Short Synopsis
With little more than a 16-mm camera and a bedrock love of place, renegade filmmaker Mike Jones broke the trail for Newfoundland’s cultural renaissance. Through never-before-seen footage of the comedic chaos that was CODCO, Smash & Grab: The Rebel Lens of Mike Jones summons this chapter of Canada’s hilarious history in a joyful journey of rediscovery featuring Mary Walsh, Cathy Jones, Rick Mercer and more.
Long Synopsis
With little more than a 16-mm camera and a bedrock love of place, renegade filmmaker Mike Jones broke the trail for the reawakening of pride and identity that was Newfoundland’s cultural renaissance.
In the 1970s, freed from the iron grip of church and state, a creative revolution detonated that would impact the entire country. The members of the CODCO troupe—Mary Walsh, Greg Malone, Cathy Jones, Andy Jones, Tommy Sexton, Bob Joy and Diane Olsen—cut their satirical teeth in experimental theatre before their comedic chaos was loosed upon the rest of Canada.
Justin Simms’ Smash & Grab: The Rebel Lens of Mike Jones is a joyful journey of rediscovery through the work of the “godfather of Newfoundland cinema.” Alongside his siblings (Cathy and Andy), Jones helped found Newfoundland’s first independent film co-op, co-directed the island’s first feature film (the cult classic The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood) and documented the rise of CODCO from regional hit to comedy legends.
Through never-before-seen-footage of a young CODCO and interviews with friends, family and some of Canada’s funniest people, including Rick Mercer and Mark Critch, Smash & Grab summons this radical chapter of Canadian history. Demented, delightful and even a bit dangerous, Jones’ pioneering vision is still making Canada laugh.
Making Smash & Grab has been an act of self-discovery as much as it’s been an exercise in filmmaking. In telling Mike Jones’ story, I found myself staring into a mirror. Like Mike, I am an independent filmmaker working in St. John’s, navigating the grind, the risk and the particular loneliness of trying to make meaningful work on the margins. His struggle to find his voice—in a challenging region, against the grain, on his own terms—is one I recognize intimately. In ways I didn’t anticipate, this film became as much about every filmmaker who has ever answered cinema’s siren call as it is about Mike Jones himself. But what drew me deeper was the realization that I am part of a continuum—a great tradition of Newfoundland cinema that strives to speak truth to power, to hold up a mirror to pillars of power and dare it to look back. I am fascinated by how identity and ideology are built, how art shapes a people’s sense of who they are—and the story of Mike Jones and CODCO sits at the very heart of that question. The work produced during the remarkable cultural renaissance we explore in this film didn’t just help Newfoundland discover its own voice, but in so doing, it helped Canada understand itself.
Directed by
Justin Simms
Written by
Deanne Foley
Justin Simms
Producer (Pearl Productions)
Lynne Wilson
Producer (Odd Sock Films)
Jill Knox Gosse
Producer (NFB)
Liz Cowie
Executive Producer (NFB)
Nathalie Cloutier
Director of Photography
Cody Westman
Editor
Andrew MacCormack
Composer
Ian Foster
Story Consultant
Andy Jones
Featuring
Andy Jones
Cathy Jones
Robert Joy
Greg Malone
Mary Walsh
Ted Blades
Drew Brown
Mark Critch
Barbara Doran
John Doyle
Pam Hall
Debbie McGee
Rick Mercer
Derek Norman
Ken Pittman
Edward Richie
Gerry Rogers
Gabriel Williams
Production manager
Lynn Andrews
Production coordinators
Alexa Jerrett
Cara Powell
Rhonda Buckley
Assistant to the director
Anastasia Vedyenyeva
Production accountants
Lynne Wilson
Jill Knox-Gosse
Trainee assistant accountant
Natasha Marsh
Archive clearance coordinator
Monique Tobin
Archive research assistant
Alexa Jerrett
Camera operator
Kirk Stuckless
Camera assistants
Raymond Campbell
Ben Mercer
Data management technicians
Aaron Elliott
Lian Morrison
Still photographers
David Howells
Lauren Vandenbrook
Cody Westman
Sound recordists
Mark Neary
Matthew Thomson
John O. Quinton
Dakota Quinn
Camera operator (Halifax)
Paul McCurdy
Sound recordist (Halifax)
Josh Owens
Camera operator/sound recordist (New York)
Alexander Strohm
Key grips
Sean Doran
Jason Andrews
Grip
Eric Penney
Make-up/hair
Sarah Gerbig
Mary Gabriel-Cadigan
Lorraine Power
Megan Ruddock
Mya Bixby
Assistant editor
Arron Elliott
Dailies
Laura Alexander
Deliverables
Bern Hammond
Closed captioning/described video services
Lori Heath
VFX Supervisor
Darryl Couch
Finishing editor/VFX
Matthew Vivian
Colourist
Steve Cook
Re–recording mixer
Gavin Fernandes
Dialogue editor
Paul Steffler
SFX editor
Matthew Thomson
Foley artist
Hilary Thomson
Foley engineer & editor
