I have a passionate commitment to creating change through the power of film. Making movies is meaningful work, and it is sacred to me. I am a born filmmaker. I have never wanted to be anything else. I’m a Gen Xer; I’m brown and bring a lot to the table. As a kid, I awoke to the power of moving images with Spielberg’s Jaws; I was transformed by Chris Marker’s Sans Soleil when I saw it as a film student at York University. My involvement in the filmmaking industry started when I moved to New York City in the 90s after film school. There, I learned the ropes as a P.A. on New York City film shoots, where I got to observe the likes of Spike Lee, Isabella Rossellini, and Mark Pellington. I became an assistant editor at Radical Media, working on an award-winning campaign for Coca-Cola. I worked with Marvel on a projection installation for their restaurant in Los Angeles. I moved back to Toronto, had a kid, worked as an assistant editor at Cinenova, worked on National Geographic and Discovery Channel content, and then worked as a producer-director at Front, making commercials for Nickelodeon Asia. A Canada Council for the Arts grant allowed me to debut as a solo independent filmmaker with Trying to Be Some Kind of Hero, which is about searching for my missing grandfather. The film played at festivals, was well-reviewed in Now Magazine (by Cameron Bailey), and won an award (Best New Movie-Maker). It led to my winning the Reel Diversity Competition to write and direct my documentary concept for The National Film Board of Canada. CBCNewsworld broadcasted it to excellent reviews. Twelve is about twelve immigrants who immigrated at age twelve and advised their twelve-year-old selves.
Aside from a brief stint at Radical Media in London, England, I stayed independent after I moved to Peterborough to work on my writing and raise my two kids. I kept busy getting grants and independently producing hundreds of YouTube videos. I received $80,000 in grants to create my first full-length personal documentary, Birthmark, about the cultural stories put on birthmarks and features Filipina rapper Han Han. In 2020, I produced, directed, and edited Circus Boy, about a gay man who seeks reconciliation with his mother after he and his husband adopt a boy they train for circus school. Distributed by First Run Features, Circus Boy is now available on AppleTV and Kanopy. In 2022, I wrote, produced, and directed my first short movie musical, One Day in December, about a teacher and students witnessing the great fire at the Quaker Oats factory in Peterborough from their classroom in 1916. Also, in 2022, I produced a podcast for independent news outlet Peterborough Currents about the influence that composer R. Murray Schafer left behind in Peterborough when he produced The Greatest Show in collaboration with local artists in 1988. In my fifteen years there, I have reviewed hundreds of films as a programmer and projectionist at the ReFrame International Film Festival. I have been an advisor to the Trent University Indigenous Studies “Digital Storytelling” component for several years. I have created my course to teach filmmaking for older adults called Creative Nonfiction Filmmaking Workshop. I’ve been an art advisor to Peterborough City Hall and an artist-in-residence for a film skill-sharing drop-in called Media Arts Peterborough. I chair committees and have contributed to community arts groups, including Peterborough Independent Podcasters, Trent Film Society and Peterborough Academy for Circus Arts. In 2016, I returned to school to finish my undergraduate studies after an absence of almost thirty years. I have officially completed my York University Bachelor of Fine Arts; in 2021, I will complete my Trent University Master’s Degree in Public Texts (English). I’m working on my PhD in Cultural Studies at Trent University, focusing on autobiographical films.
In May 2019, I was a finalist in the Peterborough Arts Awards for the Mid-Career Artist category in Media Arts, I received the Public Energy Performing Arts Silver Jubilee Award for outstanding contributions in its first 25 years, and I updated my collaboration with Deepti Gupta’s performance and choreography of Static, then — mashed-up 25 years of dance footage for the afterparty.
In autumn of 2019, my first full-length feature film, BIRTHMARK, received a Making a Difference Award — Honourable Mention from Commfest Global Film Festival where it screened for a Toronto audience for the first time and screened at Bagnani Hall at Trent University accompanied by a speaker’s panel of university professors.
In 2018 I performed a live film mix with the Art of Time Ensemble which was remounted in 2020 at the Isabel Bader Theatre in Kingston.
