VIMEO MONTAGE


So, I copied and pasted the Vimeo Montage widget into my blog...


Cool.

RECENT WORK (Spring 2012)

I was honored to be one of 3 filmmakers commissioned to create specialized content for the 2012 Alberta Multimedia Production Industries Association "Rosie" Awards. This piece is a tribute to Paul Roscorla and Paul Bronfman of the William F. White corporation, who received the Friend of the Industry Award for their many years of dedicated service to the Alberta motion picture and television industry.



Thank you to Courtenay Forster (Director of Photography), Brent Waters (Editor), Mick Lipohar (Additional Camera Operator), Sean Smith (Additional Camera Operator), Justan Ross (Sound Recordist), Rob Turko (Gaffer), Allan Belyea (Key Grip), Mike Shields (Composer), Russ Broom (Musician), and Frank Laratta (Post Production Audio).

And thank you to the following veritable "who's who" of the Alberta motion picture and television industry, in order of appearance: Robert Hilton; Craig Wrobleski; Michael Jorgensen; David Smigarowski; Sue Hutch; Chad Oakes; Mike Frislev; Randy Bradshaw; Jon Joffe; Bruce Harvey; Grant Harvey; Sharron Toews; Joe Novak; Brent Kawchuk; Lorenz Augustin; Corey Lee; Dave Vernerey; Tom Cox; Rick Youck; Marty Keough; Damian Petty; Tina Alford; Darin Wilson; Andrew Sparke; Sean Toner; Murray Ord; Luke Azevedo; Greg Jeffs; Jill Clark; Mandy Stobo; Benjamin Hayden; Per Asplund; John Scott; Henry Kitchen; Mike Shields; Nina Sudra; Patrick McLaughlin; Allan Belyea; Jim Gregor; Chris Harding; Jen Whitehead; Spencer Estabrooks.

Apologies to Mike Shields (Composer) and Russ Broom (Musician) for falling in love during the rough cut with the Johnny Cash track "God's Gonna Cut You Down". Here is a Director's Cut to that tune.

RECENT WORK (Summer 2011)

Gord Bamford: HANK WILLIAMS LONESOME


You could say that all love stories are like journeys by train...





EARLY FATHER'S DAY GIFT

“MY DAUGHTER’S FATHER” 
WINS 3 ROSIES
AT ALBERTA FILM & TELEVISION AWARDS



Monday May 30, 2011 – After winning CMT VIDEO OF THE YEAR at the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards in September 2010 for Gord Bamford’s “Day Job” music video, Crowsnest Films more recent collaboration with the Lacombe country music singer has beaten out its predecessor by winning 3 prestigious Rosie Awards while both videos went head-to-head as finalists in 6 different categories at the 37th Annual Alberta Film & Television Awards held on Saturday May 28, 2011 in Edmonton, Alberta to celebrate excellence and outstanding achievement in Alberta film, television, and new media. 
“My Daughter’s Father” won for BEST MUSIC VIDEO;  John Kerr won for BEST DIRECTOR, DRAMA UNDER 30 MINUTES; and Jeff August won for BEST EDITOR, DRAMA UNDER 30 MINUTES. The awards bring the number of major regional, national, and international awards won by Crowsnest Films for its work on various projects since 2010 to twelve (12).

The video was filmed in early November 2010 on location in Lacombe, Alberta and at the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton, Alberta. It was produced and directed by John Kerr of Crowsnest Films; with cinematography by Courtenay Forster; art direction by Garth Whelen; and post-production and color correction by Jeff August.

“These awards are a nice early Father’s Day gift for Gord…This music video attempts to capture those precious and fleeting moments between fathers and daughters. What was important about the execution of this idea was that it could not feel contrived.  It needed to have a real, almost documentary feeling to it, and I think we achieved that,” said John Kerr, President of Crowsnest Films. “On another level, I think it is also a great example of what can happen when Alberta artists come together to tell our stories at home and abroad. It’s about doing good work with good people and making meaning.”

