Westlake man returns to 'Mamma Mia!' island

TOUR GUIDE—Screenwriter Chris Canaan will return to the island of Skopelos where "Mamma Mia!" was shot last year. With the hit musical "Mamma Mia" currently in movie theaters, one Westlake Village resident has decided to return to the Greek island where the film was made.

This fall, screenwriter Chris Canaan will travel to Skopelos for a second time to teach a workshop to Greek acting students who want to learn about American film.

When he was on the island last year Canaan ran into the cast of "Mamma Mia," including Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Stellan Skarsgard. Canaan had worked with Brosnan on the film "Robinson Crusoe" in Papua, New Guinea in 1993, and with Skarsgard on "The House on Turk Street," starring Samuel L. Jackson, in 2002.

Canaan describes Skopelos as the greenest of the Greek islands. He says it has a small fishing village with about 2,000 residents and some of the friendliest people he has ever met. The way the movie portrays the island is the way it truly is, with pristine beaches, clean air and picturesque cobblestone streets.

"I can hardly wait to go back," said the 56yearold adventurer.

When he returns to the picturesque island in September, Canaan will lead the writing aspect of a fourday workshop focusing on developing creativity in acting and writing. Last year's workshop attracted not only Greek participants from private drama academies and the University of Athens, but also American students who happened to be traveling in the area at the time.

Canaan encourages his students to make their creative choices based on intimacy.

"Most people start with their heads instead of their hearts. You have to communicate what you know, the moments you were most frightened, most embarrassed. If you don't feel it, nobody will," Canaan said.

"The mind is a terrible master but a good servant."

Canaan also plans to meet with an Athens film studio about collaborating on a movie based on a Maeve Binchy novel.

A producer friend of Canaan's named Norman Cohen lives on Skopelos and invited Canaan to give the workshops.

Canaan, who holds a Master in Fine Arts in theater from the University of California San Diego, has written movies and miniseries for the three networks, Fox, USA and Showtime. His credits include the Emmy Award winning mini-series, "Camerena: Drug Wars."

Canaan also teaches screenwriting at UCLA extension.