Private Project

THE DAWNSAYER

As the world teeters on the brink of collapse, an unlikely hero is ready to put his plan for reconstruction into action. THE DAWNSAYER is the unbelievable life story of Bruce Beach -- the man infamous for Ark Two (the world's largest privately built bomb shelter) -- who has devoted his life to crafting an elaborate blueprint to save the world from its imminent demise.

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Buried beneath an unassuming empty plot in the middle of nowhere, is an underground refuge where the seeds of tomorrow await global catastrophe in order to sprout anew. Completed in 1985, Ark Two was once a state-of-the-art bomb shelter, however today, it is aging and in near ruin. A similar fate has befallen the man who built Ark Two, the notorious Bruce Beach.

Dismissed as “the crazy old man with a bomb shelter,” Bruce’s untold story is as sprawling and unbelievable as his 10,000 square foot shelter. THE DAWNSAYER is an intimate portrait of the man behind Ark Two, his impressive legacy, and a testament to how far this man is willing to go to save a world that has no interest in being saved...particularly by him.

  • Paul Marc Kell
    Director
    5 Sides of a Coin
  • Paul Marc Kell
    Writer
    Dead Set on Life with Matty Matheson
  • Paul Marc Kell
    Producer
  • Bruce M. Beach
    Key Cast
    Doomsday Preppers
  • Ohad Benchetrit
    Composers
    Do Make Say Think
  • Justin Small
    Composers
    Do Make Say Think
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 25 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    July 1, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    25,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    4k Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Paul Marc Kell

A graduate of Concordia University's Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Paul Marc Kell is a Writer, Producer, Director & Cinematographer with nearly twenty years of broadcast & theatrical credits from around the world.

Kell's filmmaking career was launched with the award-winning feature-film 5 SIDES OF A COIN (7th Art Releasing/Lakeshore Entertainment/Starz). In 2015-16 Kell was the Showrunner (Writer/Director/Series Producer) of the first 11 episodes of Viceland’s DEAD SET ON LIFE with Matty Matheson.

Kell's work has screened at film festivals worldwide, notably Cannes, SXSW, and AFI Fest. Over the past 15 years, Kell has worked on commercials, shorts, features, TV shows and one-offs broadcasted on the CBC, Discovery Channel, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Planet Green, History Channel, MTV, Starz, Showcase, TVO, Knowledge, Canal D, Superchannel, The Documentary Channel, IFC, ABC (Australia), MuchMusic (Canada), and many more.

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Director Statement

When I first met Bruce Beach, I didn't know what to believe. I was hired to lens an ill-fated TV series about Preppers and Bruce was one of the subjects. The relationship quickly soured between Bruce and the Producer so the production ground to a halt. Before we packed up, I was left alone with Bruce to listen to a handful of his stories. In that time, the bearded old man with a maniacal laugh had my head spinning with elaborate tales of deep sea exploration, sunken treasure, inventions decades ahead of their time, and how he rubbed elbows with some of the past century's most renowned figures. I shook my head at the math Bruce used to posit his "Most Clear Proof" the world would end, however, when it came to listening to his life story, I was wide-eyed and wanting more. Before we left, I asked Bruce if I could come back on my own. He agreed, and one year later I returned on the date many believed the world would end: December 21, 2012. Fitting, I thought.

Over the next seven years I made many trips to Hornings Mills, to stay for days and even weeks at a time. As the camera-toting guest staying in Bruce and Jean's spare room, I earned my keep cooking, cleaning, collecting wood, and taking Jemma for long walks in the freezing cold. This was the quid pro quo I was happy to oblige for unlimited access to their lives. Inevitably, I became part of the Beach’s extended family and the relationship between filmmaker and subject blurred to a point where I was unsure if I was returning to make or film or simply because I had found a new home.

It took me years to make sense of how Bruce’s epic past converged with a present-day life most people have written off as the crushing sum of years of dreams that failed to materialize. Those with cameras before me had only ever dismissed Bruce as the crazy old man who built a bomb shelter you had to see to believe, but it was the glint I saw in his eyes the very first time I met him that kept me coming back for better answers to who this man really was. What I discovered was a man who could not be defeated, not by naysayers, government officials, the media, a lifetime of failures, or even tragic loss. I concluded Bruce was invincible because he embraced a simple life lesson few of us ever grasp: the purpose of life isn’t about what we accomplish, or what we leave behind…it’s about doing what inspires you. Life is about the journey and few people who’ve ever lived have had a journey as incredible as Bruce Beach’s. THE DAWNSAYER is a testament to Bruce and his incredible journey.