The “My Daughter’s Father” music video was funded entirely by the CMT Canada Video Assistance Program and can be seen on CMT Canada. Crowsnest Films is a company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that creates entertaining and enduring motion picture, television, and new media content of superior quality for domestic and international markets.  
“My Daughter’s Father” can be viewed here: 



PLAYBACK MAGAZINE ARTICLE: AMPIA Hands Out Rosies

RECENT WORK

 ANOTHER COLLABORATION
WITH COUNTRY MUSIC ARTIST
 GORD BAMFORD ON
“MY DAUGHTER’S FATHER” 
A MUSIC VIDEO FOR CMT


Fresh from winning CMT VIDEO OF THE YEAR for “Day Job” at the recent Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards, Crowsnest Films once again collaborated with Lacombe country music singer Gord Bamford to create the music video for his current hit single “My Daughter’s Father”. The video was filmed in early November on location in Lacombe, Alberta and at the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton, Alberta. It was produced and directed by John Kerr of Crowsnest Films, with cinematography by Courtenay Forster, art direction by Garth Whelen, and post-production and color correction by Jeff August from Jump Studios.

“This music video attempts to capture those precious and fleeting moments between fathers and daughters. What was important about the execution of this idea was that it could not feel contrived.  It needed to have a real, almost documentary feeling to it,” said John Kerr, President of Crowsnest Films. “Shooting on the Canon 5-D Mark II DSLR camera allowed us to be unobtrusive and capture some really natural moments with an affordable 35-mm look. I can’t say enough about how much Gord and his family opened up to us and let us into their world, creating what I hope will be a unique and intimate experience for his fans and everyone to enjoy.”

The “My Daughter’s Father” music video was funded entirely by the CMT Canada Video Assistance Program and will begin airing on CMT beginning December 5, 2010 as part of what is planned to be a broader cross platform interactive initiative inviting fans to create their own versions and mash-ups of the video using actual footage from the production and/or user generated content.

MORE AWARDS!

"DAY JOB" WINS 
CMT MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR
AT THE 2010 CCMA AWARDS





After leading the pack with six nominations for his latest album Day Job, the most nominations of any artist for the 2010 Canadian Country Music Association Awards, Lacombe country music singer Gord Bamford scored a hat-trick, picking up three trophies for ALBUM OF THE YEAR, MALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR, and CMT VIDEO OF THE YEAR on Sunday September 12, 2010 during the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards at Rexall Place in Edmonton. "Woo!" the 34-year-old yelled, then chuckled to himself after scrambling on stage to collect his first award of the evening, CMT VIDEO OF THE YEAR for his single, Day Job shot at the site of his former employer -- a concrete plant. Bamford held his trophy in the air and thanked Crowsnest Films and John Kerr for the success of the video then declared, "We're going to have a hell of a party here in Edmonton tonight!"

The journey of creating the music video began in December 2009 when Bamford contacted Jump Studios’ creative director Jeff August. The country star wanted the video to represent the ‘real Gord Bamford’ and Jump took that idea and ran with it, partnering with producer John Kerr of Crowsnest Films, DOP Sid Bailey, and a team of Alberta’s best crew. The video was filmed on location in Lacombe, Alberta in January 2010 at the actual site of Bamford’s former employer – a concrete plant. It was directed and edited by Jeff August from Jump Studios and based on a concept by Bamford family member Jackson Davies of CBC’s Beachcombers fame. 

“It’s great to see an artist like Gord getting the recognition he deserves,” said John Kerr, President of Crowsnest Films. “Both Crowsnest Films and Jump Studios are committed to working with the very best creative people and I am grateful to have been a part of it.” Jeff August feels much the same way. “Working with Gord a second time was rewarding, and John helped us bring the video to a whole new level.”



It has been a banner year for  Crowsnest Films when it comes to winning awards and being recognized for doing great work. The CMT Music Video of the Year Award follows 20 nominations and winning 5 of a possible 11 awards (the most by any single company on both accounts) at the 36th Annual Alberta Film and Television ROSIE Awards in May 2010, including prizes for BEST MUSIC VIDEO for Dan Mangan: The Indie Queens Are Waiting, BEST MUSICAL OR VARIETY SPECIAL for Athletes In Motion, and BEST DIRECTOR (DRAMA UNDER 30 MINUTES) for John Kerr (Athletes In Motion: Hardcore Bonspiel). Darren Bierman won BEST EDITOR (DRAMA UNDER 30 MINUTES) for his work on Dan Mangan: The Indie Queens Are Waiting and Craig Wrobleski won BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER (DRAMA UNDER 30 MINUTES) for his work on Athletes In Motion: Hardcore Bonspiel. ATHLETES IN MOTION has already made it’s mark internationally and earned high praise at the 2010 European Video and Mobile TV Forum in Paris by winning the Best Fiction/Drama Award in January of this year. In March 2010, ATHLETES IN MOTION was chosen from 900 entries from more than 43 countries, as a finalist in the category of Interactive Branded Entertainment at the 2010 Banff World Television Awards. The 'Rockies' is one of the world’s most prestigious events celebrating outstanding work by international TV creators responsible for the continuing evolution and originality in the industry and recognizing creativity and innovation from the world’s best television programming.