Matthew Thomson
for NIFCO
Executive director
Jennice Ripley
Facility director
Steve Cook
Program director
Anna Petras
Facility technician
Bern Hammond
Insurance services
Arthur J. Gallagher Canada
Legal services
Stewart McKelvey
Script and title research services
Eastern Script
Payroll services
EP Canada
Audit services
Pinsent & Associates
Banking & financing services
Royal Bank of Canada
for the NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CANADA
Line Producers
Geneviève Duguay
Amanda Roy
Production Administrators
Isabelle Limoges
Josiane Bernadin
Senior Production Coordinators
Kelly Davis
Adriana Sanchez-Sansfaçon
Technical Coordinators
Daniel Lord
Production Supervisor
Roz Power
Senior marketing Advisor
Kay Rondonneau
Marketing Project Manager
Andrea Elalouf
Marketing Coordinator
Harmonie Hemming
Legal Counsel
Peter Kallianiotis
Archives
Mike Jones Archival Collection courtesy of Megan Jones, John Jones and Gabriel Williams
Jones family archival materials with permission from:
Andy Jones Susan Williams
Megan Jones Cathy Jones
John Jones Mary Win Jone
Gabriel Williams Eleanor Jones
Michael Jones Archive, Special Collections Archives, Memorial University
Thank-you Colleen Quigley, Performing Arts Archivist
and Archivists Dan Duda, Matthew Joseph Keels and Linda White
National Film Board of Canada
Thank-you Aidan Nidelet
CBC Archive Sales
Thank-you Darren Yearsley
The Rooms Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Archives Division
Thank-you Beverly Bennett and Sandra Ronayne, Archives and Collections, Still and Moving Images
Gerald S. Doyle Film Collection, The Rooms
Joseph R. Smallwood Collection and NL Performing Arts Collection
Archives and Special Collections, Memorial University
Centre for Newfoundland Studies, Memorial University
Thank-you Bonnie Morgan, Librarian
“The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood” footage courtesy of Andy Jones,
John Jones, Megan Jones and Gabriel Williams
“Albert” footage courtesy of Nigel Markham, Charlie Tomlinson, Andy Jones
“CODCO” courtesy of WildBrain. All rights reserved.
“Congratulations” footage provided by Toronto International Film Festival
Thank-you TIFF staff and the TIFF Film Reference Library
“The Dukes of Hazzard” Lou Step Productions distributed by CBS, footage used as per fair dealing
“Hey Elvis” footage courtesy of Edward Riche
“Kitchen Party” footage courtesy of Stephen Bonnell
“Offstage Line” by David Pope
“Outport Lesbian” footage courtesy of Cathy Jones
“The Rick Mercer Report” footage courtesy of Gerald Lunz and Rick Mercer
“Running the Goat in Harbour Deep” footage courtesy of Derek Norman
“Secret Nation” footage courtesy of Pope Productions with permission from
Lisa Porter, Edward Riche and Jennice Ripley
“Stations” footage courtesy of William D. MacGillivray
“This Hour Has 22 Minutes” footage courtesy of IoM Media Ventures Inc
Thank you Tracey Jardine
“Wanes” by Mike Riggio
“When Ponds Freeze Over” courtesy of Mary Lewis
“Wonderful Grand Band” courtesy of Sandy Morris and Greg Malone
“At the Mall” used with permission from Jamie Snider
“Michael Jones was a Pioneer of Newfoundland Filmmaking” courtesy of The Globe and Mail
with permission from Joan Sullivan and the Jones Family
CODCO photographs by Pam Hall
Faustus Bidgood photographs by Scott Strong
Figgy Duff photographs courtesy of Pamela Morgan and Andre Wall
Gerald Squires family photographs courtesy of Esther Squires
Secret Nation photographs by Justin Hall
Atom Egoyan photograph by Seda Grigoryan
David Cronenberg photograph by Canadian Film Centre
Patricia Rozema photograph by Lila Streicher
Archival assistance and consultations were very much appreciated from:
Eastport Properties
Alexa Jerrett
Saskia Schulz-Norvell
Maria Cherwick
Jennifer Nash
Jessica Quaw
Walter Ferguson-O’Brien
Mary Lynn Bernard
Mary Walsh (Faustus Guru)
Lisa Porter
Paul Hope, Pope Productions
Mark Ferguson
Brenda O’Brien
Very special thanks
Gabriel Williams
John Jones
Megan Jones
Mary Lynn Bernard
Thank you
Noreen Golfman
Susan Kent
Mary Lewis
Joan Sullivan
Tommy Sexton Estate
Diane (Dyan) Olsen
Marthe Bernard
Dorothy Mckeown
Frances Mckeown
Eleanor Jones
Susan Williams
Mary Win Clair
Sandy Morris
Rick Gosse
Jim Rillie
Maisie Rillie
Andre Wall
Pam Morgan
Steve Palmer
David Ferry
Anne Macleod
Mun Extension Film Unit
Rohan Fernando
Annette Clark
Dominique Gusset
Giles Walker
Christina Mayo
Ted Dillon
Randy Feener
Ned Pratt
Mark O’Neill
Ray Fennelly
The Spectacle Theatre
LSPU Hall
Wesley United Church
CBC St. John’s Studios
John C. Perlin Arts and Culture Centre
Paul L. Pope Centre for TV & Film
Greg Spottiswood
A Never Forget Films production, in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada
In association with Pearl Productions and Odd Socks Films