A year and a half later and We’re All Gonna Die Season 2 has officially launched on CraveTV. Being a part of a team and reflecting on all the work that went into the final product are some of my favourite and most rewarding parts of this job. The fact that I get to MAKE FILMS… for a living? Is a privilege and honour that never fails to awe and inspire me.
I had the pleasure of joining the team behind the film THE BOY IN THE WOODS this year with editor Robert Swartz, CCE.
We are SO thrilled and delighted and grateful to the Canadian Academy for honouring WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE (EVEN JAY BARUCHEL) with four Screen Awards:
A put-upon worker snaps out of her passive path thanks to a chance encounter with a charismatic busker…
From Nostradamus to the Book of Revelations, we are a species obsessed with our potential extinction. We're perpetually paranoid about cataclysmic events, and yet we're still here—for now. Jay Baruchel dives into our collective fears to dispel (or in some cases verify) the hype and calculate the odds of apocalyptic events, from nuclear Armageddon to a massive asteroid impact.
A year and a half later and We’re All Gonna Die Season 2 has officially launched on CraveTV. Being a part of a team and reflecting on all the work that went into the final product are some of my favourite and most rewarding parts of this job. The fact that I get to MAKE FILMS… for a living? Is a privilege and honour that never fails to awe and inspire me.
Hot Docs, you are spoiling me WAY too much. Patricia Rozema - Alethea Arnaquq-Baril - Christina Jennings - and now Rama Rau!
Rama directed THE REHTEAH PARSONS STORY, MARKET, and most recently LEAGUE OF EXOTIQUE DANCERS.
One of the many people I got to spend time with at TIFF 2015 this year was a woman named Angela Barnhardt Thomas.
Angela Barnhardt Thomas and Me at TIFF 2015
She is the producer of Waiting for Mamu (2013), a doc that travelled world wide to raise money for Mamu's school.
Social issues docs have the power to educate, demystify, and bring awareness to an otherwise ignorant viewer. This doc has since successfully raised over 1 million dollars.
This is the power of cinema! And it is achievable when hard working / passionate people like Angela are a part of the team.
Being fairly new to the industry and using TIFF as a platform to meet with established film professionals, I was blown away at how approachable and knowledgable Angela was. Not only did she patiently answer all my questions, but she even made script suggestions and helped me understand the industry better.
It was a true pleasure attending TIFF programming with her and we were able to discuss a variety of topics on break. Angela and I also talked about her current project, a doc about Charles James, and I am so thrilled to see that subject bloom into a feature length video.
Click HERE for more info from the MET exhibit from 2014.
Sometimes it is about these chance meetings in life that really provide us the support and inspiration we need to be successful. And it is the people we surround ourselves with that help us define who we are and where we are headed.
I am happy to call Angela a friend and look forward to future meetings together. NYC here I come!
- Jenn
In my final week Bootcamp Producer course with the DOC Institute, Toronto, I had the privilege to hear the story of Noah Bingham's extraordinary journey. Noah Bingham is the producer of The Secret Trial 5, a documentary that had its festival premiere at Hot Docs 2014 and a theatre premiere the following year.
One of the many organizations I have joined this year is the Documentary Organization of Canada. I came across this gem at Hot Docs Film Festival 2015.
DOC offers programming to emerging film professionals for a variety of roles.
Technicolour studio
This month's masters series class was on cinematography and lead by Nickolas De Pencier. He is known for his TIFF success, Watermark (2013).
Nickolas graduated from school with a BA' in English Lit. and Art History. Growing up as a photographer who developed b / w photos from film, he carried this love over to working on set in a variety of roles.
Laughing to himself, he says he never chose film as a career. Especially not documentary. He started working on feature film sets for drama and fiction. From PA'ing to grip, he tried out every role to get a good sense of the entire process.
"Start small and be excited about everything" - Nickolas.
On his spare time, he worked on dance films. His roommate at the time knew a group of dancers and Nickolas developed his cinematographic eye through fun experimentation.
After deciding that fiction film was not a long term career for him, he jumped ship to documentary filmmaking. Not only did he change subject matter, but he made the leap from film to digital.
My favourite part about De Pencier's talk was his philosophies, some of which I will share with you below:
"Rare link between subject and what you are reporting"
"Authentic subject = unobtrusive cameraman"
"Use what is there, the mechanics of production. The smaller the better"
"creatively owning camera is better"
"Ask yourself what can this camera do..."
"ethics of DOC filmmaking: good practice leading to stronger material"
"there is a difference between an authentic relationship in film and an expose film"
He then shared two of his personal mantras that I shall carry forward with me for life:
"never move until it improves on stillness"
"something human is more dear to me than all the world"
Nickolas ended his talk by addressing questions from the audience, one of which asked about the future of DOC filmmaking in terms of finding funding. He suggested that the current model of sponsorship may change in five years. Most DOC full length films attract a niche audience, meaning it is hard to make a solid living off of it. He has, though, and is living proof. Perhaps that generation is dying out slowly but it is good to see someone who is able to make it while still inhabiting the outskirts of the filmmaking industry. Further, as a filmmaking you might have to weigh in whether your sponsor has the same agenda as you or is looking to improve business through product placement and ads. This can affect the authenticity of your film and whether your film receives funding or not. It is always a delicate line to balance on.
Thank you DOC for such a great evening spent at Technicolour (Toronto) and the chance to play around with top gear sponsored by Vistek.
- Jenn
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