The Day Job music video was funded by the CMT Canada Video Assistance Program and the Government of Alberta, Alberta Film Development Program.

Jump Studios is an innovative company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that is dedicated to purely original creative, broadcast design, visual effects, high-end finishing and colour grading. http://www.jumpstudios.tv  

Crowsnest Films is a company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that creates entertaining and enduring motion picture, television, and new media content of superior quality for domestic and international markets.

- END -

Publicity images are available by request.
For more information:
John Kerr
403-617-9515 

LATEST NEWS!

CROWSNEST FILMS
WINS 5 ROSIE AWARDS
AT THE 36TH ANNUAL ALBERTA FILM & TELEVISION AWARDS

Jennifer Jones in “Hardcore Bonspiel”
written by Douglas Coupland and directed by John Kerr.


Photo Credit: Colin Smith

The 36th Annual Alberta Film and Television ROSIE Awards were handed out to 22 productions and 30 artists on Saturday May 15, 2010 at the Edmonton EXPO Centre. Calgary-based Crowsnest Films, which netted 20 nominations (the most by any single company), received 5 of a possible 11 awards (the most wins by any single company), including prizes for BEST MUSIC VIDEO for Dan Mangan: The Indie Queens Are Waiting, BEST MUSICAL OR VARIETY SPECIAL for Athletes In Motion, and BEST DIRECTOR (DRAMA UNDER 30 MINUTES) for John Kerr (Athletes In Motion: Hardcore Bonspiel). Darren Bierman won BEST EDITOR (DRAMA UNDER 30 MINUTES) for his work on Dan Mangan: The Indie Queens Are Waiting and Craig Wrobleski won BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER (DRAMA UNDER 30 MINUTES) for his work on Athletes In Motion: Hardcore Bonspiel.

For a complete list of winners in all categories, click here:
http://www.ampia.org/index.php?option=nonevents&task=view&id=209
To read what the Calgary Herald and Alberta Venture have written about the event, click here:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Sundance+sensation+plucks+Rosie/3034168/story.html


http://albertaventure.com/2010/07/winners’-circle-online/


ATHLETES IN MOTION has already made it’s mark internationally and earned high praise at the 2010 European Video and Mobile TV Forum in Paris by winning the Best Fiction/Drama Award in January of this year. In March 2010, ATHLETES IN MOTION was chosen from 900 entries from more than 43 countries, as a finalist in the category of Interactive Branded Entertainment at this year’s upcoming Banff World Television Awards. The 'Rockies' is one of the world’s most prestigious events celebrating outstanding work by international TV creators responsible for the continuing evolution and originality in the industry and recognizing creativity and innovation from the world’s best television programming.

View ATHLETES IN MOTION “Hardcore Bonspiel”:

View the music video for the hit single THE INDIE QUEENS ARE WAITING from XM Satellite's Verge Music Artist of the Year DAN MANGAN’s #1 Album NICE, NICE, VERY NICE:
"These awards are not made to me or to my company, but to the work" said John Kerr, President of Crowsnest Films. "I am very grateful for the opportunity to do good work with good people and to make my living here in this province. This is an exciting time to be a storyteller. I look forward to what the future holds."


Athletes In Motion is a co-production between Crowsnest Films and Divani Films, produced by John Kerr and Srinivas Krishna in association with Bravo!FACT, Bravo!, and CTV. The program is made possible with financial assistance provided by the Government of Alberta, Alberta Film Development Program; the Canadian Film Centre, Administrator of the Telus Innovation Fund; Rogers Telefund; and the Canadian Audio Visual Certification Tax Credit Program. “Figures”, “Sit On it” and “Hockey Tonight” are produced in part through a containR commission made possible by containR; Springboard; Cineworks; Bravo!FACT; CTV; BCAC Unique Opportunities; Arts Partners In Creative Development. The music video for Dan Mangan: “The Indie Queens Are Waiting” is funded entirely with a grant from VideoFACT.

Crowsnest Films is a company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that creates entertaining and enduring motion picture, television, and new media content of superior quality for domestic and international markets.

