it a traditional variety show.

D’Agostino said that she and her mother used to connect by watching variety shows such as Carol Burnett, Sonny and Cher, and Dean Martin. 

The editing and shooting of the film used effects and techniques inspired by television formats of the past, including changing the aspect ratio and resolution of the film.

Matthew Campagna, co-director of the film, said that they had to play around with it a bit to achieve the look people remembered and to fulfill their stylistic vision.

Costumes were another instrumental part of achieving the overall look of the movie. Some were handcrafted by costume designer Jennifer Lance, and others were rented costumes that had previously been used on SCTV. D’Agostino said that was cool for her as it is such an iconic Canadian TV show.

The premiere of Mother of All Shows was at the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival, where the film won Outstanding Narrative Feature and Outstanding Director.

The Canadian premiere was at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival.

“Since all of this, we've also been nominated for two Canadian Screen Awards: Best Original Song for 'Mothers and Daughters' and Best Hair Design for Ricky Zucker, who did our amazing coifs,” said D’Agostino.

D’Agostino and Campagna had just arrived in Saskatchewan from Newfoundland and are headed to Hope, British Columbia, next.

The Orpheum is their only stop in the province. D’Agostino said she had previously visited Estevan, and when they were pitching theatres for this film it seemed like a perfect fit. She added that it was important to screen the film in independent theatres such as the Orpheum because they add to the experience.

“So yeah, for us, we make movies at a certain level where we have the opportunity to come and connect with people, and we really want to,” said D'Agostino. "It's really hard these days, you know, after pandemic lockdowns and shutdowns and all of that, and with streaming, the way we've shifted, the way we watch things, we feel it's so important to keep this experience alive because, you know, sitting in a theatre with other people, watching something, is a very special experience."

A wider release is slated for the summer, including more locations in Canada and the United States."