HOT DOCS INSIDE OUT – DAY 1: Kickoff report from Winnipeg and Toronto – a Screening and a Scholarship
Greetings to my readers – all three of you – and welcome to my kickoff blog entry for “Hot Docs Inside Out”. To begin, I have some good news and less-good news to report.
Firstly the less-good news. Surviving In The Cracks was not selected to screen at Hot Docs, DOXA, or Yorkton. Darn. But why is this “less-good” and not “bad”? Because of the good news that follows! (Also, if you missed it from my previous post, “133 Years…” did not make the finals of the International Doc Challenge, so it won’t be screening at Hot Docs either – but it did rank in the top 25 out of over 100 entries!).
So enough of the less-good news, let’s move on to the good news. There are three major things:
First, I am presently in Winnipeg for the “World Premiere” of Surviving In the Cracks at the Winnipeg Cinematheque, which happens tonight. As well, my brother and I will be interviewed this afternoon on APTN (Aboriginal People’s Television Network) which, I am told, will broadcast nationally tonight. I will tweet and Facebook the details of the broadcast when I know them. The interview will appear tonight on the APTN National News, which airs at 7pm Central (Winnipeg), 6pm in Alberta, and 5pm in Vancouver.
Dr. Jeff and Todd Lamirande on the set of the APTN National News in Winnipeg
Second, I have been honoured with the Astral Media TDF Scholarship at Hot Docs (only two in Canada, one from QC and one from BC – me!!). This means that I get the all access full-meal-deal – to see and participate in Hot Docs from the inside out, attend Doc U, the Toronto Documentary Forum (TDF), the opening gala, festival pass, plus travel and accommodation to Toronto for the whole festival. Wowzers.
The third good news, and something already underway that I am not blogging but I am very excited to be part of, is that I am participating in NFB’s Cookin’ Creative spring group back in Vancouver. Just want to say hi to any of you if you happen to be reading, and I think I’ll be seeing at least one of you at Hot Docs too!
My Brother's dog
My format for this will be a daily blog, starting now, April 27 through May 8, here on my website, plus regular live tweets throughout. I’ll also be linking back to my blogs from Facebook and Twitter so feel free to follow me/friend me from either, or both of those platforms.
Alright, here we go!
SURVIVING IN THE CRACKS: full-length version premieres at Winnipeg Cinematheque April 27
I am pleased to announce the “World Premiere” of the full length version of Surviving In The Cracks at the Cinematheque Theatre in Winnipeg on Tuesday, April 27. The show starts at 7:30 and tickets are $5 at the door. A note from the group who is sponsoring this event:
“The University of Manitoba Transmedia and Justice Group is a multi-disciplinary collective of Winnipeg-based academics with a shared interest in supporting grassroots community-based efforts to achieve social and environmental justice through creative transmedia approaches to research and advocacy.
In this first film screening of the Transmedia and Justice Group, in partnership with the Winnipeg Film Group, we have invited emerging Vancouver filmmaker Greg Masuda to Winnipeg to present Surviving in the Cracks. This film chronicles the story of a partnership between the Vancouver Youth Visions Coalition, and the Partnerning in Community Health Research program at UBC. The film depicts how a group of formerly street-involved youth who advocate for the rights and wellbeing of the homeless in the Lower Mainland region of BC came together with students interested in applying creativity-based research approaches to shift the discourse on youth and homelessness in Vancouver to produce a theatre-based product that brings renewed attention to the BC government’s abrogation of responsibility in caring for the health and safety of children who end up on the streets through no fault of their own.
This film will be of interest to community members, academics, students, and policy influencers with interest in issues of homelessness, housing, social work, urban planning, health inequalities, and social justice, particularly those who wish to support grassroots voices in calling for a shift in discourse on these issues through creative approaches to community-driven research and advocacy.”
Thanks to the University of Manitoba Transmedia and Justice Group, the Winnipeg Film Group and the Winnipeg Arts Council for their help with this event. I will be making a stop-over in Winnipeg to attend this screening on the way to Doc U and the Toronto Documentary Forum at Hot Docs.