- END -

Publicity images are available by request.

For more information:

John Kerr
403-617-9515
crowsnestfilms@shaw.ca

Documentary



As Canada surpassed the tragic milestone of 100 soldiers killed in Afghanistan, voices across the country and voices across the globe debate the rising cost, both human and economic, of a conflict that rivals in length the Second World War. At the behest of J. Ivan Fenton, Major-General (Retired) Canadian Forces, Former Assistant Director International Military Staff (NATO), Crowsnest Films and Bonfire Pictures, began in April of 2008 research and development on the documentary feature film project “For Country”. This documentary film will give strength to voices unheard until now, telling the story of a fallen soldier for Canada whose legacy of courage, loyalty to family, and duty to country inspires his family to battle grief and the armed agents of the Taliban on a unique and healing journey, retaining to the last its sense of hope and human dignity.



Private Robert Girouard Jr. was slated to be a part of the First Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group - Joint Task Force Afghanistan, heading to Kandahar Province in August 2006, but on the eve of his deployment, Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Omer Lavoie and his Regimental Sergeant Major, Robert's dad, Chief Warrant Officer Bob Girouard Sr., decided Robert Jr. would have to stay behind. The thinking was that the young man’s safety would have been too much of a distraction for his father, who had to put first the welfare of all the troops.  

Over the next three months, the battle group would lose 14 men from Petawawa, Ontario and another 5 men from Shilo, Manitoba, during a non-stop tour of violence and bloodshed that saw the Canadian Forces conducting the most intense combat operations since the Korean War. Each one of these deaths staggered the families of the fallen, the military family, and the communities. Private Robert Girouard Jr. had the privilege of serving in the rear party, where he helped families of the fallen to navigate the repatriation process. His mother Jackie did her part for deployment support, too, not because that is the role of the Regimental Sergeant Major’s wife, but because she cared.

Nobody was prepared for what happened next.  


Chief Warrant Officer Bob Girouard Sr. and his driver, Corporal Albert Storm, of the First Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group, Joint Task Force Afghanistan were killed on November 27, 2006, when a suicide bomber struck their Bison armored vehicle on the outskirts of Kandahar City. They were the forty-third and forty-fourth Canadian soldiers to be killed in Afghanistan since 2002. While the army properly grieves every fallen soldier equally, regardless of rank, the death of Chief Warrant Officer Bob Girouard Sr. was felt keenly not only on a personal level, but also as an enormous symbolic blow. He died at the pinnacle of his career - as the RSM of the battalion. For those six hundred soldiers he exemplified the mental toughness, the quiet confidence, and the determination to serve with honour that were needed in a difficult and dangerous place. Chief Warrant Officer Bob Girouard Sr. was the first Regimental Sergeant Major in the storied 125-year history of the battalion to be killed by enemy action. His death showed his soldiers and all Canadians that here was a man prepared to give all, to sacrifice everything, for country.


Jackie Girouard grew up with Bob in the same hometown, Buctouche, in rural New Brunswick. They were high school sweethearts who met and married as teenagers. In essence, they grew up together. When she lost her husband of 27 years, she lost everything. In January 2008, Jackie Girouard, joined the Canadian forces. The 47-year-old widowed mother of three adult children and grandmother of two newborn babies completed Canadian Forces basic training in May 2008, just two weeks after her son, Robert Girouard Jr. (now both a Corporal and a new father) followed in his late father’s footsteps and deployed to Afghanistan with the Third Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment Battle Group, Joint Task Force Afghanistan. On Remembrance Day 2008, Jackie saluted in uniform her late husband's grave at the National Military Cemetery, in the very heart of Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, but she has a bigger goal. Jackie Girouard wants to deploy to Afghanistan in 2010 as a serving member of the Canadian Forces. 



Robert Jr. is uncomfortable with the prospect of his mother going to Afghanistan in 2010, but has little to say about it given that he himself seeks atonement with his late father in the course of conducting combat and security operations with the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan. When Robert Jr. finally finds his father in the mythic sense, he will find himself and come to face to face with nothing less than his own character and destiny. 







