A put-upon worker snaps out of her passive path thanks to a chance encounter with a charismatic busker…
R. Flex - Photoshoot in Toronto
R. Flex is an R&B singer / songwriter located in Toronto. They are also a friend and before they were R. Flex and I was freelancing in Toronto, we were in school together and they were spicing up my life with their wit, MAJESTIC VOICE, and slamming it hard at the Poetry Slams I co-ran at school with our mutual friend.
Sofa Queens - Editing a Web Series 2020
This past summer, I made a pledge to up my anti and get into scripted content. I took a course a year before at LIFT for Web Series writing. I have written any number of pilot scripts - some which have never seen the light and others that are still in development. I thought tackling the world of short-form writing was a good way for me to stay connected to one story and didn’t tax me too much with my full time job.
THE ALIENS premiere in Toronto at Coal Mine Theatre
Having read the reviews before watching the production on stage, I realized I was preparing myself for all those moments the critics reported: silences, the feelings of loss, frustrating unrealized potential, the perfect play for millennial misfits, etc. What I didn't expect was the tears. I was barely able to clap and woot at the end, so much was I chocking on emotions that Annie Baker brought out through sparse dialogue.
Script Reading with Friends - Round One!
At Shutter Speed - So Far This Year
National Canadian Film Day & Hot Docs
What a crazy four months it has been for me and At Shutter Speed. It is officially the new year for my blog, but I am already a third of the way through the year. So happy 1/3 third of the new year!! I think it is the perfect day to blog because tomorrow is National Canadian Film Day and next week Hot Docs International Film Festival begins.
Women in Post Panel | CCE & DGC & CFC at The Gladstone Hotel
This past Thursday I attended a panel discussion at The Gladstone Hotel. Hosted by the CCE, with the DGC and CFC as friendly supporters, this event invited five talented women on stage for a discussion about women in post-production roles. Here is the panel
Sandy Pereira (assistant editor, editor, Toronto)
- Works with David Cronenberg
Gillian Truster (editor, Toronto)
- Degrassi | The Next Generation (TV), Orphan Black (TV)
Michele Hozer (editor, producer, director, Toronto)
- edited over 50 docs, Hot Docs premiere of Sugar Coated (2015)
Susan Shipton (editor, Toronto)
- works with Atom Egoyan
- Book of Negros (TV)
Jane Tattersall (sound designer, Toronto)
- won over 60 awards for sound design
- works with Deepa Mehta
- Vikings (TV)
The moderator for the evening, Marla, has 20 years experience in the industry. She is a passionate woman who lead an interesting and evoking conversation about success in the post-production world.
"If you want to get something different, you have to do something different" - Marla
Each women in the panel came from a different background, but agreed on several topics of interest. The first was that early on in your career, there is a large amount of luck that plays into knowing people and having the confidence to put yourself forward for work.
"Getting a job is a campaign" - laughed Gillian.
She waited two months to hear back from Temple Street Productions before she was asked to be an editor on Orphan Black.
Sandy discussed the merits of starting at the bottom. Most of the women in the panel created short films in school and PA'd on set before they settled into their role. All agreed how important mentorship is and how difficult it is sometimes as a women to find someone who "hires" women. Gillian finds this very backwards as she believes the greater the diversity in the editing room, therefore the better the work.
"I hate wasted potential" - Gillian
No one should be judged for their gender, age, sexual orientation, or culture.
"I hate wasted potential" - Gillian.
Susan was adamant that people should be judged based on their skill and to refrain from marketing yourself as a good "female" editor. You are an editor. As soon as we point out our gender, it is easier for the world to point it out too.
"Work hard, be creative, smart, and you will overcome obstacles" - Susan.
Marla brought up some alarming stats in Canada, wherein 17% of the film industry are female editors, 4% cinematographers, and 25% producers. Yet women make up 50% of the population.
Another point of discussion was surround assistant editing vs. editing. Everyone was quick to agree that assistant editors play an ENORMOUS role in the editing room. Michele particularly said she always has an assistant editor helping her edit the docs. You can't do it by yourself. You need a team to bounce ideas off of to create a fluid and organic storyline. Question each other and the storyline to strengthen it.
"a documentary editor is the filmmaker in the editing room" - Michele.
Editors in the DOC industry have greater creative input.
