Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Mea Culpa


OK, after numerous delays I am getting back to editing the documentary.  

Currently I am in the process of reorganizing material that was previously captured and edited.  Then I still have dozens of tapes to go through and hours and hours of footage yet to digitize.  But at least I am back to the task of editing my film.

However, just this week I learned a very difficult lesson about ethical filmmaking.  Without going into too many details, basically what happened was a few years ago in Costa Rica I shot a scene with a hidden camera. Grandmaster was in on it, but a woman in the scene with him did not know she was being filmed.  At the time I felt that as long as I protected her identity, I was not really doing anything wrong.  Well, I now realize the act of secretly filming the woman was a violation of her right to privacy and masking her identity in the final cut does not make it any less of a crime.  

It's easy to develop tunnel vision when you are shooting, and even though many ethical decisions are best made in the edit suite, us filmmakers must remember to respect people's basic human rights at all times.  The cutting room floor is no place for a person's dignity.  A very special friend opened my eyes to this and I will be forever grateful to her for that.  

I've since deleted the footage from my computer and destroyed the raw tape.  Lesson learned.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Lack of Action

OK, I am embarrassed, even ashamed that I have not updated this blog in almost 2 years.  Even worse is that I have made virtually no progress on the documentary in almost as long.

I have a long list of excuses for my procrastinating ways.  Some are legit, but most are pathetic.  But let me give you a run down on where things are at today, and what has transpired in the past 2 years.

The Canadian folk festival tour provided for hours and hours of great material.  Of course when you are touring with The Grandmaster it is inevitable that sooner or later the experience will morph into something out of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.  Or in our case, Fear and Loathing in Regina.  But there were also some great artistic moments as well.   

Returning to Belize the next, and last, road trip was a quick 3 day trip to Mexico City in October 2006 where GM played 2 shows with a really good jazz band.  

This was the end of shooting with GM for me.  I felt I needed to stop shooting and finally find my story within the existing material.  Otherwise I could continue shooting for years waiting for something else to happen.  I need to have faith that my story is already there, and now my job needs to switch to writer and editor to find and present it.  

So since wrapping principal photography, I have been a bit (no a lot!) lazy about moving on to the next phase of production.  Originally I was hoping that CINERGIA would support post production with a grant that would allow spend a few months editing without worrying about finding other work.  Unfortunately that did not happen.  So I decided to put the doc on hold until spring 2007, but a combination of an incredibly busy work schedule followed by some personal challenges left me with either no time or no energy to get my head back into the film last summer as planned.  Then came fall 2007 and winter 2008 and my busy season started all over again.  So now here I am, May 2008, with enough time and energy to finally get to work on editing my film.  All I have to deal with now is my own inherent lazyness!   

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Watch the trailer!


Click the image above to watch the trailer for "Welcome to My World".
If you have a slow internet connection press pause to let the entire video load before viewing.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Grey Matters

The Grandmaster at The Winnipeg Folk Festival

photo courtesy Sara Montour

Here's a great shot of The Grandmaster at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. I was not there, but I did get some footage from a local videographer, Derek Eidse, who I hired for one day of the festival. Initial reports are that everything went really well and it sounds like Derek got some good footage. I won't see the tapes until I get to Canada next week, so I am very eager for that.

What strikes me about this photo is you can see that GM has a few white hairs in his beard. I just noticed that about him a few days ago when he stopped by after getting back from Winnipeg. Of course I too am starting to find the odd grey hair on my own head, so just who is giving whom grey hairs?

I can't believe that I will be in Calgary in less than a week. It will be great to get on the road and spend some serious time working on the documentary. But it will also be nice to be back in Canada for a few weeks as well. I love Belize, but it's nice to go back to Canada and not be the foreigner for a little while.

I have to send my post-production grant application off to Cinergia before I leave. I've got most of the paper work ready, it's just the task of cutting a trailer that is left to be done. Just that... cut a 5 minute trailer from 25 hours of raw footage. How hard can that be? Maybe I better get started on this weekend, eh?