SURVIVING IN THE CRACKS: All grown up! (to 56 minutes)
Screenshot from Surviving In The Cracks
Today I watched Surviving In The Cracks in its full 55 minutes and 50 seconds of glory on my roommate’s tiny little TV before dropping it in an ExpressPost envelope and sending it off to compete in the big leagues (NOT as a student film) in Toronto – Hot Docs – the largest documentary film festival in North America. Maybe (probably), like a proud parent, I may have shed a little tear as I watched it this last time, reminiscing at how my baby grew, finally ready to leave the nest after nine months of nurturing, long days shooting, sleepless nights editing, and several rejections pitching, this, my first (hopefully not my last) movie.
I wore a whole lot of hats in this project: writing, producing, directing, shooting, editing, and promoting it from the first day. But I certainly could not have done it without the help of many people, beginning with my brother, Dr. Jeff Masuda, who introduced me to the Surviving In The Cracks theatre project as a possible subject for a documentary. Then of course comes the Vancouver Youth Visions Coalition – Davina, Fraggle and Trevor, the openness of the cast, Amethyst and Cody especially but also Dave, Myke and Natasha, and the researchers Sean, Laura and Jenn. Lastly, and deserving of special recognition is Amanda, the director and driving force behind the theatre production. I would also like to mention Dr. Jim Frankish and Joyce Rock, who have supported and encouraged me along the way.
But what’s a movie without a soundtrack to bring it to life? Being somewhat clueless about music, I placed an enormous amount of trust in my composers and was not disappointed – I am extra thankful for the amazing contributions of Rachel Kidd, Connor Robinson and Tobacco Brown, and Tegan & Sara.
Finally, a special thank you to someone very important to me for her patience, support and encouragement, not to mention her frank and valuable input with regards to the graphics, typography, music – and life in general. Thank you Angela Karinn.
Tomorrow I will deliver this final cut to DOXA, another big league festival here in the west and then wait patiently so see if the film will be selected for either festival. I am also sending it in to Yorkton by the end of this month. Okay, reality check: what are the chances that my first film will be selected for any of these major festivals? I don’t know but I will let you know how it goes. I can dream can’t I?
Oh and finally finally – thanks Mom and Dad!
Whew! On to the next chapter for me.
SURVIVING IN THE CRACKS: 15 minute film screening at World Community Film Festival at Langara College Jan 29-31.
World Community Film Festival January 29-31, 2010
The 15 minute version of Surviving In The Cracks will be screening at the World Community Film Festival on Saturday January 30 at 1:15pm in Theatre 3 at Langara College Main Campus in Vancouver. The film is screening in the student category.
There are several VERY cool documentaries playing in this festival including RiP: A Remix Manifesto by Brett Gaylor, H2Oil by Shannon Walsh, and Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action by Velcrow Ripper. Visit the festival website for more information about the festival.
SURVIVING IN THE CRACKS: looking for music composer, animator, graphic artist, publicist, distributor and screeners
As the days count down to some big film festival deadlines, I am editing, editing, editing away at the longer version of Surviving In The Cracks. While I have not landed any structured financial support to complete this project I have received encouraging words from the likes of the National Film Board, Paperny FIlms and Knowledge Network. So onwards I go.
To enhance the depths of this version of the film I am looking for animators, graphic artists, music composers, and I am again in touch with Tegan and Sara, who generously allowed me to use their song “Divided” in my trailer this summer. I will need a publicist and a distributor as well, if you know of any good ones. Lastly, I am looking for screeners to view rough cuts and provide feedback. If you feel you have anything to contribute in any of the roles mentioned, please get in touch with me soon.
I intend to submit this version of the film to DOXA in Vancouver, Western Canada’s largest documentary film festival, Hot Docs in Toronto, Canada’s largest doc film fest, and Yorkton, in Yorkton, SK – the longest running film festival of its kind in North America. In the new year, I will continue to search for and submit to other appropriate festivals.
