It’s been a minute! I haven’t given up; I just haven’t had the time to post here.
What have I been up to that has taken me away from you?
Work, baby, lots and lots of work!
I was worried about not having enough work and ended up triple-booked with film production projects in Canada that I couldn’t walk away from, so I did them all at once.
What does that look like?
Here is a slice of that pie for you to sample:
- Being up at 4am for ‘zoom’ production meetings with a team in a different time zone.
- Dictating answers to emails on my phone while I review a production budget, invoice, and purchase orders on my laptop.
- Fighting through morning traffic for an hour to be at a production office in Vancouver for the early morning shift.
- Handling requests for information, supply orders, money, applying for Canadian work permits for international cast and film crew, overseeing shipping logistics, housing, travel, delegating requests for 80 cupcakes to be delivered to set by lunch (!!), ensuring production reports are accurate, and distribution of daily production information gets to the right people at the right time so they can do their work too.
- Driving home for another 45 minutes while listening to a podcast about neuroplasticity and productivity hacks, because I need all the help I can get so tips and tricks are great!
- Dinner and cuddles with my cat while write the next draft for an episodic tv script I’m developing.
- Work on a funding budget for an independent film project, an application for another Canadian content grant, and review the notes from the production meeting I couldn’t attend for yet another project (because I was at the office ordering cupcakes).
- Make sure my to-do list is prepped for the morning office so nothing falls through the cracks
- Spend my weekend fielding calls from cast whose flights were cancelled due to an airline crash, rescheduling everything for them and texting anxious producers and director every 30 minutes about what is happening even while I’m on the phone booking flights and cars.
- The next weekend going to set to observe the process of working with an LED volume wall for virtual production, implementing a company move to a location shoot. All of that while intermittently managing the travel and immigration needs of another show that was prepping on location in Nunavut.
- Taking every opportunity in between to work through training modules for UnReal Engine 5 virtual production, developing my ‘class project’ (a 3 minute cinematic short) and continuing to revise the screenplays I’m working on.
- Squeezing in production meetings for a feature film I’m co-producing set to shoot in 2025.
- Making it out of the city via 2-hour ferry ride so that I can be home on the weekend to spend time with my beautiful family – the real reason why I keep putting one foot in front of the other!
I have wrapped three projects and have a couple of weeks to focus on MY things, so here I am!
What am I doing here? Oh right – trying to build a thing!
I believe it is something meaningful and it’s entirely from scratch, without the privilege or support most people assume is required. But, true to my nature, I am not waiting for permission, approval, or budget. I’m following my instincts, applying my work ethic and creativity, and refusing to fold under the pressure.
I have stories to tell that matter. I am building a platform that brings them to life. I must be financially stable while doing it. And I’ll work hard—even alone—until I get there.
And there you have it – living the dream as a Canadian indie producer, working on the edge, facing down the disruption and dismantling of the filmmaking industry as we know it, in the only way I know how – with sheer determination, creative problem solving, and ALL THE HARD WORK.
