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Cántame

The film is complete. And it has a title. The IMDB submission has been made, festival submissions are beginning, and work on the trailer has begin.

What an unbelievable three years.

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New Beginnings

There’s so much that can be wrapped up in a single photo. For me, this image represents the end of many things and the start of something new; something I’ve been thinking of and longing after for most of my adult life.

Today I begin life as a nomad. I’ve sold all my belongings, packed a few momentos into boxes with gracious friends and family, and sized my physical entourage to fit the dimensions of two small backpacks. In every way I’ve downsized, outsourced, automated and rethought to bring my life to its most minimal essence: me and a few things, on the road.

I expect to spend at least a year traveling. My goal is to travel westward, starting in Indonesia and completing a circumnavigation back to Canada in time for Christmas. And after that… we’ll see. I’ve quietly updated this site to be a home for stories and photos from my travels along with news on my latest projects. I will edit my most recent film while I travel as well as starting projects as I go, though I leave the possibilities and opportunities open for what comes next.

Glad to have you here, and excited to see where this goes!

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A New Economy is now on Netflix!

Exciting news! My most recent documentary is now available on Netflix in Canada & the U.S.!

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A New Economy Premiere—SOLD OUT

The premiere of my latest documentary A New Economy screened to a sold out audience last night at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver. What a surreal experience to see a lineup around the block…

Thanks everyone for coming out and for being a great audience!

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Blogging from Nepal

I’ve been blogging about my recent trip to Nepal. I carried my Red Epic into the Annapurna Sanctuary, a basecamp at 14,000 feet surrounded by some of the tallest mountains the world. It’s beautiful!

Check out Ascent to Annapurna for some images from the experience, and have a browse of the other posts if you’re curious.

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Blogging at Recharity.ca

If you’re in the non-profit sector and are interested in story, you might want to head over to recharity.ca and check out some of the content there. A few of us who spend our days working with charities have teamed together to write about the best of what works in the charitable sector. Our team includes a philanthropist, a web designer, a fundraiser, and myself (a storyteller) so it makes for some interesting dialog.

Here’s one of my latest posts, part of a series on finding your story as an organization. You can check out all of my posts here.

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Vision in Motion eBook Released!

I’ve been itching to tell everyone about this for months… and the day’s finally here! I’ve written an eBook for readers interested in stepping into the world of motion picture storytelling. The full title is Vision in Motion: A Photographer’s Introduction to Digital Video, and it’s available for $5 from Craft and Vision (Just $4 if you use the discount code MOTION4 before June 27th).

Though targeted at photographers, the eBook is for anyone who’s interested in the world of motion picture storytelling. With the explosion of video-capable stills cameras, many are considering dipping their toes into moving images. But while there are many resources out there on how to operate a video camera, what does it take to create a visual story that moves people? We talk some about gear, but mostly about process. What is story? How do you build a story? How do you connect images together to build towards a climax? What are the differences between composing a shot for a still image vs. motion?

It’s tough to pack all that into one eBook, but feedback so far has been positive. It’s gotten people excited to give video a try and get started with motion pictures storytelling. Go check it out!

VISION IN MOTION is a downloadable PDF. USD $5.00

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Rwanda: Hope Rises wins Best Documentary

The documentary I directed & produced, Rwanda: Hope Rises was the recipient this past week of the Best Foreign Documentary award at the International Family Film Festival in Los Angeles. Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible!

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Rwanda: Hope Rises DVD Release

Rwanda DVD Release

It’s hard to believe that almost five years ago, five friends started planning for a trip to Rwanda. Our plan was to shoot a documentary in two weeks, spend a month in hard-core editing, and have it ready to watch by the summer of 2005.

I was so naive, in so many ways. I had shot several documentaries by this point, but nothing on this scale. The process has been intense, difficult, and there was more than once that the whole thing almost didn’t happen. But here we are… the film is ready for the world to see on DVD.

You can get your copy here: Hope Rises Store. There is more info and trailers on the website as well as a Facebook fan page.

Thanks for all of your support over the years to get this thing made.

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“The Duchess” a Film Race Finalist!

“The Duchess” was a 2009 Vancouver Film Race finalist! The film was selected out of 34 in competition by judges in New York to run for the top prize. Last night was the awards announcement at the Anza Club (host of the Celluloid Social Club). In the end we didn’t win… but we had a good time with the other contestants watching everyone’s films and hearing Q&A’s from each team.

Thanks for everyone who supported Team Cinesketch for the race! Here’s a link to some of our sponsors:

If you haven’t watched the film yet, head over to the facebook page where you can become a fan and watch the video.