I also have some updates on a few of the actors, for those of you who have seen the play or caught the 15 minute film at VSFF. I took Cody out for lunch on Sunday and bought him his first G-Money burger from Vera’s – a sure bet to satisfy even the hungriest person. Cody is doing well, playing hockey, staying out of trouble, and he even gets to see his little sister from time to time. I showed him the film (he hadn’t seen it yet) and he laughed his head off. I went with Davina to see Fraggle perform in David Diamond’s “After Homelessness” Forum Theatre Production – wow, Fraggle is an amazing actor – go Fraggle! Here is a link to an article about that play. I also spoke with Amethyst a week ago and she seems to be doing well too.
Back to editing…
SURVIVING IN THE CRACKS: Radio Interview on CJSF 90.1FM and CITR 101.9FM
Welcome to any listeners who just tuned into CJSF 90.1FM to listen to my radio interview with Nick Pannu on the Artsindy Crossroads show! Thanks for listening and thanks for coming to visit my site. Click here to listen to the CJSF interview (22:44).
NEWS FLASH! A condensed 8 minute cut of the interview will be airing Wednesday, November 11 at 5pm PST on UBC’S CITR 101.9FM’s “Arts Report” show. You can listen to the CITR version here (8:25) or on Nick’s MySpace page.
As far as the interview goes, everything seemed to be pretty accurate, including the exhaustion in my voice. I don’t have any major factual corrections to make: “Davine” is actually “Davina”, “Surviving The Cracks” should be “Surviving In The Cracks”, Dr. Masuda is not a coordinator of the Vancouver Youth Visions coalition, he is one of the supervising researchers of the project, the safe houses closed 5 years ago (March 2004) not 3 years ago… and I think I said “film” in one spot (maybe two) when I should have said “play” and vice versa. I did my best to give the facts regarding the safe house closures – it’s all stuff I learned about while shooting the film. If you think I made any major goofs then feel free to contact me, but all of my info came from the source – the people who lived it.
Amanda Wager (the director of the play) and I have been spearheading the effort to keep the project going on a couple of fronts. One, while we are still in contact with the cast and crew, the play is on hold at the moment – mainly because we are short the necessary funds to mount another production. We are hoping to revisit this again soon, after Amanda finishes her comps for her PhD in Drama in Education.
Here’s the trailer for you in case you haven’t seen it.
On the film front, I am happy to say that I am presently in post production, cutting a long version of the film to submit to festivals such as DOXA and Hot Docs. (Unfortunately I’m doing this on my own dime – my pitches this autumn raised interest but, to date, no funds). The deadlines for both are December 18, so I have a lot of work ahead of me. This new version of the film will be the story that I really want to tell. The version that screened at VSFF was restricted to 15 minutes, and in this time I could not explore the people or the process in any meaningful depth. In the time that I have put into the new cut I am both delighted and intimidated by the amount of footage I have to work with in exploring these depths. I will be looking for a few screeners to provide regular feedback on rough cuts of this new film. If you are interested in helping out in this manner, or to help raise funds, please write me to let me know who you are, your background, and how and why you want to be involved.
Lastly, on the new media front, well, unless you have good reason and convince me otherwise, that will have to take a back seat to the longer film for now.
Well that’s my short response to the radio interview today. Thanks again to Nick at CJSF, and to you, the listeners. Stay tuned for future updates on the film, and become a fan of Surviving In The Cracks on Facebook!
SURVIVING IN THE CRACKS: film screening at VSFF (and a radio interview!)
UPDATED: THE RADIO INTERVIEW ON CJSF 90.1FM ( Cable 90.3FM) or online at cjsf.ca WILL AIR NEXT MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9 AT 3PM.
What a weekend! Surviving In the Cracks premiered Friday, October 23 at the Vancouver Short Film Festival to a full house. This was the first public screening of the film and it went splendidly! It was amazing to be part of this festival and to be included among such a solid lineup of films and it was a huge thrill to see it up on the big screen at one of the nicest theatres in Vancouver, Vancity Theatre!