See, my accent is coming back and I haven't even left Belize, eh?

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Time

Here's a clip of The Grandmaster performing "Time" with Amarillo Cyan y Magenta at the Papaya Music Festival in Costa Rica.

Different Different

Here's a clip of The Grandmaster performing "Different Different" with Amarillo Cyan y Magenta at the Papaya Music Festival in Costa Rica.

I Cry

Here's a clip of The Grandmaster performing "I Cry" with Amarillo Cyan y Magenta at The Papaya Music Festival in Costa Rica.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

No love from Canada

The folk festivals in Canada may love The Grandmaster, but obviously the Canada Council for the Arts does not. Or at least they don't love my documentary.

Last year I asked the CCA for $16,000 to shoot my film. They said no. But thanks to a $4000 grant from Cinergia I got enough cash to at least cover most of my out of pocket costs. That allowed me to still shoot my doc. Of course it meant I've been basically working for free on this thing, but hey it's a labour of love, right?

So this year I felt confident that if I showed the CCA how I was able to shoot enough material for a great documentary, with virtually no budget, then for sure they would want to get behind me with support for post-production. Right?

Wrong.

I got the PFA letter from CCA again. And this time they made sure to point out that my project has been turned down twice, so not to bother them again until I have a different project to submit.

The deadline for Cinergia is coming up at the end of July. So before I leave for Canada I will submit a grant application for post-production to them and hope that once again I'll find the love in Central America that escapes me in the country of my birth.

Let the festivals begin

Last night was GM's first performance of the summer festival tour. I was not there, but I hired a local camerman, Jacob Zehr, to shoot for me. Initial reports are everything went well and Jacob got some good material for the doc.

The folks at the Victoria Folk Festival were amazingly helpful. Big thanks to Colin, Shelly, and Tracy at the ICA!

GM plays at Winnipeg this weekend. I'm hiring another local shooter, Derek Eides, in the 'Peg to collect footage for me.

I just booked my flight to Calgary today. I'm arriving in Cowtown on July 27. GM is scheduled to perform on July 29 & 30 at that festival. Following Calgary I'm going to head to Vancouver to visit friends and family for a while. That will be my base of operations with trips to Regina and Salmon Arm festivals in August. I'm coming home to Belize via Seattle on August 23.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Help Wanted

I've fnally decided what do do this summer. I am not going to Victoria or Winnipeg, but I will go to Calgary, Regina, and Salmon Arm. Skipping Victoria was tough because it is so close to home. Winnipeg is the grand daddy of festivals so I hate missing that, but it is also the most expensive trip (almost as much to fly from Vancouver to Winnipeg as it cost to fly from Belize to Vancouver) so it just came down to a matter of money. Plus I was getting nervous that GM would not get his Canadian visa in time and I would be stuck with an expensive trip and no subject to shoot. Well, Ivan at Stonetree was able to pull some strings and get the visa rapidito so GM is off on Monday but I will stay behind for now.

So now I am scrambling to see what arrangements I can make to get footage from Victoria and Winnipeg. I've found a freelance videographer in Victoria who has agreed to shoot for what I can afford to pay. Now I have about a week to pull off a similar miracle in Winnipeg.

A huge thank-you to Colin Easton at the Victoria Folk Festival for his help in getting me sorted out in Victoria!!

I'm also looking to find a soundman for Calgary and possibly Regina. I think I have found someone for Calgary, but I am still looking for Regina. Doug Murray and I will likely work together in Salmon Arm as it is an easy 4.5 hour drive from Vancouver.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

June so soon?

Holy crap July is almost here and that means the summer tour of western Canada. I still have a few things to shoot with The Grandmaster here in Belize before he leaves for Victoria and Winnipeg, but nothing too difficult. I think I am good shape there.

