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Thirty-five years ago, Bruce Beach started construction on the Ark Two, an underground nuclear fallout shelter that he designed and built himself. The structure is made up of 42 school buses that were linked together and buried under 12 feet of concrete and earth.

Over the years, the project has attracted the attention of people across the world and has been met with differing opinions – from other ‘preppers’ who celebrate it, to folks who think the whole idea is crazy.

You Will Survive Doomsday is a short documentary exploring the beliefs and decisions that shaped Bruce’s unconventional journey.

Creative team

Director/producer/editor: Kyle McDougall

Filmmaker’s statement

Bruce and the Ark Two shelter have been well documented over the years, making appearances on shows such as National Geographic’s Doomsday Preppers and Penn & Teller: Bullshit!, as well as many other news and media websites.

As I researched his story, I noticed a common theme among all of the media coverage: those stories tended to focus purely on his unconventional beliefs and often exaggerated his personality and lifestyle. Knowing the importance of the Ark Two project and the energy that Bruce put into it, I was more interested in exploring the ‘why’ behind his actions.

Over the process of creating this film, the person I got to know is someone who is kind, caring and driven. Bruce is strong in his beliefs, but by no means imposing or closed-minded. He’s simply true to himself and I hope his story encourages others to be as well.

About Kyle McDougall

Kyle McDougall is a documentary filmmaker based out of Muskoka, Ontario.

After graduating from film school in 2006, Kyle worked in the television industry for six years as a director of photography and editor, before moving on to start a production company with a partner, creating work in the commercial and non-fiction realms.

Kyle launched his current company, Outpost Visuals, in 2018, with the intention of focusing solely on his true passion for documentary filmmaking.

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An unrecovered alcoholic, Patty, shows up at her local AA meeting ready to share her latest relapse story. As the story progresses, we find out that her actions had serious consequences.

Creative team

Writer/director: Brendan Brady
Producers: Brendan Brady, Erin Carter, Sam Coyle

Filmmaker’s statement

I have always loved long takes in movies. The choreography and teamwork required to achieve these visual treats really excites me as a filmmaker.

About Brendan Brady

Brendan Brady is a Canadian Screen Award-nominated producer, writer and director from Toronto.

In 2014 Brendan was selected as one of five residents of the Canadian Film Centre’s Producers Lab. He produced the short film Stray Dog which premiered at the Boston Underground Film Festival and subsequently played multiple festivals including Toronto After Dark (2017). After the lab, Brendan wrote, directed, produced and starred in the short film Black Rock or Bust, which premiered at the Calgary International Film Festival (2016).

Also in 2016 he produced, in association with the Breath Films, Colonization Road (dir. Michelle St. John), a one-hour documentary that premiered at imagineNATIVE (2016) and was subsequently sold to and aired on CBC’s flagship documentary program, Firsthand. Colonization Road was nominated for the Donald Britain Award for best social/political documentary at the Canadian Screen Awards (2018).

Brendan has directed showcase pieces for the Canadian Film Centre’s actors, feature film writers and television writers programs, including actor showcase pieces Vivienne (2018) starring Libby Osler and Enrico Colantoni, Tammy starring Michelle Mcleod and Dan Beirne, feature writers showcase piece Emily & Andrew’s Grand Finale, written by Laurel Brady and television writer Veronkia Pazs’ Schadenfreude.

His latest short, Keep Coming Back! premiered at Palm Springs International Short Film Festival (2018), screened at Whistler Film Festival (2018) and Canadian Film Festival (2019), and was sold to Air Canada’s enRoute entertainment.

In addition to his filmmaking, Brendan has line produced the feature films The Exchange, Mouthpiece, Giant Little Ones and Don’t Talk to Irene. He is currently line producing the fifth season of the acclaimed television series Letterkenny.

He also hosts the podcast Indie Film Lab.

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