Jason Priestley on Harold Ballard

Player's Own Voice

He has been a well-respected, hard working film and television director for thirty years now, so it’s probably time to stop asking ‘Beverley Hills 90210’ questions in conversation with Jason Priestley. Luckily, the lifelong hockey buff is more than happy to chat about another 30 year old bit of business, everyone’s favourite Toronto Hockey gargoyle- Harold Ballard. Priestley has just released ‘Offside’ his documentary about the man who literally lived in Maple Leaf Gardens...and tried to cheat anyone who stepped foot in his house. In a world full of brilliant subjects for sports documentaries- why spend time on a criminal, racist, sexist, homophobic weirdo (who also ruined a hockey franchise)? The answer- as Priestley passionately points out- is that the bad stuff is all most people know about the guy- but in deep private, Ballard was an incredibly generous philanthropist. He gave money away like it was going out of style, and kept it under wraps because he wanted everyone to think he was a hard ass. To his credit- Priestley never puts his thumb on the scale. He gathers all the contradictions he can about Ballard, and leaves us to decide what to make of the man. Meantime- Anastasia also puts the former race car driver to work solving an old tv puzzle. Why is it so hard to show speed on the screen? Watching F-1 or speedskating or Tour de France- you can never tell how quickly those people are moving. Priestley has a deeply detailed answer for that too. Budding cinematographers- take note. It’s all about low cameras, moving ground, and reference objects on screen. Other seemingly random, but definitely entertaining topics of discussion? What the great one, #99 did for hockey culture in Los Angeles. How the million or so Canadian expats in that town fight over slots in the beer leagues. And why actors want to be athletes & vice versa.