The airlines turned me down for any help on flights, so I decided only to go to Canada for Calgary, Regina, and Salmon Arm. This way I will only have to fly up once. Turns out GM is not doing the mainstage at Winnipeg so it makes it even harder to justify spending the money to go there. Victoria would have been a good one, but I can only do so much with limited funds. I did some number crunching tonight and I expect to be almost $5000 out of pocket by the time I get through with principal photography! It's not as bad as it sounds, basically I have just been working for free and spending what should have been my salary on other production expenses. Luckily I have been having a decent year with Oxa Productions so I not missing any meals or rent payments.

This week besides shooting a couple of scenes I need to get my Cinergia application for a post production grant together. Most of the paperwork is done, but I need to cut a trailer from the material I already have in the can. I'm really looking forward to that because it give me an idea of what this documentary may actually look like when it is finished. Plus I love editing. I'll post the trailer here when I get it done.

Monday, May 29, 2006

Time??

Grandmaster says "Time aint' got time for time". Lately I'm feeling like I ain't got time this film! I've been quite busy for the past month, which is good because I'm going to need to sink my earnings from those other jobs into this documentary.

The Canada trip is coming up in just over a month. A festival has been added in Victoria, BC, so that brings the total festivals to 5. I am really trying to make it happen that I can attend at least 4 or those festivals. I may skip Regina if I simply can't afford it.

Today I am going to send out letters to the airlines begging for free flights. Getting some support there will go a long way towards financing the Canada trip. Of course I will still have about $1000 in travel costs inside Canada, plus hotels, meals and hiring a soundman! I figure the entire trip is going to cost me somewhere around $4000. It's a crazy amount of money that, at least right now, is going to come out of my own pocket. But I simply cannot skip this experience. It's too important to the story. Hopefully these festivals will provided me with some form of an ending so I can wrap up shooting and move on to editing.

OK, so why does it seem like I obsess about money on this blog? Well mainly because I write it when I am in my office doing the mundane things a producer does, like budgeting and planning. So when I finally get around to writing I've got my mind on my money and my money on my mind.

Moving away from money, there are a few things to report on the production side. In late April I managed to get a few more days of shooting in. My buddy Doug "the soundman" Murray was here for a visit so I took advantage of some free help shot a few interviews. Doug also took some great stills of The Grandmaster that will eventually end up on the real website, posters, DVD covers, etc. I'll post some more here sometime soon.


I have discovered a problem with my camera. Seems the transport was out of alignment causing intermittent video break up. Checking my tapes from Costa Rica confirmed the worst; I have some tapes that are no good. However the gods of independent documentary making were watching over me as I really did not lose anything too important. Probably the biggest scene I lost was when GM was signing autographs the night before his concert in Costa Rica. Luckily a scene like that will probably re-present itself in Canada so I am not too upset. The camera is now in Vancouver where I understand it has been fixed. I will retrieve it when I fly up for the first festival in July. In the meantime the good folks at Channel 5 have been kind enough to lend me their PD-170 on the few occasions I have had to shoot something lately.

I need to shoot one more background interview before I go Canada, and then a few more interviews and scenes with The Grandmaster here in Belize City. It’s exciting to think that by the time I get back from Canada I may only have a few pick up shots and some b-roll left to shoot before principal photography is actually wrapped!

Sunday, March 05, 2006

now hear this...


There is a link on the side bar to The Grandmaster's CD, JUST LIKE THAT, from Stonetree Records, but if you've never clicked on it you should. Here's the link again for your convenience:

http://www.stonetreerecords.com/albums/just_like_that_details.php

You can hear sample clips from the album and even buy it on-line if you wish. I don't get anything from the sale of the CD so this is not a ploy to generate revenue. I just think it's a damn good CD and if you are inclined to follow this blog you would probably be interested in hearing a bit more from The Grandmaster.

