Film & Video
INDEPENDENT FLIM PROJECT – SEPTEMBER 2019 TO NOVEMBER 2020
Dog’s Best Friend – I produced, directed and edited a five-part series of documentary shorts. The series explores the life-changing stories of five families and their dogs. Originally commissioned by BellMedia for an exclusive run on its Fibe TV 1 community channel, the episodes were re-shaped into a 40-minute Youtube premiere that aired January 31, 2021 in support of ElderDog Canada – a charity dedicated to the well-being of older people and older dogs.
Independent Film Project – January 2017 to January 2019
Finding John Lingwood – I produced, directed and edited a 55-minute documentary film about one of Waterloo Region’s leading modernist architects, John Lingwood. He was among a handful of architects who shaped the Region’s distinctive built environment in the years following the Second World War. Through interviews with family, friends, clients and colleagues the film reveals the man behind the buildings.
The project was supported by grants from the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund and the Grand Valley Society of Architects. Premiere screen – January 17, 2019.
The project was supported by grants from the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund and the Grand Valley Society of Architects. Premiere screen – January 17, 2019.
Idea Exchange, Cambridge – May 2017 to January 2018
The Legacy Project – 45-minute film commissioned to explore the passing of wisdom across generations. The film documented three groups of youth and elders working together:
- at Ontario Christian Gleaners to produced dehydrated vegetable to be shipped to hungry people around the world;
- to select, prepare and share food for a potluck meal at Stirling Heights longterm care home
- and make a traditional indigenous drum under the guidance of John Samosi.
The film premiered on January 18, 2018 at the Queen Street Branch of the Cambridge Libraries and Galleries followed by screening at the four other locations.
Extend-A-Family of Waterloo Region – January-June 2016
Beginnings – Commissioned documentary film, 25-minute long, about the inclusivity of adults with special needs based on the experience of clients, staff and home support families. Premiered September 8, 2016.
Lost & Found Theatre – October 2015 to April 2016
Road Hockey Stories – A collections of mini documentaries capturing memories and experiences of road hockey from a wide range of Waterloo Region residents. The stories we used individually as part of a campaign to promote the Canadian premiere of the play, “Pocket Rocket”, by local playwrights Lea Daniel and Gary Kirkham. A compilation of the stories was also shown prior to each performance April 20 to 30, 2016.
Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region – October 2014
5 days at Haven House – Commissioned, short dramatic film about life in its overcrowded shelter in Cambridge. While it was used to support the agency’s capital campaign to rebuild the shelter, I was given full artistic control over the piece.
Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region – September 2014
There’s No Place Like Home – Commissioned short dramatic film explores the theme of what makes a home safe, secure and nurturing from the perspective of women and children.
House of Friendship – June 2013
Food Community Justice – Commissioned short POV documentary examines the role of food security in building thriving communities and as a building block of social justice.
Women’s Crisis Services of Waterloo Region – September 2013
What about us? – Commissioned short film about family violence combines real children’s artwork and comments in a moving film about the impact strife between parents has on their children.
Region of Waterloo, Public Health Department – May 2013
Community Garden Digital Storytelling Project – A series of three short documentary films capturing how people in Waterloo Region have improved their well being through community garden plots. Films are based on interviews with over 80 gardeners conducted by Waterloo Region Public Health as part of a study on community gardens.
Waterloo Region Crime Prevention Council – October 2012
twenty thirteen – A documentary video about the inREACH Youth Gang Prevention Program featuring the personal stories of three program participants. The video was used to build awareness and seek funding for inREACH.
Grants, Awards & Residencies
Region of Waterloo Arts Fund – June 2021
Anna Kaljas: The Untold Story – Independent documentary film. Support for the production phase including research, developing shooting scripts, interview prep and recording, shooting b-roll footage and logging footage.
REGION OF WATERLOO ARTS FUND – JANUARY 2017
Finding John Lingwood – Independent documentary film. Support for the first phase of the production that included conducting research, developing shooting scripts, recording interviews, shooting locations and preliminary editing.
GRAND VALLEY SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTS – JANUARY 2017
Finding John Lingwood – Independent documentary film project. Support for postproduction editing and commissioning of an original soundtrack and marketing.
City of Kitchener – January 2014 to April 2015
Artist in Residence – Residency project “Neighbourhood Voices” was a collection of video snapshots – short films – of ordinary people. The voices create a chorus of everyday life in the city. The collection is presented in a number of ways such as standalone films viewable online and interactive installations in galleries and other public spaces.
Region of Waterloo Arts Fund – January to June 2013
Generation to Generation, Contributing Media Artist – A community-based theatre and media project that worked with refugee families as co-creators in an exploration of how familial stories are passed between generations.
Region of Waterloo Arts Fund – 2011
Latitude and Longitudes Digital Storytelling Project – Founding director and storytelling workshop facilitator for a collaborative project with Latitudes Storytelling Festival that collects, preserves and presents the stories of everyday people living in Waterloo Region. Website http://latitudeslongitudes.org
University of Waterloo – Fall 2005
Journalist in Residence, Canadian Centre for Arts and Technology – Designed and delivered a course, “Journalism in a Digital Age”. Worked with faculty on a research project to test the viability of a new online business.
