24 Hours

The Ministry has entered the Toronto Film Challenge. Starting Oct 4th at 10am we will have 24 hours to make a short horror film. I'm excited and petrified - both good feeling to have when dealing with horror. So far I've assembled 6 of my 8 member team, and I have to say I've got a good crew. It should be a crazy, stressful, and fun 24 hours. The only unfortunate thing is that the challenge falls on the same night as Nuit Blanche, which is a bit disappointing.

I'll keep you posted.

Guest Blogging

I've been invited by the fine people over at the Institute of Canadian Enthusiasm to contribute to their blog on the current Federal Election.

Click on the Institute below to come have a look.

Shorts

TIFF is almost done and, sadly, I've only been able to attend two screenings so far. This was mostly due lack of time and money, as each screening is over $20 - which isn't that high all things considered but it's too high for me right now. Anyway, I managed to see Programmes 3 and 4 of Short Cuts Canada. I specifically chose to see the Short Cuts programmes because I'm currently in the final stages of editing my first short, and pre-production for my second, and I was excited by the opportunity to see what else is out there. And, honestly, I wanted to see if, based on these films, I would have a shot at getting into a festival.

The answer is...I don't know. The range in quality, both technically and artistically was so vast that it's hard to tell. Technically speaking a lot of the films looked more polished then mine, and I think that comes down to my abilities but also my technology, as I have very limited resources. That's one thing that really stood out, the resources most of these filmmakers had/have are far greater than I. During one film's credits when the sponsors and crew just kept going and going, I believe Shira's comment was, "wow, we're so ghetto." There's nothing wrong with this of course, as story and character are what matter but the production values can't distract from those elements. I don't believe they do with my work, although I'll have until they're completed to fully judge.

So what did I think of the shorts? There were some that were great - my favorite from Programme 3 being the documentary Forty Men for the Yukon directed by Tony Massil and from Programme 4 the charming Mon nom est Victor Gazon directed by Patrick Gazé - but overall I left feeling a little disappointed both nights. I wasn't really engaged by most of them. I don't think this was because of the nature of short film - i.e. is it harder to get attached and care for characters in such a short period of time - nor was it primarily due to stories and themes being explored. Visually, of course, some were more beautifully shot and had a definite visual style then others, and only a couple had elements - usually sound - that drew me out. I think it mostly came down to the acting, writing and pace of the films - not to say that these elements were all bad but just inconsistent, both within the films and throughout the programmes. This inconsistency made the extremes more noticeable.

Of course, experience plays a huge part, as the short film genre is generally the playground of emerging filmmakers. That's why I'm here.

What he said.

So the election here in Canada has been officially called for Oct 14th. Everyone is super thrilled about it. Especially since the current Conservative government said that we would only have elections every four years. Yet, here we are only two years later. Hurrah. It's hard to muster any enthusiasm for this thing, since we're likely to end up with the same government we have now, except maybe they'll get a majority. Wouldn't that be fun.

Granted a minority Government is a fragile thing, but it's not like the Conservatives were being challenged on anything they put forward. I guess, this is probably seen as the ideal time to strike and obtain that majority. But with the cost of an election is sitting somewhere around $300million mark it's hard to justify it. Why not take that money and do...hell, almost anything else with it. Instead they make cuts and call a costly election. Hopefully it will be costly for them politically.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the fact that the $48million cuts to the Arts came right before an election speaks volumes about how much weight the current government puts on Arts and Culture. Harper himself tries to avoid using the term "Canadian Culture" whenever possible, preferring to call it the "Canadian Entertainment Industry." No wonder there's a misconception about the arts and artists.

I know not all Tories agree with their fearless leader and, in fact, The Globe and Mail's Simon Houpt - who is blogging during TIFF - happened upon one such Conservative, ex-PM Brian Mulroney who, surprisingly, had this to say about the Arts and Culture...

"We expanded the aid to the arts enormously. In spite of what is said, we increased the budget of the CBC by 3-and-a-half per cent a year for 9 years, and it reflected my view that culture is indispensable to the well-being of Canada, to our unity, to the manner in which we're perceived in the world, and the manner in which we perceive others. It adds to our confidence, our maturity, and to our self-respect.”

Not exactly an indictment of Harper's cuts but it's pretty clear where he stands. I can almost forgive him for this...

Almost.

Re-buttoning

A little while ago I got a new vest, unfortunately the buttons on it were the same blue as the trim which was a little boring. So, taking my cue from The Sunday Best, I re-buttoned it. Well, Shira re-buttoned it, but I picked out the buttons - which is easily the hardest part. I think the new buttons make it look pretty sharp.

The vest is from Club Monaco and the shirt (my current favorite) is from Brooklyn Industries - and, yes, those are pigeons on it. Delightful.

New Swag Vol. 1

So far this summer I've been to two weddings - which really isn't that many - however, there's isn't a better excuse then a wedding to go out and buy new swag. Well, in all honesty, I don't really need much pushing to buy new gear but sometimes my bank account requests the justification, especially since, sadly, I don't really wear suits too often.

So what did I buy? Well, actually a whole bunch of stuff, and I'll try to blog about all the goodness soon, but the most recent purchase would be a crisp, white, cufflink-holed shirt (from H&M), and cufflinks to go with it. That's right, cufflinks. My first pair.

And here they are in action...

They're called Blueberry Tea and they're from an awesome new store on Queen West called Green Shag. They've actually been around for a bit and located in the 401 building, but I only just heard of them during my quest for the cufflinks. I believe their speciality is bespoke shirts but, since there's no way I'm going to be able to afford bespoke anything until sometime after 2020, I'll have to settle for the odd pair of cufflinks, or a cool T-shirt. Thankfully they've got plenty of of both.

What can I do?

I think the majority of Canadians feel an incredible inability to affect change. There is a wealth of issues and subjects for which I just can't understand why things are the way they are. I believe many people feel the same way I do. Perhaps we don't share the same views on the way things should be but I'm pretty sure we share the same sense of impotence when it comes to what we can do to change them. It is difficult though to feel like I'm making a difference - forget difference, making any impact at all.

Case in point, the most recent arts cut by the Federal Government. The Feds have just cut millions of dollars from arts and culture spending and I feel like I can't do anything about it. Even with the looming election this fall they still cut the funding, essentially saying we don't care about the arts and there's nothing you can do about it. And I have to say I feel like they're right, there isn't anything I can do about it. I know there are people out there right now who are saying absolutely there's something that you can do about it, call your Representative, go to a rally and so on. And I will, I have, I do and yet stuff like this still happens.

Honestly, I would be happy with a 50% tax rate, so that schools, health care, social assistance and arts were well supported and covered. I know that makes me a socialist, but I also believe in a market economy. I just want certain, fundamental, things covered. The arts is one of them.

There's an excellent article in the Globe and Mail regarding the recent cuts in arts funding, you should go HERE and give it a read.

Also check out the Department of Culture.

I hate comparing times but I'll throw one out anyway - during World War II it was suggested that Winston Churchill should make cuts the Arts and Culture portfolio and his response was, we have to remember what we're fighting for.