Feeling Good

I'm feeling really good about my documentary these days. I've been going through my tapes and started to cut some rough scenes, and I realize that I actually have a good chunk of a film here! I've showed the roughcuts to a few people and the reviews are good. It is so exciting to see that I may actually be getting close to finishing the production phase of this project.

Another really encouraging thing is that I am starting to see my synopsis actually come to life. Let's be honest, those things are written to impress people and attract money to your film. Not that I never intended to make the film as it appears on that paper, but I didn't expect so much of what I promised in writing to actually be delivered in the documentary!

I still have 3 or 4 interviews left to do in Belize City, plus at least a "day in the life" type of scene with The Grandmaster. I also want to record a few straight reads of some of his poems that are not featured in the various live performances. Then of course, there is the Canada tour this summer which would be the finale for production. But there is light at the end of the tunnel, and no it is not a train coming at me.

I just sent off a grant application to the Canada Council for the Arts, again. They turned me down last year so I am not too optimistic. But I hope the fact that I actually managed to get so much accomplished with no help from them, and only a $4000 grant from CINERGIA, that maybe the CCA will see me as a good candidate for funding to complete my documentary. I will also apply to CINERGIA for some funding for post production later this spring. Cross your fingers for me that either of these applications are successful.

Monday, February 27, 2006

Canada Confirmed!

Ivan at Stonetree Records has informed me that The Grandmaster is confirmed at 4 festivals in Canada this summer. They are:

Winnipeg Folk Festival, July 6-9
Calgary Folk Festival, July 27-30
Regina Folk Festival, August 11-13
Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival, August 18-20

Victoria and/or Vancouver are still pending.

This is going to be an amazing opportunity for me to shoot stuff for my documentary. I especially love that it will take my film to my home country of Canada, a sort of blending of my two worlds.

Money is going to be the big problem as I do not have the funding I need for this type of road trip. Forget even paying myself for the weeks I would be on the road shooting, but how am I going to pay for my travel between cities, my meals and accomodation, and a sound recordist on the days I am shooting? In between festivals I can stay with family and friends in Vancouver, but I will still need to come up with at least $3500 for expenses.

Somehow I have to make this happen because it is too important to my film.

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Cost Rica Postmortem

Just a few final comments about the Costa Rica trip.

My 5 camera deal turned out to be too good to be true. Nobody's fault, especially given everything the technical people were dealing with, but I edned up paying US$300 for 2 cameras (plus my own). One of those cameras was on a dolly however, so I got some very sweet stuff on GM during his set with ACyM. Big thanks to Luciano and Fede from Papaya, and Julio Molina for pulling the camera crew together at the last minute!

The show on Sunday was shot with 6 cameras so I hope to get a tape of GM's stuff from that night. He did 2 songs with Malpais.


Ivan, GM, and Brent backstage at Papaya Fest

A lot of people asked me how I liked Costa Rica... Honestly, I spent almost the entire time in San Jose, and like all major cities in Central American it is probably not a good reflection on the country as a whole. Outside of the downtown core was very clean and pleasant, but downtown San Jose was a bit of a pit. I was expecting more old colonial buildings, but instead I was surprised to see that much of downtown is from the 1970's. It kind of reminded me of the parts of Vancouver that sprouted up during that city's 70's building boom. We stayed smack in the middle of downtown, in a decent area that was surrounded by pedestrian strolls and shops, but our hotel was full of whores and whoremongers. It got quite depressing to see ugly fat old gringos bringing in young chicas all day and all night. I started calling our hotel the "whore-tel". I was glad to get out of there!

I'm probably going to take a bit of a break from shooting with GM for a while. I need to do a few interviews with some people here in Belize, and I also need to get some stuff with GM at home and around Belize City. I will hopefully shoot that when my pal, and soundman, Doug Murray is in Belize late next month. But after that I may not shoot much until summer when GM goes to Canada for a few festivals. That trip is going to need some major finance, which I don't have yet!

