Never one to shy away from controversy, I wrote a post for “The Sixth Wall” comparing Star Wars to Avatar. Check out “Why Avatar is the new Star Wars” and let the discussions begin!

We always like to help clients communicate with as many people as possible – especially for a good cause. Levon Henderson and Michael Chmara recently covered a “Breakfast Serial” Event for The Real Estate Foundation of BC entitled “Helping Non-Profits Navigate Their Funding Options” – a very timely subject seeing that funding is becoming harder and harder to come by – especially from government sources. The hour long event was very informative and you can watch it in its entirety here.

Our short film Sanguine is live on the National Screen Institute Online Short Film Festival site! If you’re in Canada, or have friends in Canada, be sure to take the 13 minutes or so to check it out!

Sanguine is one of 18 new short films from Canadian directors that have been selected for the NSI Online Short Film Festival hosted by the National Screen Institute of Canada. Sanguine is now live!

Over the last week I decided to finally watch a couple of documentary films that have been on my “must watch” list for a while. Both ended up being incredibly satisfying experiences complete with entertainment value, inspiration and enlightenment.

First up was Anvil: The Story of Anvil – honored in the “Best Documentary” category at this year’s Independent Spirit Awards. Wow….I’ve gotta say that my the movie I was expecting and the movie that I viewed were a little different. The obvious comparisons to “Spinal Tap” are sometimes warranted but overall do Anvil a disservice by creating an expectation of mockery and comedy as opposed to what the film is really about – the tenacious pursuit of one’s dreams regardless of the obstacles faced or the monetary rewards gained.

The film, while containing many chuckle-inducing moments, leaves the viewer with more of a feeling of inspiration and the sense of having witnessed and intimate portrayal of the life of the consumate starving artist. The movie is a triumph in the true sense of the word.

The second film is The Cove – the recipient of this year’s Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. I had put off watching this film for fear that it would be too disturbing and would haunt me as other films in this genre have but was left with more a feeling of enlightenment and engagement than anything else. The film plays like an espionage thriller and kept my attention from first frame to last. What’s goes on in the cove in Taiji, Japan is horrific, but the lengths to which the the people involved in the slaughter will go to cover up the truth is even moreso, as is the over-arching message regarding the rampant disregard of the light of the world’s oceans on the part of some governments.

I would highly recommend both films both as entertainment and affecting works of art – both are available online or on DVD.

We wanted to let you know that a TV show Levon is shooting is about to begin it’s 1st Season!

The show is called “Six Degrees of TV” and will begin airing this Friday, January 8th on TVtropolis (check the TVtropolis schedule or your local listings for showtimes – in BC it airs at 7pm on Channel 48).

It’s a funny and engaging celebrity insider show with lots of laughs and crazy stories, so grab some popcorn and gather ’round the tube (or set your PVR!).  The show is being co-shot by Levon and Brian Beard (another wonderfully talented DOP!).

Hope you enjoy it!

We really like working with organizations that are doing good in the community and our recent client The Vancity Community Foundation certainly fits the bill. Over the course of making the 20th Anniversary Video Project for them, we really were treated to a good look at the impact they have in Vancouver and environs and the project really opened our eyes about the meaning of philanthropy. We learned about local food security and sustainable food sources (Farm Folk/City Folk, Vancouver Farmers Markets’, United We Can’s impact in the Downtown East Side, Atira Women’s Society’s work in the Lower Mainland as well as the Surrey Homelessness & Housing Society.

We’re very excited about the prospects for The Taken – Levon shot it awhile back and is now finishing the process of colour-timing it with the help of Matt Lyons over at Framerate Creative Services.

Next week, helmer Richard Valentine will be heading down to LA for the American Film Market where the film will find distribution and soon after be available to audiences around the world!