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Tim Rayne Michel Guitard David Folster John Christenson Greg Hemmings Donovan Richard Delia Martin Colin Smart Dennis Poirier

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A COMMUNITY OF FILMMAKERS THEN AND NOW

By alumni member and past president Chis Campbell

May 7, 2009

It's scary to think of how long ago I first walked through the door of the New Brunswick Filmmakers' Co-operative at 51 York Street. I was just out of high school (ok, it was the 80s) and my friend Kevin Holden was involved and thought that it would be good for me to stop in and see things there. It was a nice first visit. Coordinator Dave Clarke showed me around the equipment room (which was not very big), threaded some film up on the Steenbeck and showed me how it worked. It was fascinating and I had no idea that there were things like that in the city where I was born and grew up.

Everyone was friendly and everyone seemed to want to do whatever they could to help. It was a social and supportive place where the members were learning and figuring out ways to tell stories through film. The first set I was ever on was "The Spectre of Rexton" which was Kevin Holden was directing and Tony Merzetti was executive producing and production managing. It was in a location downtown and it was hot and things moved fairly slowly, but it was amazing to see how the process worked. Later as the editing began (with Tony as editor), I helped with some of the special effects (including wearing a dress and pretending to fly for some double exposure tests).

There weren't a lot of productions happening then so most members worked on many films. It was a few years before I became more heavily involved, but it was during that time that I met many of the people who helped me a great deal and became some of the best friends I've ever known. The first time I recorded sound was when someone wasn't available during one of the shooting days on Doug Sutherland's "Smoke", and I used the Nagra and crouched in the back seat of a car to record some sound. That was fun and it started me down the path of recording sound on a lot of films and it's also when I started to realize how much fun it was to work with Tony. I was lucky enough to work with Tony on lots of productions with Doug with Tony shooting and me doing sound.

Then when Errol Williams was completing his second film, "A Darker Side" and was beginning production of the documentary "Echoes in the Rink: The Willie O'Ree Story" I was given the opportunity to expand my skills as I began working very closely with Errol and Tony. Over a relatively short period of time I was able to write, research, record sound and assist with editing, always learning and laughing with my dear friends. It never felt like work and it was the most amazing time as we honed our skills and faced challenges daily. That's when I knew this was the world that I wanted to be part of and that these were my favourite people.

It was during that very productive time at the coop that things began to shift from a small, core group of filmmakers into an organization that was growing and setting policies and procedures to allow for the production of films in a professional and sustainable way. While many of my friends are still involved with the coop, the NB Filmmakers' Co-op now is in a new location with different equipment and a diverse and amazing membership who have the opportunity to share their stories with the world. There are so many remarkable people that I have met and known through the coop that I could fill pages with their names and it's great to have had such a large quantity of experiences so that I probably forget more than I remember. Talking with those I've spent time with on a set is always a pleasure as it brings back such warm and happy memories. I feel so lucky and happy to be part of such an amazing group of people who continue to make films and nurture a community of filmmakers. There are more of us now, but the spirit is the same as is the magic when we gather together and dim the lights to watch the films that we make.