Costa Rica Concert Clip



Here's a clip of The Grandmaster performing with Amarillo, Cian y Magenta at Papaya Fest in Costa Rica. If you have a slow connection let the video load fully before playing for best results.

Show Time in San Jose


GM at the hotel before his concert

It was too hard to keep up this blog while in San Jose, so the next few installments are after the fact... first about GM's performances:

Friday afternoon GM had his last rehearsal with Amarillo, Cian y Magenta. He was on fire, the band was tight, it promised to be a hell of a show. As the rehearsal wrapped, GM delivered a very heartfelt thanks to the boys in ACyM for this opportunity to work with them. Hearing his voice crack with sincere emotion almost made me lose it myself. So much for the objective observer. Then as GM went to use the bathroom the sound of shattering glass destroyed the maudlin mood. Somehow GM had caused the bathroom mirror to fall and shatter! Bad luck? Time would tell.

Later that evening, at the concert venue, GM shows up to do a little pre-promotion for his show the following night. As a very cool calypso-jazz band is performing, GM pulls a stunt that I can only admire. He walks into the camera pit (the area right in front of the stage that is for photographers only) and goes over to someone and offers an autographed picture of himself. Now remember that practically nobody in San Jose knows him yet. But when the crowd sees someone signing autographs they get excited and suddenly everyone wants one. So a little GM-mania breaks out as people flock to get an autographed picture from this rasta guy. Talk about stealing the show... only The Grandmaster would have the nerve to show up and sign autographs during someone else's concert!

As the band wraps their set, the technicians play the video for Pressure on the big screens (of course this too was pre-arranged by GM). Into the mass of people goes GM, dancing amongst his legions of brand new fans, leading them in a sing-along of "Pressure... Pressure... Presssssssuuuuurree!". Later that night GM admited to me that he came up with the idea for the publicity stunt the night before. And here I was beginning to worry that GM was not taking this opportunity in Costa Rica seriously.

Come showtime Saturday, GM starts to show signs of genuine stage fright. Nothing to be alarmed about, but it is good to see that performing in front of about 3,000 people is enough to make even The Grandmaster a tad nervous.


Backstage butterflies!

As the band strikes the opening chords for "Pressure" GM takes the stage. He is on tonight. In mere moments he has the Costa Rican crowd in the palm of his hand. He's using every bit of Spanish he can remember to work the crowd, and when that fails him he makes up his own form of Spanglish. But somehow it is working. They love The Grandmaster.

And so the set goes. The band is smoking and GM is really working it. Problem is somewhere along the way they got out of sync with each other. GM is dubbing lyrics to his poems over the wrong songs. The crowd doesn't notice anything awry, but ACyM is obviously alarmed by this deviation from plan A. Things kind of fall apart when GM finishes "his" set and leaves the stage, leaving the band unsure of what to do next. They quickly recover and in a few minutes GM returns for his encore, of course non of this is how the set was planned to play out.

The whole experience would leave the guys from ACyM a bit shell-shocked and on Sunday they chose to perform sans GM. The Grandmaster instead would play 2 songs with Malpais, another band from Costa Rica, and everything goes very smoothly for all parties.


The Grandmaster perfoms with Malpais on the last night of Papaya Fest

GM would have the last word at Papaya Fest, literally. During the big "we are the world" grand finale on Sunday, all the performers joined together on stage for the closing number. It was one of the Papaya's songs, in Spanish, and each of the featured artists took a turn on the mic. GM of course not speaking Spanish had no idea what the lyrics were so he could not sing along. But just as the song came to a close, GM grabs the mic and breaks into a line from his poem "I Cry", then thanks Costa Rica and bids everyone good night. Only The Grandmaster would pull something like that!

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Costa Rica Report #2

Yesterday was an easy day for the Grandmaster. A photo shoot for a newspaper, a radio interview, and a short practice with the band. Then it was time for GM to let his dreads down. And holy crap did he ever. I am still undecided about how much to divulge on this blog, but it's all on tape. Let's just say I've got the sex and drugs part of the title covered.

