A woman walks into a diner to get a cup of coffee. Not just any woman, heads turn and hearts stop, it’s the Lampton Legend. We cut back and forth between the awestruck looks of the diner patrons, and the epic drive that earned her legendary status. On a snowy day, she turns up Lampton Lane. It’s perilously steep and slick with ice, but she climbs it with ease. She even maneuvers around a tow truck. Inside the car to her coffee sloshes around in the cup, but doesn’t spill. Back in the diner, coffee in hand, the Lampton Legend makes to leave. Suddenly someone steps out in front of her, but she moves around that obstacle too. Again, the coffee stays safe. It’s a simple story. A woman takes a shortcut that nobody else could, thanks to her Nissan, and becomes a legend in the minds of her peers.

Driving in Canadian winters can be a perilous task. When the snow and ice hit, it can make certain roads virtually unusable. It’s not at all uncommon to see videos on the nightly news of cars sliding down a steep road, having lost all grip. That’s why we told the story of the Lampton Legend, hyperbolizing a town’s reverence for a woman who was brave enough to conquer a steep street in the middle of the winter, taking the shortcut that couldn’t be taken.

The Lampton Legend is meant to evoke memories of Coen brother films. Interesting, but very human characters like in Fargo, with a slow moody pace like No Country for Old Men. Our director was able to add gravity and tension to what is essentially a very simple story.