The film didn’t win any awards (visit vsff.com for the winners), but it did draw the attention of some press: I just finished recording an interview with Nick Pannu at CJSF 90.1FM ( Cable 90.3FM) or online at cjsf.ca. The interview will be airing at 3pm Monday, November 9th on the Arts Indy program.
Surviving In The Cracks is an ongoing project… it started as a play, became a grad film project which spun off this version, and now has legs to become much more. On the live-theatre front, we are working on getting support for a re-mount of the play. On the documentary front, a longer version is in post-production now, and I plan to submit this to larger festivals before the end of the year. On a third front, we are seriously exploring the possibility of creating a new media component… Send me an email if you want to offer your support.
Stay in the loop: Become a fan of Surviving In The Cracks on Facebook!
SURVIVING IN THE CRACKS: screening at the Vancouver Short Film Festival Friday, October 23 at Vancity Theatre
I learned this week that the 15 minute version of Surviving In The Cracks was one of twenty-two films selected to screen at this year’s Vancouver Short Film Festival. The film represents Langara College and will be screening in the Student Shorts category with 11 other entries from UBC, SFU, VFS, Capilano University, Emily Carr University, BCIT, the International Language School of Canada, and the Art Institute of Vancouver. The Student Shorts start at 8pm on Friday, October 23 – tickets are $8, available at www.vsff.com or at the door. World’s Best Shorts and the Pro Shorts category screen on Saturday, October 24 followed by the awards ceremony. The festival will be held at Vancity Theatre located at 1181 Seymour Street in Vancouver, BC. There were a total of 139 submissions to the festival this year.
To read more about Surviving In The Cracks, please see my earlier post here or find us on Facebook.
SURVIVING IN THE CRACKS: screening Sunday, September 27 at Langara College
The 10 minute version of the “Surviving In The Cracks” documentary film will be screening, along with other short documentary and dramatic films, at Langara College Main Campus on Sunday, September 27, starting at 3:00pm.
I will also be putting the film into a draw to be screened at the next meeting of the Celluloid Social Club, on Wednesday, September 23. UPDATE: Since “District 9″ guests were presenting tonight, the draw for the screening was pulled from the agenda.
SURVIVING IN THE CRACKS: Documentary Film
Surviving In The Cracks is an auteur creative documentary about a group of unlikely subjects who, from abusive backgrounds, homelessness, addiction, prostitution and poverty, struggle and succeed along with a youth support group and some university researchers to complete a remarkable theatre production based on their lives.
Creating this film has been a remarkable experience. It carries significant weight in my decision to depart the corporate world to pursue film, although when I made that decision I had no idea that the project even existed let alone was just itching to be filmed.
That realization came quickly though – not fully one week into the summer semester of the Digital Film Program at Langara College, I attended a rehearsal for the “Surviving In The Cracks” theatre project to investigate whether it was a viable focus for my grad project. After that first rehearsal, and for the many rehearsals and events that followed, I couldn’t tell whether it would be viable. But I kept on shooting.
What resulted has turned out to be far far more than I could have ever expected. Sure, it met the requirements for my grad film – but it CONSUMED me for the entire four months of the summer. Today, the pursuit of getting funding to complete a long version of the film continues to be a major motivation, and a little frustration, in my life. I strongly believe that this is an important film to complete, for its social and educational value, for academics and participatory researchers, aboriginal advocates, street-involved youth, and parents – and it is in this spirit that I am trying to complete it.
Today it exists in a 2.5 minute trailer (above), a 10 minute short and a 15 minute short. Within the 20 hours of footage, there is a strong broadcast hour length version just waiting to be cut.
Thanks to the kind support from the Vancouver Youth Visions Coalition, the UBC Center for Health Promotion Research, CBC Archives, Tegan & Sara, Tobacco Brown, and Connor Robinson, not to mention the instructors and fellow students at Langara.