Tonight we are going to try to shoot a scene for a music video for Que Sera Sera. If that goes well we will finish shooting the video on Saturday.

The GM show is on Saturday and I just arranged with the video producer who is taping tonight's Papaya concert to shoot GM for me. Five cameras (high def down converted to NTSC)!! They have all the equipment for the entire week, but there was no budget to pay for the cameramen. So I am paying that. $150US for a five camera crew is a steal. I can't believe how I lucked out on this one.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Costa Rica Report#1

Time is scarce, and these Spanish keyboards give me fits, so this will be a bit rough. I will edit and add photos when I get back to Belize.

The flight from Belize to CR was easy. Only hassle was in El Salvador where 3 immigration officials demanded GM's passport while we were waiting in the departure lounge. They found it hard to believe that we were traveling together. They kept asking me if there were a lot of hippies in Belize.

Arriving in San Jose we were met by Ivan of Stonetree Records and Ana from Papaya Music. Dropped off our bags at the hotel, a quick bite at a mexican restaurant, and then off to the Jazz Cafe to see the band GM is performing with on Saturday. Before we could even drink our first beer GM was on stage doing an improv song with the band. A sign of good things to come this week.

The Grandmaster doing local TV interview in San Jose

Tuesday was a full day with radio and TV interviews, and then a rehearsal with Amarillo, Amarillo Cian y Magenta in the afternoon. The band is a really good acid jazz combo and GM and them blend very well together. For a first rehearsal things went really well. The rehearsal room was very small so it was hard for me to shoot,but I did get a few good clips for the documentary.

The Grandmaster rehearses with Amarillo, Cian y Magenta


I'm working with a local soundman, Julio Molina. He's a very cool guy and a good soundrecordist. Julio is also an independent filmmaker and he has really gotten into this project. I can't afford to work with him every day, but we will work together 4 days this week so I am confident I will get some great stuff before the week is over.

The Grandmaster and Julio enjoy a coffee break

GM is doing well with everything so far. Yesterday wore him out a bit as he is not used to having to put in so much work,but he was a pro about everything. Over a few beers he admitted he was suffering from withdrawal, not having any weed for 24 hours. But that situation was resolved when one of the Papayas showed up at our room with some medicine for GM. A spliff and a few shots of my 12 year old Flor de Cana rum and he found his second wind. So I set up the camera and we did an interview about the day right there in our hotel room.

Today should be an easier day for GM as there is less on his schedule.

Monday, February 06, 2006

Finding Time

It's been a nutty crazy time. I've been booked solid shooting for other clients for weeks, and the days leading up to the Costa Rica trip are no different. On Thursday I leave town for a 4 day shoot with a documentary crew from Spain that will wrap at the airport on Monday when I fly to San Jose. In fact the Spanish crew are on the same (first leg) flight as me to San Salvador.

So this is making it tough to prep for the week in San Jose. I have today and Wednesday to get everything in order. I don't have much of a shooting schedule set up yet which concerns me a bit, but the good thing about The Grandmaster is you know something "filmworthy" is always going to happen! I just have to be ready to shoot whatever it is.

I've made contact with a soundman in San Jose who is going to work with me for 3 days which will make my life so much easier, and my footage so much better. I'm really excited about this trip because not only do I think I am going to get some great stuff, but I am really looking forward to spending a week concentrating on my documentary and only my documentary.

Monday, January 23, 2006

my pressure

If you've seen the video for "Pressure" you know that much of the video takes place in the shower. This was inspired by one of the lines in the poem that talks about getting no pressure from the water company. This used to be a big problem in Belize City and all us could relate to that line. Fortunately things have improved in that regard over the past few years. Enough so that I guess the local water company, BWSL, has decided to make a TV commercial boasting about it's improved water pressure.