Theatre and Company – 2005-06 Season
Resident Artist, Playwright
Interactive Installations, Media Collaborations and Exhibitions
SOUNDSTREAMS: NEW DIRECTIONS IN MUSIC, TORONTO – MARCH 6, 2020
Improvised Components – created five video collages for projection at a live music concert presented in the Drake Underground. Projections were mixed in realtime to accompany the music.
Rotunda Gallery, Kitchener City Hall, Kitchener, ON. – opening April 2, 2015
Neighbourhood Voices – Final exhibition of Kitchener Artist in Residence 2014 project includes 14 photographic portraits and a screen-based, interactive video mixing station.
Berlin Tower ARTSpACE, Kitchener City Hall, Kitchener, ON. – December 2, 2014 to January 30, 2015
Neighbourhood Voices Interactive – Exhibition of work in progress for my Kitchener Artist in Residence Project. Debut of an interactive feature that allows gallery visitors to mix intentionally paired videos together to create a unique narrative experience.
The MT Space, Courtyard at Bonnie Stuart, Kitchener ON. – November 14, 15 and 16, 2013
Black Spring – created multimedia projections and soundscapes for a play by Belgian/Iraqi playwright and author Hazim Kamaledin.
IMPACT 13 International Theatre Festival, Kitchener, ON. – September 24 to 29, 2013
Messages from Generation to Generation video installation occupied the streetscape in one of IMPACT 13’s most visited locations. In response to the festival and conference theme of Staging Occupation, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers transmitted their experience as refugees in story, music and photos. These narratives were then combined with slow motion video portraits for projection onto glass blocks.
Downtown Kitchener, ON. – June 2012 to present
Made in Kitchener: Personal Stories From Our Industrial Past – An interactive walking tour based on a series of interviews with people who worked in Kitchener’s manufacturing sector in the post World War II era. At each of the 10 stops on the route visitors can access a story connected to the location using their smart phone. The tour is also available online at madeinkitchener.ca.
Writing and Theatre
Women’s Crisis services of Waterloo Region – January – November 2015
Rage Against Violence – Co-commissioned with playwright Gary Kirkham to write and produce a full-length, verbatim theatre play based on true stories of people whose lives have been touched by violence between intimate partners. The play debuted November 30, 2015 as part of the agency’s annual awareness campaign.
Asphalt Jungle Shorts VI – June 2010
Lipstick and Cigarettes – A short play staged as part of the annual site-specific play festival. A film of the performance also appears on YouTube where it has received over 9,000 views to date.
Theatre and Company – 2004
Red Dress – Full-length play given a staged reading.
Workshops and Presentations
Homer Watson House and Gallery – September 2022
Stories for the Place, Time Continuum – Artist talk as part of AIR25, an exhibition celebrating the 25th anniversary of the City of Kitchener’s Artist in Residence program. Using samples of my work, the talk discusses the importance of story in weaving the fabric of everyday life.
interarts matrix – Xcamera speakers series, March 26. 2021
Place Time Continuum – In Place Time Continuum, I led viewers on a journey through place and time. From my Victoria Park neighbourhood in Kitchener to a small town in Estonia, showing how the continuum of life is woven from the stories of everyday people. Walking the streets of my city, I discuss the impact of place on my work. Drawing on examples from my films, he will show how time conspires to return us to the past and launch us into the future.
Ontario Architectural Conservancy North Waterloo Region – public lecture – November 2015
Finding John Lingwood – Screened two video interviews of my early-stage research on Kitchener architect John Lingwood as part of a lecture on mid-century modern architecture in Waterloo Region.
The Working Centre, Kitchener, ON – Digital Media Training Program – November 2015
Digital Storytelling – Led six-session skills development workshop for young adults focused on developing video stories. Participants learned fundamentals of story development plus video recording and editing basics.
House of Friendship – Annual General Meeting – June 2015
Exploring Stories Together – Interactive presentation of selected stories from Neighbourhood Voices, Kitchener Artist in Residence 2014 project.
Third Age Learning – December 5 2013
Immigration Issues in Canada – Presented work from the “Generation to Generation” project as part of a panel discussion on the immigrant experience in Canada.
inREACH Youth Gang Prevention Program – March 2012
Neighbourhood Narratives PhotoVoice Projects – Worked with inREACH Youth Gang Prevention outreach workers in three at-risk neighbourhoods in Waterloo Region to gather pictures and stories of youth as they explore the good, the bad and the ugly of their neighbourhood.
House of Friendship – September 2010
Voices from House of Friendship – A personal storytelling workshop conducted in cooperation with the House of Friendship addiction services program. The video stories are used to build awareness of women’s addiction issues and support a residential treatment facility.
Visually Speaking 