French photographer Sacha Goldberger found his 91-year-old Hungarian grandmother Frederika feeling lonely and depressed. To cheer her up, he suggested that they shoot a series of outrageous photographs in unusual costumes, poses, and locations. Grandma reluctantly agreed, but once they got rolling, she couldn’t stop smiling.
Click here for all of ‘em and more about Frederika.
Cheers.
John Gould, author of the Giller Prize finalist, Kilter: 55 Fictions, from which my Kilter Trilogy was adapted, has a novel just out. I am a big fan of John’s and am anxious to dig in to the newly released work. John is based in Victoria, BC and teaches in the Department of Writing at the University of Victoria where he also serves on the editorial board of the Malahat Review. He’ll be appearing at the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival in October.
Seven Good Reasons Not to be Good hit the stands recently, so go grab yourself a copy. For more info on John, check out his new website at: johngould.ca
Congrats, John!
The film and television industry is facing hard times in Alberta. The business, once a rapidly growing leader in the country, is grappling with an immediate and growing crisis. Production levels in the province have dropped precipitously, with activity now hovering far below levels of a year or two ago.
Alberta is losing skilled professionals; people who were trained by this province’s education system, and who have built their world class reputations on Alberta made productions such as the features Brokeback Mountain, The Assassination of Jesse James, Mystery, Alaska, Passchendaele, Snowday and the Edge, and the television series Heartland, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Lonesome Dove and North of 60, to name but few. Highly trained and well paid professionals who share a passion and dedication to a creative industry that is recognized around the world as a valuable part of any growing economy are now being forced to seek employment in other provinces where incentives have led to increased production, which in turn nurtures local infrastructure, tourism, educational institutes and numerous ancillary businesses.
States and provinces across North America and around the world invest aggressively in the film and television industry to stimulate the economy and create jobs in their jurisdictions. These governments understand that each dollar invested can provide as much as a ten-fold return. Most recently, Ontario and Quebec enhanced their respective film and television programs, using a model first introduced by Alberta over a decade ago to take the lead in attracting indigenous and foreign production and investment.
The bottom line is that this province is not competitive in this industry and much of the work has gone to other jurisdictions. Yet, the Alberta Government seems unwilling to make any changes to the current model in order to save the industry. This government talks a great deal about diversification and being competitive, but there is little proof to back that up. If things do not change soon, there will be no film & television industry in Alberta, plain and simple.
Here are two recent letters to the Calgary Herald, Lights, Camera, Inaction! & Losing Out, which provide a bit more info. One of which is written by my friend, George Tarrant, an extremely talented sound mixer who has worked in the biz in Alberta for 30 years.
I was on CJSW’s Film Clips show last night. Spent most of the time discussing my recent Kilter short film Trilogy and Warrior Legend, the feature documentary I’m busy developing with the National Film Board. Thanks to Caitlind and Kelly for having me on. If you missed it and want to listen… here it is.
CJSW interview pt 1.mp3
… and
CJSW interview pt 2.mp3
Cheers.
