Remember when I asked everyone I know repeatedly to vote for me to get to make a tiny film about my dad? And then miraculously I WON the grant to do it? Well 10 shoot days with an 8 month old baby, 3 fights with my editor (and husband!), and 1 insane Christmas later, it is now done and ready to be shared with the world! So without any further ado, I present to you a short film from the bottom of my heart:
I would love to know what you think! And if you feel the urge to share it, please do! (And if you feel the EXTRA strong urge to continue supporting, feel free to VOTE for me to be one of the top two winners and get sent to the Banff Media Festival!).
And although their names are all briefly included in the credits, I want to take a moment here to profusely thank the people who made this film happen (as we really struggled to keep the film under 10 minutes so the credits are a bit rushed!):
Gary Marcuse – Gary was my documentary film making mentor provided to me by Storyhive and the National Screen Institute, and there is basically NO way the film would have been finished on time without him! From the start he really helped me find the emotional center of the project, and during editing he gave detailed notes that made the world of difference (especially when you only have a few hours of work time after a baby goes to bed). So thank you thank you thank Gary for sharing your expertise and wisdom! And thank you National Screen Institute for giving him to me!
Derek and Esther Pante – The first thing people often say when they see the film, is “Did you do the graphics and design!?” Which I emphatically answer “NO! I WISH!”. Derek and Esther Pante are a creative force and outrageously talented power couple of animator and designer, and I feel insanely lucky that they agreed to work on this project as they elevated it to much greater heights.
Joe Schweers – Joe did the colour edit and for those that don’t know how important that is, I can’t stress enough how MUCH BETTER it made the film look! And I feel pretty outrageously lucky that my friend who recently won 4 Leo Awards was kind enough to work on my tiny film!
John Diemer – This man is a magician of sound and part of my very special work family. I can always rely on him to take care of my sound needs, and thankfully his team made sure you couldn’t hear me popping my “p’s” every two seconds in my narration!
Brent Hodge and Rachel Ricketts – The mom and dad of my work family, they are a never-ending source of inspiration and support.
Chris Kelly – Last, and by far the most important, my co-creator in work and life. Chris really should be the one taking all the credit. He woke up at 4 am to go do the hockey shoot with my dad. He did all the editing. He even made ALL the music. And on top of that, he loved and encouraged me to stick with this project every step of the way. There should be an Oscar for best creative partner, because he would win it hands down.
And to Big Lew and my mom, my siblings and the Kelly family, and the other Kelly family – this simply wouldn’t have happened without you!