So they are shooting a commercial with The Grandmaster in what I am told will be a sort of parody of the music video I directed. Good on them for having fun with it, and kudos for supporting a local artist like The Grandmaster by hiring him to perform in their commercial.

But what's got my pressure up is that they won't allow me on the set of commercial to shoot anything for my documentary!! The excuse I got from the production company was that the client "did not want to mix up thier project with mine". Huh?

I mean why would they not want the added benefit of the publicity my documentary could bring them? After all it's a positive spot they are making and they should be proud that they are using a local artist to promote their company. I think what they are doing is cool and I want to be able to showcase it. But maybe they just assume, as too many Belizeans do, that anyone with a video camera is up to no good and is only looking to "scandalize" them.

I tried to speak to the PR person at the water company but she won't return my calls. That's another thing that is also too typical in Belize. Half the country it seems is perpetually "in a meeting".

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Why am I making this film?

So if there is no money in it (other than the money leaving my pocket to go into the production), why the hell am I making this film?

Because I want to. Because The Grandmaster is talented and interesting enough to be worthy of a documentary. Because I think people are going to enjoy this film. Because I want to be able to make other films (hopefully fully funded) and I know that it will be extremely important to have at least one independent film to my credit when I go looking for money for future productions. Because it's fun. Because I can. Because if I don't someone else might and that would really piss me off. Because I've spent over 20 years working in commercial television and I need to do something different.

How am I producing this film?

A bit of behind the scenes information on how I am able to produce an independent documentary:

As mentioned in a previous post, I have received a small grant from Cinergia. This grant is for $4000 and it is the only source of funding I have been able to aquire so far. So the rest of my budget is coming right out of my own pocket, or from donations of time and talent from a few supportive friends. My initial budget is about US$45,000 but that doesn't include the Costa Rica or Canada trips, so the actual budget is going to be much higher. Of the original $45K, about $14,000 is needed in cash and the rest is in the form of deferals or donations. My production company is donating almost $11,000 in equipment and other services. If I fail to raise anymore cash, I will end up working for free, to the tune of about $9,000.

I own a small video production company in Belize, Central America. My company is called Oxa Productions (pronouced oh-sha). It's really just me and I do a lot of different things to put bread on the table such shooting and editing of local commercials, freelancing for other ad agencies and broadcasters, etc.

My biggest source of revenue however comes from providing location scouting and management to foreign productions who come to Belize. These include film, video, and still photography. These gigs pay decent money so it allows me to spend time working on this film without worrying about paying my rent.

I own a PD-150 (plus all the usual extras) that I am using to shoot, and I have FCP4.5 on my Mac powerbook that I use for editing. If I didn't own this gear I couldn't afford to make this film.

The big challenge is finding time to work on the documentary while still working on jobs that actually pay money. It's been tougher to balance than I expected because (fortunately) I have been extremely busy with paid projects from Novemember through January. So while my company balance sheet looks better than expected, I am way behind on production of the documentary. It's a catch 22; if I don't get the other work I can't make the film, and if I get the work I don't have time to make the film!

Canadian Content?

Ivan Duran at Stonetree Records has been getting a lot of interest in The Grandmaster from festivals in Canada. Right now it looks very likely that GM will be performing at folk festivals in Victoria, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, and Salmon Arm. There may also be a chance of him playing the festival in Vancouver.

This is great news for the documentary because obviously it is going to provide an amazing story arc and some great performance footage. It's exciting for me because I am from Canada and it will be a blast to make a summer tour of the old country.

Financing is going to be a problem however. Not so much the airfare, because I would probably make a personal trip to Vancouver this summer anyway, but it's the on the ground expenses like hotels, meals, and travel between cities that are going to kill. Plus I won't be able to do any paid work back in Belize because I could be away from late June to late August. But this will be the biggest thing to happen in The Grandmaster's life and I will find a way to be there to document it.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Do you know the way to San Jose?

