Bis Films was recently contracted by Rickard’s Blonde to create three short cooking spots featuring local chef Jean-François Plante, owner of l’Aromate here in Montreal. These three recipes use the new Rickard’s Blonde beer as one of the ingredients. This project was over before we knew it, but our palates were tantalized by some of the food preparations we witnessed and feasted upon during the shoot.
It all started on a cold December night. A small group of friends gathered around a small kitchen table and attempted to wow each other with their favorite pasta recipe. Eight unique dishes were served, grades were allotted, a winner was proclaimed. Thus, The Foodie Collective was born.
Finally, the sketch comedy group known as Uncalled For has decided to bridge the great divide. No more will their improvisations and comedic shenanigans be forgotten due to the fickleness of live performances. It was this last Tuesday, at MainLine Theatre, that Dan and Anders hosted the launch of weareuncalledfor.com. This web portal will be displaying a new video every Tuesday, presenting Uncalled For’s crazy and twisted perception of reality.
Even though the earthquake that struck Japan seems so far removed from our everyday reality – notice the few and far apart newspaper articles these days – a group of Montrealers led by Joe Allen have organized a fundraiser to help in “picking up the pieces.”
This Saturday, the 14th of May, will see a full day of art related activities happening at OFF Interarts, 5143 St-Laurent, with the humble goal of raising money for the Japanese Red Cross. There will be a mix-match of art, film (I will be showing my film, Circle Haiku), craft sales and traditional Japanese performances from noon to 5pm. The night will then change gears around 7:30pm as local musicians will be taking the stage: Steve Cohen, Alex Robshaw, Melina Soochan and Shaking Judy.
Check out the Art for Japan website for more information.
The summer is arriving quickly and with it, events, unveilings, and local artists’ work will be inundating good old Montreal.
Something I am definitely looking forward to this week is the opening of a new performance piece at the M.A.I. Bird Messengers is the new performance piece from aboriginal artists Moe Clark (whom I worked with on the film Circle Haiku) and Emilie Monnet. The performance combines storytelling and song that celebrate ancestral ways of prayer, peacemaking, and healing from Indigenous peoples across the Americas. Check out their Facebook page.
Continue reading
In the spirit of uploading all of our past projects to Vimeo, Circle Haiku is a film that I directed back in 2009. For this film, I teamed up with Moe Clark, spoken-word poet extraordinaire and songstress. We brought our distinctive passions together – me for the moving image and Moe for the healing sounds of music – in an attempt to create a meditative look at… well everything.
I sit, looking at the Bis Films Vimeo page and I think: “How is it that Kat and I both graduated from Concordia Communications Studies and have been pushing forward in the film/video production world since 2008, yet we have so few videos online?” I think it’s time to assert our digital presence on the pages of Vimeo.
For the past four months, Many and I have been working on several pitches, all of which have taken a lot of time and research. Working on a pitch is no easy feat; the job is not guaranteed, company time and savings are used for printing and mock up purposes, the simple fact that you’re in doubt until you get that call – these all contribute to a general feeling of uneasiness.
That aside, writing a pitch is exciting, especially when there’s competition involved. It’s your moment to show the prospective client what you’re made of; to let yourself shine so to speak. We’ve been getting a lot of practice and have narrowed in on some key elements that are crucial to writing a successful pitch.
This morning, a friend of ours, Chris Zacchia at www.forgetthebox.net released a video he directed in response to the CRTC’s decision to meter Internet usage. Gratefully, the government has overturned this decision forcing the CRTC to rethink they’re plans and motives. But will they? Thanks to OpenMedia.ca and thousands of pissed off Internet users, the battle to keep the internet accessible to all has, so far, been successful.
Well this is exciting.
Only a few days after the Empress Blue music video was put up online, the Montreal Mirror ran a little piece on it.