I am an accomplished Photographer who insists on shooting only 35mm film. I am also producer and host of UKE BOX, the all-ukulele radio show and the creative nonfiction podcast called SoundProof. I continue to teach my Creative Nonfiction Filmmaking Workshops. [Scroll down for complete CV]
iTunes Links
SoundProof
Uke Box
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IMDb, V-Tape, The Writer’s Guild of Canada
Complete Filmography *(indicates) Award Winning
Producer, Director, Editor
2020 – Circus Boy
Producer, Director, Writer, Editor, Cinematographer
2018 – Birthmark
*2016 – Art is Constructing a Symbology.
2015 – Lost and Found in Jackson Creek
2014 – What is Art?
2011 – Sympathy for the Rebel
2010 – Kanehsatake
*2008 – Twelve
2007 – Meadows Back
*2007 – This City has Wings.
2007 – Motion8 (Featured in Salon.com)
2007 – The Gold Rushes (unreleased)
2006 – Building the Bandshell with John Foreman
2006 – Snow Dogs
2006 – Artspace, Then and Now
2006 – Paper View
2005 – The Spectacular 10th Anniversary Show
2005 – Hyphen (unreleased)
2002 – The Mixtape Chronicles
*2004 – The Most Talented Town in Ontario
2003 – Toronto
2003 – Beach Fronts
2003 – The Best Waitress in the World
2002 – Weavers
*2001 – Trying to be Some Kind of Hero.
*awards
2016 – BEST COMMUNITY-BASED PRODUCTION, Snowdance Film Festival
2008 – REEL DIVERSITY COMPETITION, NFB / CBC Newsworld
2007 – BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, Millbrook Int’l 3min. Film Festival
2006 – BEST ORIGINALITY, Bluegrass Independent Film Festival
2004 – FIRST PRIZE – TVOntario
2001 – BEST NEW MOVIEMAKER, Optic-Nerve Film Festival
Editor
2006 – Rigoletto…in Bluegrass* a film by Rob Swales
2005 – The Maximum Marmora Phenomenon a film by Hoagy Wilson
2004 – Om a film by Peter Mettler
2003 – Bad Road a film by Brian Mitolo
Cinematographer
2007 – Art is a Mirror
2003 – Travel Channel: New Orleans
2000 – Rise
Advertising
2019 – Public Energy 25 Years
2010 – 2019 | ReFrame Film Festival
2015 – 2018 | B!KE
2014 – Brown Girl in the Ring feature film teaser
2012 – Wild Thing Trent University Lipdub
2011 – Trent University website testimonial videos
2010 – Ode’min Giizis Strawberry Moon Festival
2007 – Fleming College “Use It”
2006 – Fleming College “Learn Like This” theatrical / TV spots
2006 – Motorcycle Super Show
2005 – Walk, Wheel, and Ride for Dignity
2001 – Big Day Out, Nickelodeon Asia
2001 – Nickeldeon Malaysia, TV interstitials
Music Videos
2019 – Plastic Anniversary, Matmos
2010 – What a Drag!, Rep By Pop
2008 – Mandala, Johannes Welsch, David Hess, Paul Hinger
2008 – The Emperor’s New Groove, Johannes Welsch, David Hess, Paul Hinger
2008 – Yuri Gagarin’s Lullaby, 3C84
2007 – How to Use Classroom Films, Rob McInnis and Mike Duguay
2007 – If I Forget, Josh Rifkin
2007 – Where Do We Go (From Here), North of Summer
2007 – Let’s See What My Telescope Says, 3C84
2007 – Alien, 3C84
2007 – When I Was Dead, 3C84
2007 – 2010 | 49 Instant Videos, Tammy Foreman
2007 – Confidence, North of Summer
2006 – In the Skin of a Killer, Make it Your Business
2005 – Hearts on Fire, The Silver Hearts
2005 – Salutations, Tammy Foreman
2003 – Lullaby for G, Tammy Foreman
2003 – I Had Hid, Tammy Foreman
2003 – Strength of Ten Women, Tammy Foreman
2003 – 10 AM / Load!, Tammy Foreman
2003 – Twirl, Tammy Foreman
2002 – Creeping Sun, Tammy Foreman
2002 – Gravity Song, Tammy Foreman
2002 – Point of Release, Wayne Elliott
Artist in Community
2019 – present | board member, Peterborough Independent Podcasters
2018 – 2020 | volunteer, ReFrame Film Festival Collective
2017 – present | instructor, Creative Nonfiction Filmmaking Workshops
2015 – present | board chair, Peterborough Academy of Circus Arts