The Grandmaster has been invited to perform at The Papaya Music Festival in San Jose, Costa Rica in February. Even though it's not in my budget, I can't not go. So I put a $500 plane ticket on my credit card and I'll end up crashing in Ivan or Grandmaster's room. Ah, the cushy life of the independent filmmaker.

I'm really excited about the trip. The Grandmaster performed one song with the Orquesta de la Papaya last year in Belize City and it was an amazing example of his ability to shine on stage. A combination of a road trip and concert should make for some great footage for the film.

Here's a pic from last year's concert with the Papayas...

Making the documentary

It's high time I got around to posting a blog on making this documentary. There is too much info to jam in one post so bear with me as I try to blurt it all out over a few different posts. Then hopefully I will get in the habit of updating the blog regularly.


Screen capture from music video "Pressure". Click on image to see the video.


I started filming this documentary (read synopsis below) in early 2004. I had just shot a video for "Pressure" the first single of The Grandmaster's debut CD, Just Like That, and getting to know Leroy Young a little better through the process of making his video I began to think that he would make a great subject for a documentary. So I started shooting a little bit here and there, when I had time and money.

Recently I received a small grant (US$4000) from Cinergia, a Central American filmmakers fund and that is allowing me to ramp up the production a lot. While this grant only makes up a small part of my overall budget, it will allow me to pay for a lot of production expenses. I am also hoping that having one funding source on board will open doors with others. I had applied to the Canada Arts Council last year and was turned down. I'm going to re-apply, especially in light of the fact that my documentary may take a very Canadian turn in this summer. More on that in a future post.

While I may have been frustrated that I was not able to shoot more early on, in retrospect being forced to go slow has been the best thing that could have happened. Spending almost two years to date working with The Grandmaster has allowed us to develop a personal relationship. He now trusts me and it shows in the interviews and access he is giving me.
Brent Toombs shooting a scene with The Grandmaster
Photo: Doug Murray

Synopsis



“I tried to make a collect call to God, but he wouldn’t answer the phone.”

-Leroy “The Grandmaster” Young



Locked in the desperate clutches of a crack cocaine addiction, Leroy Young tried to commit suicide. He failed. So he tried again. Somehow, during these aborted attempts at dying, The Grandmaster was born.

The Grandmaster lives in a squatters shack behind Belize City Hall. His “office” is the dangerous alley he shares with some of the country’s most hardened gangsters. He wears a watch with no face and glasses with no lenses. His dreadlocks look like they need a good shampooing. Several of his teeth are missing. This is The Grandmaster. Just like that.

A product of the ghetto, The Grandmaster embodies contradiction. He easily makes himself welcome amongst Belize’s rich and powerful, yet is quick to return to his hardcore roots when the party is over. He sees nothing wrong with smoking a little weed before speaking to high school students about staying away from drugs. He is both a role model and an example of what not to do.

He’s part hobo, part entrepreneur. A dysfunctional genius with the soul of a scamp.

He’s also most prolific poet in the tiny Central American nation of Belize.

A former British colony (previously British Honduras), Belize only became independent in 1981. With independence has come a new set of problems: Crime is escalating rapidly. The nation’s economy is dangerously close to collapse. The divide between the haves and have-nots is growing wider daily. All of this serves as creative fodder for The Grandmaster.

His rhymes tackle the taboo - from corrupt politicians to organized religion. He’s never been afraid to take on the local oligarchy, and now with the international release of his critically acclaimed debut album, The Grandmaster is ready to take on the world.

But can a semi-reformed crack-head from a tiny backwater country compete on the big stage? And more importantly, will The Grandmaster get his shit together long enough to take a shot at success?

A bastard love child of Bob Marley and Hunter S. Thompson; he’s never pretty, not exactly law abiding, and seldom sober. But, in the words of The Grandmaster himself: “Welcome To My World!”