The conversation ended by talking about possible ways to get more women involved in post. Jane mentioned that when the industry switched over to digital, more young males who were computer savvy jumped on board, leaving women far behind and not trained for the new landscape. Jane regrets that she knows so few women sound designers and mixers.
Women in Post | CCE | The Gladstone Hotel | Toronto | 2015
Women in Post | CCE | The Gladstone Hotel | Toronto | 2015
Michele and Gillian both suggested that you make obstacles work for you. If you are interested in having a family, but are worried about the hours and time commitments post-production requires, you confidently set your hours with the producer. Explain why you need to be home between 5-8 every night and that you are willing to return to the editing room after you have settled with your family. This creates a standard system that others can understand and makes your life, career, and family happy by eliminating stress of always missing out on the personal side of life.
"What people really want from an editor is a point of view" - Sandy.
"No one will take your career as seriously as you will. [Prove your] tenacity and staying power" - Gillian.
If there are more women in higher positions, then more women feel confident applying to positions underneath and more women are inevitably hired. It is a cycle that needs to be standardized without making it obvious that it is a gender thing. All people deserve equal opportunity.
Michele ended the discussion powerfully by saying, "talk loudly. Take our space" as creators and post production experts in the film industry.
Truly a passionate and inspiring discussion!
Back to the cutting room for me,
- Jenn
Coal Mine Theatre | The River in review
The theatre is a unique space. It plays out in real time, without editing or cutting to improve the narrative flow. Stuff can happen (Murphy's law), and you have to role with the punches.
The world can feel so large and yet so small at times. Here's what I mean. One of my favourite English professors from undergrad met up with a fellow classmate in Ottawa for a seminar talk. They conversed and he mentioned his daughter's and her partner's theatre company, Coal Mine Theatre, and their need to build a website before the new 2015 / 2016 season. And presto, through fate and good fortune, my name got thrown into the mix and I got to go on an amazing journey with Diana Bentley and Ted Dykstra this past summer.
Working with two graphic designers, Catherine Erkinger and Kostis Pedritis, the three of us constructed and fashioned a website that is simple, easy to navigate, and rich in colour.
What is Coal Mine Theatre? It is a company that produces off-off broadway plays. Very indie, with large name actors occupying intimate spaces and creating an experience like no other for the audience.
"If you sit in the front row of the Coal Mine’s tiny theatre, a storefront venue on Toronto’s Danforth Avenue, you’ll get a close-up view of Ferry as he nimbly beheads and eviscerates a glistening silver trout while an instrumental version of Cole Porter’s I’ve Got You Under My Skin plays wryly in the background." - The Globe and Mail
The 2015 / 2016 theatre season is comprised of four plays: The River, The Winter's Tale, Killer Joe, and Instructions (to any future socialist government proposing to abolish Christmas).
The 2015 / 2016 season at Coal Mine Theatre
I watched "The River" (Jez Butterworth) this past weekend and I was mesmerized. My partner and I were struck with the mystique, the open ended plot, the brilliant stage direction (ahem Ted Dykstra) and the intense emotion evoked by each actor on stage.
"Butterworth’s style easily moves between mundane exchanges and a heightened poetic prose." - Stage Door
Post City captures "the man" (David Ferry) in the narrative hauntingly beautiful, showcasing the intricate and detailed set design and the uncomfortable and open ended story.
Truly a work that will haunt me moving forward. I canno wait for the rest of the season.
This is an experience like no other!
Beeba Boys, A Contemporary Toronto Gangster Film
Set and filmed in contemporary Toronto, Deepa Mehta's newest feature film Beeba Boys is a smash hit. It had its World Premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
Some of her earlier films, Water, Earth, Fire, and Bollywood Hollywood, have placed her securely in Canada's canon of filmmakers. This feature however, is a bit different.
The Toronto International Film Festival 2015
The city was alive last week with the International Toronto Film Festival.
King street was a buzzin' from University to John street. The Hyatt was full of industry delegates and filmmakers from all over the world.
Here I found a home amongst other cinephiles - dare I say cinefilles.
From entertainment, to networking, dining out, and watching a selection of 300 hundred, it's no wonder why Cameron Bailey loves his job so much:
"I invite everybody to 300 birthday parties and show movies" - Cameron Bailey, Twitter.