2005 – present | consultant, Trent University Centre for Indigenous Studies
2004 – present | radio producer and host, Trent Radio
2004 – 2018| projectionist, ReFrame Film Festival
2018 – jury, Ontario Arts Council, Media Arts Projects
2016 – panelist, Courageous Conversation, Peterborough Race Relations
2015 – instructor, VJ School, Media Arts Peterborough
2015 – resident artist, Open Shop, Media Arts Peterborough
2014 – instructor, March Break Film Camp, ReFrame Film Festival
2010 – 2011 | instructor, Grade 7 – 8 Video Production, Prince of Wales Public School
2009 – panelist, ReFrame Film Festival
2008 – jury, Ontario Arts Council, Access & Career Development
2007 – jury, Millbrook International 3min. Film Festival
2005 – 2008 | Executive Board Member (Secretary), Artspace, Peterborough
2005 – appointed member, Arts Culture & Heritage Advisory Committee to the Mayor
2005 – panelist, Behind the Mind’s Eye Film Festival
2005 – speaker, Peterborough Collegiate High School
2005 – jury, Zoom Festival
Programmer
2018 – 2020| ReFrame Film Festival
2016 – Best on WiFi, Sadleir House
2007 – The 12 Project, Artspace, Peterborough
2007 – Artspace Secret Shows
2007 – The Best of Peterborough’s Short Films, Art Gallery of Peterborough
2006 – The Sound + Vision Project, Optic-Nerve Film Festival, Peterborough
2005 – Sidewalk Movies, Artsweek Peterborough
2005 – Sound + Vision screening series, Cinema 379, Peterborough
Multi-Media Installations / Large-Scale Architectural Video-Mapping Projects
2018 – Imaginarium, Peterborough Public Library, Artsweek
2018 – Squiggle, Solstice Festival, Collingwood
2017 – Hive, Solstice Festival, Collingwood
2014 – Brion Wagner, Where Are You Now? Erring on the Mount Festival, Peterborough
2012 – Grotesquerie, Blue Tomato Art Gallery, Peterborough
2011 – Electric City Lights, Gallery in the House, Peterborough
2011 – Public Energy launch, Market Hall, Peterborough
2006 – Architecture Becomes Canvas, Artsweek Peterborough
2005 – Wild Reeds / Red Trees, Peterborough City Hall, Artsweek launch
Live Film Mix Performances
2018 – Black Angels with the Rolston String Quartet, Harbourfront Theatre, Toronto
2013 – Do You Hear What I See? Artsweek, Peterborough
2013 – Eight Days Lost, Artspace, Peterborough
2013 – Chrysalis, “Emergency #20” Market Hall, Peterborough
2012 – Revolutions, “Emergency #19” Market Hall, Peterborough
2011 – Chapter Nowhere “Emergency #18” Market Hall, Peterborough
2010 – Radiant Nights “Chapter Nowhere,” Artspace
2010 – The Screen, Artspace
2009 – Thirty-Five Years, Artspace
2009 – Cell Phone Camera, Ed Video, Guelph
2009 – DBMG-RAF, Electric Eclectics Festival, Meaford
2008 – Owen Sound Attacks, Artspace
2008 – Rad Rat, Artspace
2007 – 3C84, Art Gallery of Peterborough
2006 – Ethereal Spaces, Art Gallery of Peterborough
2006 – Elsewhere with Peter Mettler, Toronto International Film Festival
Theatrical Video Set Designs
2016 – Circus Stellar, Market Hall, Peterborough
2014 – Circus Dreamland, Market Hall, Peterborough
2013 – Wisakedjak, theatrical tour
2013 – Atomic Lollipop, Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Toronto
2007 – Static (Deepti Gupta,) Market Hall, Peterborough
2003 – Rubies (Deepti Gupta,) Harbourfront theatre, Toronto
2001 – Channel Zero, Trent University, Peterborough
VJ (Video Jockey) Live Visuals
2007 – present | Solstice Festival, Collingwood, Ontario
2015 – Open Mind Festival, Québec
2014 – Architextures, Toronto
2013 – Landscape (Architextures), Ontario
2010 – Eclipse Festival, Québec
2010 – With Peter Mettler, Tom Kuo, Ann Bourne, Electric Eclectic Festival, Meaford
2007 – 2012 | Oya Collective
2007 – 2009 | Harvest Festival, Burke’s Falls