A second son, Michel, is also in the military, attending Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario, where he is training to be a pilot. He grieves his father while overcome with fear and anxiety for his brother. 
In July 2007, less than a year after holding in his arms the lifeless body of his Regimental Sergeant Major and close friend, Chief Warrant Officer Bob Girouard Sr., Lieutenant Colonel Omer Lavoie walked down the aisle Chief Girouard’s daughter Jocelyn at her wedding to Eric Ranger, a soldier for Canada who is himself scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in 2010. Lavoie has since been promoted to Colonel and named Task Force Commander of the Canadian Forces Counter IED Task Force. Colonel Lavoie has a personal passion for attacking the enemy's weapon of choice, as more than half of the 19 soldiers killed in Afghanistan under his command, including Chief Girouard, were killed by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
In May 2008, we began crisscrossing the country, meeting these people and recording their stories. In the course of our preliminary research we have acquired timely 1920x1080 High Definition footage of Jackie Girouard undertaking Canadian Forces Basic Training at Farnham, Quebec and ultimately graduating from Canadian Forces Basic Training at St. Jean, Quebec. We met also and interviewed her son, Corporal Robert Girouard Jr., prior to his deployment to Afghanistan in May 2008. Other interviewees include, but are not limited to the following: General (Retired) Rick Hillier, Former Chief of the Defence Staff, Canadian Forces; Major-General (Retired) J. Ivan Fenton, Canadian Forces, Former Assistant Director International Military Staff (NATO); Brigadier-General Denis Thompson, Commander - Joint Task Force Afghanistan, Canadian Forces; Colonel Omer Lavoie, Commander – Counter IED Task Force, Canadian Forces; Officer Cadet Michel Girouard, Royal Military College; Jocelyn Girouard-Ranger; Private Eric Ranger, Canadian Forces; and Warrant Officer (Retired) Randy Stewart, Canadian Forces.
After shooting over 40 straightforward and intimate hours of 1920x1080 High Definition interview and cinema verité-style footage, and acquiring an additional 15 hours of High Definition footage from the Canadian Forces and Department of National Defence, we have a film-in-progress that is a kaleidoscopic montage of breathtakingly honest interviews, actual footage of our character’s emotional journeys through Canadian Forces basic training and through combat operations in Afghanistan, and actual footage of ramp ceremonies, repatriations, funerals, and internments for fallen soldiers. Brigadier-General Denis Thompson, Commander - Joint Task Force Afghanistan, Canadian Forces, has tasked the Canadian Forces Combat Camera Unit under his current command in Afghanistan to acquire High Definition footage of Corporal Robert Girouard Jr. in that difficult theatre, as per shot lists sent by us through e-mail. Corporal Robert Girouard Jr. has received training on the use of a High Definition motion picture camera, and has agreed (with Brigadier General Thompson’s permission) to film a journal of his time in Afghanistan until the conclusion of his deployment in February 2009.
Our film is a comprehensive portrait of Chief Warrant Officer Bob Girouard and his family, using the full potential of modern documentary techniques. We examine the broader historical context of Canada’s participation in the mission in Afghanistan, the controversies surrounding the mission, and how his family has coped with the death of a loved one. Above all, we focus on the influence this man had on his family, friends, and colleagues as a soldier for Canada. Our film goes beyond the accepted narrative of Bobby Girouard as a fine Canadian fighting and dying halfway around the world in a country that seems so far removed from our everyday concerns. The arc of the film follows the trajectory from Buctouche, New Brunswick, in 1960 to the edge of a blackened crater on the outskirts of Kandahar City in 2006, and beyond. 
Bob Girouard was born into a Cold War world in which cultural and political boundaries have now been swept into new shapes for the digital age. His surviving friends, family, and colleagues remember him now over the span of a generation, while his children and grandchildren are part of the landscape of the new century. New perspectives open on the meaning of his life and his death. Using his own words and the words of those who knew him best, this documentary will explore Bob Girouard’s life and his death, as a sculpture of time, dreams, and memories. In this way, we celebrate his legacy. Some biographical detail naturally emerges in the course of the documentary, but our centre of gravity is the Girouard family, and it is their character arcs which move the story forward in the present.
This exceptional access to these interesting and engaging characters in their unique and compelling situation is both exclusive and unprecedented. We are seeking a broadcast partner to enter into formal development with, toward a true collaboration in the shaping of this strong and timely story into an intelligent and edgy landmark documentary feature film for Canadian and international audiences. Please find below a fundraising trailer showing some scenes and highlighting some of the characters and some of the themes we would like to explore. 
It is so important for these soldiers and their families to be able to tell their stories. They are ready and willing. We have to be ready and willing to listen.



*Please note that this trailer is for fundraising purposes only. The film is in progress and all outstanding rights will be cleared prior to completion.
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