As an industry member, I was fortunate enough to witness keynote speakers from across the creative spectrum:
- Justin Benson (Director, Producer, & Filmmaker) and Aaron Moorhead (Writer, Producer, & Filmmaker), the creators of SPRING (2014)
- Stephen Frears, director of THE PROGRAM (2015)
- Jia Zhang-ke, director of Mountains May Depart (2015)
- Bianca Goodloe, legal concierge - state of financing and co-production
- Nicolas Chartier, producer of A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS (2015)
- Michael Moore, director of WHERE TO INVADE NEXT (2015)
- Barbara Twist (Art House Convergence), Mark Fishkin (California Film Institute), and John Vanco (IFC, NY)
- UPFRONT: Uncovering Unconscious Bias - Gender Issues
- David Garrett
- Phil Hunt (Producer), *thinks that MUFF is "brilliant"
- Asif Kapadia, director of AMY (2015)
- Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein, directors of THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING (2015)
Stay tuned the next few weeks where I will be highlighting the major speakers and my most memorable moments.
The movies were spectacular. At least the select few I was able to see (12). ANGRY INDIAN GODDESS shook the ground and wrenched out my heart. A movie everyone needs to see. LEGEND, a gritty tale based on the true story of the gangster Kray twins, East Enders in 1960s London. One close to home, BEEBA BOYS by the brilliant Deepa Mehta, also had be rivetted to my seat!
An unforgettable time with the best people!
- Jenn
A Night with Nickolas De Pencier: DOC Masters' Series Class
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.
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
A Night with Maureen Jennings
There are always going to be those nights when no matter how blustery the Canadian winter weather is, you are willing to brave it (wind, rain, or snow) to go out and visit an author whose work excites and inspires you. This is how I felt last night travelling to a Toronto Public Library branch to hear / see Maureen Jennings speak about her career.
Nick Price and Wander Lost
I distinctly remember having a talk about sensuality and art in school. It centered around how we as human beings experience art. Do we see it? Do we touch it? Do we taste it? Do we hear it? How can we define "art as experience" as a code of conduct. Must we always be able to see or is it how we feel. If you are trapped in a lonely dark space and all you have are your thoughts to keep you company, is that art?
Perhaps we can broaden this idea of experience and art to the feeling that resonates in us. Whether immediately after or as it brews and settles over a long period of time after.
Nick Price "Naked Souls"
I think the most interesting way of experiencing art is hearing it. Music cannot be seen, it cannot be touched. It is a concept. The wavelengths bounding off the wall and through the loudspeakers can only be understood on a scientific spectrum. We do not see, and we do not feel touch. Only bass can resound deeply within us but how do we even begin to describe that?
We do hear. And it is the most intense of all things. Hearing how sounds are mixed together draws us to a different space. Something rooted deep within us.
For me, music evokes visual iconography. I SEE things when I HEAR things. A classical symphony calls to mind a graceful ballet. A thumping bass hit makes me feel energized and ready to dance. A peaceful melody has me at a cottage or meditating in yoga class.
On Tuesday February 17, 2015, Nick Price released his EP album Wander Lost. He hosted the event at a cool venue in Toronto that was once a place of worship for buddhists. While I was hearing the sweetly tuned melody of the electro keyboard, the thick and heavy electric guitar and Nick's vast array of vocal octaves, I was taken elsewhere, outside the room. The songs made me escape in those moment and enter into others.
When I heard "Cabin Built for Two" I found myself first in an empty loft apartment in the great city of Toronto. I saw a couple, young and vibrant, looking at the space hungrily, soaking in every detail, dust particle, and crease that their home had to offer. I saw them rip open a box and string a king-sized white sheet across rope. They threw in pillows and blankets and a flashlight. As the light outside faded, their tree-fort haven lit up brilliantly. They built a space for two.
I was violently taken away from the safety of this image and thrust into the great outdoors, surrounded by intense forest noises and perhaps the rushings of a close by brook. A small log cabin stood amidst nature's encroaching branches. Two people lay outside by a dim camp fire, in sleeping bags and gazing at the stars. Their eyes shining brightly with reflections of constellations.
It was like this all night: mesmerizing and purely hypnotizing. I was taken on a guided journey. I let myself relax into the sounds and my imagination took over. All sense of time and reality stood fleetingly aside.
As Shakespeare wisely put it, "if music be the food of love, then play on. Give me excess of it" - (Twelfth Night). Music inspires those who listen.
Thank you for sharing with us your beautiful talents Nick. If you haven't heard any of these songs you are severely missing out. Just click and enjoy...
- Jenn