On location in the heart of Canadian hard rock mining country shooting for the documentary, Balmertown. The first round of interviews are exceeding all expectations. Above are film stills from recent shoots with retired gold miners Ian Tetlok, Gord McQuade, and Fern St. Vincent. A special thanks to all the families who helped make the interviews possible. After only two weeks of shooting, and an overwhelmingly positive response from the community, I can’t wait to come back to continue production in the Fall.

Above are film stills from a recent test shoot for Argentum, a new stop-motion animation currently in development. Special thanks to Devin Wagner (Performer), Ryan Randall (Cinematographer), Bryanna Reilly (Hair & Make Up), and Britt Adair (Production Assistant). Sample animation coming soon!

Beautiful new concept illustrations for Argentum. Artwork by the amazing John Courtney Little. Development continues. More to come soon!

Balmertown was recently invited to participate in the Planet In Focus Film Festival, Green Pitch Competition 2010. The film was 1 of 6 (of over 100 applicants) selected to participate on October 15, 2010. Each finalist was given six minutes to verbally present their film idea to a live audience, followed by questions from a jury of industry professionals, consisting of Frances-Mary Morrison, Senior Producer at CBC’s The Nature of Things; Jane Jankovic, Commissioning Editor at TVO; Anita Lee, a Producer at the National Film Board. Participants were also given the opportunity to work with pitching coach Paul de Silva, President and Executive Producer of A4One Media. Congratulations to all the finalists!

Above are photos of The King + I on exhibit at Concordia’s FOFA Gallery in Montreal, Quebec this past October 11 to November 5, 2010. The stereoscopic video installation exhibited in the main gallery space as part of a group show including artists Cheryl Kolak Dudek, Fiona Annis, and Matthew Evans. “This exhibition of four separate but related installations carries two threads between its constituent parts – vision and beauty – that establish a complex relationship with the beholder. Each artist uses the reproducible image in equal parts analysis and display that foreground the viewer as critical participant in the construction not only of meaning but also of the pieces themselves” (Jake Moore, FOFA Gallery Director). Photos by Guy L’Heureux.

Above are photos from ‘Latimer + Caines’, a two-person exhibition at SMASH during the CONTACT Toronto Photography Festival, May 1-31, 2010. One of NOW Magazine’s MUST SEE shows during the festival – Christine Lucy Latimer and Cliff Caines’ works negotiate old and new photographic processes, producing uncanny hybrid-artifacts. Working with found antique negatives, Latimer’s gelatin-silver prints (processed with home-brewed coffee-chemistry) manipulate the nostalgic and re-configure abandoned histories. Caines presents a custom-built 19th-century stereoscopic cabinet. Viewable within the mahogany cabinet is a 21-minute 3D video portrait of Derrick Caines (born with Down Syndrome, later diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease). Bottom photo credit: Christine Lucy Latimer.

Welcome to the new site! Many thanks to all those who assisted in the endeavour. A special thanks to the fine people at Standard Theme. Stay a while. Enjoy. More to come soon.